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hooblie
climber
from where the anecdotes roam
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Sep 30, 2010 - 03:35pm PT
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oh rok, i've been a little coy. my roots run deep. we could go on tour as team teachers.
avoidance tactics, consequence denial, enhanced justification, all very marketable if you accept bum checks. not that diversionary behavior ever needed any accelerant.
climbing itself is incentive enough
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Sep 30, 2010 - 03:52pm PT
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Dirtbag, in any kind of substantive context, simply refers to young people more interested in immediate concerns like climbing or surfing or (fill in the blank) than with appearances, security, stability, and the other ten thousand things for which we later mortgage our freedom.
In this sense, a "reformed dirtbag" is a corrupted notion, like saying an adult is a reformed adolescent. I feel for anyone who never went DB and experienced, for the moment, that it was their pleasure that counted.
Fear, lack of imagination or slavery to conservative mores are the only things that can draw an energetic young person straight into adulthood. And such a person is apt to be constipated with resentments, will rarely get to play in the sun, makes love but never really gets laid, never cranks the radio too loud or makes waves, and dies wondering how come.
JL
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BooYah
Social climber
Ely, Nv
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Sep 30, 2010 - 04:00pm PT
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Wisdom, Mr. Long. Bravo.
I'm a dirtbag cowboy, actually a redundant term. Proud of it, too.
Being a bum is easy. Working? That's a toughie.
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bergbryce
Mountain climber
Oakland
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Sep 30, 2010 - 04:04pm PT
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I would love to see the magazines move away from the celebration of "dirtbag" climbers, the wild and crazy climbers, the bad-ass climbers, the adrenaline junkies, etc. Yes, we all know there is risk to the sport. The payoffs in terms of beauty, appreciation of the natural world, building of character, etc. are given very short shrift. It is no wonder that the cry to regulate, impose fees, charge for rescue, mandate equipment/techniques, prohibit access are common tools to rid the public of the unfortunate plague that they perceive climbers to be.
Can the magazines put more emphasis on the contributions of climbers to building and safeguarding the wonderful parks and trails that we all can enjoy? Can we provide role models to complement the first ascensionist - the fantastic folks that acquired/saved lands, built trails, persevered through decades of disappointmnet and ridicule to secure their local crag, worked with young people, etc. The common man can be inspired to give a little when they see the difference others have made. Those contributors may be dirtbaggers, frumpy middle class housewives, preppy excutives, ....
I have had enough of the youngest to flash grade 5.infinity and fastest to link up multiple long formations. It is fun to celebrate the pinnacle achievements. However, broaden the perspective. Think for 5 seconds what an article emphasizing certain practices will affect the Park Superintendant facing a budget shortage and this unholy, unruly mob that the rest of the public believes are penniless leeches.
Climbing is no longer the provence of the idle rich and young Ivy boys, nor is it owned by invading Europeans, nor is it just the dirtbaggers and Vulgarians. There is a huge spectrum of climbers, many of whom contribute to a climbing legacy beyond their own experience.
My thought on Dirtbags - the topic has been beat to death.
The head of nail was absolutely destroyed here.
Bravo.
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powderdan
Social climber
mammoth lakes
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Sep 30, 2010 - 04:07pm PT
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"If you gots a wife and kids, you ain't no dirtbag with that safety net under you. And I ought to know, cuz I'm Rick James, bitch!!!@@@####&"
first of all i dont have kids...i have a family. and i have a job too. two of them actualy. you can take the dirtbag out of the dirt but you cant take the dirt out of the bag. judge not. bitch.
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Les
Trad climber
Bahston
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Sep 30, 2010 - 04:41pm PT
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damn, Largo's post has me all down and sh#t, 'cause it's true. but perhaps it may be enough for most to experience the DB lifestyle only ephemerally, from time to time. or maybe not.
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BES
climber
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Sep 30, 2010 - 05:41pm PT
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Les,
life is not always fair to all.
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Sep 30, 2010 - 05:53pm PT
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John kind of put in in perspective. Dirtbagging is volentary and associated with something fun like climbing, sking,surfing,folowing the dead, etc. Sleeping in the dirt by choice to experience your pastime to the fullest.
A few weeks ago we were climbing in NH and Crashed at the littleton Wall Mart. Porcelin for the woman and a safe place to not get rousted by cops while sleeping. There were folks crashed there that were obviously Mtn bikers dirtbagging it but there were also familys that were just trying to get by. there is a HUGE difference between sleeping in Wall Mart parking lots for sport and sleeping there because there truely is no other place to go...
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Sep 30, 2010 - 06:24pm PT
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Ah, heavy sigh. Those were the days.
Roy, I don't know if anyone driving a classy Caddy like that one can be a DB.
