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Today on THE ROCK FIGHT (an outdoor podcast that aims for the head), Justin Housman is back on the mic!
Monday's on THE ROCK FIGHT are for stories to hit the outdoor industry and now Saturday's are for the adventure community. Today on the show Colin & Justin get caught up on several stories to come out of the outdoor and gear world including:
There have been several tragedies to hit our National Parks this summer. Falls in Yosemite and at the Grand Canyon and heat related deaths at Death Valley. How should we respond and talk about these things when they happen? (04:24)
Deuter is partnering with Hydrapak to include bladders in several parts of their pack line. (24:52)
Vermont skiers now have a new way to earn a season pass at the iconic Mad River Glen. (28:58)
The Parting Shot! Justin and Colin throw one last rock. (33:33)
Head to www.rockfight.co and sign up for News From the Front, Rock Fight's weekly newsletter!
Please follow and subscribe to THE ROCK FIGHT and give us a 5 star rating and written review wherever you get your podcasts.
Listen to and follow Gear & Beer! The newest show on the Rock Fight Podcast Network.
Have a question or comment for a future mailbag episode? Send it to myrockfight@gmail.com or send a message on Instagram or Threads.
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Episode Transcript
Chris DeMakes (00:07):
We go,
Colin (00:08):
Welcome to the Rock Fight where we speak our truth, slay sacred cows and sometimes agree to disagree. This is an outdoor podcast that aims for the head. I'm Colin. True and joining me today. You've missed him. Now I've missed him. He's back. It's
Chris DeMakes (00:22):
Justin sba.
Justin (00:25):
How long has it been since I've done one of these headlines? Ones
Colin (00:28):
Like six
Justin (00:28):
Weeks because we've done, what, two July. We've done a couple of years and Bees Gears
Colin (00:33):
And beers. Yeah. You've been able to drop in on a couple times, but you've had, you've, it's
Justin (00:37):
Nothing's happened in the outdoor world that's been worth talking about. We only talk about stuff when it's worth, when there's stuff to talk about. Am I right? I'm not right. That's
Colin (00:44):
It. That's how we're going to that kind of schedule,
Justin (00:46):
Right? I've been traveling, doing some camping, was in Colorado last week doing some gear testing, living, living the life
Colin (00:56):
You've had a summer. I've
Justin (00:57):
Had a, yeah, I guess I don't want to say it like it's over, but it is different when you have kids in actual school. It does feel like summer's over.
Colin (01:06):
Well, Justin, as you can tell back, that's our and you lucky listeners. Now get two doses of headlines each week from the Rock Fight Mondays. You're going to get outdoor industry and business focused stories with myself and producer Dave on Saturdays. Justin will join me to talk about the community and the adventure side of the outdoor news cycle, and today we're going to be talking about Alex Ho's reaction to last month's tragedy on Half Dome. This summer's concerning a continuing trend happening in Death Valley in the Grand Canyon, and some gear chatter, and also an interesting new way to get your ski pass in Vermont. Before we get to those, we've got a few housekeeping items for you. We want you to follow and rate the rock fight wherever you're listening on whatever podcast app. There's a new podcast app I know all about. It's called Fountain. If you're listening on Fountain, thank you. I am sure you can rate the show, check that out, see a follow along. Leave us that five star rating and Justin, where can our listeners hear us? Where else can they hear us? Where can they follow along with all of our shows? Well,
Justin (01:57):
That just occurred to me. If you want, I'll set up a one 900 number and you can just call me and I'll just talk. It doesn't have be whatever sexy time or whatever, but if you really do love hearing us talk so much, I
Colin (02:11):
Definitely got in trouble with a few 900
Justin (02:13):
Members. I never had the courage. Never had the courage. I mean, you can't hide it. Whatcha are going to do? No,
Colin (02:19):
You call from your buddy's dorm room is what
Justin (02:21):
You do. Oh, wow. Yeah. Wow. No, I think even back then I kind of had an inkling that I wasn't going to be talking to who I thought I was going to be talking to, if you know what I mean. You knew what was going to happen. I kind of knew what was happening. What else can you follow? Well, first of all, if you love gear and you love beer or just gear and not beer or just beer and not gear, it sounds like a Dr. Seuss book. Go listen to and follow other podcasts, which is called Gear and Beer. Gear and
Colin (02:50):
Beer. It's
Justin (02:51):
Called Gear and Beer. You can follow and rate gear and beer wherever you are listening to the Rock fight as part of the Rock Fight Global podcast empire. You can also email us at my rock fight@gmail.com. Speaking of global empires and stuff, I would like to talk about the last Star Fighter with you at some point.
Colin (03:06):
Great movie
Justin (03:07):
And we have a newsletter, which is now I'm thinking about it should probably feature more of the last star fighter in it. You can head to rock fight.co and click on join the mailing list and you too can be recruited to fight in the battle against Zan.
Colin (03:23):
Oh man, isn't it
Justin (03:26):
Zan? Something like Zan something like that. And the evil koan Armada. Oh my God, I just pulled that out of my ass. The koan. Armada is the bad guy.
Colin (03:35):
ZZ
Justin (03:36):
And the Koan. Armada, right?
