Salomon Goes Full Sneaker Brand & The Best Of The OMA Media Event
- colin7931
- Jul 21
- 48 min read
Today Colin and outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford recap their time at last week's Outdoor Market Alliance Media Event. Here is the rundown!
Ortovox has returned fire! After criticizing the brands new mountain biking line on last week's episode, it looks like a brand representative from Ortovox may be appearing on the show soon. Stay tuned! (06:48)
Salomon's CEO wants to see the brand expand their products to provide more lifestyle options. A tricky proposition that others have also tried. (09:16)
The OMA Media Event has quickly become one of the most important industry events on the calendar for PR Agencies and the writers, YouTubers, and podcasters who make up the outdoor media scene. Colin & Eoin talk about how there is still room for the event to grow especially among the brands who would greatly benefit from the coverage they could get if they attended. (16:12)
Colin & Eoin's six favorite brands and products that they saw over the course of the two day event. (30:42)
Lastly for The Parting Shot Colin has some choice words for his least favorite airport. (52:19)
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Episode Transcript:
Colin True
00:00:00.320 - 00:00:48.390
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 today outdoor industry insider Owen Comerford and I are going to hit some outdoor industry headlines before getting into our deep dive from last week's Outdoor Market Alliance Media event, including our favorite brands and products that we saw while at that event. But before we get to that tomorrow, be sure to check out a new episode of Open Container with Doug Schnitzbahn.
Follow and listen to Open Container on your favorite podcast app. And on Wednesday, Gear Abby herself, Shantae Salibair, will be off the trail and back on the Rock Fight. Be sure to check that out.
And lastly, be sure to click follow and leave us a five star review on whatever podcast app you are using right now. So you never miss an episode of the Rock Fight. And if you're on Apple Podcasts, we would certainly appreciate that written review.
Eoin Comerford
00:00:48.790 - 00:01:13.250
Also, I would say Colin to our listeners, check out the if they haven't already listened to the interview you did with Adam Ruggiero from Gear Junkie. I just listened to it and I thought it was fabulous. Just such a great, you know, thoughtful, authentic guy and just, just a really fun interview.
So if they missed that one, take a look one episode earlier than this one. It's, it's really worth it.
Colin True
00:01:13.730 - 00:01:19.730
If they missed that one, I'd say, how dare you. How dare you, sir. Stick around, we'll be right back.
Chris DeMakes
00:01:19.810 - 00:01:23.730
Welcome to the Rock Fight. Rock Fight. Rock Fight.
Colin True
00:01:29.230 - 00:04:05.789
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Colin True
00:04:18.970 - 00:04:28.010
Okay, I'm here with the consigliere to the rock fight, Owen Comerford. Producer Dave is off serving his one game suspension for performance enhancing drugs. Do we know what happened yet? I don't.
I haven't heard the full story.
Eoin Comerford
00:04:28.730 - 00:04:35.770
Yeah, I hear. Actually I believe it was medium plus Indian food was the performance and hunting drug.
Colin True
00:04:37.530 - 00:04:39.810
You're referring to the meal we had while in Denver.
Eoin Comerford
00:04:39.810 - 00:04:40.250
Yes.
Colin True
00:04:40.490 - 00:04:46.770
Which you chastised me immediately for going mild and then later seemed to regret your heat choice of the evening.
Eoin Comerford
00:04:47.090 - 00:05:11.410
I. I did. I regretted it the next. At the time it was an amazing choice and. And it was actually very tasty.
But yes, the next morning I was really questioning my decision. If you're in the especially I would say with the. How do I say this? The. The. The lack of facilities at the.
Colin True
00:05:11.810 - 00:05:13.130
You helped to remark an alliance.
Eoin Comerford
00:05:13.130 - 00:05:15.610
Yes, yes, there is.
Colin True
00:05:15.610 - 00:05:35.090
We're going to talk about oma, the Outdoor Market alliance in a few minutes.
There is a legendary story apparently about the first year that the media event happened where there was a food poisoning incident where everybody that ate one thing at lunch got massively ill and I Don't know if it happened at the facility, but I'm thinking of that lineup where there. It's a one holder for the men and the women.
Eoin Comerford
00:05:35.170 - 00:05:38.930
Would have been. That would have been brutal. Yes.
Colin True
00:05:38.930 - 00:05:49.450
That's really.
Not to skip to the next part of our second part of our conversation, but that's probably the biggest downside of that facility is it as the bathroom situation when you have a lot of people in there. Otherwise it's a great spot.
Eoin Comerford
00:05:49.450 - 00:05:57.050
No, it is. I don't understand the thinking in the layout of that because they've got 25 showrooms there. I mean, what. What are we. And whatever.
Colin True
00:05:57.050 - 00:05:57.410
Yeah.
Eoin Comerford
00:05:57.410 - 00:06:02.410
I, you know, you know how I am about poop on podcasts. So we should probably move this thing along.
Colin True
00:06:02.410 - 00:06:11.770
Shantae's going to be like, I heard you. Yeah, you're standing on my corner, Owen. But no, but I think I have the answer. It's. It's a largely sales facility.
Eoin Comerford
00:06:11.850 - 00:06:12.250
Yes.
Colin True
00:06:12.250 - 00:06:20.190
You know, those guys are like. So I see in the. The blueprint here, you. Bathrooms like. No, no, no, no. That's like two more showrooms. So cut that down to one.
Eoin Comerford
00:06:20.190 - 00:06:21.110
Right. Yeah.
Colin True
00:06:21.110 - 00:06:21.830
We'll be fine.
Eoin Comerford
00:06:21.830 - 00:06:25.670
Exactly. Yes. How much dollars per square foot are we getting from those bathrooms?
Colin True
00:06:25.750 - 00:07:24.240
$0. All right, let's get into it. It's time for the Rock Fight Lightning round.
The Rock Fight Lightning round is presented by the ultimate comfort of more than 30amazingly crafted and diverse styles. From Lem's footwear head to lemshoes.com to learn more about.
We're going to touch on just a couple of things this week before we get into the main story. First one's not even a headline. It's. It's our own headline because Ortovox has gotten back to us.
Last show last Monday on the show, we had some fun at Ortovox's response when we roasted a recent press release from the brand about the launch of their new line of mountain bike apparel. It took about a day, but we heard back from the brand.
A brand representative reached out and acknowledged that perhaps the press release could have been improved. But they told us that we were wrong in our assessment that a brand entering new categories is simply more stuff in the marketplace.
I don't want to name this person because we're working on bringing them on, but intu that we set that up. I don't want to call them out, but, you know, Owen, what do you think? Any. Any chance that we. We got this one wrong?
Eoin Comerford
00:07:24.400 - 00:08:16.240
There's always a chance we get stuff wrong, especially with us yeah, exactly. But I don't know. I think so. Yeah. The whole.
This whole proclivity for established brands in other categories to get into mountain biking specifically is a little bit head scratching for me.
And I think actually European brands are particularly guilty here because actually, when we were at the show, the OMA show, we saw Neurona's mountain biking brand. It's like, okay, I didn't know you had mountain biking. And it was cool stuff, actually, I would.
It was some stuff I would wear casually, but it's like, okay, so you got this really small mountain biking collection. Fjallraven has a gravel cycling collection. Whoa. Right now we're getting niche, so. And actually, I think most American brands have steered clear.
Like, I don't think North Face has one. Or Patagonia or whatever.
