In order to be a successful dirtbag, you must be willing to sacrifice everything for climbing.  I’m talking about EVERYTHING; comforts of living in a house, any of your other hobbies that might get in the way, going out to eat, splurging on a night on the town, driving in a sporty car, family, friends and fashion.  Pretty much anything civilized and mainstream, kiss it good bye.  Some would argue that you dont have to give up any of these, and to an extent thats true.  BUT,  most must make modifications to your current standard of living in order to afford the gas to get to all the awesome places in the U.S. and the world!

The first thing that must go is shopping for clothes.  Well, you dont have to completely give up shopping, you just have to make some adjustments to it. Please keep in mind that I have a “little” shopping problem, so I sympathize for all you ladies (and men) out there who are taken aback by this statement.  You dont have to completely throw fashion out the window, you just have to learn how to do it in an economical way.

First of all, its important to have a set of quality base layers.  We climb, rain or shine (at least in the southeast), hot or cold.  We have to protect ourselves and try to be as comfortable as possible while we face the elements.  “Cotton Kills” is a favorite saying of the guiding industry, and well, they’re right.  But cotton can also keep you cool on a hot day, so dont go throwing out all your tshirts quite yet.  Afterall, Tshirts are cheap and comfy.  Anyways, bottom line: Shop at Patagonia Outlet stores.  You can get capilene for cheap and all the other base layers you need.

The r1 hoodie, by Patagonia, is one base layer that everyone should have.  Its the lightest weight per warmth layer out there. Its built to take abuse and to go for long periods of time without washing.

Whenever buying any outerlayer, I always recommend a hood. With a hood, you dont have to worry about bring a hat, perfect, multi-functional!

Multi-functional, another VERY important element for shopping for clothes and fashion.  One thing I like to keep in mind when I am buying clothes is, if this will match all my other favorite clothes.  You must coordinate your clothing so that no matter what variation you have, they dont clash.  Its also nice to match your clothes to the color of your climbing rope.  A friend of mine says “if you look good, you feel good and you climb good.” (Ken Coleman, Mammoth Lakes.)

Wool sweaters.  They are so warm, dry fast and come in many different colors and designs.  It needs to be wool, cotton looses heat faster than you can close your van door in a snowstorm. I personally love cashmere sweaters, and if you are lucky, you’ll find some old ones at the thrift/consignment store.  When I am in the sweater aisle, I run my hand along the row of sweaters until I find something soft.  Check the tag and if its cashmere, rabbit fur or merino, i buy it.  My sweater collection has grown exponentially these past few years, and I’ll need to downsize before I move back into my car this summer or just store them in a storage unit.

Marsha Harrington and I sporting awesome sweater

Shoes. Super important, but not necessary to splurge a lot of money on, unless you are an alpine climber.  These days, most approaches are short, longest being an hour and I dont think many people would go to a crag that is an hour approach anymore. All my shoes come from the thrift store.  Its amazing what you might find as long as your keep your eyes open.

Pants. Now, dont waste much money on these, but I am picky about what I will wear.  I cant ever find pants in thrift stores, but occasionally, i do.  But, lets not count on that.  I recommend going to your local Target or Kohl’s and buying a pair of $20 stretchy jeans.  Jeggings are great for climbing, but you can find anystyle that suits you; bootcut, straight leng, flared, etc.  Target has it all.  You’ll go through these pants within months, but thats fine, you would go through your $80 patagonia jeans in just the same amount of time.  A lot of the heavy duty fabric used on a durable pair of pants (i.e. levis, Patagonia and carharts),  arent really good for climbing.  You gotta be able to do the “high step perch” move in them.

Puffy Jacket: a must!!!  Ok, when you go shopping for your jacket do it at the end of the winter season.  You will find mad sales on awesome jackets.  Look for something durable and warm.  Dont get the “down sweaters” or “ultra light” weight puffy, unless you are an alpine climber.  Those will get a hole in them the first time you take it to the crag.  I look for parkas.  Something that covers the butt and has a hood.  You will stay twice as warm with these two body parts covered.

SALES: always shop for sales. As I stated at the beginning of this blog, you must have quality clothes in your bag.  We are out in the elements, all the time. By shopping off-season, you can score these crucial pieces for cheap, or at least a lot cheaper than full price. NEVER buy anything at full price.

Ok, to wrap things up. Remember, make sure everything matches.  Get cheap stuff when you can (pants, shoes) but dont skip out on the important stuff (like a good puffy).

Cheers