Colin (03:38):
Ryland is who wishes one day to rule over Ryos as a tyrant.
Justin (03:42):
Something about the Coda Armada in there.
Colin (03:44):
Before we get into our headlines, we do need to mention our teammates at Darby Communications. If you run an outdoor endurance or active lifestyle brand, there's no better PR and digital marketing belay partner or drinking buddy than our pals at Darby. They can help your business reach new heights and they might just keep you from falling straight on your ass. Look, if they can help us, they can help anyone. Reach out to Darby today, darby communications.com. Let's talk about some things that have been in the news while you've been out gallivanting around North America. Justin,
Justin (04:13):
I wonder if I'm in any of these stories.
Colin (04:16):
Mike, did you write any of these stories? Is really the question.
Justin (04:18):
Let's find out. I should probably read the outline now. I didn't last. I did read the outline, but I didn't write any of these.
Colin (04:24):
So last month, tragedy struck at Half Dome in Yosemite National Park when a young woman slipped and fell to her death during a storm on the section of trail higher up on the peak where metal cables have been installed to assist hikers and they're ascent in descent. Say I looked it up, it's about an average of 50,000 people hike half dome each year, and this was the seventh hiker since 2006 to die after slipping in wet conditions. And I want to talk about outsides coverage of this, but before we get to that, did you see this Yosemite, that whole area is kind of near and dear to you. Have you been to Half Dome? What are your thought to
Justin (04:56):
These? I've never climb Dome because I have a debilitating fear of heights, but I guess I'm never surprised when I hear about this kind of thing. I mean, it's a brutally sad story as a parent sad. I truthfully can't even fathom what it must've been like to watch your daughter fall off that piece of granite. I mean, even now I'm just looking at palms or sweating. But yeah, I have no interest in climbing Half Dome. I have no interest. I've never really had a lot of interest in being on the tallest thing. I don't really care that much about Havedo was beautiful. I want to look at it standing on top of it, you can't see it. But anyway, yeah,
Colin (05:32):
That strikes me as one of those, I would love to do that, but it'd have to be on a guaranteed day when I don't want to deal with anybody else where it's like you just get to go up, have the whole thing to yourself, have the whole cables, everything to yourself. Not because I'm afraid, but just like that's not a place I want to be. It's like our conversations around Everest. I don't want to be hanging out around a
Justin (05:50):
Thousand people. No, I agree with that. I mean it's the same reason I don't like go camping in a busy campground. I don't really want to be on any trail that's loaded with people or have to wait in line. At that point you feel like you're at amusement park. But I also, one of the things that's interesting about Half Dome, and I was thinking about this when I saw this on the outline, was that I know a lot of people who've climbed Half Dome, none of them I would describe as particularly outdoorsy. I'm sure that a lot of my friends who are like gun ura have climbed half down. But the people that I'm thinking of right now that have done it, maybe 10 or 12 people that I know personally, they camp sometimes, but it's not like their life revolves around hiking and being outside like mine does.
(06:27):
So it's interesting. I think it attracts, it's like a bucket list sort of thing that's going to attract all kinds of people, but a lot of those people probably aren't prepared. I don't know. I've never understood, and I know we're going to get to this and maybe this is kind of what you're asking, but I've never understood why the cables are there. It just seems odd to me. It's like I don't really understand how you climb that without them, it's just bare rock I guess If you're a rock climber you can, but I mean that's probably
Colin (06:55):
Why,
Justin (06:55):
Right? Well of course it's why, but it's like why there? Of all the things, why are there not, it just seems odd it to me. I mean if you've never been to Yosemite or at least to Yosemite Valley, I mean it's like half them is the thing that you see. Right? I was going to say it's something like Notre Dame, but not really. It's more like the Eiffel Tower or whatever, and obviously you climb the Eiffel Tower. I don't feel like people should be up there. It just feels like it's almost like an untouchable thing to me. It seems odd to me that there's cables there. I've never really understood why there are.
Colin (07:31):
Yeah, it's almost like one of the peaks that you look at and you're like the matter horn and half to, it's because they're so unique and odd in the way that they formed. I remember flying up to Oregon or something like that from down here in San Diego and you kind look out the window and just all of a sudden you're like, oh, there's Yosemite. Isn't that cool? You could see half to, I mean, it's like you could see it from the plane and it's unique that way. I guess I do wonder if you went back and sort of sliding doors moment, if would whoever approved putting the cables in, would they do it over again now? It's kind like that staircase that they just ripped down on that mountain in Hawaii. Right? I mean, just one of these things like, oh yeah, we should have a thing here, and then all of a sudden you're like, oh, maybe that wasn't such a good idea. But I mean 50,000 people in a year now are using it so clearly. So many. That's
Justin (08:18):
A lot. That's a huge amount. Well,
Colin (08:21):
It's exactly what you said though about how, who's actually going up there or prioritizing up there, prioritizing going up there to the point where it's like a bucket list item. This article went outside covering this, a writer named Jamie Moy. I'm not sure which else she's written, but the question of the article was the Cables worth it? And then they posed the question to Alex Honnold, and this is just like, I had to pick a fight with this. I'm like, guess what? Alex Honnold said, yeah, of course it should be there. Of course, he's going to back up that those cables should be there and that people should go and use it. I don't really know what you expected him to say. I don't really understand what you're trying to get at it with a, it just feels exploitative to me to have an article like this. It's just clickbait. It's like, Hey, let's try and find a way to get a famous climber on board with a tragedy on a really popular purist destination. It's like, oh, this is clickbait heaven for outdoorsy topics. And it just kind of, I'm like, I don't know, man. It was a tragedy, but a lot of people go up there and honestly, in the grand scheme of things, like six or seven since 2006, by comparison, 34 people have died in the New Hampshire's presidential range in the same timeframe.
