Podcasts about Breckenridge

The Storm does not cover athletes or gear or hot tubs or whisky bars or helicopters or bros jumping off things. I'm focused on the lift-served skiing world that 99 percent of skiers actually inhabit, and I'm covering it year-round. To support this mission of independent ski journalism, please subscribe to the free or paid versions of the email newsletter.WhoGreg Pack, President and General Manager of Mt. Hood Meadows, OregonRecorded onApril 28, 2025About Mt. Hood MeadowsClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: The Drake Family (and other minority shareholders)Located in: Mt. Hood, OregonYear founded: 1968Pass affiliations:* Indy Pass – 2 days, select blackouts* Indy+ Pass – 2 days, no blackoutsClosest neighboring U.S. ski areas: Summit (:17), Mt. Hood Skibowl (:19), Cooper Spur (:23), Timberline (:26)Base elevation: 4,528 feetSummit elevation: 7,305 feet at top of Cascade Express; 9,000 feet at top of hike-to permit area; 11,249 feet at summit of Mount HoodVertical drop: 2,777 feet lift-served; 4,472 hike-to inbounds; 6,721 feet from Mount Hood summitSkiable acres: 2,150Average annual snowfall: 430 inchesTrail count: 87 (15% beginner, 40% intermediate, 15% advanced, 30% expert)Lift count: 11 (1 six-pack, 5 high-speed quads, 1 fixed-grip quad, 3 doubles, 1 carpet – view Lift Blog's inventory of Mount Hood Meadows' lift fleet)About Cooper SpurClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: The Drake FamilyLocated in: Mt. Hood, OregonYear founded: 1927Pass affiliations: Indy Pass, Indy+ Pass – 2 days, no blackoutsClosest neighboring U.S. ski areas: Mt. Hood Meadows (:22), Summit (:29), Mt. Hood Skibowl (:30), Timberline (:37)Base elevation: 3,969 feetSummit elevation: 4,400 feetVertical drop: 431 feetSkiable acres: 50Average annual snowfall: 250 inchesTrail count: 9 (1 most difficult, 7 more difficult, 1 easier)Lift count: 2 (1 double, 1 ropetow – view Lift Blog's inventory of Cooper Spur's lift fleet)Why I interviewed himVolcanoes are weird. Oh look, an exploding mountain. Because that seems reasonable. Volcanoes sound like something imagined, like dragons or teleportation or dinosaurs*. “So let me get this straight,” I imagine some puzzled Appalachian miner, circa 1852, responding to the fellow across the fire as he tells of his adventures in the Oregon Territory, “you expect me to believe that out thataways they got themselves mountains that just blow their roofs off whenever they feel like it, and shoot off fire and rocks and gas for 50 mile or more, and no one never knows when it's a'comin'? You must think I'm dumber'n that there tree stump.”Turns out volcanoes are real. How humanity survived past day one I have no idea. But here we are, skiing on volcanoes instead of tossing our virgins from the rim as a way of asking the nice mountain to please not explode (seriously how did anyone make it out of the past alive?).And one of the volcanoes we can ski on is Mount Hood. This actually seems more unbelievable to me than the concept of a vengeful nuclear mountain. PNW Nature Bros shield every blade of grass like they're guarding Fort Knox. When, in 2014, federal scientists proposed installing four monitoring stations on Hood, which the U.S. Geological Survey ranks as the sixth-highest threat to erupt out of America's 161 active volcanoes, these morons stalled the process for six years. “I think it is so important to have places like that where we can just step back, out of respect and humility, and appreciate nature for what it is,” a Wilderness Watch official told The New York Times. Personally I think it's so important to install basic monitoring infrastructure so that thousands of people are not incinerated in a predictable volcanic eruption. While “Japan, Iceland and Chile smother their high-threat volcanoes in scientific instruments,” The Times wrote, American Granola Bros say things like, “This is more proof that the Forest Service has abandoned any pretense of administering wilderness as per the letter or spirit of the Wilderness Act.” And Hood and the nation's other volcanoes cackle madly. “These idiots are dumber than the human-sacrifice people,” they say just before belching up an ash cloud that could take down a 747. When officials finally installed these instrument clusters on Hood in 2020, they occupied three boxes that look to be approximately the size of a convenience-store ice freezer, which feels like an acceptable trade-off to mass death and airplanes falling out of the sky.I know that as an outdoor writer I'm supposed to be all pissed off if anyone anywhere suggests any use of even a centimeter of undeveloped land other than giving it back to the deer in a treaty printed on recycled Styrofoam and signed with human blood to symbolize the life we've looted from nature by commandeering 108 square feet to potentially protect millions of lives from volcanic eruption, but this sort of trivial protectionism and willful denial that humans ought to have rights too is the kind of brainless uncompromising overreach that I fear will one day lead to a massive over-correction at the other extreme, in which a federal government exhausted with never being able to do anything strips away or massively dilutes land protections that allow anyone to do anything they can afford. And that's when we get Monster Pete's Arctic Dune Buggies setting up a casino/coal mine/rhinoceros-hunting ranch on the Eliot Glacier and it's like thanks Bros I hope that was worth it to stall the placement of gardenshed-sized public safety infrastructure for six years.Anyway, given the trouble U.S. officials have with installing necessary things on Mount Hood, it's incredible how many unnecessary ones our ancestors were able to build. But in 1927 the good old boys hacked their way into the wilderness and said, “by gum what a spot for snoskiing” and built a bunch of ski areas. And today 31 lifts serve four Mt. Hood ski areas covering a combined 4,845 acres:Which I'm just like, do these Wilderness Watch people not know about this? Perhaps if this and similar groups truly cared about the environmental integrity of Mount Hood they would invest their time, energy, and attention into a long-term regional infrastructure plan that identified parcels for concentrated mixed-use development and non-personal-car-based transit options to mitigate the impact of thousands of skiers traveling up the mountain daily from Portland, rather than in delaying the installation of basic monitoring equipment that notifies humanity of a civilization-shattering volcanic eruption before it happens. But then again I am probably not considering how this would impact the integrity of squirrel poop decomposition below 6,000 feet and the concomitant impacts on pinestand soil erosion which of course would basically end life as we know it on planet Earth.OK this went sideways let me try to salvage it.*Whoops I know dinosaurs were real; I meant to write “the moon landing.” How embarrassing.What we talked aboutA strong 2024-25; recruiting employees in mountains with little nearby housing; why Meadows doesn't compete with Timberline for summer skiing; bye-bye Blue double, Meadows' last standing opening-year chairlift; what it takes to keep an old Riblet operating; the reliability of old versus new chairlifts; Blue's slow-motion demolition and which relics might remain long term; the logic of getting a free anytime buddy lift ticket with your season pass; thoughts on ski area software providers that take a percentage of all sales; why Meadows and Cooper Spur have no pass reciprocity; the ongoing Cooper Spur land exchange; the value of Cooper Spur and Summit on a volcano with three large ski areas; why Meadows hasn't backed away from reciprocal agreements; why Meadows chose Indy over Epic, Ikon, or Mountain Collective; becoming a ski kid when you're not from a ski family; landing at Mountain Creek, New Jersey after a Colorado ski career; how Moonlight Basin started as an independent ski area and eventually became part of Big Sky; the tension underlying Telluride; how the Drake Family, who has managed the ski area since inception, makes decisions; a board that reinvests 100 percent of earnings back into the mountain; why we need large independents in a consolidating world; being independent is “our badge of honor”; whether ownership wants to remain independent long term; potential next lift upgrades; a potential all-new lift line and small expansion; thoughts on a better Heather lift; wild Hood weather and the upper limits of lift service; considering surface lifts on the upper mountain; the challenges of running Cascade Express; the future of the Daisy and Easy Rider doubles; more potential future expansion; and whether we could ever see a ski connection with Timberline Lodge.Why now was a good time for this interviewIt's kind of dumb that 210 episodes into this podcast I've only recorded one Oregon ep: Timberline Lodge President Jeff Kohnstamm, more than three years ago. While Oregon only has 11 active ski areas, and the state ranks 11th-ish in skier visits, it's an important ski state. PNW skiers treat skiing like the Northeast treats baseball or the Midwest treats football or D.C. treats politics: rabid beyond reason. That explains the eight Idaho pods and half dozen each in Washington and B.C. These episodes hit like a hash stand at a Dead show. So why so few Oregon eps?Eh, no reason in particular. There isn't a ski area in North America that I don't want to feature on the podcast, but I can't just order them online like a pizza. Relationships, more than anything, drive the podcast, and The Storm's schedule is primarily opportunity driven. I invite folks on as I meet them or when they do something cool. And sometimes we can connect right away and sometimes it takes months or even years, even if they want to do it. Sometimes we're waiting on contracts or approvals so we can discuss some big project in depth. It can take time to build trust, or to convince a non-podcast person that they have a great story to tell.So we finally get to Meadows. Not to be It-Must-Be-Nice Bro about benefits that arise from clear deliberate life choices, but It must be nice to live in the PNW, where every city sits within 90 minutes of a ripping, open-until-Memorial-Day skyscraper that gets carpet bombed with 400 annual inches but receives between one and four out-of-state visitors per winter. Yeah the ski areas are busy anyway because they don't have enough of them, but busy with Subaru-driving Granola Bros is different than busy with Subaru-driving Granola Bros + Texas Bro whose cowboy boots aren't clicking in right + Florida Bro who bought a Trans Am for his boa constrictor + Midwest Bro rocking Olin 210s he found in Gramp's garage + Hella Rad Cali Bro + New Yorker Bro asking what time they groom Corbet's + Aussie Bro touring the Rockies on a seven-week long weekend + Euro Bro rocking 65 cm underfoot on a two-foot powder day. I have no issue with tourists mind you because I am one but there is something amazing about a ski area that is gigantic and snowy and covered in modern infrastructure while simultaneously being unknown outside of its area code.Yes this is hyperbole. But while everyone in Portland knows that Meadows has the best parking lot views in America and a statistical profile that matches up with Beaver Creek and as many detachable chairlifts as Snowbasin or Snowbird and more snow than Steamboat or Jackson or Palisades or Pow Mow, most of the rest of the world doesn't, and I think they should.Why you should ski Mt. Hood Meadows and Cooper SpurIt's interesting that the 4,845 combined skiable acres of Hood's four ski areas are just a touch larger than the 4,323 acres at Mt. Bachelor, which as far as I know has operated as a single interconnected facility since its 1958 founding. Both are volcanoes whose ski areas operate on U.S. Forest Service land a commutable distance from demographically similar markets, providing a case study in distributed versus centralized management.Bachelor in many ways delivers a better experience. Bachelor's snow is almost always drier and better, an outlier in the kingdom of Cascade Concrete. Skiers can move contiguously across its full acreage, an impossible mission on Balkanized Hood. The mountain runs an efficient, mostly modern 15 lifts to Hood's wild 31, which includes a dozen detachables but also a half dozen vintage Riblet doubles with no safety bars. Bachelor's lifts scale the summit, rather than stopping thousands of feet short as they do on Hood. While neither are Colorado-grade destination ski areas, metro Portland is stuffed with 25 times more people than Bend, and Hood ski areas have an everbusy feel that skiers can often outrun at Bachelor. Bachelor is closer to its mothership – just 26 minutes from Bend to Portland's hour-to-two-hour commutes up to the ski areas. And Bachelor, accessible on all versions of the Ikon Pass and not hamstrung by the confusing counter-branding of multiple ski areas with similar names occupying the same mountain, presents a more clearcut target for the mainstream skier.But Mount Hood's quirky scatterplot ski centers reward skiers in other ways. Four distinct ski areas means four distinct ski cultures, each with its own pace, purpose, customs, traditions, and orientation to the outside world. Timberline Lodge is a funky mix of summertime Bro parks, Government Camp greens, St. Bernards, and its upscale landmark namesake hotel. Cooper Spur is tucked-away, low-key, low-vert family resort skiing. Meadows sprawls, big and steep, with Hood's most interesting terrain. And low-altitude, closest-to-the-city Skibowl is night-lit slowpoke with a