 |
 The Dirtbag Diaries - The Shortz - The Great White Book
By Fitz Cahall / dirtbagdiaries.com
- “Life isn’t a bolted sport route,” says writer Scotty Kennedy. “The gear is sketchy and the route is difficult to read.” In 2001, Scott and his wife Sophie were living in the States. Scott was interning at a magazine. Sophie was dirtbagging it in Camp Four. On weekends, they would meet up to climb in Yosemite’s high country, Tuolumne.
 Wind
A patio chair flies by as I look out the window. It joins two others already scattered in the backyard. It’s only a matter of time before the remaining chairs still on my patio join them. As I sit out the latest spring wind event in the comfort of my home, I’m reminded of the many times I’ve been outside in weather such as this with my only form of protection being the sheer walls of a lightweight 3-season tent.
 A ROCK CLIMBERS BEGINNING'S: A TRIP DOWN THE FIRST RIVER
Remember your journey down your mother's river? Down the Canyon of No Return? No amusement park will ever copy this event. We were born, or reborn if you take the fact that life in our embryonic aquatic environment, our hydrosphere, was life primordial. My first nine months back in 1954, I imagine, were none too pleasant for mom or me ...
 The Dirtbag Diaries - Episode 27: The Cowboy and the Maiden
By Fitz Cahall - In September 2008, Chad Kellogg and climbing partner Dylan Johnson stood atop 6250-meter Siguniang in Western China after completing the 10,000-foot-long SW Ridge. It was a mind-bending ascent through a massive big wall, a razor edge ridge and high altitude ice climbing. The two friends endured days without water and several sleepless nights. Dylan lost 30 pounds over the course of their ascent.
 Snake Bit at Turkey Tank
Turkey Tank, near Flagstaff, Arizona, is one of the primo bouldering / trad top rope spots to be seen, touched, or tasted, at least in my limited travels across America. I have moved over stone since the mid 1970's, I've been from a sweet spot to learn this game at Cosumnes River Gorge outside Placerville, California, to, a little further down the road Sacramento's or Roseville's Deer Park.
 A Story to Tell
I watch as it rolls, slowly at first but quick to pick up speed. For a second, maybe two, I know I can dive and grab it. I continue to watch, fixated on the design my lens case is making in the snow…two small indentions followed by a larger one, again and again. For some reason I still don’t move. I’m truly mesmerized.
 We are lizard people... moving over stone
I'd been living in Flagstaff, Arizona, at the edge of the Navajo Reservation, on the road to Hopiland. A great bouldering spot - Turkey Tank - is in range of my two-wheel aluminum mule. On the basalt walls of this canyon are many petroglyphs, some are snakes, others are lizards. Hopi and Anasazi symbols. Important links to Mother Earth.
 Alien on the Rocks
The desert wind is howling. The zephyr is dry as the sand beneath my pedals. I'm riding my bike west across the Arizona outback starting a solo journey. The invisible hand pushing against me is my first real task. The wind makes my skin prickle, it wraps around me like a bear hug. Mile after lonely mile, I get a chance to think a lot.
 Ride for Free, Fact or Fiction
February 2009 - If you are a dumpster-diving dirtbag like me, the Northeast is the place to be this year. I know, complaining about lift ticket prices is de rigeur thing to do, especially at the snowboard shop when you are trying to replace those broken Burton Mission bindings on the cheap…gotta pay to play they say.
 Do you consider yourself an elite mountain athlete?
If you're the kind of person that does hard alpine routes or steep ski descents - in the middle of nowhere - we'd like you to complete a brief survey for a Wilderness Medicine Research Project being conducted by West Virginia University.
The Dirtbag Diaries - The Shortz - The Peach
By Fitz Cahall / dirtbagdiaries.com
- Taco Bell. Pizza Hut. Climber and writer, Kelly Cordes had one hell of resume by the time he applied for a position baking bread. The work was simple, came with food and the early starts would teach Cordes to like the dreaded 3 a.m. starts demanded of cutting edge alpinism. Check out The Alpine Briefs, an international newsletter from the American Alpine Journal, mentioned in this episode of The Dirtbag Diaries.
 The Dirtbag Diaries - Episode 21: No Car No Problem
By Fitz Cahall - A 1,200-foot rock wall in a wilderness area – that's standard summer fare. In a day and back before dinner? Sounds easy. Without a car? That’s when my climbing partners stopped returning my phone calls. Recreating without a car might seem impossible, but this summer I set out to test the preconceived notion.
 The Dirtbag Diaries - The Shorts: The Simple Joy of Moving Upward
By Fitz Cahall - If you plan on calling Craig DeMartino inspirational, he would prefer you wait to see if he can even drag his butt off the ground. After loosing his leg in a climbing accident, DeMartino had to retrain his body and learn his craft all over again. He hoped one day he would compete against the able-bodied, but taking on Chris Sharma in a World Cup? That was beyond dreams.
 The Dirtbag Diaries - Episode 18 - The Earth Chair
By Fitz Cahall - What defines you? Is it your past? How you look? I doubt it. It’s the course we chart from dawn to dusk that makes us who we are. Seventeen years ago, Sean O’Neill — artist athlete and big brother to pro climber Timmy O’Neill — lost the use of his legs after jumping from a bridge into the Mississippi River. After the accident, Timmy dreamed about helping his older brother climb El Capitan. In 2005, the brothers decided it was time to act.
 The Dirtbag Diaries - Episode 17 - The Golden Hour
By Fitz Cahall - On a warm spring day in 1991, Tom Broxson topped out on The Prow of Yosemite Valley’s Washington Column. To this day, Tom and the rescuers who saved his life aren’t exactly sure what happened next, but it ended in Tom surviving the unthinkable — a 200-foot fall onto a slab. He broke every appendage. On the flight out, the helicopter’s engine burst into flames. It was as Tom says, “A high gravity day.”
|
