Take Me Outdoors

Chasing your dream can really pay off...even if you didn’t mean to chase it. That’s the case with Oliver Steffen, who fell into a series of events that turned his hard work into well deserved success. How did all of this play out, though? Oliver Steffen joins us to discuss his practically overnight success with his back country ski products, and all the work it took to get there. Oliver is the founder behind G3, which stands for Genuine Guide Gear. G3 is a global brand that manufactures skins, skis, splitboards, climbing skins, and more! G3 is also the leading brand in the back country ski culture. Bulletpoints In Oliver’s first product production experience, he was given a mere 30 days to make the desired item for the agency! Don’t be afraid of falling in the process. Get back up and keep going! If you worry too much about the consequences, it will hold you back. The idea for Oliver’s company name came from a very straightforward thought process: Genuine Guide Gear. Oliver wanted gear that no one was sellin

“Climbing and the American Alpine Club have grown substantially over the last 10 years, and this growth allows us to do more of what we want to do: more good in the world.” --Phil Powers   LISTEN: Outdoor Entrepreneurism, Education, and Activism with Phil Powers   Famed climber and alpinist Phil Powers has pioneered thirty personal expeditions around the globe, including the first ascent of the Washburn Face of Denali and climbing K2 without supplemental oxygen. His visionary leadership and roles as entrepreneur and educator in the outdoor industry have grown equally influential. Phil currently serves as the CEO of the American Alpine Club, where he has vastly expanded the organization’s membership base and education and conservation efforts.   Phil formerly served as the vice president for institutional advancement at Naropa University and worked for seventeen years with the National Outdoor Leadership School as chief mountaineering instructor and development/partnerships director. An entrepreneur and author

The 3rd Annual Silverton White Out Fat (Snow) Bike Event/Gathering takes place Feb. 4, 2017. This episode of the Take Me Outdoors podcast celebrates the founder and director of the Silverton White Out, Sarah Tescher. Sarah is also the co-founder of Durango’s junior development cycling program, DEVO, an educator and entrepreneur, and mom of two boys. She’s also a wonderful friend of mine, and a complete inspiration to so many! Sarah does all of this with an intention to serve. Her MO is to get more kids and adults out to enjoy the incredible mountain backdrop that weaves together her four-season outdoor passions. What’s so unique about Sarah is that she’s driven to serve, and just plain gives back. Sarah has always inspired me and so many others to strive to do the same. And I couldn’t be more excited, or proud, to share her with you here today on the Take Me Outdoors podcast. Our conversation today starts with the Silverton White Out snow bike event, taking place Feb. 4 in Silverton, Colo. It was an absolutel

“Although Bicycle Retailer & Industry News is a trade magazine, it’s really a community magazine with relatives in the outdoor and snow space” - Megan Tompkins Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, commonly referred to as BRAIN, is one of the best read and most respected trade publications in the outdoor and active lifestyle industries. I was lucky enough to sit down with Megan Tompkins, the current publisher at BRAIN, for this episode of Take Me Outdoors. Megan never imagined that she’d be heading up a trade publication for the cycling industry. Always athletic and outdoorsy, Megan didn’t immerse herself in cycling until later in life. To add to her industry knowledge and authenticity, Megan essentially “cross-trained” by leaving the editorial side at BRAIN to work on the manufacturing side. She then returned with her expanded knowledge of the bike industry to work as the publisher at BRAIN. Her experience on both sides of the business makes her an invaluable asset to the cycling industry as a whole. Meg

“It’s an interesting time for outdoor recreation - we were called the sleeping giant just a few years ago. The giant is now awake!” - Jessica Wahl While it’s easy to be overwhelmed with all of the uncertainties in our turbulent political climate, this week’s guest brings some light to all of the positive things that are in motion that affect our lands and industry. I sat down with Jessica Wahl, the Government Affairs Manager at the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) who’s on the front lines in DC making a difference at the policy level. Jessica fell in love with the outdoors when she saw how it changed lives and improved communities through her previous work with the Office of the Secretary on external affairs and youth engagement in the outdoors. Jessica got to work closely with companies like Patagonia, KEEN and The North Face, so joining the ranks at OIA seemed like the perfect next step for her. When Jessica first came to OIA, more of her focus was on conservation but recently that focus has widened to an

“There’s competition between outdoor companies in the industry. ͞But at the end of the day there is an incredible culture of collegiality and respect for everyone and their work.” – Bryan Martin The outdoor community has been very fortunate to have Bryan Martin working as a non-profit professional for the last 15 years. He cut his teeth with organizations like The Nature Conservancy, the Colorado Mountain Club and the Land Trust Alliance and now heads up Big City Mountaineers (BCM). Bryan learned to love the outdoors as a kid on his grandparent’s farm in northern PA. The experiences he had there gave him a sense of freedom and independence, eventually leading him to build confidence and leadership skills. Through BCM, he can now pass these character building experiences onto others. Bryan has been leading BCM as the Executive Director for over two years. As one of the most revered non-profits in the outdoor community, BCM boasts a track record for transforming the lives of underserved youth. Since 1990, BCM h