vintage all-Riblet lift fleet. Your Epic and Ikon passes are no good here, though Indy gets you Meadows and Cooper Spur. Walk-up lift tickets (still the only way to buy them at Skibowl), are more tier-varied and affordable than those at Bachelor, which can exceed $200 on peak days (though Bachelor heavily discounts access to its beginner lifts, with free access to select novice areas). Bachelor's $1,299 season pass is 30 percent more expensive than Meadows'.This dynamic, of course, showcases single-entity efficiency and market capture versus the messy choice of competition. Yes Free Market Bro you are right sometimes. Hood's ski areas have more inherent motivators to fight on price, forge allegiances like the Timberline-Skibowl joint season pass, invest in risks like night and summer skiing, and run wonky low-tide lift ticket deals. Empowering this flexibility: all four Hood ski areas remain locally owned – Meadows and T-Line by their founding families. Bachelor, of course, is a fiefdom of Park City, Utah-based Powdr, which owns a half-dozen other ski areas across the West.I don't think that Hood is better than Bachelor or that Bachelor is better than Hood. They're different, and you should ski both. But however you dissect the niceties of these not-really-competing-but-close-enough-that-a-comarison-makes-sense ski centers, the on-the-ground reality adds up to this: Hood locals, in general, are a far more contented gang than Bachelor Bros. I don't have any way to quantify this, and Bachelor has its partisans. But I talk to skiers all over the country, all the time. Skiers will complain about anything, and online guttings of even the most beloved mountains exist. But talk to enough people and strong enough patterns emerge to understand that, in general, locals are happy with Mammoth and Alpine Meadows and Sierra-at-Tahoe and A-Basin and Copper and Bridger Bowl and Nub's Nob and Perfect North and Elk and Plattekill and Berkshire East and Smuggs and Loon and Saddleback and, mostly, the Hood ski areas. And locals are generally less happy with Camelback and Seven Springs and Park City and Sunrise and Shasta and Stratton and, lately, former locals' faves Sugarbush and Wildcat. And, as far as I can tell, Bachelor.Potential explanations for Hood happiness versus Bachelor blues abound, all of them partial, none completely satisfactory, all asterisked with the vagaries of skiing and skiers and weather and luck. But my sense is this: Meadows, Timberline, and Skibowl locals are generally content not because they have better skiing than everyplace else or because their ski areas are some grand bargain or because they're not crowded or because they have the best lift systems or terrain parks or grooming or snow conditions, but because Hood, in its haphazard and confounding-to-outsiders borders and layout, has forced its varied operators to hyper-adapt to niche needs in the local market while liberating them from the all-things-to-everyone imperative thrust on isolated operations like Bachelor. They have to decide what they're good at and be good at that all the time, because they have no other option. Hood operators can't be Vail-owned Paoli Peaks, turning in 25-day ski seasons and saying well it's Indiana what do you expect? They have to be independent Perfect North, striving always for triple-digit operating days and saying it's Indiana and we're doing this anyway because if we don't you'll stop coming and we'll all be broke.In this way Hood is a snapshot of old skiing, pre-consolidation, pre-national pass, pre-social media platforms that flung open global windows onto local mountains. Other than Timberline summer parks no one is asking these places to be anything other than very good local ski areas serving rabid local skiers. And they're doing a damn good job.Podcast NotesOn Meadows and Timberline Lodge opening and closing datesOne of the most baffling set of basic facts to get straight in American skiing is the number of ski areas on Mount Hood and the distinction between them. Part of the reason for this is the volcano's famous summer skiing, which takes place not at either of the eponymous ski areas – Mt. Hood Meadows or Mt. Hood Skibowl – but at the awkwardly named Timberline Lodge, which sounds more like a hipster cocktail lounge with a 19th-century fur-trapper aesthetic than the name of a ski resort (which is why no one actually calls it “Timberline Lodge”; I do so only to avoid confusion with the ski area in West Virginia, because people are constantly getting Appalachian ski areas mixed up with those in the Cascades). I couldn't find a comprehensive list of historic closing dates for Meadows and Timberline, but the basic distinction is this: Meadows tends to wrap winter sometime between late April and late May. Timberline goes into August and beyond when it can. Why doesn't Meadows push its season when it is right next door and probably could? We discuss in the pod.On Riblet clipsFun fact about defunct-as-a-company-even-though-a-couple-hundred-of-their-machines-are-still-spinning Riblet chairlifts: rather than clamping on like a vice grip, the end of each chair is woven into the rope via something called an “insert clip.” I wrote about this in my Wildcat pod last year:On Alpental Chair 2A small but vocal segment of Broseph McBros with nothing better to do always reflexively oppose the demolition of legacy fixed-grip lifts to make way for modern machines. Pack does a great job laying out why it's harder to maintain older chairlifts than many skiers may think. I wrote about this here:On Blue's breakover towers and unload rampWe also dropped photos of this into the video version of the pod:On the Cooper Spur land exchangeHere's a somewhat-dated and very biased-against-the-ski-area infographic summarizing the proposed land swap between Meadows and the U.S. Forest Service, from the Cooper Spur Wild & Free Coalition, an organization that “first came together in 2002 to fight Mt. Hood Meadows' plans to develop a sprawling destination resort on the slopes of Mt. Hood near Cooper Spur”:While I find the sanctimonious language in this timeline off-putting, I'm more sympathetic to Enviro Bro here than I was with the eruption-detection controversy discussed up top. Opposing small-footprint, high-impact catastrophe-monitoring equipment on an active volcano to save five bushes but potentially endanger millions of human lives is foolish. But checking sprawling wilderness development by identifying smaller parcels adjacent to already-disturbed lands as alternative sites for denser, hopefully walkable, hopefully mixed-use projects is exactly the sort of thing that every mountain community ought to prioritize.On the combination of Summit and Timberline LodgeThe small Summit Pass ski area in Government Camp operated as an independent entity from its 1927 founding until Timberline Lodge purchased the ski area in 2018. In 2021, the owners connected the two – at least in one direction. Skiers can move 4,540 vertical feet from the top of Timberline's Palmer chair to the base of Summit. While Palmer tends to open late in the season and Summit tends to close early, and while skiers will have to ride shuttles back up to the Timberline lifts until the resort builds a much anticipated gondola connecting the full height, this is technically America's largest lift-served vertical drop.On Meadows' reciprocalsMeadows only has three season pass reciprocal partners, but they're all aspirational spots that passholders would actually travel for: Baker, Schweitzer, and Whitefish. I ask Pack why he continues to offer these exchanges even as larger ski areas such as Brundage and Tamarack move away from them. One bit of context I neglected to include, however, is that neighboring Timberline Lodge and Mount Hood Skibowl not only offer a joint pass, but are longtime members of Powder Alliance, which is an incredible regional reciprocal pass that's free for passholders at any of these mountains:On Ski Broadmoor, ColoradoColorado Springs is less convenient to skiing than the name implies – skiers are driving a couple of hours, minimum, to access Monarch or the Summit County ski areas. So I was surprised, when I looked up Pack's original home mountain of Ski Broadmoor, to see that it sat on the city's outskirts:This was never a big ski area, with 600 vertical feet served by an “America The Beautiful Lift” that sounds as though it was named by Donald Trump:The “famous” Broadmoor Hotel built and operated the ski area, according to Colorado Ski History. They sold the hotel in 1986 to the city, which promptly sold it to Vail Associates (now Vail Resorts), in 1988. Vail closed the ski area in 1991 – the only mountain they ever surrendered on. I'll update all my charts and such to reflect this soon.On pre-high-speed KeystoneIt's kind of amazing that Keystone, which now spins seven high-speed chairlifts, didn't install its first detachable until 1990, nearly a decade after neighboring Breckenridge installed the world's first, in 1981. As with many resorts that have aggressively modernized, this means that Keystone once ran more chairlifts than it does today. When Pack started his ski career at the mountain in 1989, Keystone ran 10 frontside aerial lifts (8 doubles, 1 triple, 1 gondola) compared to just six today (2 doubles, 2 sixers, a high-speed quad, and a higher-capacity gondy).On Mountain CreekI've talked about the bananas-ness of Mountain Creek many times. I love this unhinged New Jersey bump in the same way I loved my crazy late uncle who would get wasted at the Bay City fireworks and yell at people driving Toyotas to “Buy American!” (This was the ‘80s in Michigan, dudes. I don't know what to tell you. The auto industry was falling apart and everybody was tripping, especially dudes who worked in – or, in my uncle's case, adjacent to (steel) – the auto industry.)On IntrawestOne of the reasons I did this insane timeline project was so that I would no longer have to sink 30 minutes into Google every time someone said the word “Intrawest.” The timeline was a pain in the ass, but worth it, because now whenever I think “wait exactly what did Intrawest own and when?” I can just say “oh yeah I already did that here you go”:On Moonlight Basin and merging with Big SkyIt's kind of weird how many now-united ski areas started out as separate operations: Beaver Creek and Arrowhead (merged 1997), Canyons and Park City (2014), Whistler and Blackcomb (1997), Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley (connected via gondola in 2022), Carinthia and Mount Snow (1986), Sugarbush and Mount Ellen (connected via chairlift in 1995). Sometimes – Beaver Creek, Mount Snow – the terrain and culture mergers are seamless. Other times – Alpine and the Palisades side of what is now Palisades Tahoe – the connection feels like opening a store that sells four-wheelers and 74-piece high-end dinnerware sets. Like, these things don't go together, Man. But when Big Sky absorbed Moonlight Basin and Spanish Peaks in 2013, everyone immediately forgot that it was ever any different. This suggests that Big Sky's 2032 Yellowstone Club acquisition will be seamless.**Kidding, Brah. Maybe.On Lehman BrothersNearly two decades later, it's still astonishing how quickly Lehman Brothers, in business for 158 years, collapsed in 2008.On the “mutiny” at TellurideEvery now and then, a reader will ask the very reasonable question about why I never pay any attention to Telluride, one of America's great ski resorts, and one that Pack once led. Mostly it's because management is unstable, making long-term skier experience stories of the sort I mostly focus on hard to tell. And management is mostly unstable because the resort's owner is, by all accounts, willful and boorish and sort of unhinged. Blevins, in The Colorado Sun's “Outsider” newsletter earlier this week:A few months ago, locals in Telluride and Mountain Village began publicly blasting the resort's owner, a rare revolt by a community that has grown weary of the erratic Chuck Horning.For years, residents around the resort had quietly lamented the antics and decisions of the temperamental Horning, the 81-year-old California real estate investor who acquired Telluride Ski & Golf Resort in 2004. It's the only resort Horning has ever owned and over the last 21 years, he has fired several veteran ski area executives — including, earlier this year, his son, Chad.Now, unnamed locals have launched a website, publicly detailing the resort owner's messy management of the Telluride ski area and other businesses across the country.“For years, Chuck Horning has caused harm to us all, both individually and collectively,” reads the opening paragraph of ChuckChuck.ski — which originated when a Telluride councilman in March said that it was “time to chuck Chuck.” “The community deserves something better. For years, we've whispered about the stories, the incidents, the poor decisions we've witnessed. Those stories should no longer be kept secret from everyone that relies on our ski resort for our wellbeing.”The chuckchuck.ski site drags skeletons out of Horning's closet. There are a lot of skeletons in there. The website details a long history of lawsuits across the country accusing Horning and the Newport Federal Financial investment firm he founded in 1970 of fraud.It's a pretty amazing site.On Bogus BasinI was surprised that ostensibly for-profit Meadows regularly re-invests 100 percent of profits into the ski area. Such a model is more typical for explicitly nonprofit outfits such as Bogus Basin, Idaho. Longtime GM Brad Wilson outlined how that ski area functions a few years back:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

