Patagonia

No off days on the YOSAR team. Gena Wood and Merryn Venugopal squeeze in an early morning bouldering session to beat the summer heat, but not without a quick warmup at the camp gym.

Photo: Alexa Flower

Good friends make the miles fly by (and help clean you up when you fly by a little too quickly).

Photos: Sho Fujimaki

Raise your hand if you think snacks taste better outside.

Photos: Lars Schneider, Andrew Burr, Amy Kumler

Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll on Frame by Frame (E5/6) on Inishmore, Ireland. “Even though there is a lot of rock on the island, there aren’t a lot of lines offering natural protection,” he says. “The trad climbing there is often very wild, exposed and adventurous.”

Photo: Sam Bié

Don’t slip, don’t slip, don’t slip.

Ashley Cracroft, Ty Marshall and Teacum Bryant scramble up (and down and up and down) Mount Wolverine and Mount Tuscarora in Utah's Wasatch Mountains.

Photos: Andrew Burr

The sun sets in the west.

Stone Suitt and Gopal Butler sneaking in some final turns before dark. Typical evening activities for these two.

Photos: Bobby Owens

Nine days of incremental progress on a nearly 4,000-foot wall gives a person a lot of time to think about why they do it at all. In “The Wall as a Mirror,” Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll considers:

"Climbing, like life, is a game with values. These values are arbitrary, pure convention, made up. But they are what give climbing its essence. It cannot be the summit above all. You have to keep the challenge alive. You have to give failure a chance, too."

Read the story by Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll at https://pat.ag/F/MirrorWall

Photos: Ben Ditto

Kim McCoy grew up studying the ocean. “By age five I had crossed the Pacific and Atlantic several times. I was bodysurfing by age nine, freediving at eleven, sailing at thirteen … I have measured waves at sea from above, below and within.”

That passion led him to oceanography, and to “Waves and Beaches,” Willard Bascom’s classic handbook on ocean science, history and adventure. In the late ’90s, Bascom handed McCoy the second edition and asked simply, “What’s missing?”

That question inspired a third edition, recast within the context of climate change and the myriad challenges our oceans face today. “It is my hope that this third edition will help you take action and create your spark in the sea,” writes McCoy.

Find the book at
📚 by Patagonia Books

Photos: Universal Images Group North America LLC/Alamy Stock, Benjamin C. Ginsberg, Al Mackinnon

For Brooklyn Bell, progression isn’t always about pushing for more speed; it’s about exploring what every ride has to offer and not taking things too seriously.

“To me, mountain biking is not about going super fast. It’s fun to go fast on the downhill, but for me, it’s all about play—not flat trails, not early starts or dawn patrols. It’s about having fun, and I always leave a little gas in the tank for curiosity.”

Dig through the frames to see Brooklyn getting creative and honing her craft at Beacon Hill, just outside Spokane, Washington.

Photos: Ken Etzel

Why is quality so important? Because quality gear lasts—and the longer it stays in play, the better it is for the earth. This month, we’re bringing you two stories and a film about the consequences and alternatives to buying cheap stuff. We explore a new era in The Sh*tthropocene, illustrate the ethics of discarding unwanted clothes and learn about a resilient community transforming waste into opportunity.

Welcome to the age of cheap crap: https://pat.ag/F/Recap/Quality_Film
In a desert of waste, one woman finds opportunities: https://pat.ag/F/Recap/Fashion_Graveyard
Why is it so hard to get rid of unused clothes in an ethical way? https://pat.ag/F/Recap/Unwanted_Clothes

“I don’t believe in karma. I wasn’t pacing to have the favor returned another time. I may have been giving them fuel, emotional support, a backside to follow or a lit path from my headlamp behind them, but what I was getting in return was far greater: friendship, community, a sense of purpose, an opportunity to step outside myself and be a part of something bigger. It was impossible not to be moved—and impossible not to want to do it again.”

