Ear to the Ground Show Notes – 2/26/21
Show notes from our weekly Ear To The Ground Show on ClubhouseJoin us every Friday at 4:30 pm MST
Damen–
Been having conversations about indigenous and black history, is going to be a main moderator the aftershow about how to be a respectful visitor on indigenous lands. Going over history, individual experiences, and how to be an ally vs an accomplice for the indigenous people in America.
Rebecca Rusch–
In anchorage celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Iditarod trail. Two races, one human powered (in which Rebecca will compete) and one dogsled. The race is, for the first time, going to be an out and back and includes changes to the original route to respect the indigenous people in Alaska and their lands. Shes going to try to self-support (means doing everything on her own power) and takes anywhere from 4-7 days depending on weather. Trail looks really good right now. The bike race starts Sunday and people can follow along on satellite tracking devices on https://www.iditarodtrailinvitational.com/tracking
hird year doing the Iditarod race. First year, she was a “hot mess” and got humbled by the race. The second year she was prepared but the weather was so insane that she walked her bike for almost half of it and it took twice as long. This year, shes totally prepared, totally confident, and not using any cabins or help along the way. She wants to test herself against nature and is looking forward to the solitude, but is totally aware of the hairline margin for error.
Steven Kotler–
New book “The Art of the Impossible” is out. After Rebecca gets back from her race she’ll be on his radio podcast “Flow Research Collective Radio” (https://www.stevenkotler.com/radio) Tahoe weather is freezing and the snow is bulletproof.
Micah Abrams–
Huge acquisition for Pocket Media. Micah is the VP of content for the Snowsport Group of Pocket Media, they recently acquired Outside, Gaia GPS, and Pelaton (the cycling title not the fitness brand that sorority girls like to post), and Athlete Reg. It’s awesome news for the company, which is going to rename the whole conglomerate “Outside.” It’s an awesome blue chip brand with an attached legacy. The acquisition is going to help with content and for helping more people get the tools they need to get outside at the level that they want to.
Sasha Digiulian–
Is feeling better coming off surgery a week ago. Is excited for a big expedition in April so her main focus is going to be getting back to peak performance.
Elise Bernal–
Shredspace team staged an avalanche-tervention discussed how to be safe in the back country.
Paula Rosales (https://www.iksurfmag.com/riders/paula-rosales/) is a Kite Surfer from the Philippines, home of the famous cloud 9 break. There was a rogue storm, typhoon Oran. For the kite surfers, it was amazing conditions, but was difficult for the general populace. Because outdoor athletes like kite surfers are constantly checking weather conditions for things like swells, Elise brought up that there could be potential for collaboration between outdoor athletes and emergency services, which could help give emergency services a wide range of resources and data from people that know what they’re talking about.
She has also been spending time with members of African Winter Wonderland (https://www.facebook.com/AWWLAND/), a company that promotes diversity in Snowsports
Finally, BBC released an article about diversity in snowsports (https://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-sports/56132030)
Justin Wilkenfeld–
Founder of Kind Humans (kindhumans_movement on Instagram) https://kindhumans.com. Building a marketplace of branded products and third party products that are researched and well thought out. The idea is that there is a growing movement of business and people trying to do better, and those stories should be told. 3% of all sales go to non-profits like stoked (https://www.stoked.org) a company that works to diversify the outdoors, Sea trees (https://sea-trees.org/pages/about) and Protect Our Winters (https://protectourwinters.org/). Wants to take the experience and try to give back to the community and make a huge impact on the outdoor industry.
LP- (Paul Crandell)
Kind Humans Challenge is a social media challenge where people spell kindness with their favorite toys, equipment, or whatever you like to play with. Post it on social media with the hashtag kindhumanschallenge. Has a partnership with the San Diego chapter of Feeding America (https://www.feedingamerica.org/) so that for every post, 20 kids are fed, and the goal is to feed 20,000 kids. Allegedly you will live longer if you do it (science is up in the air on that one though).
Sherry McConkey–
Usually does the Pain McShlonkey Classic (https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/sports/summer-recreation/here-comes-the-pain-shane-mcconkey-tribute-set-for-saturday-at-squaw/), but because of Covid, started International Snowblade Day on March 26, with a live raffle. Donating a lot of money to non-profits, have donated over half a million to date. Shane McConkey Eco Challenge (https://shanemcconkey.org/) – it’s a challenge for schools where they are asked to come up with a way to give back to the world, a winner is picked and given 22,500 in prize money for a non-profit or their school.
Vasu Sojitra –
(following Sherry) “I just want to say I’m the best skier in this room”
Getting a warm spell in Bozeman. Having conversations with representatives from over 20 companies like Patagonia about how to make the outdoor industry more inclusive for people with disabilities and minorities.