This week, in Breckenridge, Colorado, a twisted story begins with 2 young women, disappearing, on a cold, snowy night. On the sam e night, a man is miraculously rescued from a snowy mountain pass, when a passing airliner sees his headlights, down below. Police initially blame one of the women's husband, since everything he did looked suspicious, but eventually a lone orange sock found near a body, links both murders, and helps to reveal the true killer!!   Along the way, we find out that 13 pound gold nuggets exist, that just because a man tells you where a body may be, and when it will be found, doesn't mean he's the murderer, and that you should never throw out any garbage. Ever!   New episodes, every Wednesday & Friday nights!!   Donate at patreon.com/crimeinsports or at paypal.com and use our email: crimeinsports@gmail.com Go to shutupandgivememurder.com for all things Small Town Murder, Crime In Sports & Your Stupid Opinions!   Follow us on... instagram.com/smalltownmurder facebook.com/smalltownpod   Also, check out James & Jimmie's other shows, Crime In Sports & Your Stupid Opinions on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!!

 From the peaks of Breckenridge to the streets of Chicago, Harvey Bierman, CEO of Red Van and a pivotal force in the Salesforce Commerce Cloud ecosystem, shares his insights at the Connections 2025 event. He discusses Salesforce's ambitious plans to revolutionize B2C commerce with integrated customer experiences. The conversation goes into the evolution from Demandware to Salesforce, the importance of order management systems in cross-channel orchestration, and Red Van's strategic approach to building a specialized order management practice.  Harvey also highlights the enduring community spirit within the Demandware ecosystem and reflects on the technological advancements that have shaped modern commerce. Show Highlights: Salesforce's plans to enhance the B2C customer experience by integrating front-end engagements with back-end order management. Highlights from the Connections 2025 event in Chicago and its significance for the B2C commerce strategy. The importance of community events and partnerships. The role of order management systems in cross-channel orchestration. Redvan's Audubon platform's role in integrating B2C and order management systems with marketing clouds. The evolution of technology in commerce and the emphasis on operational empathy and trust within the ecosystem. Follow and Review: We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review,” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second, and it helps spread the word about the podcast. Supporting Resources: Harvey Bierman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hlbierman/ | Red Van: https://www.redvanworkshop.com/  Learn more about Agentforce for Commerce: https://www.salesforce.com/commerce/ai/  Join the Commerce Cloud Community Unofficial Slack: https://sforce.co/commercecrew *** Episode Credits If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com. Let them know I sent you.

In spring 1894, a courtroom became the stage for a scandal that gripped the nation. Kentucky Congressman William Breckinridge faced a lawsuit from Madeline Pollard, who claimed he promised to marry her after nearly ten years together, then broke that promise. The trial exposed a hidden affair, secret meetings, and disputed truths between a rising politician and a woman left behind. The scandal captivated newspapers, packed courtrooms, and reshaped public opinion about one of the South's most prominent figures.

