The mORning Show – 2012 ORSM

Ever wanting to try something new, I joined a team of friends to put together a consumer facing webcast at the Outdoor Retailer Show this summer. The result was a video for nearly each day of the Outdoor Retailer show where we interviewed movers and shakers in the outdoor business and checked out some of the latest gear yet to hit the shelves.

The team included Doug Schnitzpahn as the host, Mike Geraci as producer and yours truly as video editor and gear guy. Huge thanks to our sponsor, Columbia Sportswear, making the whole thing possible. Hopefully we’ll be back at Winter OR for another round. We streamed the videos live via Ustream each morning and archived them on YouTube. Click “Full Story” below to see the videos.

Patagonia CEO & President Casey Sheahan Talks Business, Conservation & Compassion

Patagonia CEO & President Casey Sheahan Talks Business, Conservation & CompassionPatagonia doesn’t need any help with marketing their products. In fact, the ad they placed in the New York Times on Black Friday last year said “Don’t Buy This Jacket”.  Don’t be fooled, they still want you to buy their product, but only when you really need it. What does that mean? This marketing conundrum and a number of other insightful ideas on how this company operates were shared by CEO & President Casey Sheahan at the Business of Outdoor Recreation Lecture Series presented by the Outdoor Industry Association and the Leeds School of Business at the Stadium Club on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder.

Expedition Impossible Celebrates In Boulder

Team No Limits from Boulder hosted a huge party at the Lazy Dog Bar & Grill on Thursday night to watch the final episode of ABC’s Expedition Impossible TV competition show. No Limits was one of four teams to make it to the final episode as teams were eliminated over the previous few weeks. Also in attendance were The Gypsies the winners of the show.

Over 600 people purchased tickets to attend the event at The Lazy Dog and the proceeds, along with the silent auction, private donations and a percentage of beer sales, went to the two charities of choice, No Barriers USA and Free the Children.

REVIEW: Marmot Zion Softshell Jacket


This is a technical jacket. The core specifications – Polartec’s new NeoShell fabric, taped seams, storm hood – are impressive. But most importantly it performs well. As with anything new, it’s a little stiff when you first put it on, but that concern quickly fades away as the totally bomber nature of the Zion is realized. While you’re still standing in the store trying it on, you are transported to icy crags and powder days.

This is a winter jacket. The insulative nature of the soft shell is such that during any sporty activity you will want to be in the near freezing/sub-freezing temperatures. The NeoShell fabric is totally windproof. I was impressed when bombing down ski slopes, dead into the wind, and though I felt the pressure of the wind against my body, the cold never seeped through.

The hood, with the jacket zipped all the way up, stayed on my head keeping my forehead warm – something I noticed as a concern earlier in the season before I had the Zion. Even in the wind, this jacket is quiet. While taking a phone call on my iPhone ear-buds, using the iPod port, the microphone tucked inside the jacket didn’t pick up any of the wind or rustling outside. The caller was impressed to know I was on a windy mountain slope and claimed it sounded as if I was inside somewhere.

Final Touches: Kongakut River

Car TetrisThe trip is on. I departed PDX at 9.30pm in the dark and chased the sun down by flying north and arrived in Anchorage around midnight where, though it was overcast, it was still dusk out.

Nathaniel Wilder with Sune and Lindsay Tamm picked me up and we stayed up until 2.30am catching up on all the corners of the world we had been to since seeing each other last, fully aware that we had the next 18 days to do this on the river and that we should get some much needed sleep.