I’ve not really been one for celebrating the new year because in reality each day is the start of a new year, despite what the calendar may read.
But, since the calendar did turn 1 year older, I suppose then that skiing with Alex and Derek in the Uintas was a great way to end the calendar year and an even better way to spend one day.
Video by Derek:
I walked into my friend’s office and he exuberantly told me about a marketing position he knew of that was opening up soon which he felt I’d be good for. After replying that I didn’t want a job working for anyone, he placed this before me:
While I’m not sure if there is indeed a marketing position opening up soon, I’m sure my 9 year old who took first in the 3rd grade spelling bee last year would be willing to apply as a copywriter for In Utah.
Sure, it’s easy to poke fun of this instance. The truth of the matter is that we all make mistakes in business and thankfully mine aren’t quite as glaring (most of the time) as the one above.
And no, her name isn’t Chris. It’s Jen Hardman from Park City TV’s Mountain Morning Show.
There’s something special about Alta. For decades people have tried to put it to words, but it’s often more “spiritual” that that, if I can use that word to describe something so mortal. Not sure if this video explains it either, but it is a good attempt. (more…)
Printed below is an excerpt from the website ChangeThis, and specifically this essay which was written back in 2004.
The desire by too many of us (I say us because we all are part of this mess we call an economy) to have more than enough has led to too many not having enough to maintain the abundance they were so proud of, despite their reality of not enough.
Now they want to be bailed out of scarcity, because it is someone else fault.
I’ve bolded below what could have very well been a prophetic statement, written back when the DOW was well over 10K and 20K was talked about.
You should know that this was written as a profile of a company that makes stuff, albeit good stuff.
In an economy of abundance, there is enough. Not too much. Not too little. Enough. Most important, there is enough time for the things that matter: relationships, delicious food, art, games and rest. Many of us in the United States live in what is thought to be abundance, with plenty all around us, but it is only an illusion, not the real thing. The economy we live in is marked by “not enough.” We once asked the owner of a successful business if he had enough money and he replied, “Don’t you understand? There is never enough.”
We don’t have enough money, and we also don’t have enough time. We don’t have enough energy, solitude or peace. We are the world’s richest country, yet our quality of life ranks 14th in the world. As Eric Hoffer, a mid-20th century philosopher, put it, “You can never get enough of what you don’t really need to make you happy.” And while we work harder and harder to get more of what we donʼt need, we lay waste to the natural world. Dr. Peter Senge, author and MIT lecturer, says, “We are sleepwalking into disaster, going faster and faster to get to where no one wants to be.”
We might call this economy, the one we live in, the economy of scarcity. Lest you think the economy of abundance is gone with the old Chumash, consider Europe. Europeans still buy only a few well-made clothes and keep them for many years. Their houses and apartments tend to be smaller than ours; they rely on public transportation, and small, efficient home appliances and cars. Europeans enjoy a 25 percent higher quality of life than Americans (while we consume 75 percent more than they do). Or, look at the people of Bhutan, whose king insists on measuring “gross national happiness.”
Any person or nation can grow fatter and fatter, richer and richer, sleepwalking toward disaster. Or we can choose to remain lean and quick, wealthy in beauty and time and, that word that inspired our forefathers, wealthy in happiness.
For those that are “in the know” you’ve heard me talk about this project that Mark Strickland and I have been working on for months….well, actually for about a year now. Several sizable speed bumps, a few side tracks, personnel changes, and other unforeseen obstacles have been overcome to bring us to a successful launch last night.
Camofire.com is a one-deal-a-day website selling hunting gear at insane prices. While this business model was made popular by WOOT a lot of these types of retail websites have appeared over the past couple of years, but few to none in the hunting world.
It’s been a really fun ride so far and we’ve just begun. I’ve learned a lot so far but here are two realizations:
1. I really enjoy being in business with people like Mark – a friend I can trust and someone I would choose to work with and for. No sense in spending your life working with people you’d rather not be around.
2. I’ve once again become entrenched in the world of hunting which I’ve been away from for a few years and one that for me holds many, many good memories from growing up. Takes me back to my roots.
Sure would appreciate any help we can get in passing along the word about Camofire. Some day you can say, “Yea, I know that guy Kendall Card. I told all my friends about his site the first week.”
Gotta dream big, right?
My friend and former co-worker Marit pinged me today asking about how I did in Lotoja.
