Mar

The Shorts — Dreams Coming True

Dreams Coming True

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/139396065″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]There are two kinds of dreams. An honest dream. “The kind of dream,” writes Luke Mehall “that keeps you up at night, and wakes you up in the morning with a knot in your stomach that can only be untied with blood sweat and tears.” For Luke, climbing El Cap was that kind of dream. And then there’s the other kind of dream. The kind that starts out as a joke, then escalates to the level of the ridiculous. When Luke drove west towards Yosemite National Park, he was determined to realize one of each.

Music: My Misery by Wolf Boy Slim & His Dirty Feet • Crampbone by The Cassettes • Slow Burn by Black Fire Pistol • Whenever You’re Ready by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Music provided by Mevio’s Music Alley.

Feb

The Remotest

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/137070801″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]We all know the feeling of remoteness. The stillness. The perspective. It’s part of what keeps drawing us outside. But what does it feel like to be standing, literally, in the most remote place in a state? In the country? And what might those places reveal about the fate of our country’s wild lands? In 2010, Ryan and Rebecca Means embarked upon Project Remote to find out.

Music: Pay My Dues by Battery Life • Surfin’ Tucson by Angie and the Car Wrecks • Right Wing Failure by Deadlinks • Dyin’ by Kelly Richey • Primary Colors by Ken Christianson

Some music provided by Mevio’s Music Alley.

Feb

The Shorts — Zen and the Art of Skiing Powder

Zen and the Art of Skiing Powder

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/134624046″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]“With steely determination, I pointed my tips downhill and tried to power through the deep snow, but I was doomed,” remembers Julia Rosen. “I started to do the super slow splits as my skis drifted further and further apart under two piles of snow that felt like wet concrete. My feet stopped, but my body lurched forward and I was thrust into an unwelcome downward dog.” Anyone who’s skied powder remembers this fall. Anyone who, like Julia, learned to ski pow as an adult remembers it more clearly. But Julia did make it through the painful learning process—only to discover that, perhaps, the wisdom she had gained might just serve her in the horizontal world as well.

Music: Påte Filo by Malajube • Mountain Soul Fire by woodrowgerber • Risin’ Sun by Kelly Richey • Never Lost by The Cassettes • No Darkness by The Woodsmen

Music courtesy of Mevio’s Music Alley.

Jan

Starting Small

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/130838527″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]Plastic bags. They clog drawers, landfills, coastlines and trailheads. Recycling them is confusing and inefficient. But what if there was a way to turn the trash into something of value? Enter Industrial Designer Will Wells. Today, we bring you our annual Year of Big Ideas. We talked to contributors and friends about their goals for the coming year. Here’s to going big, traveling to new places and trying something new. And here’s to making something that will inspire others, even if it’s small.

Happy 2014.

Music: Moonshine by Angie and the Car Wrecks • Shoot You Down by 202s • Please Don’t Ask Me to Explain It by The Walthall Tango • This Modern Love by Bloc Party • 41 South by John Berry • In a Cave by Tokyo Police Club

Music courtesy of Mevio’s Music Alley.

Dec

If You Build It

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/127767267″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]Powerful ideas often demand that we leave the comfort of a safety net. We quit a nine to five. We take out a second mortgage on our house. Along the way, we can expect to be called a crazy one day and brilliant the next. In the late 1990’s, Jeff Pensiero had an idea–to build a backcountry ski lodge that catered to snowboarders. It was outlandish–targeting a market that barely existed—and yet perfect. But, like any dream, it took years of sweat, worry, right people-right time connections, and damn good perseverance to make it all look seamless. From the shores of Lake Tahoe to the world renowned slopes of Baldface Lodge, we bring you one snowboarder’s journey to create his dream.

Music: The Watchmaker by David Beard • What Would Wolves Do? by Les Savy Fav • Gone Home by Battery Life • Letters Home by emFRIK • Nathaniel by O’Death • Angels Make Contact by Matt Mays • This Modern Love by Bloc Party