Hello & welcome back to Raw Intentions! This episode is a littttttle different— just two girls crafting & chatting on the mic. We're literally heat pressing custom hats for R&R, while chatting with Natalie Wood, part owner of Lace & Lariat in Breckenridge. Natalie's only 24 and already managing a thriving retail shop, running a hat bar, and creating a community around her store. We talk about her journey from college dropout to a dream career, the lessons she's learned in her twenties, her favorite ways to get creative, and what it's like running a family business in a small mountain town. She shares her love of travel, her daily habits, and how nature keeps her grounded. This episode is fun, creative, and full of insight for anyone figuring it out in real-time. Enjoy & let us know what you think xxLace & Lariat: https://www.instagram.com/laceandlariat/Natalie Wood: https://www.instagram.com/natalie_woodd/Shop Raw & Rebellious: https://www.rawrebellious.com/Raw & Rebellious Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raw_rebellious/Raw & Rebellious TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@raw_rebellious?lang=enRaw Intentions Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rawintentionspodcast/

SUMMARY: In this episode, Aaron and Terryn dive into the fascinating world of oil and gas operations with special guest Greg Thomas, President of Delta Oil and Gas. Broadcasting from Fort Worth, Texas. Greg shares his journey from geology and finance to leading a thriving company with field offices in Breckenridge, Texas, and a geologic office in Boulder, Colorado. With a unique perspective on operational excellence, Greg reveals how his team has achieved remarkable 98% efficiency through the implementation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), transforming the company over the past five years.   The conversation explores the universal truths of operations across industries, emphasizing the critical role of people in driving success. Greg discusses his approach to retaining talent by fostering loyalty through innovative incentives, such as allowing technical team members to invest in projects, aligning their success with the company's growth. Also discussed is the importance of institutional knowledge, the value of long-term employees, and strategies for keeping retirees engaged through consulting roles. Along the way, they touch on the challenges of managing visionary expectations, the pitfalls of micromanagement, and the delicate balance of performance-based pay structures.     Minute by Minute: 0:00 Introduction 2:26 Let's meet Greg Thomas 5:29 Layoffs during the rise and fall of oil prices? 8:09 Managing people and projects is the same  14:25 Performance pay structure based on KPIs 18:51 How can we all win 20:13 My team all wants to stay

Hello & welcome back to Raw Intentions! This week, we're talking bar makeouts, parenting, skiing, and small-town life with Kimmy and Seb - longtime best friends turned lovers, new parents, and two of the coolest people I know. Kimmy grew up on skis in Colorado, and Seb came from the Netherlands with a deep love for travel and adventure. After meeting in their early 20s through friends & a professional skiing career, a wild night at Cecilias (IYKYK) turned into 15 years together and an incredibly enriched life in Breckenridge. We talk about being long-distance for 7 years, how they've stayed true to themselves while becoming parents, and how they're raising their son with the same love of nature and play that shaped them. It's such a feel-good, inspiring episode about relationships, community, and doing things your own way. Can't wait for y'all to listen, and let us know what you think xxKimmy Mackey: https://www.instagram.com/kimmymarymackey/?hl=enSeb Rooney: https://www.instagram.com/sebasrenooy/?hl=enShop Raw & Rebellious: https://www.rawrebellious.com/Raw & Rebellious Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raw_rebellious/Raw & Rebellious TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@raw_rebellious?lang=enRaw Intentions Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rawintentionspodcast/

In this solo power-up episode, Melissa peels back the curtain on one of the most overlooked tools in growing a sustainable, joyful business: systems that work with your energy, not against it. If you've ever sat down at your desk on Monday thinking, “What do I even do today?” — this one's for you. Melissa shares the exact rhythms, routines, and time-blocking strategies she uses as her own Chief Marketing Officer to stay consistent, feel confident, and create momentum in her marketing (even on days when inspiration is low). Timestamps: 00:00 – Welcome to Doing Business Like a Woman00:31 – A busy weekend, Breckenridge soccer, and entrepreneurial inspiration from Shoe Dog02:19 – Why Mondays are Melissa's favorite (and why she often needs a vacation from her weekends!)03:10 – What to do when inspiration is low: systems that save your energy04:05 – How consistency creates trust—not just with clients, but within yourself05:26 – From systems to rhythms: a more feminine, spacious way to lead06:28 – Stop reinventing the wheel: why rhythms free your mind for higher-impact work07:27 – Melissa's weekly planning ritual: how she builds her week with intention08:27 – Using Asana + her calendar together (and why that's a game changer)10:00 – Time-blocking your tasks to eliminate overwhelm and indecision11:16 – Building trust with yourself by honoring your schedule11:47 – How Melissa themes her workdays for focus and flow12:18 – Creative Mondays, client-focused midweek, and quiet admin Fridays13:19 – Why your calendar should reflect your energy—not a hustle culture13:48 – The marketing systems Melissa helps clients build (that actually support their growth)14:48 – Consultation and follow-up systems that feel good and work15:11 – If you're ready for sustainable growth, let's talk Stay Connected:

The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.WhoPete Sonntag, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager of Sun Valley, IdahoRecorded onApril 9, 2025About Sun ValleyClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: The R. Earl Holding family, which also owns Snowbasin, UtahPass affiliations:* Ikon Pass – 7 days, no blackouts; no access on Ikon Base or Session passes; days shared between Bald and Dollar mountains* Mountain Collective – 2 days, no blackouts; days shared between Bald and Dollar mountainsReciprocal pass partners: Challenger Platinum and Challenger season passes include unlimited access to Snowbasin, UtahLocated in: Ketchum, IdahoClosest neighboring ski areas: Rotarun (:47), Soldier Mountain (1:10)Base elevation | summit elevation | vertical drop:Bald Mountain: 5,750 feet | 9,150 feet | 3,400 feetDollar Mountain: 6,010 feet | 6,638 feet | 628 feetSkiable Acres: 2,533 acres (Bald Mountain) | 296 acres (Dollar Mountain)Average annual snowfall: 200 inchesTrail count: 122 (100 on Bald Mountain; 22 on Dollar) – 2% double-black, 20% black, 42% intermediate, 36% beginnerLift fleet:Bald Mountain: 12 lifts (8-passenger gondola, 2 six-packs, 6 high-speed quads, 2 triples, 1 carpet - view Lift Blog's of inventory of Bald Mountain's lift fleet)Dollar Mountain: 5 lifts (2 high-speed quads, 1 triple, 1 double, 1 carpet - view Lift Blog's of inventory of Dollar Mountain's lift fleet)Why I interviewed him (again)Didn't we just do this? Sun Valley, the Big Groom, the Monster at the End of The Road (or at least way off the interstate)? Didn't you make All The Points? Pretty and remote and excellent. Why are we back here already when there are so many mountains left to slot onto the podcast? Fair questions, easy answer: because American lift-served skiing is in the midst of a financial and structural renaissance driven by the advent of the multimountain ski pass. A network of megamountains that 15 years ago had been growing creaky and cranky under aging lift networks has, in the past five years, flung new machines up the mountain with the slaphappy glee of a minor league hockey mascot wielding a T-shirt cannon. And this investment, while widespread, has been disproportionately concentrated on a handful of resorts aiming to headline the next generation of self-important holiday Instagram posts: Deer Valley, Big Sky, Steamboat, Snowbasin, and Sun Valley (among others). It's going to be worth checking in on these places every few years as they rapidly evolve into different versions of themselves.And Sun Valley is changing fast. When I hosted Sonntag on the podcast in 2022, Sun Valley had just left Epic for Ikon/Mountain Collective and announced its massive Broadway-Flying Squirrel installation, a combined 14,982 linear feet of high-speed machinery that included a replacement of North America's tallest chairlift. A new Seattle Ridge sixer followed, and the World Cup spectacle followed that. Meanwhile, Sun Valley had settled into its new pass coalitions and teased more megalifts and improvements to the village. Last December, the resort's longtime owner, Carol Holding, passed away at age 95. Whatever the ramifications of all that will be, the trajectory and fate of Sun Valley over the next decade is going to set (as much or more than it traces), the arc of the remaining large independents in our consolidating ski world.What we talked aboutThe passing and legacy of longtime owner Carol Holding and her late husband Earl – “she was involved with the business right up until the very end”; how the Holdings modernized the Sun Valley ski areas; long-term prospects for Sun Valley and Snowbasin independence following Mrs. Holding's passing; bringing World Cup Downhill races back to Sun Valley; what it took to prep Bald Mountain for the events; the risks of hosting a World Cup; finish line vibes; the potential for a World Cup return and when and how that could happen; the impact of the Challenger and Flying Squirrel lift upgrades; potential upgrades for the Frenchman's, River Run, Lookout Express, and Christmas lifts; yes Sun Valley has glades; the impact of the Seattle Ridge chairlift upgrade; why actual lift capacity for Sun Valley's legacy high-speed quads doesn't match spec; explaining Sun Valley's infrastructure upgrade surge; why Mayday and Lookout will likely remain fixed-grip machines; the charm of Dollar Mountain; considering Dollar lift upgrades; what happened to the Silver Dollar carpet; why Sun Valley is likely sticking with Ikon and Mountain Collective long-term after trying both those coalitions and Epic; whether Sun Valley could join Ikon Base now that Alterra ditched Ikon Base Plus; RFID coming at last; whether we could still see a gondola connection between Sun Valley Village and Dollar and Bald mountains; and why Sun Valley isn't focused on slopeside development at Bald Mountain.Why now was a good time for this interviewSince I more or less covered interview timing above, let me instead pull out a bit about Sun Valley's megapass participation that ended up being timely by accident. We recorded this conversation in April, well before Vail Resorts named Rob Katz its CEO for a second time, likely resetting what had become a lopsided (in Alterra's favor) Epic-versus-Ikon battle. Here's what Sonntag had to say on the pod in 2022, when Sun Valley had just wrapped its three-year Epic Pass run and was preparing for its first season on Ikon:… our three-year run with Epic was really, really good. And it brought guests to Sun Valley who have never been here before. I mean, I think we really proved out the value of these multi-resort passes and these partner passes. People aspire to go other places, and when their pass allows them to do that, that sometimes is the impetus. That's all they need to make that decision to do it. So as successful as that was, we looked at Ikon and thought, well, here's an opportunity to introduce ourselves to a whole new group of guests. And why would we not take advantage of that? We're hoping to convert, obviously, a few of these folks to be Sun Valley regulars. And so now we have the opportunity to do that again with Ikon.When I asked Sonntag during that conversation whether he would consider returning to Epic at some point, he said that “I'm focused on doing a great job of being a great partner with Ikon right now,” and that, “I'm not ready to go there yet.”With three winters of Ikon and Mountain Collective membership stacked, Sonntag spoke definitively this time (emphasis mine):We are very very happy with how everything has gone. We feel like we have great partners with both Ikon, which is, you know, partnering with a company, but they're partners in every sense of the word in terms of how they approach the partnership, and we feel like we have a voice. We have access to data. We can really do right by our customers and our business at the same time.Should we read that as an Epic diss on Broomfield? Perhaps, though saying you like pizza doesn't also mean you don't like tacos. But Sonntag was unambiguous when I asked whether Sun Valley was #TeamIkon long-term: “I would see us staying the course,” he said.For those inclined to further read into this, Sonntag arrived at Sun Valley after a long career at Vail Resorts, which included several years as president/COO-equivalent of Heavenly and Whistler. And while Sun Valley is part of a larger company that also includes Snowbasin, meaning Sonntag is not the sole decision-maker, it is interesting that an executive who spent so much of his career with a first-hand look inside the Epic Pass would now lead a mountain that stands firmly with the opposition.What I got wrongI mischaracterized the comments Sonntag had made on Epic and Ikon when we spoke in 2022, making it sound as though he had suggested that Sun Valley would try both passes and then decide between them. But it was me who asked him whether he would decide between the two after an Ikon trial, and he had declined to answer the question, saying, as noted above, that he wasn't “ready to go there yet.”Why you should ski Sun ValleyIf I was smarter I'd make some sort of heatmap showing where skier visits are clustered across America. Unfortunately I'm dumb, and even more unfortunately, ski areas began treating skier visit numbers with the secrecy of nuclear launch codes about a decade ago, so an accurate map would be difficult to draw up even if I knew how.However, I can offer a limited historical view into the crowding advantages that Sun Valley offers in comparison to its easier-to-access peer resorts. Check out Sun Valley's average annual skier visits from 2005 to 2011, compared to similarly sized Breckenridge and Keystone, and smaller Beaver Creek:Here's how those four ski areas compare in size and average skier visits per acre:Of course, 2011 was a long time ago and multi-mountain passes have dramatically reworked visitation patterns. Breck, Keystone, and Beaver Creek, all owned by Vail during the above timeframe, joined Epic Pass in 2008, while Sun Valley would stand on its own until landing on Mountain Collective in 2015, then Epic in 2019, then back to MC and Ikon in 2022. Airline service to Sun Valley has improved greatly in the past 15 years, which could also have ramped up the resort's skier visits.Still, anecdote and experience suggest that these general visitation ratios remain similar to the present day. Beaver Creek remains a bit of a hidey-hole by Colorado standards, but Breck and Keystone, planted right off America's busiest ski corridor in America's busiest ski state, are among the most obvious GPS inputs for the Epic Pass masses. No one has to try that hard to get to Summit County. To get to Sun Valley, you still have to work (and spend), a bit more.So that's the pitch, I guess, in addition to all the established Sun Valley bullet points: excellent grooming and outrageous views and an efficient and fast lift network. By staying off the Ikon Base Pass, not to mention Interstates 70 and 80, Sun Valley has managed to achieve oxymoron status: the big, modern U.S. ski resort that feels mostly empty most of the time. It's this and Taos and Telluride and a few others tossed into the far corners of the Rockies, places that at once feel of the moment and stand slightly outside of time.Podcast NotesOn Sun Valley/Pete 1.0Sonntag first joined me on the pod back in 2022:On Carol HoldingLongtime Sun Valley owner Carol Holding passed away on Dec. 23, 2024. Boise Dev recalled a bit of the family legacy around Sun Valley:“One day, I spotted Earl and Carol dining on the patio and asked him again,” Webb told Bossick. “And Carol turned to him and said, ‘Earl, you've been saying you're going to do that for years. If you don't build a new lodge, I'm going to divorce you.' That's what she said!”The lodge opened in 2004, dubbed Carol's Dollar Mountain Lodge.In a 2000 interview with the Salt Lake Tribune, Carol made it clear that she was as much a part of the business as Earl, whose name caught most of the headlines.“I either became part of his business or lived alone,” she said.The pair often bought distressed or undervalued assets and invested to upgrade them. She told the Tribune that paying attention to the dollars in those early years made a big difference.“I still have the first dollar bill that anyone gave me as a tip,” she said.Once they bought Sun Valley, Robert and Carol wasted no time.Wally Huffman, the resort's GM, got a call to the area above the Ram Restaurant. Someone was stuffing mattresses out the window, and they were landing with a thud on the kitchen loading dock below. Huffman called Janss – the person who had owned the resort – and asked what to do.“I think you should do whatever Mr. Holding tells you to do.”Robert and Carol had purchased the property, and upgrades were well underway. They didn't know how to ski. But they did know hospitality.“Why would anyone who didn't know how to ski buy a ski resort? That wasn't why we bought it—to come here to ski,” Carol said. “We bought it to run as a business.”Earl Holding's 2013 New York Times obituary included background on the couple's purchase of Sun Valley:A year later, Carol Holding, who was her husband's frequent business partner, showed him a newspaper article about the potential sale of Sun Valley. He bought the resort, which had fallen into disrepair since its glory years as a getaway for Ernest Hemingway and others, after he and his wife spent a day there skiing. They had never skied before.Davy Ratchford, President of sister resort Snowbasin, told a great story about Carol Holding on the podcast back in 2023 [31:20]:Mrs. Holding is an amazing woman and is sharp. She knows everything that's going on at the resorts. She used to work here, right? She'd flip burgers and she'd sell things from the retail store. I mean she's an original, right? Like she is absolutely amazing and she knows everything about it. And I was hired and I remember being in our lodge and I had all the employees there and she was introducing me, and it was an amazing experience. I remember I was kneeling down next to her chair and I said, “You know, Mrs. Holding, thank you for the opportunity.” And she grabs both your hands and she holds them in tight to her, and that's how she talks to you. It's this amazing moment. And I said, “I just want to make sure I'm doing exactly what you want me to do for you and Earl's legacy of Snowbasin.” I know how much they love it, right? Since 1984. And I said, “Can I just ask your advice?” And this is exactly what she said to me, word for word, she said, “Be nice and hire nice people.” And every employee orientation since then, I've said that: “Our job is to be nice and to hire nice people.”Listen to the rest here:On Sun Valley's evolutionWhen the Holdings showed up in 1977, Sun Valley, like most contemporary ski areas, was a massive tangle of double and triple chairs:The resort upgraded rapidly, installing seven high-speed quads between 1988 and 1994: Unfortunately, the ski area chose Yan, whose bungling founder's shortcuts transformed the machines into deathtraps, as its detachable partner. The ski area heavily retrofit all seven machines in partnership with Doppelmayr in 1995. Sun Valley has so far replaced three of the seven Yans: the Seattle Ridge sixer replaced the detach quad of the same name last year and the Broadway sixer and Flying Squirrel quad replaced the Broadway and Greyhawk quads in 2023, on a new alignment:Sonntag outlines which of the remaining four Yan-Doppelmayr hybrids will be next on the pod.I've summarized the Yan drama several times, most recently in the article accompanying my podcast conversation with Mammoth COO Eric Clark earlier this year:On World Cup resultsWhile we talk in general about the motivation behind hosting the World Cup, what it took to prep the mountain, and the energy of the event itself, we don't get a lot into the specifics of the events themselves. Here are all the official stats. Videos here.On gladesYes, Sun Valley has glades (video by #GoProBro, which is me):On Ikon Pass' evolutionI feel as though I publish this chart every other article, but here it is. If you're reading this in the future, click through for the most current:On the Sun Valley Village masterplanWe discuss an old Sun Valley masterplan that included a gondola connection from the village to Dollar and then Bald mountains:The new village plan, which is a separate document, rather than an update of the image above, doesn't mention it:Why? We discuss.The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast is a reader-supported publication. Please support independent ski journalism, or we'll all be reading about bros backflipping over moving trains for the rest of our lives. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

This one's for the woman who's rebuilding. Who's questioning who she is now that life looks different — whether it's in business, motherhood, her body, or her heart. In this raw solo episode, I'm peeling back the curtain on what I'm currently navigating and what I'm learning about letting go, trusting myself again, and creating alignment in real-time. If you're in a season of ‘in-between,' I hope this makes you feel a little more seen — and a whole lot more powerful.PS- If you are planning a group trip, girls trip or even a fun getaway… you've gotta check out our 3 Denver based Airbnbs :) Peach House (sleeps 16 in Denver) https://www.instagram.com/peachhouse.denver/ Tiny A-Frame (an hour from Denver) https://www.instagram.com/tiny.aframe.colorado/ Starlit A-Frame: (near Breckenridge, CO) https://www.instagram.com/starlit.aframe.colorado/ Ways to connect outside of the podcast: Join our empowerHER text community! Text “START” to 512-548-2728 for FREE daily inspo, juicy news, and fun perks sent straight to your phone!Connect with me on Instagram: @kacia.ghetmiri | @empowerher.podcast& come check out our new YouTube channel: EmpowerHER Podcast

