Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In the latest episode of Gear Abby, host Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True take on some of the most gloriously niche problems an outdoor brain can produce: climbing chalk ethics, poncho pride, and the logistics of dropping a deuce when everything is frozen solid. “The Great Chalk Debate, Poncho Town & The Snow Poop Protocol” leans hard into the mix of humor, gear-nerdery, and real talk that’s become the show’s trademark. Qu

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In this episode, Colin, Shawnté, Eoin, and Producer Dave deliver their on-the-ground, end-of-show  breakdown of The Running Event  and Switchback 2025  — recorded moments after the TRE Retailer Awards wrapped in San Antonio. The crew dig into what worked, what surprised them, and what the outdoor industry should take away from a trade show that knows exactly what it is . On The Docket! The TRE Retailer Awards: Emotion, community &

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! From San Antonio, TX it's The Rock Fight LIVE! Colin, Shawnté Salabert, Producer Dave and Eoin Comerford take the stage at The Running Event & Switchback 2025 for a fast, funny, high-energy conversation on the annual trade show. On The Docket! The Future of TRE & Switchback: Christina Henderson and Kent Ebersole discuss where the event is heading, how outdoor fits in, and whether an awards program is coming. RUNHER Magazine found

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In the latest episode of Gear Abby, host Shawnté Salabert wades into the big emotional, existential, and extremely practical questions of outdoor life. From what happens to our ashes in national parks to whether love really blooms on long trails, how not to die (or freeze) while ice fishing, and what rain shells are actually worth obsessing over. Spreading Ashes, Ice Holes & On Trail Meet-Cutes! is equal parts tender, nerdy, and d

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! It's an action packed episode of The Rock Fight as Colin, Eoin Comerford, Producer Dave are joined by Gear Abby herself, Shawnté Salabert to preview and offer their predictions for this week's edition of The Running Event & Switchback! They also dig into Dick's Sporting Goods plans for Foot Locker and respond to a listener email about the profitablity of resale economics. Lastly it's the final interview recorded at GOA Connect in

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In the latest episode of Gear Abby, host Shawnté Salabert wanders from bookshelves to snowfields to elk harems to satellite signals. “Sexy Elk, Big Decks & Women Adventure Writers!” serves up exactly what it promises: big feelings about representation in outdoor literature, practical beta for winter curious folks, real-talk wildlife etiquette, and a surprisingly heartfelt ode to non-phone electronics in the backcountry. Question 1

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! Today on The Rock Fight, Colin, Eoin Comerford, and Producer Dave break down two major outdoor-industry storylines: Nike’s push into trail running and Sierra’s rapid suburban takeover. Plus listener feedback, The Lightning Round, and The Parting Shot! On The Docket! Mailbag:  A listener response to the Patagonia Impact Report and how they make their stuff. Nike Targets Trail Running:  Does a Hoka lookalike and a new race sponsorsh

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! Today on The Rock Fight, Colin, Eoin, and Producer Dave sit down with Tony Post, founder and CEO of Topo Athletic, live from GOA Connect in Kansas City, to talk about the booming trail running market and Topo’s big year. Topo has quietly become one of the most talked-about brands in trail running. Growing 70% last year and expanding into 25 countries all while staying true to its specialty roots and never running a sale on its web

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In this episode, Gear Abby comes in hot with two spicy debates (permits and tent footprints), cool everyone down with plein-air watercolor wisdom from guest artist Latasha Greene (Jitterbug Art) , then map out U.S. options for European-style hut hiking. As always: humor + hard facts + actually useful takeaways. Question 1: “Permits are stupid.” (…and how to talk your brother off that ledge) A listener asks for ammo to convince her

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! Today on the show Colin, Eoin, and Producer Dave return with a full-tilt breakdown of the outdoor industry’s latest developments. From trade show energy to tariff fallout to brands making questionable product choices. On The Docket! Functional Fabric Fair Recap: Dave reports from Portland with notes on increased exhibitor energy, better layouts, stronger innovation hubs, and heritage insulation brands making a comeback. Tariff Wat

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! Today on The Rock Fight, Colin, Eoin Comerford, and Producer Dave sit down with Amy Beck, President of Obōz Footwear (recorded at GOA Connect in Kansas City), for a wide-ranging, and honest conversation about what’s missing in the outdoor industry. Here's the rundown! Hiking vs. Trail Running : Why Obōz believes hiking has never been less appreciated. Innovation Pressure : How the obsession with the next same thing can hold brand

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s possible to enjoy nature and  your creature comforts at the same time, this week’s episode of Gear Abby  is for you. Shawnté tackles some of the most delightfully disgusting, oddly profound, and completely necessary outdoor questions yet! From redefining what it means to be “outdoorsy” to dealing with backcountry water hazards and an untimely trail shart. Question 1: Can I be outdoorsy if I’m b