Colin True
00:08:17.040 - 00:08:18.320
Patagonia has mountain biking.
Eoin Comerford
00:08:18.720 - 00:08:19.280
Okay.
Colin True
00:08:19.280 - 00:08:20.040
Yeah, but.
Eoin Comerford
00:08:20.040 - 00:08:25.260
But I don't know. Does the world need another $200 pair of mountain biking pants?
Colin True
00:08:25.660 - 00:08:50.500
I don't know. I think if this person does come on, I'd like them to walk us through the line, because it's a good point.
If you're taking stuff that is kind of just versatile and you're kind of merchandising in your catalog in a way and saying, hey, here is the mountain biking stuff that we make.
If you're making like spandex shorts with like a chamois in it, where I think I said to you when we were together, like, I guarantee you can go on some website right now and find a bunch of pearl Izumi's discounted for like 15 bucks. Like, bike shorts.
Eoin Comerford
00:08:50.500 - 00:08:51.100
Right, Right.
Colin True
00:08:51.180 - 00:09:24.020
I wouldn't go play in that. Are. Okay, I'm open to it. But I think it just. It's gotta be really thoughtful in the. Why?
Because if you're doing a major push and we're talking big minimums, then think about, like, what's a standard minimum for an apparel order? I mean, how many units to bring in, like a style of something in a color? It's a lot of stuff. So I don't know. We'll see what this person has to say.
But I thought it was cool they got back to us. The other thing we want to talk about in the lightning round is last week, in an interview with Footwear News, Salomon CEO. I'm going to mess this up.
Is it Guillaume?
Eoin Comerford
00:09:25.060 - 00:09:25.860
That's pretty good.
Colin True
00:09:26.500 - 00:10:33.960
Okay. All right, Guillaume. We're going to roll with it.
Said that they're looking to take the brand in a new level, saying, while our legacy is in trail running, this is a quote, we want to translate our success in the category into a more urban space.
He went on to explain that Salomon is, quote, focused on providing lifestyle footwear, which can be a bit scary for a brand like us, but we define lifestyle as making products for our consumer for all hours of the day, whether that be providing shoes for hiking for them to wear to the office or to go out to dinner, end quote.
I mean, this actually kind of plays well with the bringing back the Ordovac story is it's not too dissimilar in that both initiatives are category expansions that are likely going to be equally as hard.
I have a feeling that Salomon's probably going to be going a little bigger in this footwear initiative than Ordovox is going to be at their mountain biking efforts. But taking a brand with a ton of authenticity like Salomon.
And I guess we should acknowledge that we're breaking our own rule of not acknowledging Salomon on this podcast by talking about this story, but they're effectively announcing that going to try and win over casuals. Right. You're going after lifestyle. You're not just sort of being adopted into lifestyle.
I think that might be the hardest thing to do for an outdoor brand. I mean, what was your reaction to this story?
Eoin Comerford
00:10:34.440 - 00:12:21.880
First of all, I do think to a degree this has been driven from above. Right. So if you look at some of the more recent analyst calls with the. The CEO of Amer Sports, which the parent company of Salomon. Yeah.
He referred to Salomon as a sneaker brand, which I thought was. Is an interesting turn of phrase, and said that they are only a tiny part of the $180 billion global sneaker market.
So I do think that they're seeing this moment right within the sneaker ecosystem where you've got some potential weakness from a Nike Adidas is doing well, but leaning a little bit too much, I would say, on some of their franchises, their retro product.
And we're seeing the onslaught, the new balances, the hokas come up and people being more willing to, I think, test and look at other brands potentially for their more casual athleisure part of the world. And so they see that as an opportunity. So I think that is what is driving this here.
Also, I would say in a bit of a kind of kudos to Salomon a little bit, the fact that they are recognizing that it's, quote, a bit scary, it says, says that at least they realize what's happening.
And also they are, I Think they're coming at it from a good point place, which is that they're looking at doing collaborations with the, the tastemakers, the key retailers in that sort of sneaker space versus trying to like, dumb down what is a very technical and authentic brand language to be sneaker esque like that always, like, if you try to, oh, we're going to talk sneaker to people like, no, that, that to me would come across really, really poorly.
Colin True
00:12:22.760 - 00:13:31.120
Yeah, I mean, obviously it's all in the execution here. Right.
I mean, the one thing I do think of is they're clearly building off of the sort of juice they're getting when you see like Rihanna showing up at the super bowl wearing Solomons. Okay. It's already sort of being adopted in that space. And then similar to the Ortovox thing, like, depends on your tactics.
If it's a little capsule collection, if it's something that's like meant to be attention grabbing, you know, not as much as a, hey, we're going to, you know, double our sales based on this initiative. And then it blows up in your face.
Like I shared with you the story of when I got to Timberland, and I got to Timberland in the early 2000s, right about just past the peak of the yellow boot boom of the 1990s. And at that time, Timberland had created a urban division that kind of recognized like, ah, we are now a fashion icon.
We need to make product for these people. And it took a few years. So I'm summarizing everything kind of very succinctly, but the end result was it was outright rejected by those folks.
Not not only based on the product, but then, you know, trends change and boots weren't as popular. So. But before you know it, oh, we got that one wrong.
And boy, did we spend a lot of money making a lot of shoes for people who ended up not wanting them. So that's definitely a bit of a slippery slope.
So it really is going to come down to how they execute this and what is the product and where does it go.
Eoin Comerford
00:13:31.440 - 00:14:40.320
Right. I mean, it's the same with the Nipsey jacket or the Gotham jacket.
It's a case of where that particular audience chooses to kind of co opt that brand because of its coolness from a technical perspective in a different segment. And it feels cool to them because of that. Right.
If you then start marketing it directly to them, it's like, well, no, no, no, that's not what we want. Right? We, we wanted an outdoor brand. We don't want a brand that's that now wants to be an urban brand. Right. That loses its whole cool factor.
It's a little bit like the, you know, I knew that I listened to that band before. It was before it was everywhere. Right. I mean, that kind of feel. And so, yeah, I think that that can be a mistake.
Now with Salomon though, they are, I mean, they're leaning into this, they have this whole sort of sports style concept.
And even if you look at their, their retail stores, like in Paris, for example, they've got their flagship on the Champs Elysees, which is, you know, all the really Solomon technical, you know, top of the mountain type stuff.
But then in La Marais they have this sports style concept store which is much more, I mean, they're not going like sneaker, sneaker, but it's a much more approachable type of concept.
Colin True
00:14:40.880 - 00:14:56.870
I do wonder and not to step on what we're going to talk about one of the brands and products we're going to talk about when we get to the oma. The stuff we liked from oma, but trail running, it's about two weeks ago. We're like, oh, can it go mainstream now?
I'm starting to think, is trail running starting to become a little overexposed?
Eoin Comerford
00:14:56.870 - 00:14:57.430
Oh, my God.
Colin True
00:14:57.430 - 00:15:04.270
Because it just is now. It's like Ortovox is their next product line. Like, well, I think we should make a trail running shoe. It kind of feels like that's.
Eoin Comerford
00:15:04.270 - 00:15:07.030
Rossignol just announced that they're going to make a trail running shoe. Right.
Colin True
00:15:07.030 - 00:15:10.030
And they're going to sponsor some race series too. I saw that in the news this week.
Eoin Comerford
00:15:10.030 - 00:15:16.400
Yeah, yeah, it's, it's, there's a, there's a lot of trail running shoes out there. Holy heck. Yeah.
