The Rock Fight: Outdoor Industry & Adventure Sports Commentary

Today on The Rock Fight Colin & Shawnté discuss the following topics that have come out of the outdoor adventure community over the past week: Fake summit selfies! Scandal breaks in the mountaineering world as a climber is accused of faking summits. (08:44) Nepal pimps other peaks! Nepal is issuing free permits to 97 other mountains to try and relieve some of the traffic on Everest. Will it wo...

Today Colin along with Outdoor Industry Insider Eoin Comerford and Brand & Creative Expert Producer Dave dig into the following topics and headlines that have been percolating in the outdoor industry: With brands like On Running and Brooks joining Altra, Saucony, and Hoka in the 'recent excellent financial performance club', is the category of running set up to weather the tariff storm better...

Today Colin sits with OG Rock Fighter Justin Housman to discuss his career pivot from a journalist in the human powered outdoor media world to his new role in conservation at Save the Redwoods League. Thanks for listening! The Rock Fight is a production of Rock Fight , LLC. Sign up for NEWS FROM THE FRONT , Rock Fight's semi-weekly newsletter by heading to www.rockfight.co and clicking Join The Ma...

Today on the show Colin and Shawnté get into the following topics that have come out of the outdoor adventure community! A British hiker ignores the signs and is now on the hook for his $16,000 rescue. Should people have to pay to get help? (06:44) A NY man was arrested for leaving his 9 year old in the VIP tent of the Lake Placid Ironman while he went out and competed in the race. Did Ironman als...

Today on the show Colin, outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford, and brand/creative expert Producer Dave hit the following topics! Tariff Watch 2025! After week of surveys, brand reports, and new tariff percentages it is time to check in on the latest tariff situation. (05:32) ThredUp's recently earnings report shows that secondhand continues to be an opportunity that everyone should be leaning i...

A few weeks back on the show Colin, Producer Dave, and consigliere to The Rock Fight Eoin Comerford had some choice words about a new product line that had just been announced from outdoor brand Ortovox. Ok to be fair, they mostly poked fun at the press release, but still they were not optimistic about Sequence, Ortovox's forthcoming lineup of outdoor apparel and gear. Tom Mason, the US Brand Mana...

We've talked about all sorts of outdoor pop culture on The Rock Fight-movies, TV, books-but music has been somewhat neglected. Today, we fix that! Host of Open Container, Doug Schnitzspahn, joins Colin & Shawnté as they each take a look back at the 1990's and assemble a playlist inspired by adventure. Each of them built a list of 10 songs from the 1990's (one from each year starting in 1990 an...

 Today on The Rock Fight we're drafting the best of the best! Throughout 2025 The Rock Fight crew has named the 20 best brands in the outdoor industry when they created top 5 lists of the best outdoor brands going in footwear, apparel, gear, and accessories. And on today's episode, Colin is joined by outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford, brand and creative expert Producer Dave, and outdoor jou...

Today on The Rock Fight we debut The Brief! The Brief is a look at the brand and creative efforts of the outdoor industry as broken down by our brand and creative expert, Producer Dave. A few weeks back Producer Dave noticed some billboards popping up in his hometown of Portland, OR for running shoe upstart Speedland. Today we take a deep dive into the creative of the Speedland campaign and determ...

Today on the show Colin & Shawnté run through the following topics and headlines to come out of the outdoor adventure community: Gen Z Paddlers to the rescue! A new crop of young paddlers and kayakers are redefining what makes for a fresh and cool outdoor expeditions! (07:52) Do we still need approach shoes ? I mean if you're looking for an uncomfortable shoe that is half as functional as a cl...

Today on The Rock Fight Colin is joined by outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford and brand and creative expert Producer Dave (aka The Monday Boys) to hit on the following headlines and topics that are percolating around the outdoor industry: Outdoor Industry History! In what year did these outdoor headlines occur? (04:41) Industry ups and downs: Clarus & Fenix struggle in their recent earnin...

Today on the show Colin introduces you to an old friend. The original Rock Fight, LAYERS . He kicks things off by level setting what Rock Fight is going to be up to in the coming months and then reflects back on LAYERS; the show he and Producer Dave first did under the moniker of Rock Fight. And because it's the dog days of summer, your favorite podcasters are also trying to get some time off. So...

