Guidebook - Oases (Old LA Zoo)

A letter from the editor:

I can count the number of times on one hand that I have had a reaction as powerful as the one I felt when I first ascended the grassy knoll of Spring Canyon and laid eyes upon the empty grounds of the Old LA Zoo. Ben Stuart had recently posted areas to the internet, and when I finally made the ten-minute drive over that quiet, winter afternoon, there was a feeling of immense joy - the realization that the thing you've dreamed of actually exceeds your expectations, and that a world of possibilities is your immediate realities.

For me, the Old LA Zoo represented an opportunity to draw my own lines. Given that I was in a rut in my life, I chased it as far as I possibly could, all the way into your very hands. Along the way, I discovered that countless other Angeleno climbers were overcoming and achieving personal triumphs through Los Angeles, and my only regret in starting Oases is knowing that there aren't enough pages in the world to capture all their stories. So, when I set out to curate this first volume, the focus was on new beginnings - not only because of the newness of this journal, but also because Los Angeles is in the midst of transformation, once again, in the lead-up to the 2028 Olympic Games.