The Dirtbag Diaries

This is what adventure sounds like. As long as we’ve climbed, skied, hiked, boated or traveled, we’ve been telling stories. Duct Tape Then Beer present the sometimes serious, often humorous stories about the people who call the outdoors their home. What began as a solitary experiment by writer Fitz Cahall, has evolved into collaboration between writers and listeners to produce the type of stories that rarely find homes in the glossy pages of magazines.

Mountain Hollow Dreams 12/28/2018

Mountain Hollow Dreams Chris, Austin Siadak and Miranda Oakley got to go on what should have been a climber’s dream trip--fully funded first ascents of granite big walls in the Coast Range of British Columbia, helicopter transport in and out, and good team dynamics. But, by the end, Chris realized that this dream trip left him feeling a little hollow and he needed to redefine how he pursues meaningful adventures. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/8057051

The Shorts-- Saving Santa 12/14/2018

The Shorts-- Saving Santa Working as a seasonal guide at a remote camp in rural Alaska with ten other men, Joe Aultman-Moore figured it would take nothing less than a request to Santa and his team of flying reindeer to meet a girl. Can Christmas wishes still come true? /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/7913663

Endangered Spaces--Cook Inlet 11/30/2018

Endangered Spaces--Cook Inlet Drew Hamilton makes a living by taking people out into the remote Alaskan wilderness to hang out with brown bears. These days, he does it, in large part, as a unique way to protect this magnificent landscape from the proposed Pebble Mine. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/7752971

Hit Pause 11/16/2018

Hit Pause What if you could hit pause on life? This last summer, Fitz did, and biked the 670-mile-long Oregon Timber Trail. A groove and a rut look different when perched on the saddle day after day. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/7590818

Tales of Terror Vol. 9 10/26/2018

Tales of Terror Vol. 9 Our ninth annual Tales of Terror brings you three stories that will send shivers down your spine. From ghost-like figures walking silently through the snow, to shadows lurking in a backcountry hut and canyon, these stories will keep you peering over your shoulder. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/7317302

Moto Gypsy 10/12/2018

Moto Gypsy For the past five years, Janelle has traveled on her motorcycle fighting against the worldwide problem of wildlife trafficking. Travel along, as she follows jungle roads in Colombia into the incredible indigenous culture of the Kogi. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/7166597

Anti-Gravity 09/28/2018

Anti-Gravity Juan Rodriguez is an American citizen, an immigrant and a climber. Today, we follow Juan’s journey from Mexico to climbing shop owner, through illegal border crossings and to the first rock wall he ever climbed on the Las Vegas strip--a chance encounter that altered the trajectory of his life. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/7103596

Hootin' & Hollerin' 09/14/2018

Hootin' & Hollerin' In November, 2016, Craig took a fall climbing that injured him badly, and dramatically altered the course of his life. In this episode, we follow Craig through the first year of his recovery--the day to day questions and decisions, setbacks and victories, mini-crises and mini-epiphanies that really make up the recovery process. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/7043848

Ethan and G-Pop 08/24/2018

Ethan and G-Pop When Ethan’s Roebuck’s grandfather proposed that they go on a tandem kayaking expedition along the Canadian coast the summer before Ethan’s senior year of high school, Ethan was onboard. Producer Cordelia Zars brings you the story of a wild adventure, a passing of the torch, and the special bond that emerges and evades the constraints of words. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6966148

The Glacier Project 08/10/2018

The Glacier Project Just as Jason Hummel had started to feel like he knew what his home mountains had to offer, he stumbled into this idea that made him reconsider how much he still had to explore. Today, we bring you Jason’s journey to ski all of the glaciers in Washington--a story about how sometimes, by placing a constraint on adventure, we can deepen our relationships with the places we consider most familiar. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6907669

The Shorts--A Story of My Own 07/27/2018

The Shorts--A Story of My Own Cam Fenton traveled to the Arctic hoping for revelations about climate change and renewed purpose to fight the good fight. He did walk away with a revelation--just a very different one than he expected. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6854676

The Elephant in the Boat - Part II 07/13/2018

The Elephant in the Boat - Part II Expedition kayakers Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic have what is perhaps the longest running, most successful partnerships in outdoor adventure, but, in April 2017, on an expedition to the Colombian Amazon, the team dynamics grew so strained that being held hostage by an armed rebel group didn’t seem like the worst thing that could have happened. In Part II, we’ll get into the history of this epic partnership, what went so wrong, and what happens moving forward. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6807202

The Shorts-- Better Than Good Enough 06/22/2018

The Shorts-- Better Than Good Enough After a breakup and a drinking habit sent John Gray in a downward spiral, he decided that he needed something radical to shake him out of his "life avoidance stupor." So, he signed up for a semester-long Outward Bound course that would take hime from the Appalachians to the Everglades to Costa Rica-- and change his outlook in a lasting way. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6731584

