James Lucas

James Lucas is a long-time writer, editor, and photographer. As an avid climber of 20 years with first ascents of big walls in Yosemite, boulder problems in the Rocky Mountains, and sport climbs in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, James spends hundreds of days outside every year documenting the outdoors and testing gear while traveling around his home in Boulder, Colorado, and out on the road in the Western United States. After he finished his undergraduate degree at the University of Santa Cruz, James began his writing career, documenting his travels and the lives of his nomadic friends. From writing Yosemite Valley Bouldering, a comprehensive guide to the thousands of granite boulder problems in Yosemite, to working as a Senior Associate Editor at Climbing Magazine for four years, James developed a strong grasp of immersing himself in an area and topic, disseminating that information, and explaining it to an audience. As his ability to write expanded, he grasped a camera to further document the people, places, and products of the outdoors. His work has appeared in dozens of outdoor magazines, books, and websites. From working out of his van in the Rockies to the top of sunny El Capitan in Yosemite, James uses the skills he learned as a writer to learn about products, test them, and then articulate the reasons how each product works and why you should or shouldn't buy it.