(09:24):
It's just a weird thing to cover in that
Justin (09:26):
Manner. It's more visible. It's probably a totally, it's almost like a shark attack or something like that where it's, there's something about it that it seems dangerous. It seems very visible. It's more interesting than someone getting lost or whatever, or freezing to death in the presidential range. I guess as far as having honnold weigh in on it, in some ways it makes sense. I could have seen him easily say something like, oh, no way. There should be cables or That should be a pure experience. If you're going to go up there, you should be able to earn it.
(09:58):
If this was the surf world, that's how the conversation would've gone for the most part. Toe and surfing, for example, I'm not in any way saying that cables on half them are toe and surfing, but in some ways they are. When that first started, it was all the best surfers in the world that were doing it. It hadn't even occurred to people that weren't big wave surfers to do it. And for a while it was frowned upon, but then it became, now it's established. This place is only if you have to kind of a thing. But point is that for a long time it was looked down upon because they were like, no, you have to earn it. You have to paddle into the wave. So I could have seen him saying something like that, and there is, I get why he's the most famous climber in the world, so his take is it's going to be interesting, but at the same time, he's so far removed from that.
Colin (10:45):
That's what I mean. It's like,
Justin (10:46):
Well, I don't know. It's asking a major league baseball player about some little league thing. It's like, okay,
Colin (10:54):
Hey Ani, what do you think about that Babe Ruth home run that was hit the other day. I think if you're going to Ruth, get someone to weigh in on this, how about someone who builds trails for a living or the person or the range
Justin (11:06):
Of the up, because a ranger puts that up every year, or the superintendent in the Yosemite, someone who actually has to deal with
Colin (11:12):
Ramifications. There's a system to go. And it's also, and this comes back to, we've talked about this I think a few other times when even you think about just the inherent risk of some of the things that we do. Okay, 50,000 people, what did I say? How many often a year? Yeah, 50,000 people a year since 2006. So 18 years, six people have died. It's like you play that out. Well, how many people die each winter in avalanches? It's a weird kind of thing.
Justin (11:37):
Yeah, I, and no one's saying we should close the no one's saying we should close the back country.
Colin (11:42):
That's what I mean. And just if you wanted to write an article about it, there's a way to kind of approach it with, oh, here's the history of this trail. Here's why the cables are, here's why. Here are other trails where, oh, you wouldn't think about this trail. Someone dies here every five years, whatever it is. If you really wanted to dig into this, it just seems very on the outside nose to say, Hey, somebody died. Oh my God, let's get the greatest climber that's alive to weigh in on this hiking trail that really he has no expertise on whatsoever. And then in the article he talks about why hike on the outside of the cables. I'm like, I believe you. Of course you do Alex Hod, but don't tell
Justin (12:21):
People that. Or occasionally just on the vertical face of Half Dome.
Colin (12:24):
Right. I take the direct route. Yeah. Alex Holl.
Justin (12:27):
Yeah, I, there's just one of the other things I don't know
Colin (12:33):
By the way, I feel bad for Holl. I'm not criticizing him for participating. I just think it was kind a flawed exercise to begin with.
Justin (12:39):
There's something to me, I dunno, I don't know. I mean, it's not like, again, people die outdoors all the time, people, that's just how it goes. But there's something kind of ominous about half do anyway, and then knowing that when you're looking up at it, you're always, I mean, I've never been to where the cables are, so I know where they are, but I've never been to that part of the valley. And when you're looking up at it, you're always like, how is this even possible? How in the world or if you're looking at it from other sides, how and why and blah blah blah. And it's kind of weird when you're in the valley and it's just standing like sentinel. Well, that's a weird choice. There's also sentinel dome, but standing kind of sentinel over the valley and you're like, God, people just die on that. It's just a weird, but I guess you could say the same thing about the Matterhorn, right? It's right above Zermatt and people died there. People, three people have died in the Matterhorn the last two weeks, by the way.
Colin (13:27):
Yeah. Saw that too.
Justin (13:28):
I guess it's also, but that's kind of part of the thing.
Colin (13:31):
That's part of the thing. When Fitz came on the very first time way back when the rock fight first started, the one thing he said is like, Hey, listen, the reason we do this is because there's some risk built into it going from a mountain bike ride or a trail running, it's incredibly low likelihood that something really bad's going to happen to you.
Justin (13:48):
That's
Colin (13:49):
Part of the reason why we do this stuff.
