Nov

The Reckoning

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/99538955″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]Every aspiring photographer dreams of capturing an iconic image. It’s the same kind of motivation that draws young skiers to intimidating lines in foreboding ranges and pulls ambitious climbers to Yosemite. We imagine these moments a thousand times in advance, but when we finally arrive, we are often surprised and humbled. Epiphanies require stumbling.

In 2005, photographer, writer and avid cyclist Blake Gordon set out to take the trip of a lifetime. With camera in hand, he joined brothers Mike and John Logsdon as part of their Spinning Southward Team. The Logsdon brothers were in the midst of pedaling 15,000 miles and raising money for the National Brain Tumor Foundation. Blake would join them to ride the final leg through Patagonia.

For Blake, it was almost like a math equation. Plug 2,500 miles worth of pedaling through a raw and lonesome landscape, add a couple of close friends and Blake was bound to get an image that flawlessly conveyed the essence of the Logsdon’s journey. Even before his flight touched down in Santiago, Chile, he could already visualized that image. He already knew what this trip would be about.

Today, we present The Reckoning–a story plucked from the pages of a young photographer’s notebook. You can ride your bike to the edge of a continent, but when the road ends it doesn’t always lead to neat resolutions.

For the photo enhanced version, click here.

Music: The Wires from My Broken Record Player by Cars and Trains • Lady Don’t Tek No by Latyrx • Ghost Hardware by Burial • Be Less Rude by Frightened Rabbit

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

Sep

Help Wanted

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/99536148″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]

There’s no such thing as a perfect job. There’s always a catch- nagging bosses, gossiping co-workers, crummy benefits. That’s why we get paid to work. But what if there was a magical place where you could get paid to climb? The job pays well and during your four hours of paid break you have the run of the place because your boss is too busy moonlighting as a talking duck to discipline you. It also comes with some sweet perks. The employee lounge is actually a secret lair atop the peak, and you’re allowed to cut the line to ride the roller coaster. What happens when a bunch of climbers are left unsupervised with the keys to the Magic Kingdom? Some jobs are perfect, even if Tinkerbell is out to get you.

Music: Duke of Hazard by Blockhead • Teenage Kicks by The Drayton Unit • OK! by The Mexican Institute of Sound • Karma Hunters by The Pinker Tones

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

Sep

Prayer for a Friend

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/99535314″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]How do people remember the dead? Some people stuff wrinkled snapshots into wallets. Others build ornate mausoleums. Others ensure their friends’ memories by creating goals that can never fully be realized. In 2003, my friend John Bombard lost his battle to cancer. On the day of his passing, I stumbled across an unclimbed route on Washington’s famed Prusik Peak. It was so beautiful, challenging and improbable that I would probably never complete it, yet my youthful enthusiasm and commitment were unflagging. This would be my own awkward offering to my friend.

Today on the Dirtbag Diaries, we’re traveling from the halls of a New England boarding school where two boys forged an unlikely friendship to the wind-swept wilderness deep inside the Cascade Mountains, where a trio of climbers have been hard at work solving one of the Northwest’s greatest free climbing projects. Some prayers can never be whole.

For the photo enhanced version, click here.

Music: Rainin in Paradize by Manu Chao • Look Up by Amy Millan • 5 Minutes Out To Sea by Jodi Martin • Swingset Chain by Loquat • Mind Hole by Numbers

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

Jul

The First Time

I want you to think back to the first time you touched granite, rolled a kayak or linked ski turns. Whether you’re pushing your sport to new heights or daydream about first tracks during your rush hour commute, those first experiences are something we all have in common. It probably felt a little daring, slightly awkward, but absolutely wonderful, and while the waves may get bigger, the routes bolder, they never get rawer.

This week the Dirtbag Diaries brings you the First Time–stories about people’s initial experiences in the outdoors. Instead of one big episode, we’ve gone ahead and split this week’s broadcast into five parts. We’ve got some very special guests. Some you may recognize. Others, we are proud to introduce.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/99427943″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]Part One: A 22-year old Coast Guard ensign finds his inner child in the Alaskan mountains and barely escapes.

Music: There Comes a Time by Trolls Cottage • Napoleon Says by Pheonix • Holding the Pilot by Foundry Fields Recording

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/99428690″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]Part Two: Pro kayaker Tanya Shuman tells us about her search for the perfect wave. It’s a journey that took her around the globe before leading her back to the place where it all began–Skookumchuck Narrows.

Music: Your Ex-lover is Dead by Stars • Um, Circles and Squares by Dosh • Good Vibe by Mr. Anonymous

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/99429684″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]Part Three: For Erin Shea, February 14th will always be linked to cold, darkness and the sound of falling ice. Now that’s our kind of love affair! We bring you the story of a lonely M.I.T. undergrad who has a very special Valentine’s Day.

Music: I’ve Got You and You’ve Got Me by New Buffalo • Nature of the Experiment by Toyko Police Club • Hope the Light by The Furze

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/99429999″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]Part Four: In the last decade, Steve House has pulled off some incredible ascents in the Canadian Rockies, Alaska and the Himalaya. Today, we’re going to look back through the eyes of an 11-year old boy as House tells us about the day his pursuit of high places began, and very nearly ended.

Music: Cold Days by The Twilight Sad • Ballad of Douglas Chin by Three More Shallows • A Lie for a Lie by Built to Spill

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/99430695″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]Part Five: Snowboarding can’t change your life. Snow melts, but life doesn’t get any easier. Deep seeded change can only come from within. Today, we’re traveling from NYC’s notorious Bushwick neighborhood to Whistler Blackcomb’s ski slopes to discover how snowboarding helped transform a young woman headed for trouble. Stephanie McLawerence, a self-described bookworm, brings us her story about finding a second chance in a first time.

Music: Night at the Knight School by Three More Shallows • 45 by The Saturday Knights

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

Jun

No Big Deal

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/99426715″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]In 1996, photographer John Burcham and three friends completed the first foot traverse of the 650-mile long Alaska Range. Together, they forded streams, chased off curious grizzlies and crossed crevassed glaciers. After 75 days, they had become a single unit. After delays mounted, Burcham decided to leave the group at the very end of the trip in order to make it to his sister’s wedding. He said goodbye and parted ways. He was alone in the continent’s last great wilderness with a sobering realization–crevasses, hungry wildlife and hypothermia can kill you, but loneliness can drive you crazy.

Check out the photo enhanced version.

Music: Turning Back to You by Keith Anderson • Keep You Kimi by Hird • Do You Suppose? by Velure • Flowering Spade by Sean Hayes

Music provided by IODA Promonet.