Colin True
00:15:16.880 - 00:15:22.480
I hope Stephen Holmberg is correct about it going mainstream because it may need to go mainstream to support all of these shoes that are going to be made.
Eoin Comerford
00:15:22.640 - 00:15:23.360
No doubt.
Colin True
00:15:24.480 - 00:15:30.240
I guess. Last question before we move on. On a scale of 1 to 10, how bummed out is producer Dave that he missed this specific conversation?
Eoin Comerford
00:15:30.720 - 00:15:32.560
My gosh. So bummed out.
Colin True
00:15:32.560 - 00:16:35.040
It's right in his wheelhouse. Well, you messed with the bull, Dave. You got the horns, you're suspended. So we'll find out next week maybe what you did.
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All right, today's main topic is presented by Oboz, the pride of Bozeman, Montana, who's also the cupid to the outdoor world.
So, as Owen mentioned at the open today, if you listen to Friday's episode, you know that last week we were both in Denver for the outdoor Market alliance media event, which I do think needs a better name, like, because it's OMA is its own kind of thing. The media event is kind of its own thing. I don't know what we should call it.
Eoin Comerford
00:16:35.200 - 00:16:49.850
So what I think they should change it to is your outdoor Market alliance media affair, which for short, complicated. What would that be? For short, your Outdoor Market alliance media affair would be Market Alliance.
Colin True
00:16:49.850 - 00:16:50.370
What is it?
Eoin Comerford
00:16:50.370 - 00:16:51.170
Yo mama.
Colin True
00:16:53.650 - 00:16:55.090
I could get behind yo mama.
Eoin Comerford
00:16:55.090 - 00:16:56.370
Yo mama. Where are you going?
Colin True
00:16:56.370 - 00:16:57.970
I can't. Next week I'm headed to yo mama.
Eoin Comerford
00:16:57.970 - 00:16:58.530
That's right.
Colin True
00:16:58.770 - 00:17:02.930
I mean, the name of our blog is your mom. So right in our wheelhouse.
Eoin Comerford
00:17:02.930 - 00:17:03.650
Absolutely.
Colin True
00:17:04.050 - 00:17:37.790
All right, so last week we were at ya mama. That works. All right. Good job, Owen. This event, we've covered this event a ton on the rock fight.
It takes place at a permanent Showroom that's the OMA of it all. That's made up of 25 different outdoor sales agencies, meaning the vast majority of notable outdoor brands are on display there year round.
Twice a year, the outdoor media scene swoops in to take advantage of the setup and allow for PR agencies to meet with those of us in the outdoor media.
So, Owen, this is your first time attending, and I probably didn't sell it very well because I had a tough time sort of describing it, like I told Adam on Friday. What did you think of the event?
Eoin Comerford
00:17:37.860 - 00:18:00.020
Event. I think it's a great event. It's. It's small and intimate, which is great.
So you can actually meet people and spend some time and catch up with some folks you haven't seen in a while. It's very focused on what it is, so there's, there's not a lot of other stuff going on. So not. And. And they feed you. So I think it was.
It was all great. Although I do have some notes. Okay.
Colin True
00:18:00.020 - 00:18:32.060
Yeah. I do wonder the. Just on the setup, before we get in the notes. Right.
Because the one sort of thing that's kind of odd that I brush up against, just because by nature of what we do and why we go, which is more broadly speaking, trend focused versus, like, we're not gonna be reviewing gear. Right. We don't do a ton of gear reviews, so we're not. Like, we need to see everybody and see what they're having.
So picking and choosing who to go see is always. That's maybe our challenge. Everybody reaches out.
In hindsight, is there anyone we didn't see that you think we should have tried to have seen, or was it kind of like a nice sampling of kind of what was there from your perspective?
Eoin Comerford
00:18:33.250 - 00:18:39.250
I'm sure there were a few that we probably missed. We didn't really get to spend much time in the folks that were set up in the parking lot.
Colin True
00:18:40.610 - 00:18:41.730
Oh, that's true. Yeah.
Eoin Comerford
00:18:41.730 - 00:18:55.890
But, yeah, I guess what I would say is, and this is part of my notes, is there were a couple that we talked to where my reaction was, well, if you're showing up to a PR event, shouldn't you have something to talk about?
Colin True
00:18:57.330 - 00:19:07.670
Well, then you. There's. Now the question is that the agency. Is that the brand?
Is that an unprepared person, or is that the brand who didn't give that person the right tools?
Eoin Comerford
00:19:08.550 - 00:19:38.000
Maybe, but if I'm showing up to that image, at least I should have a new product story, a new brand direction, a new something that's newsworthy and not just, hey, have you ever heard of this brand? And obviously we've heard of the brand. So it's like, well, yeah, okay, yeah, we heard of the brand. So what's new and exciting?
And it's like, well, we got a new color in this thing. I'm exaggerating obviously, a little bit, but, yeah, some brands. I was just.
And I'm not going to name names here, but some brands are just like, sure, okay. Okay, thanks. That was cool.
Colin True
00:19:38.800 - 00:19:41.840
What are some of your other notes that you were. That you were excited to talk about?
Eoin Comerford
00:19:42.240 - 00:19:47.440
Well, I think the. The tragedy here was where was the breakfast burrito? I mean, I have heard.
Colin True
00:19:47.440 - 00:19:48.280
I know I pumped them up.
Eoin Comerford
00:19:48.280 - 00:19:54.480
The OMA breakfast burrito. And no, apparently victims of the immigration crackdown, which is.
Colin True
00:19:55.200 - 00:19:56.560
It sounds like, like, legitimately.
Eoin Comerford
00:19:56.560 - 00:19:58.880
Yes. Right. Which is awful.
Colin True
00:19:59.850 - 00:21:00.610
It is awful. And I don't want to make light of that situation.
I will say that the food at OMA was probably two and a half percent of my enthusiasm for the event is probably related because it's great. Anyway, it's A great event. So we can't say it's worth that much of it. But the food has always been historically really good.
And it's always nice when you get served food like we know at Goa and at Switchback, but you could argue that's most largely large scale process produced food at those events. This was legit good.
And when, you know, especially when we're traveling and you roll into a place and know that basically your meals are good and taken care of for the day, I really can't overrate that as a perk of an event because to your point, we were talking about before, like no matter when you go to anything, whether it's for a brand, whether it's for yourself, you're gonna have to spend money. There's things that are gonna come outta your pocket.
Even if you're getting reimbursed and it's inconvenient, they'll have to like get it reimbursed, all that kind of stuff. It was really nice when you have good food. And yeah, the catering was a little bit of a letdown this year. So I apologize for your first one.
You didn't get to experience that.
Eoin Comerford
00:21:01.250 - 00:21:03.450
The burritos especially, I think that was the key.
Colin True
00:21:03.450 - 00:21:06.810
The breakfast burritos are so good. Evan, breakfast burritos, bring them back.
Eoin Comerford
00:21:06.810 - 00:22:08.140
That's right.
So my other notes would be, hey, if you are going to be talking about a new product or a piece of a product line, know the retail price, you know, And I think it's also a reaction to the fact that I am a different kind of audience for this event. So typically when, you know, you have a PR person talking to, let's say a journalist, the journalist is never paying for the stuff they're getting.
And I don't know that they even act like a lot of the PR people just looked at me blankly like, why would you even ask that? And the reason I'm asking that is because consumers actually care about how much something costs, right?
