For 10 years we’ve been publishing The Climbing Zine. We started off with print runs of 100, then 500, then 1,000, and now these days we are at 10,000 per issue. As we’ve grown the interest in our old zines as collector’s items. Those have since sold out and now The Royal We has been left with a conundrum: reprint the old ones and risk their collector status, or simply let the stories fade into lore. And then, the idea appeared: take the best stories from The Climbing Zine’s that are out of print, and turn them into a book.
To celebrate 10 years and to deliver you all a great book, we are releasing The Climbing Zine Book. The essays are our favorites from Volume 1-11.
This will be a hardcover book, something we aim to publish to be on that first row of your bookshelf, or in your van library, or a top your porcelain throne in the bathroom. Wherever you put your most valuable books we want to be in that place – and we think these stories are worthy!
The Painted Wall by Luke Mehall
The Long Way Back by Mike Reddy
Are We Born To Climb? Sending The Double Helix by D. Scott Borden
Jugs on Jugs by Gaelen Engler
Flirting with Dreams in The Valley of Stone by Drew Thayer
Sick, Brah: The Ineloquence of Talking About The Outdoors by Brendan Leonard
Climbing Past War by Stacy Bare
Time Continuum of Desert Road Tripping by Kevin Volkening
Crimson Bunny by Alexis McLean
A Narrow Escape on Mt. Kenya by Jason Haas
Growing Up Skinner by Becca Skinner
An Elixer of Freedom and Mixed Feelings by Alexa Flower
An Open Letter To The Buttermilks by Georgie Abel
The Long Run by Luke Mehall
From Midas’s Touch to a Green Thumb by Joy Martin
Approach As Pilgrimage by Tim Rogers
Old Becomes New in Indian Creek by Chris Schulte
A Venture Backward, Inward, and Upward by Rhiannon Williams
As Long As Life Endures: A Climber Wedding by Sara Aranda
The Prince P by Cyrena Lee
Up (and over) the Pope’s Nose by Josh Smith
Reflections on Dad by Tamara Robbins
Fill The Void by Shay Skinner
Granite Trinity by Michelle Dedischew
Going It Alone by Vic Zeilman
A Love Letter to Climbing by Ana Ally
Patience by Chris Schulte
Toe The Edge by Patrick Hodge
More To Give by Pete Whittaker
What We Talk About When We Talk About Choss by Steve “Crusher” Bartlett
Silent Partners by Luke Mehall
Do Not Go Outside To Cry by Kathy Karlo
We pride ourselves with the most affordable rewards of any climbing project on Kickstarter. We also have the high end rewards for those of you who can afford to, and would like to make an impact.
Anyone who has done a Kickstarter knows the crazy feelings it generates. This is the third one I’ve assembled and honestly my challenge this time will just be to not obsessively check on it, and let the community spread it around. So the main challenge: to breathe while its going on.
I know the climbing community has our back, and we know this is a good time and way to celebrate 10 years.