BURSTCedar Wright is a veteran big wall climber, former dirtbag, and filmmaker known for projects like Sufferfest with Alex Honnold and Safety Third with Brad Gobright. In recent years, he’s been giving back to the climbing community through the Dirtbag Fund, which he launched in 2023. We caught up with Wright after he announced that applications for the 2026 funding cycle are now open.
When did you start the Dirtbag Fund? I started the Dirtbag Fund about four years ago with some unexpected sponsored Instagram post money. From there the idea resonated with climbers, and some angel investors have come out of the woodwork. Myself and our vice president Kathryn Klein do all of our work for the fund for free, and all money goes into the hands of dirtbags and up and coming creatives telling their stories. We are light, fast and built to last.
Why did you start it? I started the Dirtbag Fund for a variety of reasons. For one I’ve been incredibly privileged to make a living for over 20 years as a professional climber, and this is a way of expressing my gratitude to the climbing community. Another motivation, is to celebrate and keep dirtbag culture relevant, alive and well. I got my start as a professional climber by going all in as a Yosemite dirtbag and I look back on those “rock monkey” days with so much joy. I believe there is great value in living simply, frugally and focusing fully on your passion for climbing. During the winters, I would take my beat up Camry from “the center of the universe” in Yosemite to Joshua Tree, and post up at Todd Gordon’s house, affectionately known as the Gordon Ranch. Todd effectively ran a halfway home for dirtbags out of his home for many years, and I took full advantage of this, posting up on Todd’s couch for months at a time. The Dirtbag Fund is my way of paying this generosity forward. I also was inspired by my good friend and climbing partner Alex Honnold and all of his charitable giving through the Honnold Foundation.
How long were you a dirtbag? I dirtbagged pretty hard for over 10 years, before I transitioned into “High-end sponsored dirtbag” before transitioning into my now wife’s apartment in Boulder. Part of starting the Dirtbag Fund was acknowledging that with the growth of climbing, getting support and sponsorship is tougher, because there are no longer a handful of good climbers there are thousands. I’m hoping that the Dirtbag Fund can grow to be an alternative and or path to sponsorship.
Did you set out to be a dirtbag? Once I heard that there was a community of climbers living on next to nothing in Yosemite, eating tourist scraps, and climbing El Cap on the daily, I went there immediately. At the time, we also called ourselves “grovelers,” but “dirtbag” seems to be the more popular term these days.
Is dirtbagging alive? I wrote an article and made a short film called The Last Dirtbag (watch below) about James Lucas. He was lamenting the fact that there were less and less dirtbags. In a way, the article was a bit of a way to stir the pot, and bring the dirtbags out of the woodwork to say “Hey… I’m still here!.” But it was also a real reflection on the changing landscape of climbing as “van life” became more and more the norm, which definitely had an isolating effect on climbers…. More comforts, less camp fires etc. At the same time, the Olympicfication of climbing was happening and thanks to climbing gyms, there was a more “sport” less “lifestyle” mentality that was developing. You didn’t necessarily need to grovel in the dirt and dive in dumpsters or at least live cheaply and sacrifice conventional financial success to get good at climbing any more, you could work your bougie remote job from your six figure sprinter after a six month gym training cycle and then send the crag. All that being said, starting the Dirtbag Fund has reassured me that there are plenty of young, middle aged, and old dudes too, who are still scrapping by and prioritizing the climbing life.
What is your definition of a dirtbag? At the heart, a dirtbag is someone who forgoes wordly comforts, to chase their passion. As far as the Dirtbag Fund is concerned, we are open the evolution and interpretation of the dirtbag, and have sponsored everything from someone in a low income area who needed to fix their van so they could get to the gym, to cutting edge alpine ascents, and from projects in underrepresented communities, to helping out the first women to climb the Yosemite Triple. This year I have an angel donor who is especially interested in a bigger grant for someone properly pushing the limits of the sport, which I think is very exciting.
Who can apply, how can they apply? Go to TheDirtbagFund.com to apply. You can also donate there! It’s a pretty simply process, but know that we have budget to also tell your story or support you telling your story through film, although there are no hard set rules at the fund, and we just want to support a cool variety of passionate dirtbags each year. Last year the grants were $2,000, but this year thanks to a better year of fundraising they are $3,000 with the opportunity for a bigger grants if the right outrageous thing comes along. We have at least $30,000 set aside for grants and stories about the dirtbags, split about down the middle. [To see who received the Dirtbag Fund in 2023, 2024, and 2025, visit here.]
The Last Dirtbag
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