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I write, climb, and shoot photos. 🍑🍑🍑 @james_lucas_photography
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Recent posts
“If it was a choice between climbing all the time and not climbing… I would choose climbing all the time” - @james_lucas
Dirtbagging vs $10 million – what would you choose?
James Lucas and @joshkmccoy join us on our latest episode, “The Last Dirtbag,” to talk about the lengths climbers will go to build a life around climbing.
#climbinggold is created by @ducttapethenbeer in collaboration with @alexhonnold
Sponsored by: @thenorthface, @kodiakcakes
23 Sep 2026
“What do I need to be doing with my life? And I realized the most important thing to me was to climb El Cap.” - @james_lucas
When James Lucas’ car died in Yosemite (for the second time), he reevaluated what mattered most. The answer was climbing. So he moved into a friend’s garage, cleaned trash cans at Best Bet, and saved up for a van — all so he could keep climbing and get back on the Freerider.
James Lucas and @joshkmccoy join us on our latest episode, “The Last Dirtbag,” to talk about the lengths climbers will go to build a life around climbing.
Listen on Spotify or wherever you find your podcasts. (Link in bio)
#climbinggold is created by @ducttapethenbeer in collaboration with @alexhonnold
Sponsored by: @thenorthface, @kodiakcakes
18 Sep 2026
Climber’s log 7_7_2026 Mount Potosi 5G ~7800’
66 at the cliff. 106 at Las Vegas Airport. Slight breeze.
Day 30 of the season
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In the crag cleanup, we’d turned the three boulders on the ledge into rubble around day 15, launching the leftover debris off the walkway. I stopped racing the hike early in the season, settling into a consistent 70-minute hike to pace my 138 miles of hiking. Even ambling up the hill, my knee hurt from pounding past the cactus. I didn’t know what projects to work on at the crag.
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I’d fallen 5 times going to the corner jug on Infrared and once getting past it. I gassed out on the steep corner of On The Spectrum. The slot on Highway to Hell teased my fingers but never let them in. I’d peaked a few weeks ago, knew it, and kept going back.
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My 5G projects, my Hood side project, and my Roost constellation project all escaped me by a small margin. I’d made a plan, to climb 30 days at 5G and send. I’d accomplished the former and done none of the latter. Instead, I found myself wanting to be further along than I was. Â
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With burning feet, I shuffled down from the crag, hoping to be back in A/C but still suffering in the sun. I needed 3% more, a little power to match my fitness. I also needed a break. With the death orb roasting my face, tired muscles, and sore skin, I wondered what I needed to send. Maybe I should try to do 50 days at the crag.
09 Jul 2026
The exit was a problem. My left foot stopped, making the high step and finish of Confrontation impossible. My climbing ground to a halt. Physical therapy failed. Healing never came. The last of my hip’s cartilage wore away.
In 2024, after limping away from the limestone cave of the Promised Land, I spent six months figuring out I needed a total hip replacement and six more months to get the surgery. Last year at this time, I shuffled around Boulder. Three months of barely climbing was short in terms of my 25 years of climbing but returning to my highpoint was harder. I’d succumbed to the pain before surgery, and fell out of shape. Before surgery, I’d been going down hill.
This winter, two years after my first campaign on the route, I returned to the limestone cave in Red Rocks. I wasn’t as fit as when I left but my willingness to grind had returned. With low expectations, I simply enjoyed my progress. I slowly linked the precarious slab, the crux jump to a tufa, the steep commuter climbing, and the two limestone crimp boulder problems on the headwall bulge. Stable weather and amazing partners hiked out to the crag with me and almost exactly a year after my hip replacement, I sent the route.
It feels good to accomplish a goal. But more than that, it feels great to be on an upward path. It’s where I want to be.
Thanks to my sponsors @lasportivana @enormocast for the rope and #honpoundbootcamp for the continued support of my obsession
24 Feb 2026
Photographing love, not just what it looks like but capturing what love feels like, has been incredibly rewarding the past few years.
As I head into 2026, I’m expanding my photography, booking weddings across the US. I’m investing in capturing the beauty of love.
If you or a friend, is planning a wedding, elopement, or looking for other photos, please reach out. I’d love to work with my community and to document the best moments of life.
