Cedar Wright launches Climbing Dirtbag Fund

In 2014 American rock climber Cedar Wright published an article in Climbing Magazine in which he lamented the fact that rock climbing, for a vast variety of reasons, was losing its roots and that one of the prime players of this former subculture, the dirtbag, was on the verge of extinction. The essay was classic Wright tongue-in-cheek, but his arguments indeed held fast: despite climbing standards shooting through the roof, fewer and fewer climbers devote their entire lives to being on the road and, well, just go climbing.

For the benefit of those who don't know the expression, Wright pointed to the Urban Dictionary definition of a dirtbag which is pretty much spot on: "A person who is committed to a given (usually extreme) lifestyle to the point of abandoning employment and other societal norms in order to pursue said lifestyle. Dirtbags can be distinguished from ‘hippies’ by the fact that dirtbags have a specific reason for living communally and generally non-hygienically; dirtbags seek to spend all of their moments climbing.”

Wright argued that it was through dirtbagging that not only did he learn the tricks of the trade and send awesome routes in the process, but it was through spending his entire life of the road that his deep love and respect for the natural world was fostered. In short, he considers dirtbagging an important, positive life-changing experience.

For all these reasons Wright has now launched the very informal Dirtbag Fund, while will assign 5 grants of $1000 each. All those who wish to do nothing but climb and spend their lives on the road are eligible, not only from the USA but also from abroad as, as Wright states, he "wouldn't want to rule out hooking up a legendary dirtbag from overseas."

Info: www.cedarwright.com