Stay ConnectedThis is what adventure sounds like. Climb. Ski. Hike. Bike. Paddle. Run. Travel. Whatever your passion, we are all dirtbags. Fitz Cahall and the Duct Tape Then Beer team present stories about the dreamers, athletes and wanderers.
Want the Diaries ad free? Subscribe today at https://dub.sh/DiariesPlus.
Copyright: © Duct Tape Then Beer 2024
In the outdoor world, as we age, we can become picky. We are able to discern choss from splitter granite or hard packed moguls from Utah’s finest snow. Opportunities to return to that beginner’s wonder can be rare. Sometimes it is as simple as trading two planks for one.
Photographers and activists Brian Mohr and Emily Johnson present stories and photos from wild ski terrain and their struggle to become a piece of the conservation puzzle rather than a cog in the problem.
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 big red record button and decided it was time to find my voice. Today, we present The Monoboard Revisited. Here’s to another two years of dreaming, tinkering and coming up with ways to get into trouble.
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 inward into his mind. That approach worked until he became a part of a family. High, lonesome places can provide respite and joy. We can love them deeply, but ice and rock will not love us back.
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-job rides off something like that?” Then Rangi imagined that he was that nut-job. We bring you the hopes, dreams and goals of professional athletes, regular joes, parents, soldiers and students. Here’s to the dirtbags. Here’s to Mr. Smart.
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 once resided in a 77-square-foot shack. Then Cordes ran into Bosszilla.
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 traveler's feet restless? Is it nature or nurture? Writer Ryan Nickum presents Bedtime Stories for Wanderers.
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 the Cascades to search for the perfect Christmas tree.
“’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-based writer Brendan Leonard. Leonard wasn’t a believer until his friend showed up his doorstep with a gift – a 1989 red Trek bicycle. As he began riding, Leonard found his life falling into the smooth order of a finely tuned bike.
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 Alaskan wilderness gone wrong.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