Running may be an individual sport, but ultramarathons are built on community. For every person pinning on a bib, there are usually a few others supporting behind the scenes, carrying gear and food from one aid station to the next or pacing their friend for a portion of the course. Lisa Jhung has been volunteering to pace her friends for years. For her, it’s not a duty. It’s the entire point. “Keeping Pace” is a story about what it means to be a part of someone else’s team. https://pat.ag/F/KeepingPace

Photos: Brendan Davis

“Dylan” is just one name in a long line of future wearers.

https://pat.ag/F/WW/Quality

Photos: Tim Davis

What do you have in common with these living things? How about a wine grape? It’s more than you might think. In “Four Fifths a Grizzly,” Douglas Chadwick presents an engaging series of personal essays that argues for the amazing interconnectedness of nature, advocating that the path toward conservation begins with how we see our place in the world. Find the book at https://pat.ag/F/FourFifths

📚 by Patagonia Books

Photo 1: Warm hearts in a fiercely cold realm. Extended care and a long learning period for the young are invaluable strategies for polar bear survival. Some cubs continue to nurse for the entire two-and-a-half years they stay with their mothers. Photo by Florian Schulz

Photo 2: Sometimes described as algae that live in glass houses, diatoms are photosynthetic protists that construct shells of pure silica. This marine species grows in clusters on seaweeds. Photo by Wim van Egmond

Photo 3: Mobula rays, stretching 6 feet across, gather off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, in schools that number in the thousands. Occasionally leaping from the surface, the big rays briefly resemble stealth airplanes in flight. Photo by Florian Schulz

Photo 4: Zebra and wildebeest in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Where protected, African savanna ecosystems are zootic landscapes strongly shaped by the daily activities and seasonal migrations of big wildlife. Photo by Tim Laman

Photo 5: The beauty and moods of forests take many forms that in some places come lit by natural magic—the bioluminescence of fireflies. Photo by Tim Flach

Photo 6: A species of one- to two-inch-long, mostly transparent sea slugs commonly called sea angels. Despite their celestial name and appearance, they are dedicated predators and feed exclusively on the group of free-swimming sea snails known as sea butterflies. Photo by Tim Flach

Photo 7: More than one in five mammal species is a bat. They are essential ecosystem pollinators and insect-eaters, but some, like these Egyptian fruit bats in an Uganda forest cave, host viruses lethal to humans. Photo by Joel Sartore

Photo 8: With elephants and native hoofed animals hunted out and wild habitats replaced by farmland and pastures, the dung beetles in the Lake Albert area of Uganda now make use of horse manure. Photo by Joel Sartore

In 2022, I received a message from my friend Erwan Le Lann, captain of the Maewan sailboat, inviting me on a sailing-climbing trip to Inishmore, the largest of the three Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland.

Inishmore is a mystical place full of Celtic aura, a limestone landscape blasted by the wild Atlantic Ocean. About 800 people live on the island today, but it has been populated for centuries—some of the ancient Celtic forts there are more than 2,500 years old. It feels like walking into a fairy tale, and rock climbing in such scenery is absolutely magical. If my friends were going to be there, then I wanted to join in on the "craic" (Irish slang for “fun”)!

Most of the island’s inhabitants live on the northeast coast, so that’s where the campground, beaches, shops and pubs are. Every morning, we’d cycle across the island to the cliffs on the southwest shore, rappel down and climb back out. In some climbing sectors, there are big limestone shelves just above the sea covered in surreal bright-green algae. The shelves make for a spectacular atmosphere, and an easier belay than hanging above the sea.

After a long day of climbing and with muscles aching, we would cycle back to the inhabited part of the island, go to the pub to find some food and join the traditional music sessions. Being on Inishmore is always an opportunity to play my uilleann pipes in the setting they were made for. It’s a very typical Irish atmosphere. It was amazing to share that place and those moments with my friends—and to have gotten a rare two weeks of sunshine.

