The Dirtbag Diaries
Episodes
Tandemonium
23 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Say the word bike, and words like, fun, freedom, fast, come to mind. But does a tandem bike double the fun or divide the freedom? One thing seems cert...
The Shorts--Beyond Failure
09 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Leah Breen had always been taught to embrace failure. You can't win every mountain bike race, or make it to the top of every pitch. Learn from it, and...
Fit To Print
26 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When Steve Casimiro moved across the country to write for Powder magazine in the 1980’s, he wasn’t sure his work was going to matter. But after 30...
Endangered Spaces - Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
12 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Boulder, Utah. Population 250. Sitting in the heart of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, this small town of ranchers and settled-down dirtb...
The Shorts-- Fistful of Hearts
28 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
“We biked through wind, rain, and snow. If lightning struck, we kept going. We only stopped if it got too close. We outran tornadoes in Oklahoma. W...
The Dreamer
14 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
“I’ve spent my entire life going on adventures, but I wasn’t ever really the creator of these adventures,” says Kathy Holcombe. “My role is ...
Flip Of A Coin
24 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Last spring, Andy and Katherine Wyatt set up basecamp on the Powell Glacier in Alaska’s Chugach Mountains.After years of individual rad mountain acc...
The Shorts -- Restless for Roots
10 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Carmen Kuntz has lived a dirtbag life for over a decade. She’s moved every year since graduating high school, and has explored some of the world’s...
The Land And Water Conservation Fund
26 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
After more than 50 years of bipartisan support, Congress failed to re-authorize the Land Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) in the fall of 2018. LWCF gran...
Solo She Rides
12 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s double-feature episode, Amie Begg and Jessica Kelley head out solo into the Himalayan and Alaskan wildernesses--on their bikes. Throu...
The Shorts-- My Cathedral
22 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Mitch Breton grew up as as devout member of the Catholic Church. He ascended the religious ranks through his childhood, and assumed that one day he wo...
The Shorts-- The Van Fan
08 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Jeanie Adamson, a 50-something Mom, decided to switch things up last year for spring break. When she told her son, Luke, she wanted to ski at every re...
Living For The Lost
22 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There is no clear way to cope with death and grief. Moving forward is often heartbreaking, baffling, and uncertain. So, how do we best honor those we’...
Walk To Connect
08 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
After a childhood of moving from one suburban neighborhood to the next, Jonathon Stalls felt starved for connection--to anything or anyone. In a quest...
Novel Inspiration
25 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
After falling in love with John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Charlie Turnbull and Leon Morton set out to recreate the 1,615-mile journey describ...
The Year of Big Ideas 2019
10 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
“For better or for worse, ideas are infectious. They become our goals, and the struggle to realize them becomes memory, the story of our lives,” s...
Mountain Hollow Dreams
28 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Kalman, Austin Siadak and Miranda Oakley got to go on what should have been a climber’s dream trip--fully funded first ascents of granite big ...
The Shorts-- Saving Santa
14 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"To work in tourism is to witness the human comedy," says Joe Aultman-Moore. "Every guide has stories that start with, "You'll never believe this...'....
Endangered Spaces--Cook Inlet
30 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Hamilton makes a living by taking people out into the remote Alaskan wilderness to hang out with brown bears. These days, he does it, in large pa...
Hit Pause
16 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What if you could hit pause on life? This last summer, Fitz did, and biked the 670-mile-long Oregon Timber Trail. A groove and a rut look different wh...
Tales of Terror Vol. 9
26 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Our ninth annual Tales of Terror brings you three stories that will send shivers down your spine. From ghost-like figures walking silently through the...
Moto Gypsy
12 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
For the past five years, Janelle Kaz has traveled on her motorcycle fighting against the worldwide problem of wildlife trafficking. Travel along, as s...
Anti-Gravity
28 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
“I have really good reason to believe that if I hadn’t have been walking down the strip and found that 72-foot tower to climb, that I would be dea...
Hootin' & Hollerin'
14 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
“I was certain I was paralyzed. My legs were totally limp, I was hanging upside down and the only thing stopping me from falling 160-feet headfirst ...
Ethan and G-Pop
24 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
“I have a pretty young grandfather, but he was starting to get old and knew he had one or two more big expeditions in him,” says Ethan Roebuck. “...