Erich Roepke–
Just dropped his film “Full Circle” https://coastfilmfestival.eventive.org/films/5f970ef1d0b99e003753c53c
Is in Northern Alaska with terrible reception (and proceeds to immediately cut out). Epic.
Mark Sullivan–
Real Estate in mountain towns is getting expensive. It might be because of how many people are getting outside due to the pandemic, or just a product of the growth of the popularity of outdoor sports (surfing and climbing are now in the Olympics), but whatever the cause it, it has never been more expensive to live in a mountain town.
German resorts will not open this season due to the pandemic. Resorts in other countries like Italy will open their doors March 5, but it remains to be seen how they handle the pandemic and crowds. Shops have not been selling equipment due to closures, so we may see a huge influx in gear from Europe next season.
Mark started a ClubCast (clubhouse podcast) called “Close Calls” talking about adventures and almost-accidents in sports and advenduring.
Zeb Powell is on Burton https://www.burton.com/us/en/content/americas-zeb-powell.html
He was also Keynote Speaker at Asia Podfest.
Grant Alexander (Grant Gary)-
Bad avalanche year, Friends of the Calorado information center launched a Low angle for the win competition. If you are skiing a slope under 30 degrees, you can submit your photo with the hashtag lowangleftw to promote safety.
There is a new surf facility in the swiss alps, its going to open this summer.
Interviewing Dave Watson who has summited Everest and K2 and even skid off K2 in shredspace.
Vasu-
Quick interjection about language: Making sure that people aren’t using derogatory resort. A tahoe resort is changing their name (Squaw Valley) because it’s derogatory towards indigenous women.
Damen-
For those who don’t understand what language is ok to use and what isn’t or why it isn’t look up “MMIW” in order to understand and better appreciate the power that language has.
Here is a link: https://www.nativewomenswilderness.org/mmiw
Robin Thurston-
CEO of now Outside, part of the Pocket Outdoor Media Acquisition. “Ultimately hope to create a great consumer experience.” Really excited about the future for the company and the industry in collaboration with the partners they have.
Andy from ROAM-
Competition at Lucie Foundation- Guardian Project https://www.luciefoundation.org/programs/open-call/
Inspired by Bangladeshi Photographer: Shahidul Alam https://time.com/5475494/shahidul-alam-bangladesh-journalist-person-of-the-year-2018/
Proceeds go to support Drik: Alams photo library that aims to use photography to show the state of the world to everyone, in the hopes of bringing together people and cultures through exposure and education.
Emily Sullivan –
Free snowboarding clinic for indigenous youth taught by Jodie Potts (iron.jodie on Instagram for those who want to participate and/or promote)
Kierstin Stone–
On February 15, two black surfers experienced racial harassment when surfing near the pier. A photo and story went viral, drawing tons of support from the outdoor community. In response to their support, the two surfers (blacksandsurf on Instagram) hosted a peace paddle out drawing hundreds of people. Read about it here: http://www.digmb.com/2021/02/22/348153/black-sand-peace-paddle-in-manhattan-beach-draws-hundreds
Brandon Ellis–
Really excited about the progress from last weeks aftershow “How to Diversify the Outdoors.” The conversation cannot stop there, and he looks forward to more shows, more discussion, and ultimately more action.
Personally, Brandon is going to Chattanooga to do some climbing and shooting.
Patrick Crawford-
Protect Our Winters is hosting a fundraiser “crush it for climate.” https://protectourwinters.org/a-month-of-crushing-it-4-climate/
The idea is to bring awareness to the places we want to save through pictures, videos, and all forms of content taken in places that are natural.
Starts March 1st and runs through the whole month so get involved.
Chris Harges-
Coming out of covid, a lot of businesses need new and better ways of driving people into their doors just to stay alive. Chris wants to plug any developing advertising agencies helping industries stay on their feet and increase client base
Robin Thurston-
In response to Chris’ comment, Robin makes it known that Pocket Outdoor Media (now Outside) has a partnership with the Australia Bike Exchange which drives people into bike shops all over the US in the bike world. He is looking forward to making new partnerships like that in order to continue to boost the outdoor community.
Emma Sievers –
Save the Boundary Waters launched 100 day campaign https://www.savetheboundarywaters.org and @savethebwca on Instagram. They work to protect the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota from sulfide and copper mining. The area is the largest wilderness reserve east of the Rockies and contains 20% of all fresh water in the entire National Forest System. They need support signing a petition to the Biden administration to permanently protect it so go sign, share, and support.
Also, go check out the community of Badass Women making an impact on the world @bawomen on instagram
Jeremy Jones–
The mountains are colder than expected and Jeremy decided to go cold winter camping (phenomenal timing), so he’s in his car bundled up and riding out the weather like a champ.