cubeing it up

I woke up, sore from a week of getting up too early and staying up too late. On top of all that it was Sunday, so there was nothing that I wanted to do more than laze around and sleep. I know, you are thinking that this is someone else’s blog or that I have finally hit my limit, broke down and gone bonkers. Not to worry, this isn’t going to be a blog about me sitting at home baking cookies, although that sounds really good. This is about invigorating one’s self through the natural sauna that is the outdoors.

I joined a friend’s cabin and trail club hike up Mount Cube on potentially one of the most humid days of the summer. We started off, talkative as any group of college students, but by the time the first mile was through, sweat was dripping into my eyes, and I went silent. So did the rest of the group, and for the next four miles, we trudged along, too uncomfortable to even crack a joke. Then an amazing thing happened – we hit altitude, and the last two miles of the ascent were in fresh mountain air.

At the top, I did a little yoga stretching while the group relaxed in the relative low humidity. To top off a crazy adventure, we piled back into the van and stopped at Whippi Dip, one of the best ice cream stands around. By the time we got back to campus, I forgot that I was supposed to be tired.

Working on the tricks

What do college students do on a lazy day after hiking to the top of a mountain before sunrise then organizing an adventure race? Play video games? Sleep? Drink? Maybe some, but I would much rather slackline, so we set up next to the business school per usual and got slacking. I got across the line for the first time, started working on turns, and Andrew got his yogaslacking on with a tree pose – no easy feat. 

2nd adventure race

Last spring's adventure race was a huge success, so I decided to keep the momentum going with another one this summer. The only difference is that this summer's race was a light summer version - just one hour. The race was packed with plenty of adventure challenges including slacklining, making bear bags, canoeing, wading in some serious muck and trucker hats! You got that right - spray painting designs on trucker hats. Overall the event was a  ton of fun, and brought people out on a beautiful summer day!

morning yoga

I returned from the Outdoor Retailer show exhausted. What does my good friend Andrew suggest? Sleeping in? Naw, that would be way to nice! Instead, we decide to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to hike up Mt. Cardigan and do yoga at the top. Well, actually, I was going to hike, and he ran up the mountain, including the last steep pitches of slabby rock! After cursing the entire way up, the yoga and view at the top made it all worthwhile. I think that the hike is worth a repeat!

Pretty nice bouldering spot

I returned to campus and to my surprise, it was actually nice out! No rain, no fog, what a great excuse to sneak out of work early and go to a local bouldering spot! We had directions, but didn't exactly know where we were going, so we went and sure enough, by our hand drawn map, the first fork to the right, across a sketchy bridge then a ways up a creek bed, there stood a beautiful mini cliff. Unlike most bushwhacks near campus, this one revealed a boulder with tons of good problems. We didn't even try them all before our skin gave out, and we headed back out to the road. Love that in less than twenty minutes there is a little climbing haven. Do you have any sanctuaries close to home? If you don't, you better start looking harder!

I've got some BA parents

They shoot archery. They SUP. They rip the pow pow and fly fish. I could go on but I really don't need to because most importantly, they do all of this cool stuff without being detrimental to their lovable parenting abilities. So yeah, my parents are BA.

OR summer p3

Yesterday, I made a discovery. The show has always been too much of a stress trip for me to get into any sort of morning schedule, but I decided that this year was the year of relaxation. So I set out to find the hotel gym to spin a little and do a little AM yoga. What I discovered was more than cool - the gym was on the roof, and there was an outdoor roof pool and jacuzzi!  Why I never found this before, I don't know, but I sure know where it is now! After spinning with a view of the city, I felt so invigorated that I decided that I was going to do it again the next day.

Needless to say, I didn't get the chance to spin again, but it wasn't for sleeping in. Instead I woke up extra early to go bouldering at the White Pine Slide with a Dartmouth grad that I met at the Futurist event. I even made it back to the show in time for my interviews, got my writing in, and vivited across the street for a taste of Keen's product free oasis. They rented an abandoned lot and turned it into a free music, food, tie die and plain old relaxing spot. After my hour of relaxation and delicious food it was back to work, wrapping up the last day of the show, editing and getting last quotes.

After the deadline was met with a record number of live pages, we went out to celebrate at the Copper Onion with most of the team. Whew! What a whirlwind! I wrote about bugwear, UV regulations, youth climbing, made in the USA and much more, but the best part was getting to work with an awesome team of designers, photographers, editors and writers. Team SNEWS - activate!

OR Summer p2

For the main days of the OR show, all of us writers get together, claim stories, then hit the show to get all of our research. After a full day of talking to industry experts, with random instances of pinch me!, like when I had a full conversation with Conrad Anker, who has summited Everest some three times. After getting enough quotes, two o'clock and crunch time arrives and for the next two hours, I usually occupy the garbage pail outside of the news room to type my articles standing up. By 3:30, I had all four of my articles in and had the chance to grab a bite of food. From that time until our 7:00 meeting, there was no reason to be in the news room, so I trolled the show floor in search of good music and article ideas. Usually, I can accomplish the music part of that goal along with finding a few good brews.

