Dirtbag Dreams: Fantasy vs Reality

(Cover Image: Fred Beckey) Virtually anyone who climbs, has ever picked up a climbing magazine, seen Reel Rock, or any YouTube video on climbing, knows the term “dirtbag”.  The general public uses this term as one of derision to describe someone who might otherwise be a lowlife, good-for-nothing bum; but in the climbing community one…

Why Climbing Matters

As a brief note, this article often uses the term climbing in a broad sense to include everything from rock climbing to mountaineering and hiking. As I rediscover climbing in middle-age, I find that I’m teaching myself something new all over again. Climbing! Whether rocks or mountains, humble boulders and hills in your backyard forests,…