Click to listen on your favorite podast app! Today on The Rock Fight, Colin, Eoin Comerford, and Producer Dave hit the show floor at GOA Connect and explore their favorite brands and products from the Discovery Marketplace. From coolers to chef-designed backpacking meals (and at least one trail running brand) these are the most exciting things they saw at the outdoor industry's most consequential event. Rugged Road:   A foam-first, ultra-light cooler that floats upright . VSS

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! Today on The Rock Fight, Colin and Eoin Comerford sit down at the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance Connect show with Alex Lauver, the former Director of Materials & Sustainability at Outdoor Research, now leading Douglas Strategies LLC, a consultancy focused on impact reduction and supply-chain transparency. They unpack the state of PFAS (“forever chemicals”). Once the outdoor industry’s biggest story, now quietly complicated by regula

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! This week on The Rock Fight , Colin, Eoin, and Producer Dave break down a packed slate of outdoor industry headlines, from financial shakeups to listener drama. On the docket! VF’s Up-and-Down Quarter:  North Face & Timberland steady the ship while Vans still struggles. HOKA’s Plateau:  Deckers cools expectations as HOKA’s U.S. sales flatten but international growth keeps soaring. Is the bubble finally bursting or just shifting? M

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In the latest episode of Gear Abby, host Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True celebrate double digits (episode 10) with a mix of trademark chaos, honesty, and hard-earned outdoor wisdom. From spooky trail stories to frisky trailhead advice, this installment swings (sometimes literally) between fear, therapy, and freedom. Question 1: The Scariest Outdoor Moment Listener Jess  asks about Shawnté’s scariest outdoor experience. Th

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! When British explorer George Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Everest, he famously replied, “Because it’s there.” But what if the real answer is simpler and potentially more beautiful? Today on Open Container , Doug  explores the deeper meaning behind Kilian Jornet’s “States of Elevation” project , a 3,200-mile, human-powered journey linking all 72 fourteeners in the lower 48 states . Jornet ran, climbed, and biked his way

Click here to listen on your favorite podcast app! Today on The Rock Fight , Colin, Eoin Comerford, and Producer Dave put three buzzworthy trail running brands to the test in the first-ever America’s Next Top Trail Running Brand  showdown. Focusing on Brand Position, Retail Appeal, and wear test performance, the trio have a look at Speedland , Norda , and Mount to Coast  to crown one who will move on to the next round (provided there will be a next round). But before the big

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! The Brief is back! Today on The Rock Fight Colin and Producer Dave break down Mammut’s Mountain Wear Rescue   campaign. They’re joined by Mammut’s Chief Marketing Officer Nic Brandenberger , who shares the inside story of how the campaign came together, from the insight that “8 out of 10 jackets never see a mountain”  to the decision to embrace humor. Episode Topics: How Mammut’s team turned an internal truth into creative gold Th

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! In the latest episode of Gear Abby , host Shawnté Salabert and producer Colin True explore everything from elite mountain running to backcountry bidets and dog-friendly tick prevention then wrap with a deep gear dive into a very fuzzy fabric. Pre-Question: Mindfulness, Meditation & Messy Feeling The show opens with Shawnté confessing that she’s back in therapy and newly into meditation... sort of. Colin teases her about doing it o

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! What happens when you build trails that everyone  can ride? In this episode of Open Container , host Doug Schnitzspahn  talks with Berne Broudy , writer, filmmaker, and director of Best Day Ever , and Greg Durso , adaptive athlete and Senior Program Director at the Kelly Brush Foundation . Together, they share the story behind Best Day Ever, a film and movement that began when a few friends realized their local trails weren’t acce

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! Today on The Rock Fight, Colin, Eoin, and Producer Dave return with Outdoor Industry Buy or Sell as they name what’s hot (and what’s not). Here's the rundown! Rough Q4 on the way? Multiple reports this past week paint a less than rosy picture for the end of the year. (06:44) A new survey names what is trending with teens. Spoiler: it's not Puffin Drinkwear. (12:17) The Rock Fight Lightning Round! Rutabaga changes course, Runnin' a

Click to listen on your favorite podcast app! Today on The Rock Fight, Colin is joined by Shawnté Salabert to break down her trip to Title Nine’s Pitchfest 2025, where women founders are reshaping the outdoor industry from the ground up. Since 1989, Title Nine and its founder Missy Park have been putting money behind women-led brands; more than $1.7 million in Pitchfest investments and $72 million in total purchasing power. Shawnté attended this year's edition and shares what