If you're showing me this new backpack and it's cool and it's $700, I have a bit of a different reaction if it is $300, right? It's like, okay, that's a cool thing, but no one's going to buy it at 700 dol. At 300 bucks.
That's kind of cool and is accessible and I could see adding it to my store, right? So I get that I'm not necessarily the audience here, but I am actually the audience of the audience in many cases.
Colin True
00:22:09.020 - 00:23:12.220
This reminds me of when I would work at brands and we'd bring in a new employee from either a competing brand or just someone new in general. And it's always milk that person for what they think for the first month before we kind of take over their mindset, right?
Like, what are we doing that maybe is not obvious to us that we should change? And I think your perspective on this is a good one because, okay, it was consistent. There was only a couple people who even had access to pricing.
It wasn't even like they're like, oh, let me check the price sheet. I don't know what. Off top my head, most people didn't even have it right. And I guess it makes sense.
If I'm a journalist who's going to do a gear review, I'm going to hear about the product and then as I'm researching the product and writing the review, I'm sure I will get the price. Because any good listicle or gear review will have a price, the price in there.
And then you can reference, you know, if it's too expensive, least expensive or whatever that's going to happen in the writing piece of it. But I do think this is something that brands should be arming their PR folks with because to your point, it is part of the story. It does matter.
I think it makes it. They should just know. Anybody who's talking about products should know what it costs, regardless of the role or who it is they're speaking to.
So I think it is a really fair call out of sort of the outdoor media scene.
Eoin Comerford
00:23:12.860 - 00:23:29.320
I did think, and this is not a knock on the PR people, but I think the combination where you had the PR person with actually the rep there, that to me, I mean, this is a rep agency building. You know, the reps are local. Couldn't you have the reps there? Because I thought that was a bit a potential miss.
Colin True
00:23:30.440 - 00:24:17.140
I've seen that that's been a little. This is my third one. And there's always brands who the rep, some reps will be there for. But it's never. I mean, it's usually under 50%, I would guess.
I don't understand that. I think if I had an agency there, I'd be like, hey, the media event's happening.
I just need you to like work the floor for two days and hang out and be.
And be available if people have questions because it, because they will be able to speak to it and, and the sales reps will have their own point of view on the product based on what the feedback is, which is relevant to anything you're going to cover on it as a journalist as well. So I would definitely encourage any, any agency owners who are at this for future have somebody there.
And I think it helps and it helps out your PR people. How does it, attending an event like this though? How does it impact your POV and the broader industry scene? Right. Because I think of it as.
When we're talking about what do we need, it's like this definitely kind of does some things that other events can't really do.
Eoin Comerford
00:24:17.780 - 00:24:24.510
Well, I would say it does things that other events don't currently do very well is how that's probably the better.
Colin True
00:24:24.510 - 00:24:24.990
Way to put it.
Eoin Comerford
00:24:24.990 - 00:26:46.750
Yeah, I would describe it. That's true. Yeah.
Because I know in talking to some of the PR folks there and even listening to Adam on the prior podcast, it's a chance for these folks to have really good uninterrupted time with the brand people, not with talking about buyers are coming in and. Oh, hold on, the person from REI is here. So sorry, Adam, fuck off. I need to actually sell something. Yeah.
So I think from that perspective, it definitely scratches an itch. But there's no reason why the shows couldn't do that.
Like you could have a media hour, let's say, as part of a show where it's just for the media and they get to have much more interrupted time.
Or maybe it's on the second or the third day of the show when the buyer piece has kind of calmed down and this is our media afternoon where you can go around and talk to all of the folks without the selling pressure and maybe when the team is a little bit down from the busyness of the early part of the show. So I think that's an aspect to it.
The other piece too is I'm not sure that shows, the trade show, trade show, they're so focused on the, I guess the buying part of it that I'm not sure that they understand that the media piece can be as big of a value as the selling piece, especially for like a national show. We've talked ad nauseam here about our national shows order writing shows or not, we won't go back to that.
But the other values, the media piece is one of the other values of having a national show.
So A, actually think about those media people and how you best can support them in doing what they're going to do at the show and B, try to get a shit ton of them to show up. I think one of the knocks for me on switchback was they did A great job.
There was a media room, but we basically had it to ourselves because there wasn't a ton of media at that event. And part of that is just the media landscape that exists today.
But part of it is also casting a wider net, bringing people in from all kinds of new media, whether that's podcasting, YouTubing, et cetera, and also being willing to pay to get them there because it's a freelance world out there right now for a lot of these folks. And to expect them to pay their way to get to a show, I think is really not the case anymore.
Colin True
00:26:47.550 - 00:28:00.530
Well, and then I'd put the onus and that back on the brands to learn. Right.
And this is the event where I met John Graden from Marmot, which resulted in him coming on the Polish like, and he got to see, engage with these folks. I think, you know, you hear we spoke to some of the PR folks while we were there, and I spoke to Adam about this on Friday.
You're still like, the brand demand for coverage to PR agencies is still largely get us into gear junkie, get us into outside, because that's where numbers exist. Even if it's maybe not the quality that it once was, there's still there are numbers that support those efforts.
And if brands don't understand the shifting media landscape of the person with the substack or a newsletter or the YouTubers or the podcasters, they're going to keep asking for the same thing. And, and I know it's not ideal because it's kind of a cramp space, which is actually, there's the pros and cons of that.
And I like that it's small and it kind of, it's going to force it to stay small because you're, you're limited by the, the capacity of that building.
But I'm telling you, if there's some folks out there who are working for brands listening to this, figure out a way to come in, even for half a day and just sit in that lobby area and talk, see the people you talk to. We, we were there. We, we had our own schedule and we still met with some YouTubers and some freelancers.
And as people who just are making a career covering this stuff, stuff who don't quite have that same opportunity that they used to do with the big media companies.
Eoin Comerford
00:28:01.650 - 00:28:21.530
I was talking to one brand about sort of comparing Switch back to or, and one of the things they talked to was, hey, at or, this is not this year, but the prior year they had a YouTuber that went around and kind of recorded some of the different interesting things that he saw. That video got 500,000 views. Really? Yeah.
Colin True
00:28:21.530 - 00:28:22.210
Last year's or.
Eoin Comerford
00:28:22.450 - 00:28:23.890
Yeah. From 2024.
Colin True
00:28:24.530 - 00:28:25.010
Wow.
Eoin Comerford
00:28:25.410 - 00:28:40.390
So he's like, we need to this. I mean, if you can't get us orders, get us this.
But that in order for that to happen, then the ors and the switchbacks of the world have to really court those people and make it worth their while to show up both financially and also in terms of content.
Colin True
00:28:41.350 - 00:29:38.770
Right. And then the brands need to put the demand on, like understanding who's covering what they want covered. Right.
So, like, oh, I know that channel because they talk about the stuff that matters the most to us. So maybe, maybe the number's a little lower than what you used to go after before.
But, you know, the coverage is going to be better because everybody who watches that person's channel watches every video with bated breath. So, yeah, it's just another part of the evolution of the industry. Right.
And I think this is, you know, it's sort of everything we've said right there is it creates the need for everybody to be engaged in this. But I do think this is a great spot for that.
And it just offers, to your point, it offers the kind of the caliber of conversations that you couldn't get before. You could say, hey, these people are all in the same room together. But it's happening differently now because of this event.
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Colin True
00:30:40.150 - 00:31:07.570
And now back to the show. Well, let's get into our thoughts about our favorite things that we did see. Kind of like we did with the GOA Discovery marketplace.