Justin (13:51):
Yeah, I mean it's interesting. I think we've probably talked about this on the podcast. I'm not motivated by risk. That's not my adventure sort of. I mean, I know tons of people are, but that's not my, I don't have risk involved in my definition of what adventure is. For me, it's much more about seeing something I've never seen before and not knowing the outcome. I guess that is a risk, but not like I might die, but
Colin (14:15):
There's just some builtin risk to all of it, right? I mean, think about when you got hurt on that mountain bike ride. You weren't intending on falling off a cliff that day, right? Exactly. But you did, but I did.
Justin (14:26):
There's a part of me that's like, why even publicize this sort of thing? It's like, well, that's what I mean. Someone died
Colin (14:30):
If you're going to write this article.
Justin (14:32):
I also don't have that instinct. When I was a surfer, I was never like, Ooh, a shark attack, let's write about it. Or just, I don't know. I don't know. I guess it's important if it's like a kid in your town gets run over by a car because it raises awareness and you write about it because it raises awareness of traffic incidents that kids should be safer. So maybe it's that kind of a, but it's just like, I don't know. I don't like reading stories about that.
Colin (14:54):
Well, like I said, I don't know the inner workings. I don't know Jamie, it sounds like, I'm sure she was just assigned the story from outside. I think this just seems to me of that intersection of perfect things for outside to capitalize on and get clicks for without it really being well thought through of what the topic, what is this going to be about? I could be wrong about how that came together, but the follow-up story, the next story we want to talk about is to your point on the other side of does bring some interesting attention to some other deaths that have happening in the outdoors over the last couple of months. Because according to USA today, earlier this month, two people died from heat exposure and Death Valley. And at the same time, three people died in a week at the Grand Canyon in a week at Grand Canyon.
(15:30):
It wasn't from heat, it was at Death Valley, but it was from Falls, and they weren't confirmed in the USA today article. But two of the falls were from individuals who looked like they was too close to a cliff edge or hopped fence to get to a more exposed area. The other one was a base jumper and the shoot was deployed, but this is one. And then if you read about the folks at Death Valley, one guy pulled up, went for a hike, got in his car and then crashed his car shortly after getting back into it. The heat. God. Yeah. So I dunno, is this just a bad summer? It is this too many newbies in the outdoors after Covid. We've talked about this, I think probably maybe even the last time you were on before you took some time off of why are you going to Death Valley in the Grand Canyon in the summer?
Justin (16:13):
Anyway, I don't get that unless you just want to see what that's like. I mean, I guess it could be kind of interesting. What does 130 degrees feel like? I'm going to find out. Oh,
Colin (16:21):
I'm all right. I'd rather go climb up half to 'em.
Justin (16:25):
Okay, so having said everything I just said about being kind of perplexed at the cable's existence, I should clarify. It's not because they're dangerous. I don't mind that Danger in the back country is fine. We've just been saying, I mean, again, I'm not motivated by danger. I'm aware of it. You know what I mean? If I'm going to hike 20 miles out in the middle of the back country by myself, I'm aware that something bad could happen. That's fine. I don't have a problem with death in the back country. I mean, I was just talking to somebody yesterday about how anytime I go to Montana, for whatever reason I go to, when I'm flying to the Bozeman Airport, I usually go to the bookstore and they always have a great selection of death in the backcountry books there. It's fascinating to me. It's crazy. And people die all the time. Three in a week of the Grand Canyon. That can't be that unusual. I'm sure that's happened before.
Colin (17:16):
That's a
Justin (17:16):
Good point. And so it's just like, I don't know, in some ways think that's kind of, I like that we do things that can kill us. You know what I mean? That's part of being alive. That's part of being on this planet. If you're just sit in your house all day and don't do anything, then what the fuck is the point? But so I don't know. I don't have an issue with it, I don't think, even if it is, because maybe there's more people out in the back country than there used to be, and maybe a lot of them are radically unprepared. Oh, well that happens. I mean, that's life and death. We're all going to die anyway. You can't avoid it. So I don't know. I mean, yeah, probably don't go hiking in Death Valley in the summertime with a two bubble
Colin (17:57):
Of Coke. Well,
Justin (17:57):
That's it.
Colin (17:57):
I think these are interesting stories to kind of put next to each other, right? Because I mean, again, the have to think incredibly tragic, but you have to get a permit to go, so you're going to be tempted to go maybe even when you shouldn't. There's thunderstorms in the area. They got caught in a thunderstorm and she slipped. To your point, horrific can only imagine the father sitting there, all that stuff. Someone chose to go hiking in Death Valley when it was a hundred one's closer to the Darwin Awards than the other, is what I'm saying. I mean, it's like who said, you know what? Yeah, man, today's the day going to Death Valley and going for a hike. And again, I'm not trying to make light of another tragedy, but it does these little, it's a nuanced question about why people go and do things and how do you evaluate risk and what kind of risk is important to you as it pertains to the adventures you want to have with you in that kind of base statement of I'm more interested in the discovery of it and not taking, just doing something for the sake of it being a risk.
(18:52):
But I also am, there is some element of like, yeah, there's some risk and volunteering in everything that I do when I go outside. So I mean it's from the small things. I was out with my hiking my dog on the little mountain by my house the other day, and here comes a skunk walking towards us and I'm like, all right, well, I guess part of the risk today was my dog might get sprayed with a skunk and that would be inconvenient if that would ruin my day if that's what happened. So all the way to you could actually really get hurt doing this. So I don't know. I think it's a fascinating conversation.