Athena Brownson is a former professional skier turned top-performing real estate agent, investor, and developer based in Denver, Colorado. After a career-ending battle with Lyme disease, she reinvented herself through real estate—combining her background in interior design and her passion for people into a thriving business. Athena is known for helping clients build long-term financial wellness through homeownership and strategic real estate investing, and she's especially focused on education, resilience, and relationship-driven service.     Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask, here. Key Takeaways Athena began investing by house-hacking her primary residences, using a “live in it, then rent it” model to build her portfolio. She transitioned from interior design to real estate after recognizing her entrepreneurial spirit and desire for scalable impact. Investors must plan for CapEx reserves, property management, and insurance complications—especially in regulated markets like Denver. Building the right team is critical; your broker should be your connector to vetted contractors, lenders, and legal resources. Resilience—built through adversity and chronic illness—is the core of Athena's mindset and professional approach.     Topics From Ski Slopes to Showings Grew up in Breckenridge and became a pro skier by 15, competing for over a decade. Following multiple injuries and health challenges, transitioned to interior design, then real estate. Initially skeptical of real estate, she found mentorship and reframed her perception of agents through relationship-driven models. How She Built Her Real Estate Portfolio Started by purchasing homes, living in them, and turning them into rentals after two years. Leveraged Denver's strong appreciation to build long-term wealth without chasing high cash flow. Encourages clients to follow a similar path using primary residences as investment stepping stones. Investor vs. Homeowner Mentality Homeowners often buy emotionally; investors must approach with a long-term, data-driven mindset. Good investor agents should provide data on appreciation, vacancy, rental income, and CapEx projections. Understanding local laws, tenant rights, and insurance challenges is crucial for profitable investing. Why the Right Team Matters Your agent should introduce you to reliable property managers, lenders, contractors, and insurance brokers. Denver is a highly regulated market—landlord-tenant law varies even by neighborhood. Without the right team, investors risk costly missteps, code violations, and legal exposure. Resilience Through Adversity Diagnosed with Lyme disease, Athena rebuilt her career by focusing on real estate as her purpose and outlet. Her story highlights how clarity of mission and community service can create fulfillment and long-term success.    

This week, Ivy Slater, host of Her Success Story, chats with her guest, Erin Fitzgerald.  The two talk about the operational strategies that have fueled Lexicon Legal Content's growth, the importance of balancing technology with a human touch to create compelling legal content, and how Erin's leadership philosophy, rooted in integrity, adaptability, and building a winning team, has shaped company culture and client success.  In this episode, we discuss: How Erin transitioned from law school into legal content What operational challenges she faced and how she found her "sweet spot" Why combining human expertise with AI is essential How Lexicon keeps up with constant change What surprised Erin about leadership    Erin Fitzgerald, Co-Owner; Director of Operations, Lexicon Legal Content After earning a BA from Kenyon College and a stint in finance, Erin received her Juris Doctor from St. Louis University School of Law in 2013, passing the bar in Missouri and Illinois. She became the co-owner of Lexicon Legal Content in 2014 and has since contributed to significant growth of the company, overseeing all operations and managing the expanding operational team. Lexicon is now one of the most recognized and respected legal content providers in all of North America. In her free time, Erin loves to travel near and far, cook and bake for loved ones, and spend time outdoors. She lives in Breckenridge, Colorado, with her husband and their two rescue dogs, Scout and Sadie.    Website: http://www.lexiconlegalcontent.com   Social Media Links:   www.linkedin.com/in/eringfitzgeraldjd/   www.facebook.com/erin.fitzgerald.169/   www.instagram.com/efitzge6/    

Join us on a journey from Breckenridge, Colorado to Park City, Utah!  This episode of RV Miles is packed with adventure, from boondocking to one of the best campground amenities ever. We share our experiences at the serene McCoy Flats boondocking spot and the exciting Rome Echo Island RV Resort with its unique ropes course and zip lines.   Shout-out to RV Today Magazine for featuring our RV adventures: https://rvtoday.com/   *Become an RV Miles Mile Marker member and get ONE MONTH FREE  at https://rvmiles.com/milemarkers *Get all the details about Homecoming 2025 here: https://rvmiles.com/homecoming/ Support our Sponsors: *Win a free RV with @LiquifiedRV here: https://liquifiedrv.com/RVMilesRVGiveaway * Harvest Hosts: Save 15% on a Harvest Hosts membership with MILES at https://harvesthosts.com *Check out all Blue Ox has to offer at https://BlueOx.com *Find all the RV parts and gear you need at etrailer: https://www.etrailer.com/vehicle-finder.aspx?etam=p0001 Get 25% Off RV Life Pro here: https://my.rvlife.com/bill/signup/3?s=rvtw&coupon=QE7KAHVF3E *Use code RVMILES15 to get 15% off Travelfi here: https://travlfi.com/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Ad+Read&utm_campaign=RV+Miles+YouTube+Ad+Read *Use code RVMILES at https://rvmattress.com/rvmiles to upgrade to a real mattress for your RV at 30% off!  

