The Dirtbag Diaries

Two years ago, I was staring fruitlessly at a computer screen. I was sick of daydreaming.  I dropped the commissioned piece I was working on that day and started writing. I pulled out a mic, hit the b...

25 Feb 200911min

Throughout his life, Portland rock climber Bob Grunau has struggled with the lingering clouds of depression. Until he discovered climbing, the only way to weather the darker cycles was to retreat inwa...

9 Feb 200910min

Rangi Smart was riding a small spur of his favorite single-track trail when he stumbled upon a perfectly designed mountain bike jump. The 33-year-old math teacher thought to himself, “What kind of nut...

27 Jan 200919min

Taco Bell. Pizza Hut. Climber and writer, Kelly Cordes had one hell of resume by the time he applied for a position baking bread. It was an ideal job for a dirtbag who lived and breathed climbing, and...

9 Jan 20099min

With his career stalling and idealism flat lining, Ryan Nickum looked into his past to search for the seed of the travel affliction.  There was only one person to blame -- his father. What makes the t...

22 Des 200828min

For the last five years, I have been stingier than Scrooge when it comes to a Yule Tree. In 2008, I’m a changed man. Armed with a handsaw and empowered by a National Forest permit, I wandered out into...

13 Des 200814min

“’You should get a bike. It will change your life,’ my friend Nick said. I heard this over and over again like a nagging brake pad rubbing on the one wobbly spot on a dented wheel,” writes Colorado-ba...

15 Nov 20088min

To celebrate Halloween, we bring you two tales of terror. Contest winner Chris Peters explains why it pays to listen to the safety talk and a very special guest remembers a family vacation to the Alas...

28 Okt 200828min