Today Colin is joined by outdoor journalist Shawnté Salabert who is off of the trail and back on The Rock Fight to run through the following topics: It's been a deadly month on the trail as tragedy has hit the Sierra and the Whites . Separate from both of these incidents, Colin & Shawnté reflect on how it is sometimes hard to leave an objective behind. (14:05) Inspiration in the heat! 80 year...

 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 expan...

Today's show was recorded in Colin's Denver hotel room during this week's Outdoor Market Alliance Media Event (don't worry, it's not as sexy as it sounds). Colin is joined by the Editor-In-Chief of Gearjunkie, Adam Ruggiero, to offer their initial thoughts on the OMA Media Event and use it as a springboard into a conversation about the "new" phase of outdoor media and how legacy media entities are...

Today we're dipping our toes back into the trade show world as Switchback and The Running Event show director Christina Henderson joins Colin to take analyze last month's inaugural Switchback Spring. They talk about what worked, what didn't, how the standalone show will impact Switchback at TRE, and what the outdoor industry can expect next year in New Orleans. Click here to help those in need aft...

Today on the show, the Monday crew (the Monday Boys?) of outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford and brand/creative expert Producer Dave join Colin to talk through the following topics: Big 5 Sold! Did the new owners make a good deal ? (06:09) To celebrate Ortovox entering the mountain bike market we count the amount of cliches in the press release and ponder the motivation behind the move itself....

Today Colin is joined by the host of Open Container , outdoor journalist Doug Schnitzspahn, to check in on where outdoor culture sits halfway through 2025. Since the launch of Open Container in January Doug has had 26 conversations with artists, musicians, authors, brand founders and many others who operate in or around the outdoor community. Today he and Colin find out what he's learned so far an...

Today on the show former Rock Fight guest Emily Holland ascends to the co-host chair to fill in for Shawnté who is out hiking the JMT! Colin & Emily hit on the following topics: Get to know your co-host! Colin asks Emily some random questions so the audience can get to know her better (be sure to write down some of her food recommendations). (05:50) The Tour de France kicked off last weekend!...

Today it's the last interview that we recorded at GOA Connect in Reno last month. This time Colin and Eoin are chatting with Jon Frederick of Rab. Jon talks about why Rab has found more traction in the US when other EU based brands have struggled to enter the market. They also discuss Rab's current product initiatives and what Jon would like to see out of the national trade show scene. Then Shawnt...

Today on the show it's a special Fourth of July episode of The Rock Fight as Colin is finally joined by outdoor journalist and sustainability legend Kristin Hostetter, to talk about her big 2024 hot take that it is time to ban fireworks. Last year Kristin wrote this piece offering all the reasons why we should rethink fireworks despite them being a significant fixture in modern society. We covered...

Today we're featuring the second interview we captured while attending GOA Connect last month. This time Colin and outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford sit down with Eagle Creek president and CEO, Travis Campbell. They talk about Travis's unique path to owning Eagle Creek and if that puts him in the same category as other founder led outdoor brands. They also touch how Eagle Creek tries to diff...

Today on the show the Monday boys, Producer Dave and outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford, join Colin to talk about the following topics: Back to school predictions! Reports are coming in that tariffs are impacting early back to school shopping. What does this mean for the second biggest shopping season of the year? (07:20) In a recent interview , Topo Athletic founder Tony Post reveals the sec...

Today on the show Colin welcomes Tania Lown-Hecht from the Outdoor Alliance and Friends of Grand Rapids Parks Executive Director Stacy Bare to chat about the latest efforts to sell off our public lands. Tania provides an update of where things stand with Senator Mike Lee's proposed sell off while Stacy provides some context on the importance of protecting and preserving our public lands. Our publi...

Today on the show Colin is joined by outdoor author and journalist Shawnté Salabert to run through the following stories to come out of the outdoor adventure community: Bison Attack 2: Electric Bisaloo? A Yellowstone visitor has been gored by a bison...again. (08:19) A grizzly bear has pushed a hiker off a cliff. New fear unlocked for Shawnté on the eve of her departure to the JMT? (14:21) A man w...