Dirtbag Diaries: Beyond the Lines

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 ever thought about the person who made that map? Or how that person might influence your initial impression of a landscape?

“A map is not a perfect representation of a landscape. It’s an abstract representation,” says cartographer Marty Schnure. Today, we have a story about a mapmaker, Patagonia Park, and the process Marty uses to create a map--a map that she hopes will connect you to a place.

Music: Road that Burned My Boots by Jahzzar • Asuncion and Dayanara by Health&Beauty • Neo Zen by Ketsa • Quasi Motion by Kevin MacLeod • Wake Me Up by Publish the Quest • Gone by Noush Skaugen

Most tracks provided by Mevio’s Music Alley and Free Music Archive. Additional music by Amy Stolzenbach.

The Dirtbag Diaries: The Modern Dirtbag

In the golden days, dirtbags lived to climb. They didn’t work, have permanent addresses or sponsors. They ate leftovers off of tourists’ plates and slept in beater cars or in caves. They stayed in one place only as long as the weather allowed for climbing. Now, our modern world of fees, time limits and locked dumpsters has made it nearly impossible to live that way anymore. Dirtbagging is dying-- or at least that’s what some people claim.

LINK (via:The Cleanest Line)

Dirtbag Diaries Podcast: El Avalanchisto

When Matt McKee first heard about the position forecasting avalanches for Minera Pimenton, a gold mine in the Chilean Andes, it sounded like the snow geek’s dream job. But mere hours after his plane touched down in Santiago, Matt started getting hints that maybe he had walked into a situation that more closely resembled a nightmare: a den of avalanche paths, a mine full of workers who didn’t believe in avalanches and a country that looked for someone to blame if things went wrong.

LINK (via: The Cleanest Line)

The Dirt Bag Diaries Adventure 1000

It’s January. Time for The Dirt Bag Diaries annual Year of Big Ideas.

(via: The Cleanest Line)

Dirtbag Diaries Podcast: The Treewok

The average American spends a third of their income on housing. Almost as much as the next two greatest expenses — food and transportation — combined. So, theoretically, if you just stopped paying for housing, you could earn a living working three days a week. Or two thirds of the year.

Today, we bring you a story about the pursuit of snow, world domination and cheap rent. It’s imperfect. It comes with inconveniences. Trade-offs. But, at the end of the day, what would you rather trade in? Convenience? Or time spent chasing down dry rock or fluffy snow?

Visit dirtbagdiaries.com for links to past episodes, featured music and to pledge your support. You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, RSS, SoundCloud and Stitcher, or connect with the Dirtbag Diaries community on Facebook and Twitter.  

The Dirtbag Diaries is a Duct Tape Then Beer production.

(via:The Cleanest Line)

Dirtbag Diaries: Rebirth of Belief

We had the discussion around the campfire one night of trying to define 'what is wilderness'," John Stoneman remembers. "We determined that if you get hurt or you have a problem and there's really no way out, you're in the wilderness." Despite the fact that 29,000 people raft down the Colorado River every year, the Grand Canyon is still unquestionably that-- wilderness. But what happens if you do need to get out? When the one place you need to be is a thousand miles away and you are off the grid? In 2010, John put in at Lees Ferry and embarked upon the trip of a lifetime - but not in the way he imagined. Today, we bring you a story about a race against time and the lengths that perfect strangers will go to help others in need. Buckle up.

via: The Cleanest Line