The Crusade
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/177528470″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]True or False? Standard pushing is for the pros. If you want to shape skiing or climbing, you have to ditch the job, move into the car and find a deep-pocketed sponsor. The tiny window afforded to weekend warriors couldn’t possibly be enough time with which to make an impact. Right?
Today, we bring you the Crusade, the story of two stockbrokers, an engineer and a nuclear physicist who, with a little help from the Internet, helped shaped American ski mountaineering without ever leaving their backyard. There will be no helicopters. No corporate expeditions. No photo shoots. Just a decade-long odyssey from the ambitious imagination of youth across the Cascades’ steepest faces all the way to the unsettled wisdom of adulthood. It turns out weekend warriors are just as capable.
Finally, we’ve got a special treat for you–The Crusade Enhanced. Photos by Jason Hummel, Sky Sjue and Ben Manfredi. Video by Phil Fortier. There are some sweet shots from over a decade of Cascade steep skiing. Skiing these peaks is a feat in itself – stopping to take the photos is another epic task in itself.
Music: Friend of Mine is a collection of U.K.-based of musicians, artists and surfers. They provided much of the ambiance for this episode. Check them out.
Also on today’s show: Pack Up Remix (feat KRS-One & Evidence/Dilated Peoples, prod Jumbo/Lifesavas) by Lyrics Born • Jackie Junior by Sally Shapiro, Junior Boys • Blue Driver by Vetiver
Most music provided by IODA Promonet.
I am a huge fan of the Dirtbag Diaries, and this is one of my favorite episodes. I’m not sure exactly what makes it stand out for me. Maybe it speaks to my occasional tiny flashes of regret that I chose the career and family and didn’t give in to my early wanderlust and pursue a dirtbag lifestyle. Maybe it reminds me that there are no excuses for not pursuing what we love; that we can go outside and live the life we imagined for ourselves, even if we can only do it part time.