The Glacier Project
10 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
“Any time I ski a steep line, I’ve done it hundreds of times, and still every time for me there is that moment of fear on top, where I am like, ‘...
The Shorts--A Story of My Own
27 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
For most of his adult life, Cam Fenton has fought against climate change--and particularly to protect the Arctic. “The funny thing was, for most of ...
The Elephant in the Boat - Part II
13 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Expedition kayakers Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic have what is perhaps the longest running, most successful partnerships in outdoor adventure, b...
The Shorts-- Better Than Good Enough
22 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
After a breakup and a drinking habit sent John Gray in a downward spiral, he decided that he needed something radical to shake him out of his "life av...
The Elephant in the Boat - Part I
08 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Expedition kayakers Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic have what is perhaps the longest running, most successful partnerships in outdoor adventure, b...
Introducing Safety Third: Channel Risk Into Reward
05 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we bring you the first episode of Duct Tape Then Beer's new show, "Safety Third." Big wall climber and former wingsuit flyer Chris McNamara bel...
The Shorts--Spirit B
25 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
“In the early stages of my pregnancy, I was intrigued and ready for the changes that would take place,” says Chelsey Magness. “As an athlete, I ...
Flyathlon
11 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There are a lot of serious problems in this world, but the solutions don’t always have to be serious. Fly-fisherman and runner Andrew Todd channeled...
The Shorts--The Amazement Meter
27 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Chronic depression and the deaths of a few friends launched Tyler Dunning on a mission to visit all of the National Parks. He constructed an identity ...
Venture Out
14 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
“I was working this corporate job, and, every day, I looked out the window and thought, ‘Man, those mountains are so beautiful, I wish I was out t...
The Shorts--Unlearning Adventure Sports
23 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Carmen Kuntz had just started to break into the world of competitive, freestyle whitewater kayaking when she sustained a mild traumatic brain injury. ...
Escape From Beacon Rock
10 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
“For me, it was a way to stay connected—literally: tied to my free-range daughter by a length of 10-millimeter climbing rope, and connected to my ...
The Shorts--Aloha Life
23 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
“Here I was, a professional wilderness instructor with no food or water, a sopping wet tent and wetter sleeping bag, no way to banish the chills or ...
The Punk Rockers of Ski Mountaineering
09 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"The notion that there's one dream that we're all after and agreed upon ways in which you can verify that you are indeed living that dream drives me c...
Endangered Spaces--Prince of Wales
26 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"It's like being caught in a spiderweb. You'll find yourself pushing with every part of your body, and no part of your body will be able to move. You'...
The Year of Big Ideas 2018
12 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"I think the jack of all trades gets a bum rap. The jack is the master of none, but I think the jack probably has a lot of fun," says Fitz Cahall. We ...
Growing Down
22 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Some people grow upward and outward; some people root down. For Fitz Cahall, what growth means has changed over time.
The Shorts--Zarsian Adventures
08 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Cordelia Zars shares stories of her family's unconventional adventures--like dragged a 90-lb keyboard 10-miles through the snow on a 9-degree Colorado...
The Shorts--T-Day
23 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Katie Wallace learns to see family holidays as a privilege rather than an obligation.
Over the Line
08 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"It's like the Iditarod with a chance of drowning," says Jake Beatty, one of the organizers of the Race to Alaska. What's crazier than trying to race ...
Tales of Terror Vol. 8
27 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For our eighth annual Tales of Terror episode, we have five stories that span the range of things to fear--from angry men with shotguns, to bears and ...
The Shorts--Yard Sale
12 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When Tyler Neese and four friends loaded up the truck for a spring break ski vacation in Colorado, the stoke was high. Until, just minutes from the sl...
Endangered Spaces--Boundary Waters
22 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For our third Endangered Spaces episode, we travel to Northern Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to follow Dave and Amy Freeman on "Pa...
The Shorts--Thirst
08 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"If you're thirsty, you're probably already dehydrated. That's what they say. Those perfect people who always have a clean, happily-colored, reusable ...
Winnebago Warriors
25 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"When we were living in a house, we were always compromising what we thought we should be doing," remembers Kathy Holcombe. Until, the day she, her hu...
The Shorts--Double Vision
11 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"I looked like some mountain man's girlfriend, and sometimes, that's all I felt like," remembers Andrea Ross. But after an accident on Mt. Humphreys f...
