Moab local Daniel McNeil has created “The Skybound Traveler: Climbing Spirit Deck and Guidebook,” a unique oracle deck that uses rock climbing as a metaphorical framework for life’s challenges and triumphs. The project is currently seeking funding through Kickstarter– with a deadline of April 4 to raise $21,000. We sat down with Daniel to learn more about how rock climbing, philosophy, and a love of the Wild Unknown oracle deck sparked this passion project.
Tell us a little about your background and how you came to Moab.
I grew up in New England and studied comparative religion at the University of Vermont. When I graduated from college, I moved to Moab right away because I love rock climbing. I taught seventh-grade special education for a year, and then I started working with Grand Area Mentoring. I’ve been running that for 20 years now. All along the way, I’ve been rock climbing passionately, not just here but around the world. I’ve made lots of friends doing that and had many adventures and learned many lessons.
How did the idea for the Skybound Traveler come about?
Philosophy and psychology are among my chief interests, and I finally realized I could combine these with climbing. The idea came about two years ago, and since then I’ve been chipping away at writing the book. As I would have experiences with friends out in the desert and across the world, these experiences would come up, and I’d think, ‘That’s a perfect thing for the book.’ The writing felt very real to me because I wasn’t on a deadline—I was writing it as it came to my life. All along the way, I’ve also been reading a lot about philosophy, religion, Buddhism, and meditation, so it’s all in the mix.
What inspired you to create a deck like this?
One of the things that brought me to this is Kim Krans’s series of decks and books, particularly ‘The Wild Unknown Archetypes Deck and Guidebook.’ It’s so accessible because, unlike tarot, it looks at metaphors that are really common, like the mountain and the mentor—things we could find in our own lives. For years, I’ve admired that deck and pulled cards from it with friends and family.
So that was one of the springboards to this project. I thought, ‘Metaphors from myth and legend are beautiful and resonate with us, but so do the metaphors of rock climbing.’
I mean, we all know what a summit means even if we’re not standing on top of it, and we all know what it means to fall because we all have fallen. I’ve shared this deck with many friends and family members who are not climbers, and they still love it. I’ve had people ordering this deck on Kickstarter who are not climbers and are just excited to explore both the art and the metaphor.
Could you share an example of how a climbing experience became part of the deck?
One that stands out happened when I was climbing in Indian Creek and got on a roof I’d never done before. The start was very tricky and I was trying to get off the ground without having any reliable protection in the crack yet. I was in a position where if I fell, I could’ve been really injured. I wavered at this decision point: should I continue and press on and maybe pull this off, or should I down-climb?
I eventually decided to down-climb a bit and then hop down to the ground. I got some different gear from my rack on the ground, went back up, and was able to climb the route successfully. When I got home, I wrote ‘The Down-climb’ card, which explores the courage and experience it takes to know when to reverse course. It applies not just to climbing but to many facets of our lives.
Could you tell us about the artwork in the deck?
I had to find an artist to work with, which happened a little over a year ago. Several people submitted art, and Peggy Flavin was among them. I was happy she submitted–her art is so beautiful, and she’s also an AMGA rock guide, which is a high certification level. She really knows her stuff.
Her art is colorful—if you look at the compilation of all the art pieces, these vivid colors jump out at you. The images depict climbers in dynamic positions, like hanging from an overhang or doing a crux move. The style changes across the 52 cards, so you’re not seeing the same thing over and over again, even though there is some consistency.
What stage is the project at now, and what’s next?
Writing the guidebook took a lot of time and heart, but now the real work comes with bringing this thing to the world—managing all the logistics, shipping, and revisions is a huge amount of work.
We currently have a draft of the 52-card deck, and we hope to refine some of the art and the language in the guidebook over the coming months before we go to the first print run. We have a Kickstarter campaign running right now, and we’re trying to raise $21,000, which will help us fund the first print run. That will allow us to order the decks from a professional printer and pay for the shipping, tariffs, and all the logistics. The goal of $21,000 wasn’t chosen arbitrarily; it’s what we need to place the order.
We expect to fulfill the reward commitments of the Kickstarter campaign and hopefully have some inventory left over that we can sell to retailers. I’ve already had several shops here in town approach me and say they want to sell it. People from across the world have contributed to the Kickstarter campaign. Just yesterday, a French outlet posted about our project in French, so it’s exciting. I think this will have legs beyond Moab.
Have you held any events to promote the deck?
We had a launch party this month at Climb Moab, and it was great. We had a bunch of folks there, and I was giving away cards from the first prototype deck. I’d shuffle them, fan them out, and people would draw cards to take home–I definitely want to do that again.
Some people who didn’t know about the project have subsequently pledged on Kickstarter. I also plan to bring this deck out to crags and to the world, to have people get their hands on it to enjoy the art and the oracle, and maybe support the project on Kickstarter.
I just love the project and climbing—I have a very uncomplicated relationship with climbing, I just love it. So I can go out there and be my authentic self and show people this deck, and if it resonates with them and they want to support the project, wonderful. If they don’t, that’s OK.
How can our readers learn more about or support your project?
They can find our Kickstarter page, we also have a webpage that could point them there: theskyboundtraveler.com. I also plan to hang out at the Climb Moab gym and do free readings there, so they can catch me there.