Justin (19:19):
I'm not saying that I'm in any way. First of all, I definitely don't mean this to sound like I'm a badass or that this makes me unique in my thinking about going outdoors and stuff. But I mean I've spent the majority of my outdoor life as a surfer in places with a lot of sharks, or at least a reputation for having a lot of sharks, a lot of large sharks I guess to a certain degree. I've, in the same way probably that people that do a lot of backcountry stuff in Alaska feel like I've kind of made my peace with the fact that there are sharks out here and that at any point I might get eaten or killed
Colin (19:58):
Or just even bit,
Justin (19:59):
Right? And so it's like, okay, I think to me, I have a healthy understanding of death in the backcountry. It happens, but you don't expect it to. That's one of the things that's really interesting about a book. I think it's actually called Death in the Backcountry, but there's a lot of books like this and one of the most fascinating things about it is sometimes it's falling down the cables at Half Dome, but even that physically isn't that demanding of a thing. You're just kind of one foot in front of the other you're holding on, and I think peel people even clip in to the A
Colin (20:28):
Lot of times. Yeah. Yeah.
Justin (20:30):
So it's not that challenging unless you, obviously if you slip you're fucked, but it doesn't always happen there. It happens because you twisted an ankle and you're just too far from the trail to get back onto it, or you took the slightest wrong turn or you're just a little bit too cold or something like that. It's not always these big risky things. It's often just something you would never expect. And so, I dunno, it's just part of going outside. It's just part of going outside.
Colin (21:03):
But this is how I think it's funny. You're definitely on record of I'm not going backpacking, no. In Montana with our grizzly bears, and that's what I mean.
Justin (21:11):
It is because I have a healthy awareness of this kind of thing happens, but I'm also not going to court. I mean obviously I go surfing in the Northern California, which is virtually the same thing is going backpacking in Montana,
Colin (21:22):
But statistics are still in your favor. I think it's like I look at statistics are in your favor. If I gave you the choices at gunpoint, you had to do one of them. You got to go for a three day backpacking trip in Montana, or you got to go for a day hike in Death Valley. Sorry, I don't mean to laugh at the, I'm doing in the middle of summer.
Justin (21:41):
I'm doing the bears. Yeah, I'm doing the bears.
Colin (21:42):
I'm going for the bears. Bears. Right. Because it's really unlikely that anything's going to happen to you with the bears, right? I mean you're going to get at least sick if you're going to go out 130 degrees
Justin (21:51):
Heat. I think there's probably people that really like that, that are just like, you know what? I want to see what this heat is. There's heat heads, there's people, people into everything.
Colin (21:58):
Yeah. I'm not that far from Death Valley. There's definitely part of me is it would be cool to be up there on a day and just get out of the car for two minutes holy and be like, holy shit, that is hot. I'm getting back in my car now. Yeah,
Justin (22:11):
It sucks though. God, I don't know. I don't like laughing during any kind of discussion about this sort of thing, and I want to point that mostly it's mostly been you that's been laughing. Just that's true. Everyone out there. That's
Colin (22:20):
True. I'm the asshole. I just think it's fascinating to put myself in the shoes of when these things happen. I think it's a,
Justin (22:29):
It is interesting. I mean I can't help but especially with the Death Valley thing, I can't help but think about, I feel like this is, I don't remember which one it is. One of Ed Abbey's books, he has this little bit about coming. I think he was looking for him when he was a ranger. I think he was looking for this guy that was lost. It might've been that he randomly stumbled across a body, but he found some dead guy who was leaning against probably a, I don't know what kind of tree, some kind of tiny tree in the desert in Utah and dead of thirst or heat. And he talks about how could be worse, right? Look at this. I mean granted the guy was probably terrified, but the way he describes how he was just sitting against his tree, he almost looked like he was kind of peaceful. He like, yeah, maybe I'd rather it be that from a hospital bed in a lot of ways.
Colin (23:17):
See, I agree with that too. I think I other do that. The only thing of anything we've talked about where you couldn't talk me into it and at this point is a lot of the back country ski stuff and because the avalanche thing is more terrifying to me than anything else that we've talked about today. Yeah, I'm sure. I mean, think about people. They run bad water. It's 135 mile ultramarathon through Death Valley in the summertime, and I think most people survive that if they choose to run it. So it's like, I'm sure this may have just been an unfortunate situation going on in Death Valley. Same thing on the Grand Canyon. Sounds like it was probably just unfortunate for the most part, the grizzly bear thing, the sharks, all of those things you can kind of point to. You can get to like, okay, here's how we're going to approach it so that you minimize the risk and also the risk is probably pretty low going in the back country on a high abbey day, that freaks me the fuck out.
Justin (24:06):
But all of these things way, way, way, way, way fucking safer than just driving a car, right? Statistically just so much safer and you don't even, good point. Even think about it. Don't even think about it. You're going to get in your little,
Colin (24:24):
You're thinking about doing it with your pinky on it while you're looking at something in your seat. Yeah, you're going to be
Justin (24:28):
Here Ford Maverick later today going 75 miles an hour on the freeway, like eight feet behind a car right in front of you. Neither of you are paying attention.