You know, we don't really do gear deep dives or product deep dives here too often on the pod. But we do want to talk about some of the things that we saw. And there were six things that kind of stood out that really left an impression.
I already mentioned the first one on it. So I want to give you a chance. On Friday's episode I mentioned them. Kool Aid coffee.
So let's start with them because I want to hear what, you know, your thoughts on Kool Aid coffee, which I think we had a good conversation with those guys. Guys.
Eoin Comerford
00:31:07.570 - 00:31:24.770
It's one of those things where you're like, why isn't somebody thought of this? Right? It's like because poured overs are. It's just it makes a better cup of coffee. I mean, there's a reason why the coffee snobs love this stuff.
But, you know, I'm just not that I love. I like coffee. I wouldn't consider myself a coffee snob.
Colin True
00:31:24.770 - 00:31:29.090
I can confirm that. Well, yeah, I've traveled enough with you now.
Eoin Comerford
00:31:29.090 - 00:31:38.320
Oh my gosh. But no, I mean, I'm a wine snob, not a coffee snob. You get one liquid to be a snob on is my rule.
Colin True
00:31:38.320 - 00:31:40.080
Oh, that's fair. Yeah, I like that.
Eoin Comerford
00:31:40.080 - 00:31:48.800
So any anyway, but it just makes a great cup of coffee and takes the. The pain in the assesness of it out of it.
Colin True
00:31:49.600 - 00:32:32.860
Yeah, you missed Friday's episode. It's basically. Are you gonna do it? You want to describe it? Well, so it's basically it's a disc of coffee, right. So it's. I don't know, it's probably.
It's wide enough that it could fit on top of a standard mug.
And then it's, you know, kind of a filtered coffee that then when you crack it open and you can pour, you can just do it as a pour over right into your cup like you would standard pour over at home.
And it's very good and it's not going to spill and it doesn't require anything to sort of perch it up onto the lip of the coffee or anything like that of the mug. It just sits there.
And so that alone is the better mousetrap if you're going to go backpacking, if you're just going to go car camping, if you're just going to take, you know, a jet boil on a hike with you and you want to make a cup of coffee on a cold day. But you put these in the like the pocket on the hip belt of your pack if you wanted to. It's very versatile that way.
Eoin Comerford
00:32:32.940 - 00:32:37.500
And fully. And then they also fully eco conscious too. I mean the whole thing is biodegradable.
Colin True
00:32:38.610 - 00:32:56.730
Yeah, right. Compostable, the whole deal.
But then they created this sort of like Keurig style machine which takes you the, the pod on these sort of arms that oscillates around under almost like a little faucet of water to mimic a pour over into your cup. So it can kind of brew it like a, a better version of a Keurig essentially.
Eoin Comerford
00:32:56.730 - 00:33:14.270
Right. It actually even has a sensor that senses if the water has poured through or not. Just like a human would and then, and then adds more water.
So it's, it's. And it's moving it around. No, I thought it was. It's on a little show. It's. It' of. It's kind of cool.
So I, yeah, I thought that was, that was really, really a fun one.
Colin True
00:33:14.510 - 00:33:43.370
Next we're going to talk about was Hydra Pack and we wanted, we chatted, wanted to chat about them. They've been advertising on the podcast. We want to acknowledge that.
But the thing that is interesting about them, they've become sort of the go to go to brand for active hydration. Obviously there's the ongoing big bottle conversation that we talk. We talk mostly about in terms of like Stanley or Hydro Flask or whoever.
But this Hydropak has become the, the go to brand for active hydration while then also becoming an ingredient brand with over. That was the piece that 90 more than 90.
Eoin Comerford
00:33:43.530 - 00:34:14.610
I had no idea on that part of it. I mean I was aware of Hydropack in terms of their own branded product. But the whole ingredient brand thing is amazing.
You know Osprey, I mean you kind of name the brand and they're actually using Hydropak inflation or hydration bladders. Right. I mean they've just cornered the market.
Part of it is the fact that they have the IP and so if these brands want to, you know, have this sort of product, they kind of have to go with these guys. But, but they are the premium producer so. Really, really interesting.
Colin True
00:34:15.410 - 00:35:02.350
Yeah, they're like on the verge of becoming kind of a Kleenex brand. Right.
Where eventually it's like right now I think it's still Camelback in terms of hydration and people will refer to your bladder as potentially a camelback. But the more they sort of penetrate the product of other brands, eventually it's going to become Hydropack. It's just, it was really smart.
I know it wasn't their plan from the get go, but to see that opportunity and by the way for all of our harping about innovation like this is innovation really smart by a brand to say, look, and why wouldn't you. If you and I are like, hey, we have a great idea for a pack. If we're Pingora, right.
And we're saying that, hey, we're a new pack brand and we want to include a bladder, do we want to go develop all that and the cost associated with that and design, or just go to them and say, here's what our pack is like. We need a solution that does X, Y and Z and then have them give you a branded solution and it's a better way to go.
Eoin Comerford
00:35:02.350 - 00:35:15.710
But it's not just bladders. I mean, they have the filtration that fits into the water bottles. So you can do that. They have the. What do they call the squishy sleeve things?
The collapsible ones. What?
Colin True
00:35:15.870 - 00:35:17.070
Yeah, flasks.
Eoin Comerford
00:35:17.070 - 00:35:24.750
Flasks. But no, but they have the ones that can roll up to nothing and then you fill them up. Yeah. So there's. Yeah. Lots of innovation.
Colin True
00:35:24.830 - 00:35:43.610
All right, next up is Craft. And this is who I was referring to earlier in our conversation about trail running.
Because I am starting to get worried about running and trail running because it seemed like every table we sat at there was just another trail running or trail running adjacent shoe. And we'll get into the craft. There's a lot of things that I liked about Craft that I want to talk about, but let's start with that.
Eoin Comerford
00:35:43.690 - 00:36:40.280
I think there is a lot of footwear brands that want to get into apparel. Hello, Danner. And there's a lot of apparel brands that want to get into footwear.
Like call that Rossignol, Haley Henson, I mean North Face back in the day. Obviously the list goes on at arc'. Teryx. The list goes on and on. Rossignol, we just talked about. The list goes on and on. Right.
And in both cases, the, the. You can.
There's a lot more it didn't work that you can point to than like major brand successes, doing both of those things, moving from one right to the other.
And, and craft is an example of this because they really started off really more in the I guess, kind of base layer, active wear, base layer approach. I'm not sure how long they've been in footwear, but. But yeah, and it's great looking stuff, don't get me wrong.
But yeah, it's to the point, like, do we need another trail running forward brand at this point?
Colin True
00:36:40.280 - 00:37:45.810
They're going to find that out. I mean, I think They've positioned themselves to hopefully answer some of those questions themselves by the collection they've crafted.
Because you mentioned Danner, it's a good example of, you know, we went and saw their boots and, you know, not to take a shot at Danner. I love. That's a great brand. They make really excellent footwear. Love their footwear storytelling and the kind of legacy that comes with it.
But then they showed us some apparel that they're making which was, you know, ex officio Columbia adjacent, sort of, you know, Bubba style outdoor apparel. But I'm sure is fine. You know, one of the shirts the gentleman speaking to us had on was awesome looking. It looked good.
But, you know, again, just when you're put yourself in our perspective, where you and I immediately go to, if I'm your retail buyer, why am I bringing this in? Like, I don't really need a Danner shirt. You know, I have kind of a mock.
