Editor’s Note: We received a flood of enthusiastic mail on the July issue, with its focus on traditional climbing and the more accessible grades. We had a blast doing the issue, and we’re glad you liked it!

Trad lives!
Wow, am I feeling at home today reading the newest issue of Climbing! Trad photos, trad routes, trad memories; it’s a trad world as far as I’m concerned.
For one who believes in being close with nature and the rock at all times, this was the issue I needed to start my summer off right. Hope to see more great trad photos and shared memories by other climbers/writers in the issues ahead.

In balance
Hats off for the July 2005 issue of your magazine. Rarely in such a testosterone-driven sport do we see such attention to balancing gender and skill levels. In your feature on trad climbing I was excited to see almost every other photo and quote of and by a woman. It was also refreshing to see great climbs listed which weighed in at 5.8 or less. Balanced with articles about super climbers who are working 5.15, this issue affirmed my skill level and gave me something to aspire to!

Eastern trad
Thanks for the Trad issue. It’s nice to see acknowledgement that East Coast lines of moderate grade (Sliding Board, High E) provide plenty of pleasure and can get one thoroughly gripped.

It’s about time
I never thought I would find myself motivated to write to Climbing. For years I have enjoyed your magazine, but I feel the magazine doesn’t really speak to most climbers on a consistent basis. True, Sharma is one serious climber — and reading about him and other super-star rock dragons is quite a kick. And, I would rather read about the guys who eat 5.14s for breakfast than not. However, I always read those articles and wonder if people really think climbing is only about redline adrenaline rushes, and only climbs above 5.12 count.
I think it is understood that Climbing went the way of the rockstar magazines of our youth — we love reading about the bands we love, and yes, they were gods to us. But we all knew we weren’t destined to become rock stars, so we read with eagerness but not so much seriousness.
Well, now you’ve done it. I have to reevaluate my notions about your magazine, thanks to your July 2005 issue. Your articles about trad climbing were applicable to the rest of us. For a moment I wanted to climb atop the highest mountain (provided it was rated a 5.10 or below) and yell to the world, “Read Climbing everyone! We count once again!”
I blinked and rubbed my eyes when
I read things about 5.2, 5.3, and 5.8 climbs. The articles were written with an impressive awareness of the experience of trad climbing — the realization that chunks of time have passed without your awareness as your body seems to operate with perfect determination, the moments when you look up or down and suddenly realize how small you are, and the trad epiphanies that attack your previous realities and prove that nothing really matters as much as we think it does in “normal” life.
I could go on and on about the Zen all trad climbers know — but it is something that can only be experienced by doing it. People know it when they do it, and you can’t really explain it to others. But after reading July’s issue I believe that someone at Climbing ... understands.
I will be reading with a greater sense of alliance. And, I thank you for challenging my perception of Climbing.

I did it for us, honey
Shame on Dean Potter for BASE jumping from El Mocho’s East Pillar, leaving his partner and wife, Steph Davis, behind to not only rappel alone, but also to carry all the gear down so that he could have a cheap thrill and make BASE-jumping history. How selfish. How irresponsible. How juvenile! I would have thought that a climber is only to abandon a partner under the most grave of circumstances. I don’t question Davis’ competence or ability to descend without him. If anyone could do it alone, of course she could. But if my climbing partner were to ask, “Do you mind if I BASE jump from the top?” thus leaving me with all the gear and to rappel on my own I would have said, “Sure, when Hell freezes over, you sorry *#@?!”
I only hope Potter had a hot cup of cocoa, a warm bed and a massage waiting for Steph upon her arrival.

Down with the woolly mammoth
Tom Higgins, get over it! [Letters, June issue.] You, sir, do not own the route Hair Raiser Buttress. This is America. I am sick and tired of these “bolt wars” and [climbers believing that] their FA is sacred ground and is not to be touched by anyone. Be proud that you were the FAer and allow the legend of your abilities to remain true, as it so respectively has. Everyone knows that a Tom Higgins route is tough and spooky. (I will add, though, that I believe that Darryl Hansel’s work is far more sphincter-puckering than yours, even with the many added bolts that he never whined about.)
After 34 years of climbing all over this planet, I have finally come to realize that climbing is supposed to be fun. Climbing is a way of freedom to one’s soul and spirit. I ask that those “ego heads” who make routes so dangerous (why did you even place bolts in the first place if you were so damn good?) and call it “way old,” remain home in their rocking chairs to rethink the true value of the act and life of climbing.
I, for one, plead that we leave the conquering mentality out of the climbing world and remember that this whole thing we call climbing is to go out and enjoy the day, the company, the rock, and to simply find peace. Let’s leave the selfishness to the politicians and just go have fun!

Every little bit helps
Thanks to Jeff Achey’s editorial on the tsunami, the Rally for Railay has a little more cash for their efforts. My eight-year-old daughter (a 5.5 toproper) and her friends decided not to leave relief efforts up to the grownups, so they operated a “Best Friends for Tsunami Relief” stand in front of our house one recent morning. They sold cookies and jewelry they had made themselves and performed magic tricks for passersby. In just a few hours, they raised $105. When they found that our local Red Cross was no longer accepting funds for the tsunami, I suggested they send the money to the Rally for Railay and offered to match their gift with one of my own. I just mailed a check for $210 to Michelle Garbert and Sam Lightner, caretakers of the Rally for Railay fund, and challenge your readers to participate, also.

This, from our coverboy
Nice cover shot, but it doesn’t look like Serenity Crack to me. A friend suggested the Salathé headwall? Actually, it’s much more accessible but also classic: Green Adjective (5.9), in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Great issue!

Editor’s note: Despite the fact that three of our staff members have done Serenity Crack, and one learned to climb with Palais, the cover subject, we still missed this captioning mix-up. The cover of the July issue is indeed Green Adjective, 5.9.