Colin (24:35):
No,
Justin (24:36):
It's true. Not going to worry about that.
Colin (24:39):
Well anyway, our condolences obviously to anyone who has been affected by these tragedies this summer. But I do think these are important conversations to have when it comes to the outdoor lifestyle that we all lead and to that outdoor lifestyle. Let's move into some gear news because per SGB Pac Maker Deuter is partnering with partnering with Hydro Pack to integrate hydration reservoirs and flax into a range of performance packs that will hit the outdoor marketplace in the spring of 2025. The six collections that will feature hydro pack products are the AC light, the Ascender race Rag Rag la I must put that a German word, short tail Speedlight pro and trach. T-R-A-I-C-K. I assume I'm pronouncing that correctly and I know I spelled it right. I copied, copied press release.
Justin (25:22):
Those are not German terms by the way.
Colin (25:24):
Isn't deuter German?
Justin (25:26):
Could be. But those, I'm just telling you, those aren't German words.
Colin (25:29):
Well, how do you feel about bladders in general? I've kind of a mixed opinions on bladders. I really value what they can offer, but for the most part, I would much prefer have a bottle for my hydration needs.
Justin (25:40):
I never really use them, but I probably should and I don't have a good reason why I don't.
Colin (25:48):
Should you? What do you
Justin (25:49):
Mean? It's so much easier than having a bottle? It just have it. It's just right there. Oh yeah. Paper's so much
Colin (25:55):
Easier. It's vastly superior.
Justin (25:56):
It's so much easier and you can carry a lot more water and you can carry it in a place that makes sense. I don't have a great, I mean unless your backpack is really small, you're taking it off every time you want to get a drink of water, you got to stop. You take your water out, you take the lid off, you drink your just a little tube, I have no idea. Plus you could pretend like you're in Dune, like drink it out of your still suit.
Colin (26:18):
I dunno if that's worth it. If you have a big pack on and you feel the bladder next to your back or anything like that, that might not be, I
Justin (26:24):
Don't know if I've ever really experienced that. I mean, I've never, yeah, especially for backpacking. It seems insanely dumb not to use a bladder. Then it's like now you got to take a ill. If it's a big backpack, now you got to take a 30 pound backpack off every time you want to drink drink of water. That's insane.
Colin (26:39):
You have your bottle set up so you can just pull it out of your hip
Justin (26:41):
Pocket or whatever. Sometimes, but not always. It's way easier than that. The tube, little tube. The tube, just that little tube. I was using one on a hike in Colorado last week. Was that last week? I think it was, was last week. It was last week. Just last week. Like hiking around in Rocky Mountain National Park. And it was a press trip and there was some goodies and one of 'em was a Campbell backpack. And because I usually don't use them, my first thought was, I'll just take the bladder out and use it as a backpack. I was like, no, dude, it's here. Use it. And I did. And I'm like, oh yeah. I mean, other than the fact that it tastes like plastic and they're virtually impossible to clean properly at least easily, I should say easily. It's hard. I've written stories about here's the best way to do it, and it's kind of a pain in the ass. You're much more likely to just leave your disgusting bladder in your backpack indefinitely and
Colin (27:36):
Not a little bacteria. It makes me stronger. It does. I'll drink that.
Justin (27:38):
But yeah, I wish I used them more. I mean, there's something inherently kind of goofy about it. I get that. And especially, I definitely don't on mountain bike rides, but why? I don't know. I really need to do it. I
Colin (27:49):
Much prefer bottles on a bike ride. I would rather put my bottles on my bike than have it on my back. The
Justin (27:52):
One nice thing about that is that I'm usually so fucking thirsty and it's hard to get the tube. It's almost like torture. Whereas a bottle, I can just guzzle it down.
Colin (28:01):
Guzzle. Yeah, right.
Justin (28:02):
But yeah, I don't know. Think I'm all for them and I wish I used them more. I mean, it's a pretty brilliant idea
Colin (28:09):
What a bladder is and what it can do for you. Just makes a ton of sense. So it really has to be just a personal preference why you wouldn't. I do think there's, even if you don't like bladders though, I think there's value here. Definitely for me, I would take another look at if you're going to get a hydro pack, like a branded bladder as part of your purchase with a deuter pack, I think that's pretty cool. Especially if it's all relatively the same price
Justin (28:29):
Wise. They usually don't come with their own bladder. So that is cool. That is cool. And I like hydro packs a lot.
Colin (28:35):
Well, how do you feel about deuter?
Justin (28:36):
I've never gotten into deuter.
Colin (28:39):
I have one deuter pack that I like, a little dayak that I like a lot.
Justin (28:42):
It's pretty, I remember when I first got into outdoor stuff, I was like, well, I'm going to get some deuter. It just sounded cool. And anything European seemed like better to me. But no, I don't. I've never had any deuter. When I think deuter now I think about baby carrying packs. I know they make some good ones and a lot of people have them.