I'm kind of covered in this, you know, so if you're going to do something, do it different in a way that really gets my attention. We get to Fjallraven in a few minutes here. I think that's something that we liked about what they're doing.
But the craft footwear collection, as soon as you walk in, it pops. And it's just, it's. You cannot look away.
It's color and style and the way it was lined up now, that was, that was the whole collection that resulted in.
Eoin Comerford
00:37:45.810 - 00:38:13.430
But I would say it pops in a good way because there's a lot, there's a lot of trail running footwear that at least for me, pops in a bad way. It's like, holy, you know, like, I need, I need sunglasses to look at this stuff.
No, there was a level of design even in just some, some of the fade that was in the color, other things and the way that they were combining color, you know, because some of the Euro stuff looks really wow. This actually worked for me in terms of. In terms of the styling and the color.
Colin True
00:38:14.070 - 00:39:26.510
You're right. I mean, it was embracing color without the color being ugly. And it still was bright and colorful. Right. Sometimes you're right.
It's a real fine line for some of these brands that just, I mean, Hoka may be the best example of it. There's. And topo too, for that. To that point. Like, there are some colors that look great and then there's some. You're like, oof, I'm not.
I wouldn't carry that one. That's just the one you did. So people would come over and pick it up, and then they'd buy the other one. But, yeah, I.
And the other thing about the craft shoes, I'm excited to try them, and on paper, it's not really a style for me. It's. The toe box is not really the kind of toe box that I would seek out.
But I'm holding these shoes and looking at them and kind of hearing the story. And this is where craft is kind of leaning into the gravel kind of running scene, which I take real issue with, which I've said before.
But it was interesting hearing the sort of mindset of like, they're not. I don't think they're. I think they're just. They're saying it as a differentiation point, not as a. We are create.
We are creating an entirely third column of foot of running. Though we expect every store to have on in their store.
No, they're saying that, look, the vast majority of people are kind of running gravel trails, and this is a shoe that's going to kind of do a little bit more than a road running shoe while not maybe being as, you know, know, aggro as maybe a big trail running shoe needs to be. So I appreciated that.
Eoin Comerford
00:39:26.510 - 00:39:26.750
That.
Colin True
00:39:26.750 - 00:39:32.870
The positioning, but mostly I just like the look of the shoe. It made me want to try it just by looking at it, which is a pretty big win.
Eoin Comerford
00:39:32.870 - 00:39:35.150
Yeah, absolutely. I'll be interested to see what you think.
Colin True
00:39:35.310 - 00:40:28.250
All right, next up, we have polartech, who's, you know, my old employer. And I honestly felt bad after meeting with them that I didn't recognize my friend Tyler May, who actually, I was. I was his boss at one time.
He was there with their folks from. I forget their PR agency was there. It was Abigail who was with Tyler. Tyler.
And as we're going through it, and I'm like, God, I should have recommended to these guys that they come in sooner because Tyler's a sales rep for Polar Tech. He's been there. Sorry, Ty, if this is wrong. I think going on 30 years, if not 30 years already, no one knows knit fabrics probably better than Tyler.
It's just like he's been selling them for a long time, and it was a stroke of genius for them to show up. I mean, I think rarely do the media folks who attend an event like this get to see how the sausage is made. Right.
If a brand says, hey, we made this fabric, they. Some of them probably think that the brand made the fabric. Right, Right. And it's like, no, you get to hear kind of the.
The Platforms that a fabric maker like polartech are working on and how that might influence how, you know, your relationship with a brand or a product.
Eoin Comerford
00:40:29.450 - 00:41:40.370
No, it was fascinating, actually to sit and talk to Tyler about just all the. What goes into designing, you know, and the cause. I didn't really appreciate it, quite frankly, just the amount of development that goes into these.
And there's. There's, like, concept things like, hey, wouldn't it be great if we could do. And this.
And this, you know, have this, you know, have this synthetic outer layer and this wool inner and all of these different thought processes around that go into, well, heat retention and, you know, moisture management and, you know, breathability, permeability, all these different aspects even, obviously, then into circularity and sustainability. So much goes into it.
And it was actually somebody else in a prior conversation said, most people don't understand that 70 to 80% of the functionality of the garment that you're wearing is really because of the fabric that was chosen. Right, Right. And less. And maybe not the cut and the fit and all these other things, which is obviously really important, too.
But in terms of the way it actually performs in the field, once you have a product that fits, a lot of it is the fabric. And so, yeah, really, really fascinating stuff.
Colin True
00:41:40.690 - 00:42:19.960
No. And that.
Not to gush too much about polartech, but I recall showing up there when I started that job thinking I knew so much about outdoorsy stuff from working in retail and working for brands.
And I've worked with, you know, and as a user, and then you start to see how this stuff actually gets made and the briefs that are written of, like, we want a fabric that can do X, Y and Z and the work that goes into doing that.
And again, I've said it's like, a lot of the opinions I espouse on this podcast are from those days working with those brands and how things actually happen. So, yeah, it was great to have them there.
And I think I'll be interested to see what kind of coverage comes out from the journalists based on their conversations with Todd, Tyler and Abigail.
Eoin Comerford
00:42:19.960 - 00:42:26.480
Sorry. They definitely fall in the category of newsworthy stuff worth talking about in terms of some of the fabrics that they were showing at the show.
Colin True
00:42:27.360 - 00:42:44.100
Well, and then in the fabric world, not to get too nerdy on it, but, like, you know, Gore Tex is just accepted as, like, a thing. Right. A lot of people don't even know what Gore Tex does. It's like, oh, it's Gorex. It must be good because it has Gore Tex in it.
And so for Polartech to recognize the opportunity to kind of show up there and be sort of a bit of an outlier compared to everybody else who was exhibiting. That was a smart move.
Eoin Comerford
00:42:44.250 - 00:42:44.490
Move.
Colin True
00:42:44.570 - 00:43:18.560
Yeah. All right, next up, our friends at Coast. So coast was their independent of any agency that has showed up on their own.
And there's obviously been no shortage of love for coast on this podcast. But they're a really interesting brand with good products at the right price points.
And I really believe, and I go back to our conversation, we did the top five accessory brands how Justin Hausman and I were just gushing about our coast stuff and the rest of you were like, who the hell are you talking about? I really think they're going to go from like zero to being like a regular, like somebody who's just like in on the.
Everyone's going to be talking about an outdoor specialty pretty quickly.
Eoin Comerford
00:43:20.080 - 00:44:20.630
Good looking product works really well, especially in the lighting category. They do. They have knives and multi tools as well, which obviously is an outdoor category.
But I think it's on the lighting side that we're going to really see them gain some traction because yeah, it's really great stuff. Works well. I mean their headlamps have voice activated, multiple levels of brightness, obviously focusable lens, which I think is cool.
You've got red light, green light and blue light for all of your light. People that need different colors for everything under the sun. I thought it was really fun. And actually they're also talking. This was awesome.
It's voice activated. So they're talking about adding little Easter eggs of things that the lamp will do if you just know the secret password.
And they're not going to advertise it at all. And I'm not going to give any away here, but that's. I just love that kind of shit.
Colin True
00:44:20.870 - 00:44:26.150
It's like, like the Starbucks secret menu or in and out secret menu or whatever. If you know, it'll do a thing.
Eoin Comerford
00:44:26.150 - 00:44:27.190
Yes, exactly.