The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast is a reader-supported publication (and my full-time job). To receive new posts and to support independent ski journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.WhoJoe Hession, CEO of Snow Partners, which owns Mountain Creek, Big Snow American Dream, SnowCloud, and Terrain Based LearningRecorded onMay 2, 2025About Snow PartnersSnow Partners owns and operates Mountain Creek, New Jersey and Big Snow American Dream, the nation's only indoor ski center. The company also developed SnowCloud resort management software and has rolled out its Terrain Based Learning system at more than 80 ski areas worldwide. They do some other things that I don't really understand (there's a reason that I write about skiing and not particle physics), that you can read about on their website.About Mountain CreekLocated in: Vernon Township, New JerseyClosest neighboring public ski areas: Mount Peter (:24); Big Snow American Dream (:50); Campgaw (:51) Pass affiliations: Snow Triple Play, up to two anytime daysBase elevation: 440 feetSummit elevation: 1,480 feetVertical drop: 1,040 feetSkiable Acres: 167Average annual snowfall: 65 inchesTrail count: 46Lift count: 9 (1 Cabriolet, 2 high-speed quads, 2 fixed-grip quads, 1 triple, 1 double, 2 carpets – view Lift Blog's inventory of Mountain Creek's lift fleet)About Big Snow American DreamLocated in: East Rutherford, New JerseyClosest neighboring public ski areas: Campgaw (:35); Mountain Creek (:50); Mount Peter (:50)Pass affiliations: Snow Triple Play, up to two anytime daysVertical drop: 160 feet Skiable Acres: 4Trail count: 4 (2 green, 1 blue, 1 black)Lift count: 4 (1 quad, 1 poma, 2 carpets - view Lift Blog's of inventory of Big Snow American Dream's lift fleet)Why I interviewed himI read this earlier today:The internet is full of smart people writing beautiful prose about how bad everything is, how it all sucks, how it's embarrassing to like anything, how anything that appears good is, in fact, secretly bad. I find this confusing and tragic, like watching Olympic high-jumpers catapult themselves into a pit of tarantulas.That blurb was one of 28 “slightly rude notes on writing” offered in Adam Mastroianni's Experimental History newsletter. And I thought, “Man this dude must follow #SkiTwitter.” Or Instabook. Of Flexpost. Or whatever. Because online ski content, both short- and long-form, is, while occasionally joyous and evocative, disproportionately geared toward the skiing-is-fucked-and-this-is-why worldview. The passes suck. The traffic sucks. The skiers suck. The prices suck. The parking sucks. The Duopoly sucks. Everyone's a Jerry, chewing up my pow line with their GoPro selfie sticks hoisted high and their Ikon Passes dangling from their zippers. Skiing is corporate and soulless and tourist obsessed and doomed anyway because of climate change. Don't tell me you're having a good time doing this very fun thing. People like you are the reason skiing's soul now shops at Wal-Mart. Go back to Texas and drink a big jug of oil, you Jerry!It's all so… f*****g dumb. U.S. skiing just wrapped its second-best season of attendance. The big passes, while imperfect, are mostly a force for good, supercharging on-hill infrastructure investment, spreading skiers across geographies, stabilizing a once-storm-dependent industry, and lowering the per-day price of skiing for the most avid among us to 1940s levels. Snowmaking has proven an effective bulwark against shifting weather patterns. Lift-served skiing is not a dying pastime, financially or spiritually or ecologically. Yes, modern skiing has problems: expensive food (pack a lunch); mountain-town housing shortages (stop NIMBY-ing everything); traffic (yay car culture); peak-day crowds (don't go then); exploding insurance, labor, utilities, and infrastructure costs (I have no answers). But in most respects, this is a healthy, thriving, constantly evolving industry, and a more competitive one than the Duopoly Bros would admit.Snow Partners proves this. Because what the hell is Snow Partners? It's some company sewn together by a dude who used to park cars at Mountain Creek. Ten years ago this wasn't a thing, and now it's this wacky little conglomerate that owns a bespoke resort tech platform and North America's only snowdome and the impossible, ridiculous Mountain Creek. And they're going to build a bunch more snowdomes that stamp new skiers out by the millions and maybe – I don't know but maybe – become the most important company in the history of lift-served skiing in the process.Could such an outfit possibly have materialized were the industry so corrupted as the Brobot Pundit Bros declare it? Vail is big. Alterra is big. But the two companies combined control just 53 of America's 501 active ski areas. Big ski areas, yes. Big shadows. But neither created: Indy Pass, Power Pass, Woodward Parks, Terrain Based Learning, Mountain Collective, RFID, free skiing for kids, California Mountain Resort Company, or $99 season passes. Neither saved Holiday Mountain or Hatley Pointe or Norway Mountain or Timberline West Virigina from the scrapheap, or transformed a failing Black Mountain into a co-op. Neither has proven they can successfully run a ski area in Indiana (sorry Vail #SickBurn #SellPaoliPeaks #Please).Skiing, at this moment, is a glorious mix of ideas and energy. I realize it makes me uncool to think so, but I signed off on those aspirations the moment I drove the minivan off the Chrysler lot (topped it off with a roofbox, too, Pimp). Anyhow, the entire point of this newsletter is to track down the people propelling change in a sport that most likely predates the written word and ask them why they're doing these novel things to make an already cool and awesome thing even more cool and awesome. And no one, right now, is doing more cool and awesome things in skiing than Snow Partners.**That's not exactly true. Mountain Capital Partners, Alterra, Ikon Pass, Deer Valley, Entabeni Systems, Jon Schaefer, the Perfect Clan, Boyne Resorts, Big Sky, Mt. Bohemia, Powdr, Vail Resorts, Midwest Family Ski Resorts, and a whole bunch more entities/individuals/coalitions are also contributing massively to skiing's rapid-fire rewiring in the maw of the robot takeover digital industrial revolution. But, hey, when you're in the midst of transforming an entire snow-based industry from a headquarters in freaking New Jersey, you get a hyperbolic bump in the file card description.What we talked aboutThe Snow Triple Play; potential partners; “there's this massive piece of the market that's like ‘I don't even understand what you're talking about'” with big day ticket prices and low-priced season passes; why Mountain Creek sells its Triple Play all season long and why the Snow Triple Play won't work that way (at least at first); M.A.X. Pass and why Mountain Creek declined to join successor passes; an argument for Vail, Alterra and other large ski companies to participate on the Snow Triple Play; comparing skiing to hotels, airlines, and Disney World; “the next five years are going to be the most interesting and disruptive time in the ski industry because of technology”; “we don't compete with anybody”; Liftopia's potential, errors, failure, and legacy; skiing on Groupon; considering Breckenridge as an independent ski area; what a “premium” ski area on the Snow Triple Play would be; why megapasses are “selling people a product that will never be used the way it's sold to them”; why people in NYC feel like going to Mountain Creek, an hour over the George Washington Bridge, is “going to Alaska”; why Snow Triple Play will “never” add a fourth day; sticker shock for Big Snow newbs who emerge from the Dome wanting more; SnowCloud and the tech and the guest journey from parking lot to lifts; why Mountain Creek stopped mailing season passes; Bluetooth Low Energy “is certainly the future of passes”; “100 percent we're getting more Big Snows” – but let's justify the $175 million investment first; Big Snow has a “terrible” design; “I don't see why every city shouldn't have a Big Snow” and which markets Snow Partners is talking to; why Mountain Creek didn't get the mega-lift Hession teased on this pod three years ago and when we could see one; “I really believe that the Vernon base of Mountain Creek needs an updated chair”; the impact of automated snowmaking at Mountain Creek; and a huge residential project incoming at Mountain Creek.What I got wrong* I said that Hession wasn't involved in Mountain Creek in the M.A.X. Pass era, but he was an Intrawest employee at the time, and was Mountain Creek's GM until 2012.* I hedged on whether Boyne's Explorer multi-day pass started at two or three days. Skiers can purchase the pass in three- to six-day increments.Why now was a good time for this interviewOkay, so I'll admit that when Snow Partners summarized the Snow Triple Play for me, I wasn't like “Holy crap, three days (total) at up to three different ski areas on a single ski pass? Do you think they have room for another head on Mount Rushmore?” This multi-day pass is a straightforward product that builds off a smart idea (the Mountain Creek Triple Play), that has been a smash hit at the Jersey Snow Jungle since at least 2008. But Snow Triple Play doesn't rank alongside Epic, Ikon, Indy, or Mountain Collective as a seasonlong basher. This is another frequency product in a market already flush with them.So why did I dedicate an entire podcast and two articles (so far) to dissecting this product, which Hession makes pretty clear has no ambitions to grow into some Indy/Ikon/Epic competitor? Because it is the first product to tie Big Snow to the wider ski world. And Big Snow only works if it is step one and there is an obvious step two. Right now, that step two is hard, even in a region ripe with ski areas. The logistics are confounding, the one-off cost hard to justify. Lift tickets, gear rentals, getting your ass to the bump and back, food, maybe a lesson. The Snow Triple Play doesn't solve all of these problems, but it does narrow an impossible choice down to a manageable one by presenting skiers with a go-here-next menu. If Snow Partners can build a compelling (or at least logical) Northeast network and then scale it across the country as the company opens more Big Snows in more cities, then this simple pass could evolve into an effective toolkit for building new skiers.OK, so why not just join Indy or Mountain Collective, or forge some sort of newb-to-novice agreement with Epic or Ikon? That would give Snow Partners the stepladder, without the administrative hassle of owning a ski pass. But that brings us to another roadblock in Ski Revolution 2025: no one wants to share partners. So Hession is trying to flip the narrative. Rather than locking Big Snow into one confederacy or the other, he wants the warring armies to lash their fleets along Snow Partners Pier. Big Snow is just the bullet factory, or the gas station, or the cornfield – the thing that all the armies need but can't supply themselves. You want new skiers? We got ‘em. They're ready. They just need a map to your doorstep. And we're happy to draw you one.Podcast NotesOn the Snow Triple PlayThe basics: three total days, max of two used at any one partner ski area, no blackouts at Big Snow or Mountain Creek, possible blackouts at partner resorts, which are TBD.The pass, which won't be on sale until Labor Day, is fully summarized here:And I speculate on potential partners here:On the M.A.X. PassFor its short, barely noted existence, the M.A.X. Pass was kind of an amazing hack, granting skiers five days each at an impressive blend of regional and destination ski areas:Much of this roster migrated over to Ikon, but in taking their pass' name too literally, the Alterra folks left off some really compelling regional ski areas that could have established a hub-and-spoke network out of the gate. Lutsen and Granite Peak owner Charles Skinner told me on the podcast a few years back that Ikon never offered his ski areas membership (they joined Indy in 2020), cutting out two of the Midwest's best mountains. The omissions of Mountain Creek, Wachusett, and the New York trio of Belleayre, Whiteface, and Gore ceded huge swaths of the dense and monied Northeast to competitors who saw value in smaller, high-end operations that are day-trip magnets for city folks who also want that week at Deer Valley (no other pass signed any of these mountains, but Vail and Indy both assembled better networks of day-drivers and destinations).On my 2022 interview with HessionOn LiftopiaLiftopia's website is still live, but I'm not sure how many ski areas participate in this Expedia-for-lift-tickets. Six years ago, I thought Liftopia was the next bargain evolution of lift-served skiing. I even hosted founder Evan Reece on one of my first 10 podcasts. The whole thing fell apart when Covid hit. An overview here:On various other day-pass productsI covered this in my initial article, but here's how the Snow Triple Play stacks up against other three-day multi-resort products:On Mountain Creek not mailing passesI don't know anything about tech, but I know, from a skier's point of view, when something works well and when it doesn't. Snow Cloud's tech is incredible in at least one customer-facing respect: when you show up at a ski area, a rep standing in a conspicuous place is waiting with an iPhone, with which they scan a QR code on your phone, and presto-magico: they hand you your ski pass. No lines or waiting. One sentimental casualty of this on-site efficiency was the mailed ski pass, an autumn token of coming winter to be plucked gingerly from the mailbox. And this is fine and makes sense, in the same way that tearing down chairlifts constructed of brontosaurus bones and mastodon hides makes sense, but I must admit that I miss these annual mailings in the same way that I miss paper event tickets and ski magazines. My favorite ski mailing ever, in fact, was not Ikon's glossy fold-out complete with a 1,000-piece 3D jigsaw puzzle of the Wild Blue Gondola and name-a-snowflake-after-your-dog kit, but this simple pamphlet dropped into the envelope with my 2018-19 Mountain Creek season pass:Just f*****g beautiful, Man. That hung on my office wall for years. On the CabrioletThis is just such a wackadoodle ski lift:Onetime Mountain Creek owner Intrawest built similar lifts at Winter Park and Tremblant, but as transit lifts from the parking lot. This one at Mountain Creek is the only one that I'm aware of that's used as an open-air gondola. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