Colin (28:58):
Well, last story, and I thought of you at the moment. I read this, I thought you would really dig. This is according to the inertia.com. Vermont skiers now have a new way to score their season pass for the upcoming ski season. People cannot now head to Mad River Glen to help mow the lawn. So the most, some grass earn your pass initiative uses manual labor on the ski runs that are too steep for tractors. So volunteers can take a handheld STH up onto these ski runs and grass trim the grass for ten eight hour days and then you'll get a season pass and they'll pay you as well. Apparently I found that out too. I'm like is just like 10 days of hard labor and you get a ski pass. I dunno if that's worth it, but what'd you think about it? You would do this probably without even getting the ski pass just to swing a sight around.
Justin (29:41):
I might. I just need to know, are they using the phrase ass grass or cash at all in their marketing right now? If not
Colin (29:52):
Most 'em grass are in your past is the official
Justin (29:54):
Name of the issue. I'm sorry. But they're missing a fucking huge opportunity with that bumper sticker. Right?
Colin (30:00):
Which one? What
Justin (30:01):
Is it? Ask Grass or Cash. Nobody rides for free.
Colin (30:03):
No, I don't know that
Justin (30:04):
One. Jesus Christ, man. It's like it came from two different worlds. Just because you're out in Pennsylvania. That was a hugely popular bumper sticker in the eighties. Ask Grass or cash. Nobody rides for free. If you're going to ride my car, I need one of these three things. I think it's awesome. That should be the case for everywhere. Remember how when you were a kid in movies or cartoons or whatever, people would be like, oh shit, I don't have any money to pay for my dinner. I just ate. And they'd be like, well, you could wash dishes. Was that happening? Was that a thing?
Colin (30:31):
Yeah. Was that a Hollywood manufactured thing?
Justin (30:33):
Actually, you're probably paying a dishwasher. What are they Now they have to go home. It doesn't make any sense. Right? But still, I love that idea. That's fantastic. Everything should be like that. I would totally do a million times more things If you didn't have to pay cash, you could just work for
Colin (30:48):
The cost of it. You have to give the labor to work off your debt. So
Justin (30:51):
10 days, 10 10, 8 hour days. Seven
Colin (30:53):
To three. Seven to three. So
Justin (30:55):
80 hours for basically a thousand dollars.
Colin (30:58):
Yeah, $959 is the price of a adult full pass at Mad River Glen.
Justin (31:03):
So that's like working full-time for 500 bucks a week.
Colin (31:06):
Well, and it says on their website that you'll get some cash as well. So I'm assuming you're going to get some level of hourly rate. You actually get some money. I felt like that's a lot of labor. Yeah, that's a
Justin (31:14):
Lot of labor for that. That's less than minimum wage. If I'm doing the math correctly in my head
Colin (31:19):
Now, what if you were just a ski bum? You're like, ah, you move up from Virginia to Vermont to be a ski bum or something like that. And it's like, well, here you go. You could just get your ski pass and work for 10 days and get a free pass. It's probably
Justin (31:32):
Worth it then. I think so. So I'd rather do that than get a job for 10 days. You know what I mean? Then or whatever. Just to pay it for it. At least you're done and you get in really good shape. You'd learn how to handle afe Well, that was,
Colin (31:48):
It's actually in the marketing photos, a person holding a
Justin (31:51):
Sip. Remember those dudes that we saw wheeling those mowers up on the mountain bike trail that we rode?
Colin (31:56):
Oh yeah.
Justin (31:58):
Why can't they use that? Yeah, that's
Colin (31:58):
Got to work, right? They use something like that. Yeah, it
Justin (32:00):
Would
Colin (32:01):
Think. But would you want to, if you could use a motorized mower thing versus a sip. Well
Justin (32:05):
Sip is is going to be way lighter. It's going to be a lot quieter
Colin (32:10):
Going to workout in all day
Justin (32:11):
Too. It's definitely horror film level scary. Feel like that's the most dangerous implement on the planet. To me, they look horrifying. Yeah. I feel like with the person that invented that, they're like, boy, I should cut this grass. And they invented that. And I bet they spent a few minutes going, I don't know if this is worth it. Maybe I shouldn't have done this. This is a box I maybe shouldn't have opened. This was a
Colin (32:33):
Bad decision. It's literally, if there was another level in Pulp Fiction, when Bruce Willis is getting the weapon to back in and save during the scene in the pawn shop and save Marcellus Wallace, he gets the Samurai sword. If the site had been
Justin (32:47):
There
Colin (32:47):
For that, he would've chosen the site.
Justin (32:49):
It is a wild thing in terms of the, I don't know that there's something that's more, you want to say it's overkill, but it's kind of perfectly engineered for what it does. But Christ, is it really necessary? It's just so gnarly. Like a hammer, for example. Perfect. Perfect size.
Colin (33:08):
Not scary. Well, and also in this case, dude, what if you just wanted to bring your own electric weed? Yeah.
Justin (33:12):
Gas weer.
Colin (33:13):
Could you just like, can I just bring my own thing?
Justin (33:14):
No, you got to be a fucking sth.
Colin (33:16):
Nope. Got to be ath. They earn your pass.
Justin (33:19):
I mean, I think it's great
Colin (33:20):
To your original point though, just, hey, more of this kind of stuff. Just come in, earn something that way. Do a little work. Get something cool for it.
