Dirtbag

Dirtbag Dan Books

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If you know me in real life, you’re probably aware that I’m always slinging climbing books – buying and selling guidebooks. Over the years, this has proven to be a pretty reliable small business for me. I was selling mostly via forums and social media – good venues to reach interested customers, but they require an active effort. Since I had some time on my hands after my climbing accident, I decided to build an online store for selling climbing books. That website is now complete! You can check it out at DirtbagDan.com.

(in climbing culture, being a ‘dirtbag’ is considered a positive thing)

Some rare books I have in stock currently:

If you’re a collector or a climber, I think you’ll enjoy it. New books will be added on a rolling basis, and all orders ship USPS media mail. Check it out and buy some books! Thanks.

A Commencement Speech for Climbers

Daniel 1 Comment
Climbing gear in a car

May is almost up, and if you’re anything like me, you’ve spent the month watching high school and college graduations go by: either in-person, or on social media. Caps, gowns and sashes flashed by in a blur— and the requisite binge drinking which soothes the thought of the future from the fresh graduate’s mind sloshed a veneer of fun over the whole thing.

Under the jubilation: the common, slinking, cultural understanding that the degree is going to be more of a burden than a boon, at least for the first half-decade or so. Student loans, a lack of experience and an eminently poor job market all linger on the sides of the millennial consciousness.

“I Just Graduated, Now What?” is the question du jour.

No one I know, except the engineers, is excited about graduation. Even they are subdued, but then again: they are engineers.

Life looks hard from the commencement stage.

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