The Elephant in the Boat - Part I 06/08/2018

The Elephant in the Boat - Part I Expedition kayakers Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic have what is perhaps the longest running, most successful partnerships in outdoor adventure, but, in April 2017, on an expedition to the Colombian Amazon, the team dynamics grew so strained that being held hostage by an armed rebel group didn’t seem like the worst thing that could have happened. In Part I, we’ll follow Ben and Chris down Colombia’s remote Apaporis River. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6683350

Introducing Safety Third: Channel Risk Into Reward 06/05/2018

Introducing Safety Third: Channel Risk Into Reward Today, we bring you the first episode of Duct Tape Then Beer's new show, "Safety Third." Big wall climber and former wingsuit flyer Chris McNamara believes risky outdoor pursuits are essential. But, what happens when something vital has the potential to kill you? You find different ways to take risks. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6668608

The Shorts--Spirit B 05/25/2018

The Shorts--Spirit B When unimaginable tragedy struck Chelsey Magness’ family, they came up with a unique way to move through their grief. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6632525

Flyathlon 05/11/2018

Flyathlon There are a lot of serious problems in this world, but the solutions don’t always have to be serious. Fly-fisherman and runner Andrew Todd channeled his concern for Colorado’s native trout and the watersheds that support them into the creation of a joyful, irreverent, event: The Flyathlon. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6571592

The Shorts--The Amazement Meter 04/27/2018

The Shorts--The Amazement Meter Chronic depression and the deaths of a few friends launched Tyler Dunning on a mission to visit all of the National Parks. He constructed an identity around the project, started writing a book and making a short film about his journey. But part way through his project, he lost interest, and was again left with the question, ‘Now what’? /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6531308

Venture Out 04/14/2018

Venture Out Perry Cohen founded the Venture Out Project to teach queer folks basic outdoor skills, but, even more importantly, to give LGBTQ folks a safe, supportive community through which to experience the outdoors. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6479524

The Shorts--Unlearning Adventure Sports 03/23/2018

The Shorts--Unlearning Adventure Sports Carmen Kuntz had just started to break into the world of competitive, freestyle whitewater kayaking when she sustained a mild traumatic brain injury. For the past four years, she has had to confront a new kind of challenge: learning to balance the risk of re-injuring her head and the risk of losing who she is. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6401290

Escape From Beacon Rock 03/10/2018

Escape From Beacon Rock At age 72, David Altschul gets redemption on a failed ascent of Beacon Rock, connects with his daughter and becomes a 'real' climber. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6349847

The Shorts--Aloha Life 02/23/2018

The Shorts--Aloha Life Emma Walker and her husband, Bix, have both worked for years as wilderness instructors, so when the two fo them set out on an overnight backpacking trip to a beach on Hawaii's big island, they were unconcerned. Maybe a little too unconcerned. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6294675

The Punk Rockers of Ski Mountaineering 02/09/2018

The Punk Rockers of Ski Mountaineering In May of 2017, Forest McBrian and Trevor Kostanich spent a month traversing the North Cascades from Snoqualmie Pass to the Canadian Border (well, almost) in a style that broke all the rules of an epic mountaineering expedition--in the best way possible. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6231546

Endangered Spaces--Prince of Wales 01/26/2018

Endangered Spaces--Prince of Wales Elsa Sebastian bushwhacked through the overgrown clearcuts of Southeast Alaska in a creative effort to defend the remaining old growth on her home island, Prince of Wales, from a proposed bill that would transfer up to 2-million acres of the Tongass National Forest to the State of Alaska. For the fourth installment of our Endangered Spaces series, we follow Elsa and her companions as they trek across the island to see for themselves what's been lost and what remains to be saved. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6193545

The Year of Big Ideas 2018 01/12/2018

The Year of Big Ideas 2018 We open our annual Year of Big Ideas with an ode to “mediocrity” from Fitz, then turn, as always, to our community for inspiration for the coming year. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6144377

Growing Down 12/22/2017

Growing Down Some people grow upward and outward; some people root down. For Fitz Cahall, what growth means has changed over time. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6075136

The Shorts--Zarsian Adventures 12/08/2017

The Shorts--Zarsian Adventures Cordelia Zars shares stories of her family's unconventional adventures--like dragged a 90-lb keyboard 10-miles through the snow on a 9-degree Colorado evening--and she reflects on how those excursions shaped her and her siblings. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/6015121

The Shorts--T-Day 11/23/2017

The Shorts--T-Day Katie Wallace learns to see family holidays as a privilege rather than an obligation. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/5972375

Over the Line 11/08/2017

Over the Line "It's like the Iditarod with a chance of drowning," says Jake Beatty, one of the organizers of the Race to Alaska. What's crazier than trying to race from WA to AK on a boat without a motor? Karl Kruger's decision to enter the race on a SUP. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/5922286

Tales of Terror Vol. 8 10/27/2017

Tales of Terror Vol. 8 For our eighth annual Tales of Terror episode, we have five stories that span the range of things to fear--from angry men with shotguns, to bears and mountain lions, to things that really don't have any explanation in the world of science. /episode/index/show/thedirtbag/id/5881888

The Dirtbag Diaries

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