Words: Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll
Photos: Sam Bié

In 1974, Jean Audet was one of the only women on the Pacific Crest Trail and one of just 12 people who completed the 2,650-mile journey that year. During that winter and spring, Audet and her husband, Ric Beck, took hundreds of images, which paint a picture of the PCT’s early years. “We were a small community of hikers and seldom met others while out on the trail,” she writes.

Unable to find any worthy shorts made for women, Audet hiked in a pair of cutoff men’s work pants and got blisters wearing a pack designed for men. “My mother downplays the accomplishment and implies that it was a frivolous endeavor,” writes her daughter, Carrie. “I suppose it might have seemed that way at the time, in the midst of social upheaval and the Vietnam War. But to me, it has always seemed an incredible achievement.”

Photo 1: During the spring of 1974, snowpack in California’s High Sierra reached up to 20 feet, forcing Audet and her partners to pick their way along rare dry sections. Photo: Ric Beck

Photo 2: A room with a view: Audet preps dinner (Kraft mac, undoubtedly) at a camp in the High Sierra. Photo: Ric Beck

Photo 3: Audet and Beck met Billy Taylor (pictured) on the Appalachian Trail in 1972. Two years later, on the PCT, they spotted his name just ahead of theirs in a gear-shop logbook. “No one had ‘trail names’ in 1974,” says Audet. Eventually, the groups overlapped and hiked the rest of the way together. Photo: Ric Beck

Photo 4: Tip for thru-hiking on a budget: Hot sidewalk makes a pretty good replacement for a few spins in the dryer. Beck (left) and Jim Eilerston keep watch outside a laundromat in Mojave, California. Photo: Jean Audet

We are deeply saddened to share that our dear friend and Patagonia Climb Ambassador, Keita Kurakami, passed away on June 26, 2024.

Keita had been on the Patagonia Ambassador team since 2019. A true all-around climber, he was guided by his curiosity and care for the natural world. "He explored the essence of climbing through his own style, and expressed the richness and imagination of climbing," our colleagues in Japan said. "His passion for climbing, his single-minded inquisitiveness, and the carefree smile that emanated from that passion gave us courage and hope."

In 2021 Keita suffered a near-fatal heart attack that doctors said would be the end of his climbing career. He worked hard to return to the outdoor pursuits he loved, and a year into his recovery he shared these words with us:

"The happiness that is irreplaceable is not so much the ability to do difficult climbs as it is the ability to be in nature with friends, in a peaceful and free environment, and to climb in the midst of everyday life.

Gratitude is like a gift of flowers. I now believe that if we can continue to give such flowers of gratitude every day, even if it is only to those closest to us, the world will be a better place for all life."

We would like to express our heartfelt condolences to Keita's family, friends, and all those who care about him.

Photos: Masazumi Sato, Drew Smith, Takemi Suzuki

Outgrowing snow pants is just an opportunity for someone new to grow into them.

Photos: Woods Wheatcroft

https://pat.ag/F/WW/Quality

Lauren L. Hill might be one of the world’s smiliest surfers. She’s a welcome reminder that if you’re not having fun, you’re not doing right.

Photos: Christa Funk, Nathan Oldfield

Beaver believers. The team from Northwest Youth Corps and Trout Unlimited spend their days on Cable Creek, a tributary of Oregon’s John Day River. They’re building beaver dam analogs, which mimic the dam-building work of the river-residing rodents. This work will improve meadows and could attract actual beavers who will finish the job the team began, transforming this landscape into a healthy meadow filled with interconnected rivulets, ponds and swampy, spongy ground that’s home to diverse species.

Read "Leave It to Beavers" at https://pat.ag/F/LeaveItToBeavers

Photos: Greg Mionske

“Climbing with you forced me to confront parts of my identity I had tried to ignore.” —Madaleine Sorkin

Lor Sabourin and Madaleine Sorkin explore this and more in their letters to each other in “Queering Climb Mentorship,” originally published in 2022. Revisit it at https://pat.ag/F/24/ClimbMentorship

Photos: Blake McCord