3 Ways to Get Someone Else to Pay for Your Next Big Climbing Trip

In 2021, pro climber Cedar Wright published a grand eulogy in Climbing proclaiming the death of the dirtbag. Wright—never one for just sitting around—decided to take action. So a year later, he founded the Dirtbag Fund to financially support climbers who were low on resources but big on dreams.

These days, the Dirtbag Fund is just one of several climbing grant programs that helps up-and-coming climbers accomplish their objectives. Here’s everything you need to know about these three grant programs, including their goals and scope, and how ambitious climbers can apply.

The Dirtbag Fund

While recovering from an accident that resulted in him breaking his neck, Wright contemplated his own mortality and his legacy in the climbing world. He thought back to the formative decade he spent in Yosemite, living in his Toyota Camry. Then he decided that he wanted to help others do the same. “Maybe I’m not the cutting-edge climber that I once was,” Wright says. “But by supporting those young up-and-comers, I can be a part of that and still be part of the community.”

That idea morphed into the Dirtbag Fund, which officially became a nonprofit in 2024. It gives out around $20,000 a year to climbers and filmmakers, supporting projects like the first female team to do the Yosemite Triple Crown, as well as a major first ascent in the Himalayas. Generally, individual grants range from $1,000 to $2,000.

Wright encourages anyone with a goal to apply for a climbing grant—and you don’t have to aim to send the first V18 to get some cash. “We’re at this sort of point of ‘send fatigue’ in the climbing world,” Wright says. Even if you can send a V17, Wright wants more. “Do you have some sort of depth about you? Do you have creative output? Are you giving back to something?” he asks.

In addition to the climbers themselves, the Dirtbag Fund also emphasizes supporting photographers and filmmakers who document climbing projects. “It’s hard as a creative to break into the industry,” Wright says.

Dirtbag Fund applications are typically due in April. Find more information here.

Grit & Rock Expedition Award

Since it began, climbing has been a boys’ club, and perhaps no discipline still suffers from that culture more than alpinism. Masha Gordon is on a mission to change that. After setting speed records on the Explorer’s Grand Slam and Seven Summits, Gordon started Grit & Rock, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting women in alpinism. Since its first award in 2017, the program has given out over $100,000 to female mountaineers at various stages of their professional development.

There are three award categories—performance, exploration, and apprenticeship—to support everything from sussing out new big wall routes in Argentina to attempting ambitious traverses in Alaska. “The apprenticeship is to give women the opportunity to go on smaller expeditions, but gain confidence, and then progress in their alpinism,” Gordon says. “Performance is destined for women who are elite athletes. Even the very best alpinists are short of funding for expeditions.” Only two women have ever received an award from the Piolets d’Or, the Oscars of mountaineering. But if Gordon has her way, that won’t last long.

Grit & Rock accepts applications every spring. Find more information here. 

American Alpine Club Climbing Grants

The American Alpine Club (AAC) offers multiple grants to help climbers accomplish ambitious goals—and to make the world a better place. Its Live Your Dream Grant, in partnership with The North Face, funds everything from ski mountaineering to bouldering.

“We are looking for individuals who have a personally ambitious climbing goal, a desire to take their abilities to the next level, and want to share the power of exploration with their communities,” the AAC website says. Past recipients have used funds to bolt new lines, summit peaks in Peru, and climb mountains in Washington.

The Catalyst Grant focuses on supporting historically underrepresented groups with climbing objectives in the United States. And for alpinists with humanitarian goals, the Zack Martin Breaking Barriers Grant challenges applicants to climb mountains, while also teaching local climbers, improving local climbing infrastructure, or supporting local communities in some way.   Past recipients include a 12-year-old who summited Mt. Kilimanjaro and established a solar energy project in an orphanage.

The deadline for all three American Alpine Club grants falls in the spring. Awards for the Live Your Dream and Catalyst grants typically range from $200 to $1,000. Winners of the Breaking Barriers Grant usually receive $5,000. Find more information here. 

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