Lotoja? Well, despite all the mayhem that was my life this summer and the lack of training that followed, I managed to shave an 1:01 off my time from last year. That’s one HOUR and one minute! HOLLA! Yea, pretty stoked on that.
So here is a Blow by Blow shortish recap of Lotoja 2008.
Started out at a semi slow pace but the yo-yo of the back of the peleton and the sub 20 mph speed was unbearable so the group of us with PROBAR jerseys moved to the front and pulled most of the way to Preston.
It was faster than I wanted but safer than the back.
Just shy of Preston there is a little rise that split the pack and my two buddies that I agreed to stay with were slowing up. Frankly, I didn’t think my day would be more more than a leisurely ride so I sat up, rode without hands and ate breakfast until the feed zone when they caught up. We took WAY too much time here taking off leg warmers, eating, general time kill.
Starting out from Preston were held a good pace as I was pulling most of the time through the hills and rollers. As we started the big climb of Strawberry I surged forward to stop for a pee break and as I did so a guy came up on my side and in front of me. I noticed he had an ONCE jersey from Spain so I hung on his wheel.
After a minute or two he looks back RIGHT as I was getting ready to pull over to take that needed break and he says, “Kendall? It’s Chad Eberhardt!” I was like, “Chad?!?”. Sure enough, a guy that I served with in Spain on my mission 16 years ago. Haven’t seen him since Spain.
After that we were like a couple of old women out for a lazy afternoon ride (no offense to my women readers or women in general) just chatting away, pedaling pretty solid up the climb, oblivious to the riders we were passing. In fact, a gal looked back as we were passing her and said, ‘Kinda chatty back there eh?”
After catching up about families, wives, work, old buddies from the mission and more, we were at the water station just before the Strawberry summit. So I figured I’d just hang with him until Montpelier and meet my support (the wife of one of the guys I was riding with) there.
Long story short, she wasn’t there and so I ate some of Chad’s food and we jammed the entire way. He rode a 10:06 last year to place in his age group but we were on pace for something like a sub 11 and so we pushed hard from group to group – joining up with a group, pulling it, working a few pulls and then pushing on to bridge to the next group. It was brilliant.
The last leg we hung with another buddy of mine and his friend who we rand into along the way and the 4 of us pounded most of the last leg.
Just before the finish as you enter Jackson there’s a little hill and it ate up all my energy. I fell off the back and couldn’t catch the now group of 20 or so.
After a little more than a mile solo I thought to myself, “Please Chad, come back and give me a wheel.” Lo and behold, I looked up to see a guy sit up from the group about 1/4 mile ahead of me. Chad came back, pulled me until the turn in Wilson and then we pushed hard together to the end.
Finishing time – 10:44. 1 minute faster than my pre-season goal for Lotoja.
I’m already trying to figure out how to break 10:15….
Ski films keep getting better and better. This one looks like it’s aim is more education than stoke, but I wouldn’t say it’s stoke free.
I’m glad to see someone pushing Avalanche Education with some sort of style and reality that hopefully will turn heads. Now if they could just get a sledneck company to do the same…
I’m going to see if I can’t get this film to be part of or THE headliner for the annual Utah Avie Center fundraiser show that FeedTheHabit.com puts on each year at Brewvies in Salt Lake City.
Check out their site – http://www.rockymountainsherpas.com – for more about The Fine Line.
I was doing a little housekeeping of images and came across this image which I snapped as a summer storm was passing my way while I was passing through Park City.
Nothing special, just the little point and shoot.
When you hear the phrase “Telling Stories”, aside from the connotation of fibbing, what’s the first thing you think of? Someone verbally telling stories? Perhaps a poet? A storyteller?
Did you think of a photographer?
Meet John Hafner (self portrait below) who my friend Derek at Piton Productions told me about. He’s an outdoor and hunting photographer whose website and blog contain images of hunts and products he’s shot which do more than convey an image, they tell a story.
In his own words:
I’m one of the youngest and hardest working photographers in the outdoor industry. I have a tremendous amount of passion for what I do. I love telling a story with my camera and helping my clients convey their messages.
I’d like to see more ski photographers use this same philosophy of telling a story rather than capturing the super-duper-gnarly-rad-sicko-huge-air and calling it “remarkable”. Bah.
It’s no wonder brands like Realtree, Cabelas and Primos have worked with John in telling their story through the visual medium. Kudos John.