081
28 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Roland Thompson used to rob banks. Now he climbs and snowboards.
Endangered Spaces--Katahdin Woods and Waters
07 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"The reason that I was able to do it is because I was incredibly naive," says Lucas St. Clair. "I had no idea how much work it was going to be, when I...
The Shorts--Exit Strategy
23 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"Three days from the end of the trip, I started to panic," writes Emma Walker. "I still didn't know what to do with my summer, let alone the rest of m...
Pedal Strokes and Perspective
09 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"As a brown woman, I stand out," says Mary Ann Thomas. "People came up to me just because they were curious, just because they were like, 'There aren'...
Picaflor
26 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When a bad breakup sent him spiraling into a deep depression, Tom Ireson fixated on an unconventional way to get his head straight: "I really needed s...
The Shorts--Let Joy Rule Your Life
12 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"I used to go climbing in the same way people would go to a well, a source of life equally routine and sacred. It would fill me up--leave me refreshed...
The Bet
28 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Matt Muchna and Peter Journel are best friends, and complete opposites. Matt is spontaneous. Peter is a planner. Matt is an idealist, Peter in a reali...
The Shorts--Catching Hope
14 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"Every day on the mountain and every night at the bar, drinking and partying was as much a part of my life as skiing," remembers Paddy O'Connell. "Tha...
Endangered Spaces--Bears Ears
25 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Josh Ewing's metamorphosis from climber to climber-activist and the battle to protect Bears Ears.
The Fear is Real
10 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Loosely speaking, there are two kinds of fear. There's the fear of external, objective hazards--like getting caught in an avalanche, or taking a bad f...
Leaving the Races Behind
24 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you travel down to Ushuaia, Argentina, you might just find a bus plastered with a massive photograph of Sam Evans-Brown. In that photo, he's sprint...
The Shorts--The Chute
10 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"'Oh, shoot', my dad muttered for the tenth or fifteenth time in the last five minutes. Then, he burst into exhausted chuckles," remembers Deron Daugh...
The Year of Big Ideas 2017
27 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
No matter who they voted for, right now, a lot of people in this country would agree that things could be better. In the long term, if want thing to g...
The Shorts--Vanlife
13 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"I have now officially sold out," writes Chris Kalman. "I work more than I climb. I pay rent and sleep in a house I'm getting rich off of writing--so ...
To Infinity
23 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Chad Kellogg. September 22nd, 1971 to February 14th, 2014. Seattle climbing community legend. Dear friend to many. And the toughest guy around. "For...
The Shorts--The Skin Track
09 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
With a professional ski guide for a dad and a skin instructor for a mom, Nina Hance learned early how to set a steep skin track and charge hard. At 20...
coMOMdo
26 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"As a mom, you have no book that tells you the right way to take care of your kids through bad times," says Bonnie Elozory, mother of four. For seve...
What's Next?
11 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"This is the part that I never anticipated: the boots have taken on a life of their own. They've just worked magic with people," says M'Lynn. "I'd lik...
Tales of Terror Vol. 7
28 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This is our seventh annual Tales of Terror episode. Over the past seven years, we've read a lot of scary stories about things that happen out in the w...
Mileposts--Greater than the Sum of its Parts
14 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In the fall of 2015, photographer Pete McBride and writer Kevin Fedarko embarked upon a journey to rally support to protect one of our most awe-inspir...
The Shorts--The Dirtbag Ministry Co-Op
30 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"The days and months on the road had unspooled before us and we'd simply followed the thread. But the bobbin was empty now," writes Dave McAllister. "...
Paul's Boots--An Update from the Trail
16 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Last winter, we received an email from M'Lynn. Her late husband, Paul, had a dream to hike the Appalachian Trail. He never made it to the AT--but, M'L...
Mothers Have It Hardest - Kyle Dempster Tribute
09 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"Maybe you and I would have the same recommendation--from my standpoint to the climbers out there, and from your standpoint to the mother's of those c...
No Way Around It
02 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic are the expedition kayakers. Over the past decade, the duo have made first descents of over 120 rivers in wildly r...
Mileposts--Calling Home
19 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"I think all of us -- dad, me, my brother -- recognized a window of opportunity in which our flexibility as freelancers overlapped with dad's entrance...
