Bridging Companies and Wildernesses…

Wearing a sweeeeeet shirt from Tasc Performance for climbing and long trail runs lately, bamboo and merino blend…  

The mid-winter sojourn into Utah for the Outdoor Retailer (OR) Trade Show in Salt Lake City is always a surreal and worthwhile experience. A chance to reconnect with the tribe of dedicated, diehard adventurers and explorers, storytellers, company reps, presidents of companies, media/pr firms that choose the outdoor reality as their lingua franca of existence. Super inspiring to be immersed in this world of new products, synergy of focus - for the coming years work/play.

In snow, at altitude,  humid environments - I use gear and clothing to its extreme edge and often beyond, as visual storyteller/writer/guide trying to explore the most remote and wildest places I can get to.

For me the trade show re-emphasizes the human component in this often frenetic world of adrenaline and travel. I am reminded of where products are made, the family that might run an apparel company and get to hear their story, learn about where the merino wool is sourced from, realize that I can be way more comfortable and less stressed than imagined… I can play in the mountains whilst there and make plans for overlap of work with incredible visual storytellers that I might idolize and dream about working with. There is much fuel to be found there… Akin to building of necessary chi in meditation that I am all too often too consumed otherwise to engage…

The OR show also offers the ability to glimpse the philanthropic side of outdoor industry companies, learn what they support and stand for in this heavily challenged world of rampant consumerism, shifting climates, knee-jerk politics - and approach that hoped for balance between product and need to continue to explore and share this world as conscientiously as possible…

I am quite hopeful for this new year of exploring with some quality gear/apparel and feeling pretty good about the companies and crew of athletes, models, visual storytellers and friends, old and new, that will be part of these continued journeys.

Adventure photographer/visual storyteller, explorer, media strategist, and model Caroline Bennett finding out just how awesome Kahtoola Microspikes are for kicking snow into my face :) 

Having way too much fun with the new Olloclip lenses for iPhone…

Photographer and model Maggie McDermut checking out the new NASA technology in Optic Nerve eyewear