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kunlun_shan
Mountain climber
SF, CA
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Aug 26, 2017 - 06:50pm PT
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Some interesting posts in this thread... and a few cool photos from BITD.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Aug 26, 2017 - 08:31pm PT
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Kind of a broad category. For me there is a difference between dirtbagging and being a dirtbag.
Career dirtbags often have a sense of entitlement that makes me want to keep them at arms length.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Aug 26, 2017 - 08:33pm PT
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I try not to have thoughts.
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Aug 26, 2017 - 09:30pm PT
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Interesting how "dirtbag" somehow has cache now, like it's cool or something. Meh. It's what some people had/have to do to pursue their dreams, and very few like living on dimes and crappy jobs just to get to the crags/beach/whatevs one more time. It's a necessity for some--not an objective. And Tucker? Some quirk of genetics. Dude is unique.
This quote from Largo is interesting:
Fear, lack of imagination or slavery to conservative mores are the only things that can draw an energetic young person straight into adulthood.
Boy, sure makes being an adult sound horrible. So is building a career, raising children, etc.--arguably hallmarks of adulthood--the consequence of cowardice, dullness, and servitude? Really? That must be true in some cases, but it is certainly NOT true for many others. I think for many in the dirtbag circles, the life gets old, which can happen to anyone. A little security, a steady relationship, the comfort of a reliable home--these are not evil. A season or two of dirtbaggery--whatever form it takes--is well worth the effort, but life is multi-layered, and sticking to one path is sometimes a fool's journey. Emerson said: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Dude had a point.
For myself, once I built up some skills, and the classroom was rocking, a good day teaching was as a great day--maybe not quite the level of topping out on El Cap for the first time--but damn good just the same. And once you've climbed a bunch of walls, surfed a bunch of breaks, developed some skills in the outdoors, then what? Repeat until death? Well, doesn't sound too bad, but I'm personally glad my life has not been one of continuous dirtbagging.
Anyway, that's my rant, and I'm sticking to it...until I don't.
BAd
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Aug 27, 2017 - 07:16am PT
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Cool, Gnome. Thanks!
BAd
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F
climber
away from the ground
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Aug 27, 2017 - 07:42am PT
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Real Dirtbaggin is....
Schlepping and living out of a 48 kilo haulbag for years while traveling the world and climbing, funded only by your shoulder season manual labor.
Showing up at a popular alpine ish climbing area with nothing but a foam pad, a pair of shoes, a few cans of chili and a water bottle and doing 4000 feet of climbing in 2 days.
Bumming coffee from hipsters camping on the back loop using a cut off plastic water bottle from the recycling dumpster after an early morning solo on Intersection rock.
Sipping a 10$ bottle of whiskey under a tarp with your buddy for 36 hours while you wait for the rain to stop.
Hitching back from climbing with your feet hanging out the window for 3 hours because they stank so bad.
No address, no phone number, no job prospects, no girl prospects, and no falls for months.
Living simply and free.
Dirtbagging is NOT...
Sprinter vans.
Facebook.
Trust funds.
The video above.
Supertopo.
People/companies that try to capitalize by glorifying or defining dirtbagging are blasphemous and should just stay in the f*#king rock gym with their Red Bull.
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DanaB
climber
CT
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Aug 27, 2017 - 09:38am PT
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Jean Sheperd had some thoughts on a similar topic: the loner. Sheperd noted
that some people liked to view themselves as loners, and tell anyone who would listen that is what they are - the James Dean method of getting attention and fame. Sheperd said that the true loner was an unusual thing, these people were essentially invisible, and it wasn't a choice.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Aug 27, 2017 - 03:23pm PT
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For me there is a difference between dirtbagging and being a dirtbag.
Career dirtbags often have a sense of entitlement that makes me want to keep them at arms length (Jim)
Excellent observation, Jim. Back in the late 1950s I would camp in the Tetons with Yvon Chouinard and his friends. They were dirtbagging it. But Yvon certainly moved far beyond that level of existence.
This brings up the question of whether the word "dirtbag" should have been used in the title of the Fred Beckey movie. I only knew Fred fifty years ago, and I would not have described him that way, but time has passed. Fred's counterpart in the world of mathematics was the Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős. He traveled the world with a shopping bag and suitcase, staying with eager hosts at universities in virtually every civilized country. And my impression was that he did have a kind of sense of entitlement, but that it was well-deserved.
Fear, lack of imagination or slavery to conservative mores are the only things that can draw an energetic young person straight into adulthood (Largo)
That is the worst kind of Longian logic. What a ridiculous statement.
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Captain...or Skully
climber
Boise, ID
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Aug 27, 2017 - 03:39pm PT
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Though I'm an upstanding member of Society these days, I dug my days as a Dirtbag. Best 8 years of my life.
If you don't get it, you'll never get it.
Dirtbags are extinct now, anyway.
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