Colin True
00:44:28.070 - 00:44:32.390
I love shit like that. Like everybody do more of those kinds of things. That's amazing.
Eoin Comerford
00:44:32.390 - 00:44:32.710
Yes.
Colin True
00:44:32.710 - 00:44:43.620
Yeah, yeah. And the price points are great. So it's not like you're getting all this, you know, for, you know, 10, 10x the cost of other headlamp brands.
And they're coming out with a lantern that was actually pretty. A voice activated lantern.
Eoin Comerford
00:44:43.620 - 00:44:44.060
Yeah.
Colin True
00:44:44.300 - 00:44:58.940
And it was sharp and hopefully we're going to get one here in my little sound booth that won't blind me like my headlamp does. So. All right, last one. Fjall Raven. I think this is the first Time. I'm gonna compliment a brand for doing things that look like other brands.
Eoin Comerford
00:44:58.940 - 00:44:59.340
Okay.
Colin True
00:44:59.340 - 00:45:40.090
Right.
It's like on the surface, you could say they're kind of adding to the sea of sameness with some of their products, but I feel like they're doing it in a way that's in line with their own brand story. For example, they had a pair of women's tights that looked like any other pair of, like yoga pants.
You know, kind of soft tights that you see a lot of women wearing these days. But there were some features that. And some fabric choices that were very Fjallraven. You know, I forget. It's like the pyramid. What's the.
I can't remember the name of the fabric, but like a little bit more of a abrasion resistant fabric in the knees, the pocket placements that they had in there. It just was a very thought out garment and how they built it. And it was very on brand.
Even if it was something that you at a glance would think maybe somebody.
Eoin Comerford
00:45:40.090 - 00:46:00.530
Else made, they've been, I would say, one of the leaders in the whole hiking tights category, which is not something that many people think of over here in, in terms of yoga, yoga pants, yoga leggings. But this is a little bit more of a crossover piece from hiking hiking tights into more of a legging type of product. But, yeah, interesting stuff.
Stuff.
Colin True
00:46:01.090 - 00:46:02.850
What do you think of the new backpack they showed us?
Eoin Comerford
00:46:03.490 - 00:46:45.570
I think your comment summed it up perfectly at the time, which was this thing is objectively cool. And I would say that is. That. That is very true. Just, just the. The whole. First of all, it was very Fjallraven for. If you want to.
If you want to talk about them, maybe doing things that are in other categories. This was a. This was Fjall Raven's take on a 45 things. Yeah, you wouldn't. This is the COVID of the brand. You know what? You know what it is. Things.
This was 100% theirs, but super lightweight because you don't think of Fjallraven as lightweight at all. Typically super lightweight.
And then, I mean, really the coup de grace was the fact that the frame was birchwood and you could see it and it's like, oh, that's pretty sweet.
Colin True
00:46:46.290 - 00:47:01.750
It was like the romance of an old external frame pack, but done in a very subtle way that kind of showed like it just. But to your point, still, you would think this thing's going to weigh at least half a pound more than it did. Did. Right.
It was incredibly Lightweight, so super cool.
Eoin Comerford
00:47:01.750 - 00:47:09.150
Now it's still not going to be lightweight enough for, for Lloyd Vogel, but for normal people, they. They would think this is very lightweight.
Colin True
00:47:09.950 - 00:47:11.470
Oh, and how much did that pack cost?
Eoin Comerford
00:47:11.950 - 00:47:26.310
That cost. Well, after much figuring it out, we still don't. Well, we don't. It's. We think it's somewhere in the $350 range. Yeah, exactly.
It's probably going to be a million dollars at the end of the day. But that's. That was their best guess.
Colin True
00:47:27.980 - 00:47:35.820
They were wonderful and knew all about the product they were on. They had their pitch down, but that was sort of. I think that was the meeting that broke you about how do people not know the price?
Eoin Comerford
00:47:36.460 - 00:47:42.300
It was the meetings before that. We, at this stage in our little deal, you knew it was coming.
Colin True
00:47:42.860 - 00:47:44.460
Oh, that's right. It was day one.
Eoin Comerford
00:47:44.460 - 00:47:53.220
Every meeting where I'd be like, okay, so yeah, how much does this thing cost? And then just the look of panic slash, you know, blank stares that would come back at.
Colin True
00:47:54.570 - 00:48:14.290
If there had been a third day where we were just sort of like biding our time before leaving the show, I think we just would have gone room to room going, can you tell me about your pricing? And, like, see what anybody who knew and who didn't. We'll do the PR agency power rankings based on if they know power pricing or not. That's it, man.
Any other final thoughts on OMA or anything we saw at oma? We miss anything.
Eoin Comerford
00:48:14.290 - 00:48:28.150
I'm glad I went. It was, you know, so I can sort of put a face to a name, so to speak, in terms of.
When you talk about these things, understand where it fits within the pantheon of various trade events. So it was, it was good to go.
Colin True
00:48:29.270 - 00:49:06.680
Yeah.
I would say, I guess anybody listening to this who works with a brand or with brands who aren't normally in these show, showrooms, like I mentioned coast, that they don't have a rep agency that rep that reps coast in the Rockies. And yet they still had the opportunity to come.
So if you're an emerging brand, if you're someone, you know who listens to this podcast because we talk a lot about Lloyd Vogel and Garage Grown Gear or the. Or the other brands in the space that we. That we like to kind of pump up up, I would reach out because it is a.
If you are looking for coverage, this is. It happens twice a year.
And this is probably the best place to go to get, you know, to maximize your dollar in terms of getting people to potentially talk about your brands or products.
Eoin Comerford
00:49:06.680 - 00:49:23.760
Because it's It's. I won't talk pricing here because I'm sure it probably is different, but it's not crazy expensive. And yeah, you get.
I mean, you think about Cooley Coffee, right, In terms of the love that they're getting on two different episodes of the Rock Fight. I mean, people.
Colin True
00:49:23.760 - 00:49:24.480
Yeah, that's a good point.
Eoin Comerford
00:49:24.480 - 00:49:38.100
People ha of dollars to advertise on the, on this show. Right. And they're getting that just by being at that event and getting a very authentic feedback from.
From the likes of us, for whatever that's worth. But yeah, no, I think it can be. Can be worthwhile to get in front of the right people.
Colin True
00:49:39.060 - 00:49:54.270
All right, Today's episode of the Rock Fight was presented by Oboz, who wants to share their love of hiking. And we want to help them by uncovering all the different reasons we love to take the long walk, including Michael Collins, who was there at oma.
I don't think think he knew his prices. I'm going to call Michael out right now. Michael, learn your prices.
Eoin Comerford
00:49:54.270 - 00:49:57.070
Yeah, but he had some great micro brews, which was really.
Colin True
00:49:57.070 - 00:50:09.350
Oh, he gets a pass if anybody gets a. Mike brings in this incredible beer from. From Maine where he lives every time.
And literally to the point where he was texting me, he's like, let's put your meeting at the end of the day so we can have some beers. I'm like, yeah, that sounds great.
Eoin Comerford
00:50:09.350 - 00:50:14.110
So the one that we. That I sample was called the Substance. It was really very tasty.
Colin True
00:50:14.910 - 00:50:18.720
It was. It tasted better than. Than the movie looked. Let's put it that way. If you've seen that movie.
Eoin Comerford
00:50:18.720 - 00:50:19.440
I have. That.
Colin True
00:50:19.440 - 00:50:21.800
That was gnarly.