Thanks to @jessglassberg for making me feel handsome in front of the camera.
@james_lucas_photography
Jameslucasphotography.com
13 Jan 2026
Van Life’s been an amazing way to explore the United States, to discover National Parks, climb at the country’s best cliffs, and live a simple life. After nearly 160,000 miles, I’d love to pass my van on to someone who has that same passion for exploration.
The van has a simple buildout with a swivel seat in the passenger seat, two burner propane range, fan, ample cabinet space, full sized bed, large storage below, led lights, large marine battery equipped for solar, new tires, and enough room to fit any adventure.
Message me for more details. #vanlife #vanforsale #promasterforsale
17 Nov 2025
The ends of the rope crept toward my belay device. I couldn’t reach the anchor. My feet barely touched the wall. I panicked. A million miles below me, the cemetery of El Cap meadow invited me.  I wanted to be laying in the grass next to the Merced but not in ten seconds. I fought to be present.
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For much of my spring Yosemite trip, I toiled on Fifi Buttress. @lindseyhamm and I fixed ropes on Dream Team so @luchorivera could replace rusted bolts with stainless hardware. I recorded my hikes, tracking my progress on my @corosglobal watch, being conscious of my heart rate, marking my path to the top of the formation for future trips, and pacing myself. I wanted to escape the Valley floor and flow up the granite.
I travelled to California to take photos and I felt successful in that. @alldayeddie @gnarlynickolas and I charged to the top of El Cap to shoot Eddie on the Huber Pitch crux of The Free Rider (5.13a).The two am start, the long hike, barely making it to the anchor on the rappel down the Monster, a stuck rope in the Hollow Flake that needed to be cut, and the sheer exposure terrified me. I couldn’t believe that I’d once freed the route in a day. From the meadow, I had looked up, dreaming of being on the wall. Once I got up there, I just wanted to be in the meadow.  I felt out of place and accomplished less in my climbing.
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Next to Bridalveil Falls, I groveled on the chimney pitch of Dream Team. Safe on minitraction, I forced myself upward despite my inner protests. Waking in the dark, fighting the heat, and the Yosemite burl saw me slump onto the end of the rope. I had successfully minitractioned the pitches multiple times, sorted the gear, hung draws, and felt close to a redpoint attempt except this ten foot section of chimney thwarted me. I lost my will. I couldn’t grind like I used to. I pulled my ropes and retreated to the Meadow.
This trip marked a return after a long hiatus, a chance to remember what I’d done, to think about future climbs, potential photos, and spend times with friends.  On the wall or in the meadow, sending or hanging, Yosemite reminded me, once again, to accept where I was at.
23 Jun 2025
What started as a photo road trip for @geotrekvans turned into a month and a half of travelling the Western Slope and Las Vegas exploring the amazing limestone. From Rifle to the Dispensary to Fynn Cave to 5G to the Hood, I sent in the rain, punted in the heat, and spent time with amazing people in equally incredible places. I feel so fortunate to be in these places with these people.
02 Jun 2025
“You can fully return to normal activity,” Dr. Austin Chen, the orthopedist who had replaced my left hip, told me at my 12 week follow up.
I wondered what sort of normal he meant. I’d been scared to add another scar to my growing collection. With so many implants and fusions, I’m feel more metal than man, Frankenstein’s monster. But at least I knew the recovery drill.
I spent the winter in Boulder where the orthorexic fitness culture pushed me out of the my pre-surgery sloth. I set goals for myself with achievable and stretch objectives. Surrounded by manic athletes, I felt a burning need to recovery quickly.
—I started with the basics. I set a goal to simply follow an 8 week hangboard and shoulder program with @natedrolet and do all of my pt appointments with @bendyourelbowsguy . The structure helped me, pushing me towards good habits.
—As soon as I could I started hiking, aiming for 10k plus steps a day and then doing the First Flatiron ten times. I did it 5 consecutive days and hoped to run it in sub hour but I got sick when I tried.
—Four weeks after surgery, I sport climbed in the gym and then I followed two friends up the Naked Edge. I wanted to climb the 600’ route 10 times and lead it in a single pitch. I achieved the former, climbing it 7 days in a row with 7 partners. Then I led it twice in a pitch. What fun! In the process, I shed weight, which was a sub goal.