At seven, we are assemble in the news room to debrief, then scare up some food. So that is the cadence of the show: running and eating dominoes for lunch then having an extravagant sushi meal for dinner after the relief of making all the deadlines. Not too boring!

The Outdoor Retailer summer '12

Two times every year, I pull out all the stops, fly to Salt Lake City, Utah, and write until I'm fried. The Outdoor Retailer show will do that to you, especially when you work for the daily newspaper . The first day, the demo day is located on a beautiful reservoir - with about a half mile spread. We arrived just when things were starting out, with each of us on different missions. Mine was to write an article on the 'alternative outdoor', so I spent the next hour and a half running around trying out logrolling, elliptical mountain biking and shooting kids' foam toys. After making it almost a quarter of the way through the vast field of tents, I looked at my watch and an hour had already gone by! It was down to the wire with only a half hour left and more wacky items to find. I raced from tent to tent and made it back to the car just in time to meet up with the group and return to the newsroom.

The action packed day wasn't over yet, since I had to write the article, and cover another event that night. I cranked out the word count, and raced over to the Futurist Outdoor Nation event. Thankfully, there was food at the bar the event had rented, so I was able to munch my second meal of the day at 7PM while discussing the future of the outdoor industry. It was a great and inspiring event with young members from many industry businesses gathering to discuss the industry as a whole, cafe discussion style. But the chill cafe vibe couldn't last long because I needed to return to my room, write a draft and be ready to do it all again the next day!

A NY tradition

Every family has certain traditions. My family's just so happens to be going to plays every time we are all in NYC. Since I was home for a bit, we invariably ended up going out with my Grandparents. There is nothing better than being taken into another world through drama, lighting, costume and song; so if you are ever passing through New York, be sure to pay the Times Square TKTS booth a visit to get some cheap Broadway tickets.

bullseye

Ben

After watching some Olympic archery and reading that they shoot at 76.5 yards, I decided that I needed to at least get good with my recurve bow at 15 yards. Pulling back on the string, I focused on anchoring the heel of my palm to the same place on my check every shot. Pushing forward with my straight arm while keeping tension with my back, I ‘felt’ my way to the target, as intuitive aiming with a recurve is often much more effective than trying to look. As I released each arrow, I saw it to the target, keeping my stabilizing arm steady until it hit the mark.

TJ's clean release

steady

fire!

With this very zen like technique and a powerful body position, I started hitting where I was aiming and after shooting a few rounds with my brother and friends, we all started radically improving too. Nothing like a little Olympic action to motivate improvement. And a good photographer like my friend Andrew to get some epic shots.

archery is BA

Some SUP fun

SUPing is a fun sport. Feeling the water rush under the board and the power in each stroke is unmatched in any other paddlesport. Every little muscle in your feet fire, and with any chop or waves, you feel like you are on a rollercoaster – the best rollercoaster of your life. But alas, even roller coasters get boring sometimes, and you need something to spruce it back up. How about fitting three people on a SUP and attempting a voyage? That is exactly what my friends and I did on my surfing SUP, a 9’ inflatable, to the amusement of everyone around us.

lobster for poppop

My Dad wrote a pretty epic speech for my Grandfather’s funeral honoring one of his favorite pasttimes: food. Poppop could eat a lobster head to tale without getting his hands remotely dirty. To honor his skill, we decided to eat some lobsters as a family while getting as dirty as possible. 

dance lessons

One of my goals entering college was to learn how to dance. Never did I think that I would start my lessons with my Mom’s Dad. I didn’t even know that my Grandfather could dance. This trip home seems to be a trip of discovery! Not only can he dance, but I think that he and my Grandmother could still steal the show at any swing club. I put on some slow jitterbug on youtube and off they went – twirling and bobbing with ease. They made it look so effortless, but after I stepped up to get my lesson I saw that the learning curve was quite the opposite.

I tried to bounce and twirl, and at first almost called it quits. My Grandpa insisted that I just listen to the beat of the music more and by the end of the session; I was having a lot of fun. I definitely think, with a little help from my Grandparents that I will graduate a pretty good dancer, but nowhere as good as the masters, my Grandparents, Sheila and Marvin Stockel!

In Rememberance

My dad wrote a pretty epic speech for my grandfather’s funeral honoring one of his favorite pasttimes: food. Poppop could eat a lobster head to tail without getting his hands remotely dirty. To honor his skill, we decided to eat some lobsters as a family while getting as dirty as possible. 

A Boss

I have learned plenty of new things that I share with my Grandfather. He had a wicked sense of adventure and no sense of self preservation, as exemplified by the time that he brought my Grandmother on a vacation in the islands with nothing but a tarp to sleep under, or when he ran through enemy fire to recover a wounded comrade during a battle, or how he started a business while living from paycheck to paycheck with two kids. He was a great skier in his day. While I can’t say that I’m great, I get around J He was also a great writer. I read his letters home from the war when I was little, but while we were going through some of his old pictures, we came across a binder full of poems and essays that he wrote, also while serving. I never knew how creative a writer he was, and I’m glad that I can share a passion for writing with him. Check out his poems!