“I’ve been able to develop this community of friends that have now become like family to me, and I don’t want to slow down, I want to keep going” Yuri Hauswald   Where do competition and community meet? As any of you who have tried to build connections at a business or athletic event know, these two impulses can have opposite effects. Our guest this week is a competitive and community ringleader in the cycling industry. Not only is Yuri Hauswald a serious competitor at racing events, but he’s also a community builder, supporting other athletes personally and in his job at GU Energy. Yuri and I are talking about what it means to be competitive and how to motivate yourself when you know every race only has one winner. We’re digging into patience and passion and why you need both to succeed. Yuri’s also sharing his story of how he got into cycling and through that into the outdoor industries. He’s talking about the connections he’s made, and why they mean so much to him on and off the track. This is an amazing e

“It has less to do with political party, and much more to do with conversation around how to take care of it, how to grow it, and how you focus on the next generation of leadership.” - Luis Benitez Luis Benitez is the state of Colorado’s first director of the newly created office of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry, which was created mid year 2015. We had an important milestone sneak in, close to the very last day of November of 2016. The US Senate passed HR 4665 the Outdoor Rec Act. This bill will instruct the department of Commerce in Federal Land Agencies to provide statistics on how the outdoor industry, including bicycling, and many other disciplines we all love, how they contribute to the US economy. Luis Benitez joins us today to discuss the future and impact of this bill, and how you can become involved with all the interesting and amazing things that are coming out of this bill being hopefully passed. House passed it earlier this year, the Senate just passed it November 29th, 2016, and the l

“Maybe it’s a little stormy out, but we’re gonna keep going.” - Brady Robinson Brady Robinson started off working for North Carolina Outward Bound from 1995 to 2007. He held a variety of positions over the years, from instructor to director of operations. Brady started and ran the Patagonia mountaineering program from 1999 to 2003. "During my final 4 years I oversaw all program operations and safety management for the school," says Robinson. "I remain engaged with the outdoor education world through my work with the Access Fund."    Brady has served as the executive director of the Access Fund since the fall of 2007. The Access Fund is the national advocacy organization that keeps U.S. climbing areas open and conserves the climbing environment. Being founded in 1991, they’ve just recently celebrated their 25th anniversary.They are a certified land trust with a revolving loan program and support over 100 climbing agencies across the country. Brady also serves on the Board of Directors of the Outdoor Alliance,

“I'm a big map nerd, and these races are very navigation-intensive. So I love the thinking component, the strategy.” - Stephen Regenold Stephen Regenold, a wildlife enthusiast, discusses different tools and products in the outdoor recreation industry to optimize your experiences. As a journalist major, Stephen Regenold created a magazine publication all about rock climbing, titled “Vertical Jones”, which he worked on for 4 years. After that, Stephen launched Gear Junkie, where he has been for the last 10 years. Gear Junkie was born when Stephen was approached by a local newspaper to do a column on gear. Over the next couple of years, the Gear Junkie column grew to become nationally syndicated. For the first 4-5 years of Gear Junkie's existence it was solely a newspaper entity. In 2006, Stephen decided to launch GearJunkie.com, to share his copyedited, rights-free columns that were sitting in his hard-drive, to which it has now grown to what it is today. Bulletpoints Minneapolis–very strong bike community and

“Our wilderness areas and our national parks we all know as the places where we have those iconic outdoor recreation experiences.” - John Sterling   John Sterling, the executive director of The Conservation Alliance, joins us to discuss the dangers our federally managed lands face today. John Sterling served as a board member of the Conservation Alliance, at Patagonia in the late 90’s for 7 years. From there, he left to find a way to fund a full time staff position at the Conservation Alliance, which eventually came together in 2005 due to a partnership with Keen Footwear. John helped put together a process for laying out an economic rationale for preserving public alliance in wild places, which got business leaders to go out to Washington D.C and lobby for wilderness bills.   Bulletpoints   There are members of Congress on the Republican side that don't believe in climate change and are openly hostile to conservation The study that OIA (Outdoor Industry Association is now the foundation of the conversation

Take Me Outdoors is dedicated to bringing visibility and engagement around important topics in and around the outdoors, such as conservation and access, The Outdoor Recreation Economy, Increasing participation and interest for the outdoors and conservation, landmark developments within our world (could be gear, athlete accomplishments and other big news), and more! If you love the outdoors, this podcast is for you! Please subscribe!