Start Saying Yes
Start Saying Yes
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“Over two weeks I went from pretty ‘fine’–I have to say ‘fine’ with air quotes and an eye roll, because it’s that kind of fine–so, I went from ‘fine’ to ‘I’m out’! I just needed a life restart,” says Katie Crafts.
For her thirtieth birthday, Katie gave herself a trip on a cruise to Antarctica. In the other, older passengers on the ship, she caught a glimpse of her future if she continued on the path she was on. In the ship’s crew, she saw something else: a superwoman equivalent of herself. Today, we bring you the story of a journey to the far reaches of our planet, and of what it takes to see the person you want to be, and then become that person. It starts with saying ‘yes’.
Music: If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto • 550 by John Berry • All of the Time by adcBicycle • Then What!? by Publish the Quest • Night Without Sleep by David Mumford • hope! by The F***ed Up Beat • Pretty Lights by Fog Lake • Sadder by adcBicycle
Tracks provided by Free Music Archive and with permission from the artists.
Mileposts — The Grit to Make it Happen
The Grit to Make it Happen
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“If you go on some big, really ambitious trip or you have some enormous goal, if you look at the big picture all the time, it’s too intimidating, it’s too big, it seems too insurmountable,” says Jim Harris. “If you break it down into the next move, or the next pitch, or the next day of hiking, or the next rapid or whatever it is, those chunks are manageable. And there’s a lot of aspects to spine injuries that are that same way.”
A year and a half ago, Jim traveled to Patagonia to attempt a 350-mile traverse of the Patagonian ice cap via kite-ski and packraft. But before the team even made it out of town, Jim was practicing with his kite when an errant gust of wind pulled him into the air and then slammed him back into the ground, breaking seven vertebrae and rendering him paralyzed.
For the fifth installment of our Mileposts series, we travel to Grand Teton National Park to bring you a story of how much the places we love can take away from us, and about how, sometimes, those same places can teach us the skills we need to come back.
You can find Jim’s photography at Perpetual Weekend.
Music: Intro by Jacob Bain • If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto • Original Score by Jacob Bain • All of the Time by adcBicycle • Original Score by Amy Stolzenbach • Hope by Jacob Bain
Tracks provided by Free Music Archive and with permission from the artists themselves.
The Shorts — The Suffer Vest
The Suffer Vest
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“I’m not what you’d call a ‘runner.’ I prefer it to getting fat, but not by a lot,” writes Brendan Leonard. “The most I’d run in the past few years was probably close to 12 km. I ran a marathon once, and although it felt pretty recent, it was nine years ago.” So what’s a non-runner to do? Sign up for a 50K trail race with less than 25 days to train, of course. Ready, set, race.
You can find more of Brendan’s writing at Semi-Rad.
Music: If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain and Nis Kotto • The Return by nisei23 • Original Score by Amy Stolzenbach • We All Fall by Publish the Quest • Intro by Jacob Bain
Tracks provided by Free Music Archive or with permission from the artists.
The Ultimate Weekend Warrior
The Ultimate Weekend Warrior
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Jim Herson and Anne Smith live in the Bay Area. They’re in their fifties. Jim has worked the same computer science job since he graduated college in 1982, and he and Anne have been together nearly that long. They have two kids, a 17 year old daughter and a 13 year old son, who they shuttle around the city in a maroon Subaru wagon. An all-around American family.
Except for one thing– Jim and his kids get their family bonding time a thousand feet off the deck on Yosemite’s classic routes.
You can find Jim’s hilarious blog posts here.
Music: Say My Name by Hopeless Jack • Brohemoth by Hemmit • Le Slip by Mott Flyf • hope! by The Fucked Up Beat • Moontime by The IMG • Night Without Sleep by David Mumford • On the Road by Amy Stolzenbach
Tracks provided by Free Music Archive or with direct permission from the artists.
Thanks to Chris Kalous and Hans Florine for their guest appearances on the episode. For more climbing inspiration, check out Kalous’ podcast, The Enormocast, and Hans Florine’s new book On The Nose, which includes a story that features Jim Herson. It will be on shelves September 2016.
Mileposts– Little Explorers Club
Little Explorers Club
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“Tommy grew up in Estes, but you notice that so many families and so many kids just don’t go into the National Park,” says Becca Caldwell. While Rocky Mountain National Park is just a short drive from Estes Park, CO., Becca found parents gravitated to the local playground or coffee shops for playdates. “Why aren’t we going out on the trails and letting the kids run loose? How can we change that for my son’s generation?” she asked. It’s a question that many experts have been asking too.
Today, for the fourth episode of our Mileposts series, we hike with the Little Explorers in Rocky Mountain National Park, and see how Becca’s simple act is forming a community of kids and parents out on the trails.
Music: The Ghost of Virginia by Justin Townes Earle • Monsoon Rains by Publish the Quest • Original Score by Amy Stolzenbach
Tracks provided by Free Music Archive and the artists.
Start your own Little Explorers Club! And if you do, post a photo on Instagram with #thelittleexplorersclub.