Eoin Comerford
00:50:21.960 - 00:50:25.720
Hard to look away. Hard to look away. That is, yeah. Interesting.
Colin True
00:50:25.800 - 00:50:27.360
I'm like, they are really going for it.
Eoin Comerford
00:50:27.360 - 00:50:27.960
Oh, yeah.
Colin True
00:50:27.960 - 00:51:11.260
All right. Number one in today's list, hiking. You know, it gives your existential dread something scenic to sit in. You know, just. It lets you.
Lets you to kind of like put this aside for a moment and just sort of embrace the scenery around you. Okay, number one. Number two, because being chased by a bear, that builds grit.
Number three, nature is the only place where it's okay to wear the clothes. Same clothes three days in a row. Number four, the Oboz Katabatic lt. That's the other reason we want to talk about going hiking, right?
Because the Catabatic has quickly become an Oboz favorite. And the LT takes the Catabatic collection to a whole new level with a lighter package and additional environmentally friendly materials.
From fast packing to day hiking. In the Catabatic ltd, it's your new shoe of choice. And this hiking appreciation moment is up to you.
Eoin Comerford
00:51:11.260 - 00:51:49.990
If I could break in right here, of course.
One call out to their little OMA beer tasting event, there was learning a little bit more about the katabatic wind, which I didn't realize how high tech this thing was. I mean, it has, yeah, it's a cool shoe, but it has all the features of, you know, your trail running super shoe.
We're talking, it's got the carbon fiber plate, it's got the nitrogen oxygen infused midsole. The stuff that, you know, they're charging at 300 bucks for. And okay, it isn't inexpensive. I think it's like 195, 200 bucks.
But this is a high tech piece of kit for, you know, for pretty approachable. Now, they don't call it a trail runner, they call it a speed hiker.
Colin True
00:51:49.990 - 00:51:50.870
Is that fast packing?
Eoin Comerford
00:51:50.870 - 00:51:55.510
It's fast pack, fast packing shoe. Okay. But no, great, great. Great shoe, by the way. So I just. Yeah.
Colin True
00:51:55.990 - 00:51:59.680
Are you saying we need more beer in these meetings and you'll get more, more information out of the, out of.
Eoin Comerford
00:51:59.680 - 00:52:02.880
The brands or more free shoes? One of those two things, yes.
Colin True
00:52:03.760 - 00:52:04.400
Maybe both.
Eoin Comerford
00:52:04.480 - 00:52:04.960
Yeah.
Colin True
00:52:06.240 - 00:52:18.400
Hiking appreciation moments brought to you by Oboz of Bozeman, Montana. Oboz is the maker of premium quality footwear for the trail and the cupid to the outdoor world. That's Michael Collins.
He's the cupid of the outdoor world. Oboz. Love hiking.
Chris DeMakes
00:52:19.520 - 00:52:21.760
It's time for a party shop.
Colin True
00:52:23.880 - 00:53:34.670
All right, for today's parting shot, someone at OMA called me out for not offering. It was Michael actually for not offering my thoughts on Superman, which was great. Everybody should go see Superman. I really enjoyed it.
If you like comic book movies, you're definitely gonna like it. Even if you don't, it kind of goes so hard into the comic book shticky stuff that you probably.
It's kind of, you know, it's charming and I think you'd probably like it. So I endorse this new Superman movie. We'll see about my prediction about DC taking over Marvel after the Fantastic Four comes out later this month.
And I'll make my decision based off of how that goes. But my real parting shot is for Denver International Airport, AKA the worst airport of all time.
The location sucks, the layout is confusing, the amenities are lacking. There's always construction, at least in one of the terminals. You can't walk to most of the gates. You have to take their stupid train.
And I've Gotten food poisoning there twice. So, Colorado people, if you want to do the thing where you claim your state is this, like one of one outdoor location, which it isn't, but whatever.
If you want to do that, I demand that you at least apologize, guys, for your Dickinson level airport, along with every one of your humble brags. I really hate dia. I was just there yesterday. That's why I'm talking about it. And that's my parting shot.
Eoin Comerford
00:53:34.670 - 00:53:40.750
I will tell you, Colin, that you. You made the right call by not joining me for the Delta Sky Lounge.
Colin True
00:53:41.710 - 00:53:43.870
Oh, yes. I forgot to ask you.
Eoin Comerford
00:53:44.190 - 00:53:56.620
Was it bad? Oh. So to those that know the, the. The dia, you know, existing Delta Skyline Lounge, it just has a place in infamy as the shittiest one on the planet.
Right.
Colin True
00:53:56.620 - 00:53:59.060
It's about the size of my recording booth that I'm in right now.
Eoin Comerford
00:53:59.060 - 00:54:23.010
It's ridiculous. And so then I go. And of course, there's a line which is always great to get into the thing.
And then I'm like, well, this is not where I'm usually going. Oh, no, no. They are. In fairness, they are actually working on a new one, which is cool.
But in the interim, we're in a conference room basically, that they've converted to a temporary SkyLaunch. So. Yeah, you did not miss out at all. And that whole deal.
Colin True
00:54:23.810 - 00:55:13.490
All right, I'm glad to hear that. When I was traveling for Polar Tech specifically, and I was on planes a bunch, and I was a Delta guy as well, and so.
But Seattle was my hub, and they had just opened the brand new Seattle one, which was awesome.
And by the way, we understand this is a very sort of elitist, like, privileged thing to be talking about when you are on airplanes every week, like, that's your life. The lounge is actually. I don't go to them as often now that I'm not doing that. But when you.
But that's what you're doing, and you're spending so much time in an airport, they really do make the experience better to travel. Yeah. But I was usually flying through Minneapolis or your home airport, you know, of Detroit.
All three of those airports have amazing Delta Sky Lounges, which are like, I'm just gonna go right there. Right. And Salt Lake City has good ones. And then, yeah, every once in a while, you end up at that dia, like, you know, sorry, it's just.
I hate that airport so much.
Eoin Comerford
00:55:13.490 - 00:55:15.690
It's not. It's not great. It really isn't.
Colin True
00:55:15.690 - 00:55:16.810
No, no.
Eoin Comerford
00:55:17.130 - 00:55:17.530
All right.
Colin True
00:55:17.530 - 00:55:43.040
Not that on a negative note, but that was my parting shot, so. All right, well, that's the show for today. We want your emails if you were at oma. If you're curious about oma.
If you have anything else you want to talk about, send it over to myrockfightmail.com TheRock Fight's a production of Rock Fight LLC for Owen Comerford. I'm Colin True. Producer Dave was not here to produce today, so we can't give him the credit for that. Thanks for listening.
And here to take us out, Chris Demaicz. He's back with the Rock Fight Fight song. We'll see you next time, rock fighters.
Chris DeMakes
00:55:43.040 - 00:56:38.710
Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight.
Rock flight welcome to the Rock fight Where we speak our truth, slay sacred cows and sometimes agree to disagree.
We talk about human powered outdoor activities and pick bites about topics that we find interesting like pop culture music, the latest movie reviews, ideas that aim for the head. This is where we speak our truth. This is where we speak our truth.
Rock flight Rock flight, Rock flight welcome to the Rock flight Rock flight, Rock flight Welcome to the Rock flight Rock flight Rock fight Rock flight Rock flight, Rock flight welcome to the Rock flight Rock flight rapide.
Eoin Comerford
00:56:41.590 - 00:56:46.140
Range.
