Mar

Origins

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104304409″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]The Dirtbag Diaries turns five. This also happens to be our 100th episode. To celebrate the occasion, we reached out to our collaborators, our contributors and our friends and asked for ideas. I pitched them a bunch of ideas. They shook their heads. Their response was resounding. “We want to hear your story, the story of the Diaries,” they said. Our intern, Austin Siadak, stepped forward to do the interview and relay the story. The tables were turned. By nature, we like our creation stories simple. An idea appears in the void. A light bulb goes off. The apple hits Sir Isaac Newton on the head. In reality, creation stories are messier, more complicated and more interesting than abbreviated elevator pitches. They are a sum of parts. So here goes.

Music: Truth by Balmorhea • Hoochie Choochie Man by Muddy Waters • The Wires from My Broken Record Player by Cars & Trains • Tight Rope by The Coast • Bear by Carly Comando • Born on the Cusp by The American Analog Set • Joe Metro by Blue Scholars

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

Feb

The Shorts — The Mobil

The Mobil

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104303821″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]”I am a connoisseur of convenience stores,” writes Brendan Leonard. On road trips, he always stops to check out the t-shirt rack, bumper stickers or display of trinkets unique to the area. And every stop is a chance to find the best, ever. But he hadn’t quite found it. Until friends told him of a magical place huddled in the shadow of the Sierra. Instead of hot dogs endlessly spinning under heat lamps, steaks sizzled. People gathered and celebrated. Circus troops careened through the skies above. Indeed, this was a magical place, but could it exceed his checklist of expectations?

Music: The Honest Truth by Typhoon • You Jane by The Wedding Present • Woven Tears by This Will Destroy You • Lady Don’t Tek No by Latyrx

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

Jan

Frozen Lemonade

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104303439″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]When will it snow? It’s the question on the lips of ski town locals throughout the West as fluttering flakes have been late to arrive. Sill, the winter provides opportunity. Tacky mountain bike trails usually buried under feet of snow. Ice climbing on routes normally inaccessible. And ice skating on remote alpine lakes. John Dittli says the skating has been epic in the high Sierra. While others have bemoaned the lack of snow, John has seized the extended window to ice skate on multiple lakes; many more than a typical year allows. He may even secretly hope that the snow remains at bay for a little longer. In the spirit of making the most out of a situation. we present the Year of Big Ideas- goals from friends, pros and creative thinkers. And no matter what 2012 brings, we’ll make sure there’s more lemonade in all we do.

Music: Waiting for Nothing by Moonlit Sailor • Skylike by Ishq • KAMIKAZE by Just An Animal • Dark Star by POLIÃ�A

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

Dec

The Shorts — By Any Means Necessary

By Any Means Necessary

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104302667″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]Growing up in Ireland, writer Lisa McGonigle wasn’t immersed in snow and mountains. But a trip to the Pyrenees when she was 19 to try snowboarding realigned her priorities. Lisa scrimped her savings and made due with periodic trips until she graduated and set her sights on fulfilling her dream of ski bumming in British Columbia. While little rivals fresh lines on a powder day, she discovered the fine line between passionate and obsessed can be difficult to distinguish. What fuels your decisions?

If you want to read more about Lisa’s ski-bumming, check out her book Snowdrift.

Music: Never in a Million Years by Apollo Brown • And Who Could Love a Man She Couldn’t See? by adcBicycle • Members Only by Turbine

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

Nov

Transitions: Efficiency Manifesto

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104302322″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]No one skins uphill to put together a splitboard efficiently. They do it to shred down. Making a transition at a belay is part of the process, not the main event. Transitions may not be sexy, but they make or break us. They are the difference between a cold night spent shivering on a ledge and walking out in perfect evening light. Almost five years after I wrote the Monoboard and started The Diaries, I find myself in a metaphorical transition. My passions run from the mountains to the Seattle music scene and I’ve become adept at moving between them. My life is about to change. My passions won’t. It’s time to refine the transition.

Music: NM2 by Drake • Snow Globe by Mezzanine Owls • Time Machine by Have Gun Will Travel • Boy by Ra Ra Riot

Music provided by IODA Promonet.