Start Saying Yes
05 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"Over two weeks I went from pretty 'fine'--I have to say 'fine' with air quotes and an eye roll because it's that kind of fine--so, I went from 'fine'...
Mileposts--The Grit to Make it Happen
22 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"If you go on some really big, really ambitious trip or you have some enormous goal, if you look at the big picture all the time, it's too intimidatin...
The Suffer Vest
08 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"I'm not what you'd call a 'runner.' I prefer it to getting fat, but not by a lot," writes Brendan Leonard. "The most I'd run in the past fews years w...
The Ultimate Weekend Warrior
24 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jim Herson and Anne Smith live in the Bay Area. They're in their fifties. Jim has worked the same computer science job since he graduated college in 1...
Little Explorers Club
10 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"Tommy grew up in Estes, but you notice that so many families and so many kids just don't go into the the National Park," says Becca Caldwell. While R...
Live From 5Point Vol. 9
26 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Before Semi-Rad.com, Brendan Leonard wrote a Short for The Dirtbag Diaries called Sixty Meters to Anywhere. He recently published a book with the same...
Green Light
13 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Looking west from Seattle, the skyline of Olympic National Park is defined by the notched peak of The Brothers. "I see it stuck in traffic. I see it f...
The Shorts--I Poo, A Love Story
29 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"My new husband, Bix, consulted the map and asked if I thought we'd make it to Bowknot Bend that day. Lots of honeymooners probably have similar conve...
Trespassers
15 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"You have to imagine that you're on the frozen Arctic Ocean. You're six miles from shore, you can't really tell where the ocean stops and the white sh...
Mileposts--The Miracle of Darkness
01 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"The sky above you goes on forever, and the landscape appears as endless as the sky. The world is expansive and you are tiny. All of your problems shr...
A Slosh in the Bucket
18 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Eric Johnson lives in Sturgis, South Dakota with his wife and three young daughters. He works as a high school English teacher. He's responsible--well...
The Shorts--Tower Climbing, Baby!
04 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"I unclipped the hot belay device from my harness. I looked over at Conor, smiled and announced, 'This is the best part of my day so far'!" writes Jen...
Mileposts--Celebrate with a Milkshake
19 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"Sometimes, when I'm hiking somewhere near Moab and chatting with other people, I think about saying something like, 'You know what's great about this...
Roll The Dice
05 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"We started the trip without much of a purpose," writes Fil Corbitt. "We wanted to be pushed around. Wanted to find something we didn't know we were l...
Paul's Boots
22 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We got a call from Australia. M'Lynn's husband, Paul, passed away this past July. He left behind three pairs of polished hiking boots and a backpack p...
The Shorts--If The Shoe Fits
08 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"I followed my friend through the small, dark weight room in a crusty garage-like building left over from the station's army days and up a narrow, twi...
Everybody Loves LeeRoy
10 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
God told Steve Wescott to walk from the Space Needle to Times Square, NYC, with a goat named LeeRoy, to raise $200,000 for an orphanage in Nairobi, Ke...
The Shorts--Powder and Hookah Smoke
20 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
"In the end, Iran's spirit took me completely and pleasantly by surprise," writes Greg Buzulencia. "The benevolence I received inspired me to approach...
Tales of Terror Vol. 6
30 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Phantasmal footsteps, strange silhouettes, inexplicable movements and unaccountable sounds. In our sixth annual Tales of Terror, Bix Firer, Lorraine C...
The Shorts--Commit Fully
16 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
"Our four seater plane touched down on a small gravel bar in the heart of the Brooks Range. We unloaded. The engine roared back to life, and the plane...
The Shorts--Squalls
24 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
"This was one of those rare moments in life where you must act or die and everything was therefore very simple--although the outcome remained unclear,...
Beyond the Lines
04 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Maps. We've all studied them. Stuffed them into backpacks or the seatback pocket of our car. Maybe we've even been led astray by a map. But have you e...
The Shorts--The Hourglass
23 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
"By midweek, I can't focus on my duties at work, and spend most of my time on Summitpost and Mountain Project," writes Niki Yoblonski. "There are so m...
700
02 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
"I was looking for no less than a new way of living in this world for our entire society," says Clay Shank. "Like, 'What's the alternative to this cap...