—I also wanted to climb 5.13. I picked a project at Ridge 1 that would have been hard for me even if I’d been in great shape. I made progress, fell (which was scary for me), and tried hard, which were amazing gains. I didn’t send but I was happy to have some stretch goals.
I’m eternally grateful for the community that facilitated my recovery. Thanks!!! I’m so psyched to be hiking, climbing, and getting out again!
12 May 2025
The white of the ceiling stared at me as I fought to focus. Every time my leg moved, I screamed into my pillow. The orthopedist had sawed off the top of my left femur,  hammered in a replacement head, lined my hip with metal, and sent me home. “This is the easy part,” I reminded myself. The spinal nerve blockers had worn off. The Oxycodone felt ineffective. And the ceiling kept watching me. Â
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Fourteen months ago, frustrated with my climbing performance, I sought advice on mobility gains. My left hip felt stuck. Drills, stretches, PT, and massage did little. I stopped wanting to walk. Summer x-rays revealed I needed a hip replacement. 

By downing Celebrix, a prescription NSAID, I made it through Mallorca, watching my friends marry and climbing a bit, falling repeatedly on the crux jump move of Ejector Seat (7c) until the weather forced me to the mainland. 

The last of my hip’s cartilage disintegrated but I kept climbing. In Siurana while working L’Escamarla, my 81st 5.13, thieves broke into my rental car and stole my uninsured laptop and camera gear, a significant financial loss and an added stress. 

I limped back to Boulder where supportive friends and family helped me piece together a new camera kit. I lined up surgery and tried to be psyched at Movement Dating and Fitness. But the pain fatigue, the stress of the theft, and the anxiety around my body turning into the returned screws department at McGuckins dampened my passion for climbing. Â
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A week ago, my eyes fixed on the ceiling. Fighting pain felt familiar. But I was improving. Though it may take months, I’m confident that I’ll return to a better state. In just the past seven days, the screams stopped, the nightmares dissipated, and I hobbled to my first physical therapy appointment this morning. Life will get easier. I’ll climb again. 

I’m eternally grateful for the community of friends and family who have helped me the past year. I wouldn’t be here without them. Thank you to everyone who’s supported me!
📷: @keithallen.jpg (1): Ejector Seat, L’Escamarla, hip x-ray, pre surgery sock struggle (nevermind the bunions), I can’t wait to not have to lift my foot!
17 Feb 2025
Bullet sandstone. Tufas in the US. Perfect winter temps…@mattsegal and I had heard the stories. Last week, we went to find the truth behind the tales of @arkansas
Starting in the Lutz cave outside of Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, we headed east to Newton County. The sport climbs of Candy Mountain and Ode Hollow showed the wealth of rock and the dedication of psyched locals. A day of grabbing tufas along the Buffalo River revealed the untapped potential of #thenaturalstate . Our final day on Mount Magazine’s trad routes made us realize that Arkansas has it all. Plus the shrimp and grits, the ATV rides in the woods, and Bentonville’s Santa Con made the downtime as memorable as the climbing.
Big thanks to the many locals who guided us across the rivers and hills to their impressive crags.
As @chrisstapleton sings, “The boys and the girls down there sure do know how to have a ball. If you wanna get down, gotta get down to Arkansas.”
10 Dec 2024
Do it scared.
I had a lot of apprehension coming to the deep water soloing of Mallorca. The Mediterranean’s one of the biggest places in the world to drown. I swim like a stone. And I’m notorious for my poor soloing. A rogue wave could sweep me to Libya if an orca didn’t jump from the ocean and swallow me first. I had a lot of irrational fear.
The start of my trip @jordancannon and I bronzed on the coast, exploring the crags and getting accustomed to the climbing. He’d made a ticklist, the best of Mallorcan Deep Water soloing. We cruised about, onsighting, flashing, and exploring as we climbed at Cala Varques, Cala Su Nau, and Cala Diablo. Including the pictured XXL at Varques
After learning how to focus while climbing and fixating more on the movement than the fall, I slowly started to go for it deep water soloing. I’ve let go of some of my irrational fears. The experience still terrifies me. But now I just do it scared.
đź“·: @cannonjtc
🎥 : @taylor._shaffer
14 Oct 2024
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