The Dirtbag Diaries

 “I felt as though the Monarch Butterfly contained some special sort of wisdom that I could connect with,” says Benjamin Jordan. Inspired by the Monarch, he set out to do what no one had ever done before: recreate the migration of the Monarch Butterfly--by paraglider. Through this 5-month journey, Benjamin gained a deep respect for this fragile creature and a humble awareness of his own place in nature.

“I did the skiing thing, I did the Navajo thing, and those worlds didn’t cross,” says Len Necefer. After learning how to ski-mountaineer in the winter of 2017, Len set out on an ambitious goal: to connect the Navajo cultural traditions of the mountains he comes from with his new love-- skiing.

Today, Carly Rushford and Paddy O’Connell find their edge on the snowy mountain slopes. In our first double-short episode, we hear how downhill skiing has helped Carly and Paddy shape their place and purpose in the world.

What connects the past, present and future of rock climbing? In season one of Climbing Gold, the sport’s biggest star Alex Honnold and co-host Fitz Cahall take you on a tour through climbing, from the early days of the lunatic fringe where dirtbag climbers gambled with their lives to chase the edge of human imagination, to today’s new generation of athletes who have risen to the top of their sport without ever having touched the world’s most famous summits. Pushing the boundaries of climbing has always meant challenging the assumptions and status quo of the previous generation. Athletes. Risk takers. Dirtbags. Pioneers. Community builders. Outsiders. Leaders. Please join us to hear the voices and stories of climbing’s past and future.

“From here, it’s going to be easy.” Ryan Wichelns and Gabe Messercola repeated this phrase throughout their 21 day expedition in Denali National Park in 2015. From crossing scree-covered glaciers, to traversing ridgelines and downclimbing icy cliffs, to fording waist-deep rivers, Alaska taught these young mountaineers a lesson in making and letting go of plans.See an overview of their route. 

“I think being on foot just allows you to walk past a person's front door. I think that's really important," says Rickey Gates.Rickey learned a lot about his country when ran across the United States. But when he finished, he realized his trip was incomplete and he set out to run every single street in San Francisco. His efforts to get to know the place he calls home ignited a movement of people getting to know their local communities all over the world.Find maps, photos, and more at Rickey's website http://www.rickeygates.com/

“Thru-hiking started to feel like a compulsion: I had to hike the same way I had to breathe,” writes Eloise Robbins. After she fell in love with another thru-hiker on the PCT, she uprooted her life to be with him in Canada. Deprived of a job, a community, and most of all--mountains, Eloise wondered if the sacrifice for love was worth it.

“There should be no friction in the system. If someone wants to come and climb, they should be able to come and climb,” says Abby Dione, owner of Coral Cliffs in Florida. When Abby had to close her doors in March 2020 because of COVID-19 restrictions, she wasn’t sure how long she could keep the business afloat. Faced with losing its only climbing gym, and fueled by a spark of ingenuity, the community had to consider how much they valued the gym beyond the climbing holds.

When Doug Barclift decided to start a business, he headed to an untraditional spot to buy his real estate-- a junkyard. There he found the school bus, wedged between a trailer and a stack of cars, that he would transform into his own paddleboard company. And when a pandemic, civil unrest, and forest fires all threatened to thwart him, Doug kept paddling out to stay positive in a difficult year. And friends and previous contributors share their goals to keep you dreaming and scheming, even when it feels like we’re just trying to get through another year. 

“No one is going to talk me out of doing this because this is a great idea,” says Becca Skinner. “I just gave the best Christmas gift and everyone is going to thank me later.” When Becca surprised her family with an overnight stay in a fire lookout cabin, she expected their holiday vacation to be a little more cozy than it turned out to be. In this episode, we follow the Skinner family through a frozen holiday and are reminded sometimes misadventures bring us closer together.