Vertical Life

Vertical Life is a climbing magazine in Australasia, available in both digital and print options. Here at Vertical Life we love climbing, be it beanied bouldering, clip-up sportclimbing, old-school daddy-tradding, big-wall suffering, alpine extremism, spandex-clad competition climbing, desperate-times-call-for-desperate-measures buildering, the lot – if it involves monkey business we will cover it.

Vertical Life

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

IT’S ALL IN YOUR MIND

Read • HEADSTRAP: LEGENDS AND LORE FROM THE CLIMBING SHERPAS OF DARJEELING

Watch • BLACK DIAMOND PRESENTS: FLASHED—BABSI ZANGERL’S HISTORIC FLASH OF EL CAPITAN

Listen • THE COST OF WINNING: SHAUNA COXSEY OPENS UP ABOUT MINDSET, MENTAL HEALTH, MOTHERHOOD AND HER TIME AT THE TOP

Born to Climb THE BEAUDOIN SISTERS • CLAIRE WILLIAMS INTERVIEWS AYLA, AMELIE & JACQUES BEAUDOIN

WHERE THE GRANITE GLOWS • Capturing a fleeting, golden moment suspended between sky and stone, Jarred Palanca’s image is a celebration of patience, precision, and the quiet power of the highlining community.

YOU YANGS, VICTORIA • With a new guidebook about the hit the stands, the You Yangs are well worth exploring this spring. Steve Toal shares the history and some highlights of this underrated but accessible crag.

BEYOND THE CRUX Preserving Australia’s climbing legacy • More than just a room full of old gear, the Arapiles Museum is where dirtbag dreams, DIY brilliance, and climbing history collide. From junkyard treasures to Everest summits, this quirky little museum punches well above its weight—just like the climbers it honours.

FINDING BALANCE CONNECTION, HOPE, IDENTITY, MEANING AND EMPOWERMENT ON ROCK • Wimmera-based doctor and climber Felix Ritson explores the nuanced relationship between climbing and mental health—the benefits, the risks and how to find balance.

Diary of a project:42 TRIPS TO THE GRAMPIANS IN A YEAR • When Mikey first touched Red Mist, he wondered if he could actually become a V12 climber. It was the eginning of a yearlong obsession, marked by countless hours on the road from Melbourne to the Grampians nearly every weekend.

CLIMBING FILMS ARE BACK • Australia’s own Climbing Film Tour returns for its sixth season this November. With mainstream climbing films once again headed to the big screen, the team behind VL are doing our bit to showcase shorter films and local stories.

REMOTE POSSIBILITIES: REINVENTING THE FUTURE OF CLIMBING PHOTOGRAPHY • What happens when you mix 30 years of climbingphoto wizardry with brandnew remote camera tech? In Simon Carter’s latest YouTube videos, the results are part brilliance, part chaos—and all held together with ropes, trial and error, and a few wellplaced f-bombs.

TAMING THE CRAZY HORSE Climbing Chiang Mai ’s wildest crag • Tucked into the limestone hills in the heart of northern Thailand, Crazy Horse Buttress is a jungle crag like no other. Aussie vincent chen has been living in asia for two years—he brings us the beta on what he has declared to be the finest crag in the region.

SHATTERED STONES & SHATTERED NERVES • Alessandra (Allie) Pepper is currently aiming to summit the world’s 14 highest peaks without supplemental oxygen. Her most recent ascent saw her become the first Australian woman to stand atop Pakistan’s second highest peak, Nanga Parbat (8,126m)… but became a journey that had her questioning her entire mission.

IT’S ALL IN YOUR MIND Searching for flow • Climbing can be just as much a mental game as a physical one. Psychologist Dr Kate Baecher takes a look at what tools we can use to access the elusive flow state on the wall.

GALLERY

FROM THE field REVIEWS • THE NORTH FACE SUMMIT SERIES BREITHORN HOODIE

PATAGONIA NANO-AIR ULTRALIGHT HOODY

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