Justin (33:28):
Love that.
Colin (33:29):
I'm into it too. I love it.
Justin (33:30):
I love it.
Colin (33:33):
All right, last thing. Today we have our parting shot. So the parting shot is a new segment on the show where we just throw a rock. It's something that we just want to throw a rock at. It doesn't have to be outdoorsy in nature. Just something we're just going to get off our chest. It's the last thing we're going to talk about. So what is your parting shot today? What do you got?
Justin (33:48):
Stop tinting the front windows of your car. Stop doing that. I don't care if you live on the sun. Oh yeah. That's a good one. Stop fucking doing it. And I see so much confusion in forums about this kind of thing or whatever, forums, maybe on the internet. Guess generally speaking, it's too bright or I don't want cops see me. It's not because the cops want to see what you're doing so the pedestrians and bicyclists can see your eyes. Stop doing it. It's horrifying. Stop
Colin (34:15):
It. Isn't it illegal? Yes. Is it illegal? It's illegal, right?
Justin (34:18):
It's illegal everywhere. And cops don't seem to care. It's just like, oh my God. Or even that, there's my parting shot. Cops bust that. Bust people for that.
Colin (34:26):
Yeah.
Justin (34:26):
Stop busting people for weed or whatever. I can't see. I mean, I don't really drive very much. And it gets hot here. So a lot of people have their front windows. I can't even imagine what it must be like crossing the street in Phoenix where every car has that and you're like, do they see me? I have no idea.
Colin (34:42):
You're right. As a cyclist, when you're coming up and someone's going to look in the pullout, you're trying to make eye contact. Make sure, do you see me? Do you see me?
Justin (34:48):
Or so many times I'll be at an intersection and I'm like, I have no idea. If this car sees me, I'm just going to sit here. And they sit there too. And then sometimes you can sort of vaguely see motion in the behind and you're like, oh, I think they might be wavy. I don't know. I can't see. Yeah,
Colin (35:00):
Can't tell. Because you tinted your windows.
Justin (35:02):
Just stop doing that please.
Colin (35:04):
Alright. My parting shot is this week and the remake of the Crow finally opens up in theaters. Bill Skarsgard as Eric Draven. They've been trying to do this basically since the 1990, was it 95 whenever it came out? Which was a classic movie. It holds up. It's amazing. They couldn't let it go.
Justin (35:21):
Never even seen it. You never saw the original
Colin (35:22):
Crow.
Justin (35:22):
Never saw the original Crow.
Colin (35:23):
It's good. You'll like it if you watch it today. Sure. Excellent movie. But since that original movie, these are the stars that have been attached to play the Crow over the last 20 years. 30, 30 years. Mark Wahlberg, Bradley Cooper, Luke Evans, Jack Houston, and Jason. And Bill Skarsgard is actually doing it. Wild assortment. Right. And Brandon Lee, if you go back and watch it. Tragic. Another tragedy. Wow. A lot of tragic stories this episode. But so he dies during production, but it's an amazing film. It's still great if you read the comic and it's a great companion to the comic. I hate that they're doing this. I think I'll hate it more if it ends up being good. I don't want it to be good because just leave it alone. I'm pretty sure it won't be good. But anyway, that's my parting shot. Fuck you the crow.
(36:06):
You shouldn't have made it. Alright man, we can wrap it up there. What you got going on? You going surfing? What you doing? You getting outside? You know what I'm going to do is I'm going to go for a run of mine Norta Trail shoes that I really like. You like those shoes though? Those shoes are badass. Yeah, they're really good. Norta Norta. They're really, really good. We should feature my gear and beer. We should. I put on the Hoka MAs that we talked about before last night to go for a run. Cause I just wanted to see. Come on. Not even close. No, I mean they're comfortable but they don't, I don't know that I'm ready to pay. I mean they were given to me. It was a press trip. I'm not ready to pay $300 for a pair of running shoes, but it's a wild difference.
(36:45):
The Hoka, how long will they last? That's a question. They had a pair at the office that they said had a thousand miles on them. They just looked dirty. But you could be so em. You can, yeah. Well that's worth 300 bucks. I think so too. I told that they're worth it. I mean, Dima is impossible to destroy. It's like what the aliens are made out of. It's so tough. So it's going to last forever. But yeah, the hocus feel like a slipper. They felt like a toy. Alright, so you're going to go for trail and you're nordis my nordis. Right on man. Well, the rock flight's a production of rock Fight LLC. Our producer today was not David Cars. He decided not to come today. So producer Dave, he's missing a lot later. That guy. We got to to have a talk with Producer Dave. But for Justin Hausman, I'm Colin. True. Thanks for listening. And he's here to take us out. Krista makes going to sing the rock. Fight. Fight So Wolf. See you next time. Rock fighters. Rock
Chris DeMakes (37:33):
Fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. We go the rock fight where we speak our truth. Stay sacred cows and sometimes agree to disagree. We talk about human power, outdoor activities and pick bites about topics that we find interesting like my caution. Music, the latest movie reviews, ideas. Aim for the this is where we speak truth. This is where we speak our truth.