The Modern Dirtbag

In the golden days, dirtbags lived to climb. They didn’t work, have permanent addresses or sponsors. They ate leftovers off of tourists’ plates and slept in beater cars or in caves. They stayed in one place only as long as the weather allowed for climbing. Now, our modern world of fees, time limits and locked dumpsters has made it nearly impossible to live that way anymore. Dirtbagging is dying– or at least that’s what some people claim.

Join Matt Van Biene for a day in Yosemite’s Camp 4 as he talks to climbers of all different ages, nationalities and backgrounds. Is dirtbagging dead or alive? What does the modern dirtbag look like? Well, you decide.

Matt’s photographs from Patagonia were recently featured in The Alpinist. Check out the article here.

Music: Jesus Loves To Watch You Sleep by adcBicycle    •    All Of The Time by adcBicycle    •    Engine by Harmonica Lewinsky    •    Shame by My Monthly Date    •    All of Your Love by adcBicycle    •    Weep Walker by Denise Casey    •    Sadder by adcBicycle

Denise Casey has kindly agreed to let us use her music on the Diaries.

Other tracks provided by Mevio’s Music Alley and Free Music Archive.

Camp Full

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5 Comments on “The Modern Dirtbag

  1.  by  mountainpatsy

    Great Dirtbag Episode. I would like to say, though, I don’t think there are Giant Sequoia’s at Camp 4.

  2. Pingback: At Long Last…Becoming a Dirtbag |

  3.  by  SansHands

    Great episode! Just discovered the podcast and am looking forward to tackling the rest of the archive. But what’s the song playing at the 23:30 mark? I enjoyed it but it doesn’t seem to be any of the tracks credited in the episode description.

    •  by  Jen Altschul

      Hey, Thanks for the kind words! I’m 95% sure that the song at 23:30 is “Engine” by Harmonica Lewinski, but, man, I can’t find it online anywhere.

      •  by  SansHands

        Thanks for the reply, Jen. Yeah, that was the one track from your credits that I wasn’t able to track down & listen to, but at least I know the name of the band now. Thanks again!