It's that time again—grab a Dr. Pepper, toss in a splash of pickle juice (wait, what?), and settle in for another chaotic ride with Mike and Tony.Mike kicks things off with a true crime story straight outta Breckenridge: a coworker's car got robbed at a conference, and someone made off with thousands in museum donations. Oh, and there were no security cameras—because of course there weren't.Meanwhile, Tony's beefing with his third stapler of the school year. Middle schoolers: undefeated.Tony's also officially back in the studio recording his new album, so expect some upcoming social media action (and probably at least one video of him singing barefoot on a rug).We also dive into parrot drama (yes, parrots): one was involved in a murder trial, another made a neighbor call the cops, and Mike reveals his very first parakeet experience.Plus: • The great gorilla vs. 100 men debate just won't die • The domestication of cats (and why they've never respected you) • Tony's new science podcast obsession • Zombie apocalypse weaponry • A preserved dinosaur from 10 million years ago • Kids lighting computers on fire with pencils (WHY?!) • And of course, the eternal struggle of teachers just trying to get basic supplies without selling a kidney.Another unfiltered episode packed with curiosity, chaos, and questionable beverages.⸻Cheers!m&t

This week we are live at the RV Miles High Desert Hangout eating fresh fried beignets thanks to our friends at The Route of it All and recapping our time in Breckenridge, including staying at Tiger Run Resort, where to eat, what to do, ski conditions, and more.  Follow our Beignet-making friends Scott and Alicia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therouteofitall/ *Become an RV Miles Mile Marker member and get ONE MONTH FREE  at https://rvmiles.com/milemarkers. You'll also get exclusive content and discounts to future Hangouts and HOMECOMING events.  *Get all the details about Homecoming 2025 here: https://rvmiles.com/homecoming/ Support our Sponsors: *Win a free RV with @LiquifiedRV here: https://liquifiedrv.com/RVMilesRVGiveaway * Harvest Hosts: Save 15% on a Harvest Hosts membership with MILES at https://harvesthosts.com *Check out all Blue Ox has to offer at https://BlueOx.com *Find all the RV parts and gear you need at etrailer: https://www.etrailer.com/vehicle-finder.aspx?etam=p0001 *Use code RVMILES15 to get 15% off Travelfi here: https://travlfi.com/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Ad+Read&utm_campaign=RV+Miles+YouTube+Ad+Read *Find all the RV parts and gear you need at etrailer: https://www.etrailer.com/vehicle-finder.aspx?etam=p0001 00:00 Introduction 03:38 Breckenridge, Colorado 04:56 Skiing in Breckenridge 06:15 Tiger Run RV Resort Overview 09:23 Challenges and Costs of Skiing 14:55 Beignets! 19:51 Final Thoughts on Tiger Run RV Resort 26:43 Exploring Breckenridge: Activities and Dining 33:16 RV Miles Community and Events 34:40 Army Corps of Engineers Campground Closures 38:27 New RV Company: Axiom RV 41:00 Echo Island Campground: A Familiar Place 44:11 Campground Amenities and Activities 46:53 Conclusion

On this episode of the Best Ever CRE Show, Amanda Cruise and Ash Patel interview Jaimee Keene, founder of Peaks Commercial Real Estate. Jaimee shares her journey from commercial real estate appraiser to top-performing broker and now investor, focusing on Colorado's resort markets. She discusses building a specialized commercial brokerage, navigating the nuances of resort town investments, and lessons learned from the appraisal world that shaped her cautious investing philosophy. Jaimee also highlights the opportunities in value-add retail and strategies for building presence and credibility as a broker. Jaimee Keene - Founder & Commercial Real Estate Broker - Based in: Breckenridge, Colorado - Say hi to them at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimeekeene/ https://www.peakscre.com vikingcapllc.com Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It's free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at www.bestevercommunity.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Josh Breckenridge (Come From Away, Book of Mormon, The Scottsboro Boys) is one of the most employed actors on Broadway. He has a particularly complex relationship to code-switching that likely makes him a wonderful actor.  It is also a pattern in his life that emerged from a confluence of identities that consistently made him feel othered. He is black and gay, but grew up in largely white communities, where it was a constant and multi-dimensional challenge to find belonging - not only in the groups that he was different from, but in groups that he was connected to. It is through a continued search for personal identity that is not centered on making others comfortable that brings Josh closer to himself, and less dependent on the survival of code switching. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The $6 trillion chemical industry is on the verge of a revolution as biology moves from the doctor's office to the industrial zone. Veronica Breckenridge, Founder and Managing Partner of First Bight Ventures, is investing in early-stage bio manufacturing companies while building the ecosystem to catalyze their growth.  We discuss the tech powering the revolution, why Houston's first principles position the region to own the sector, and how Austin's innovation can help supercharge it. Episode HighlightsFirst Bight Ventures: Investing in Industrial BioDisrupting a $6 Trillion Chemical IndustryScaling Platform Molecules for Real-World ImpactCrossing Industrial Bio's "Valley of Death"Houston's Chemical Engineering AdvantageCapital Efficiency and Scale-Up StrategiesHow AI Is Accelerating Biotech DiscoveryBuilding Pilot Facilities and Collaborative EcosystemsUnlocking a Texas Bio Manufacturing HubWhat's Next Austin & Houston?"Texas should create a consortium...we're going to own bio-manufacturing" Episode LinksVeronica BreckenridgeFirst Bight Ventures -----------------------------------------TEDx SouthCongress Registration-------------------Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedInEcosystem Metacognition Substack

In this week's episode, we dive into our latest boondocking adventure! We're recording live from a stunning campsite near Vernal, Utah, not far from Dinosaur National Monument. We discuss our recent travels, including our memorable stay at Fort Collins, Colorado, and the unexpected detours that tested our journey.  *Become an RV Miles Mile Marker member and get ONE MONTH FREE  at https://rvmiles.com/milemarkers *Get all the details about Homecoming 2025 here: https://rvmiles.com/homecoming/ Support our Sponsors: *Win a free RV with @LiquifiedRV here: https://liquifiedrv.com/RVMilesRVGiveaway * Harvest Hosts: Save 15% on a Harvest Hosts membership with MILES at https://harvesthosts.com *Check out all Blue Ox has to offer at https://BlueOx.com *Find all the RV parts and gear you need at etrailer: https://www.etrailer.com/vehicle-finder.aspx?etam=p0001 *Use code RVMILES15 to get 15% off Travelfi here: https://travlfi.com/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Ad+Read&utm_campaign=RV+Miles+YouTube+Ad+Read 00:00 Introduction 00:27 Sponsorship Messages 01:33 Welcome to RV Miles Episode 359 01:59 Boondocking in Vernal, Utah 05:52 Family Emergency and Unexpected Travel 09:45 Navigating Car Rental Challenges 25:11 Reuniting with Family in LA 33:09 Exploring Fort Collins, Colorado 40:19 Gate Code and Fees Discussion 40:50 Camping Experience at Horse Tooth Reservoir 42:17 Shoutout to Mile Marker Brian 44:37 Exploring Fort Collins 44:58 Pizza and Dining in Fort Collins 50:36 Rock Climbing and Other Activities 54:14 Drive from Breckenridge to Vernal 01:00:12 Dinosaur National Monument 01:03:27 Travel Challenges and Road Closures 01:14:03 Conclusion and Farewell

After a few weeks, we are back on the mics!  We discuss Nate's interview on Bourbon & Ballistics podcast, his trip to Breckenridge, where business is headed, the common difficulties of being in business and why you shouldn't take yourself so serious. 

Ian Osby is a great skier and even better dude based out of Breckenridge that gets hate for the business he has made out of his instagram page. In this investigational interview, Ryan gets to the bottom of the question: "who is the real Ian Osby?"@thatyoungskibumhttps://www.instagram.com/thatyoungskibum/@ianosbyhttps://www.instagram.com/ianosby/-----@TwoPlankerNetworkhttps://www.instagram.com/twoplankernetwork/Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/4DoaAVYv69xAV50r8ezybKApple Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-planker-podcast/id1546428207YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRvAYQSF4s3bsC887ALAycg

Send us a textI'm redefining what adventure means after discovering the joy of exploring greenways and rail trails. From Colorado's Aspen-lined paths to Kentucky's riverside greenways, these accessible trails have transformed my understanding of meaningful outdoor experiences.• Experiencing the beauty of Breckenridge to Frisco on e-bikes amid golden Aspens• Discovering the Big Four Bridge and Ohio River Greenway during a Kentucky business trip• Seeing people of all ages and abilities enjoying the outdoors together on accessible trails• Exploring the Brevard Greenway and Thermal Belt Trail in North Carolina with my wife• Finding that adventure isn't always about conquering mountains—sometimes it's about connection• Looking forward to upcoming trails like the Ecusta Trail and sections of the East Coast GreenwaySend me a voice memo, message me on Instagram or Facebook, or email mike@explorationlocal.com to share your favorite trail experiences. Your story might inspire others to redefine what adventure means to them.Mike AndressHost, Exploration Local828-551-9065mike@explorationlocal.comPodcast WebsiteFacebookInstagram: explorationlocal

The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and to support independent ski journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.WhoTrent Poole, Vice President and General Manager of Hunter Mountain, New YorkRecorded onMarch 19, 2025About Hunter MountainClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Vail ResortsLocated in: Hunter, New YorkYear founded: 1959Pass affiliations:* Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass – unlimited access* Epic Northeast Value Pass – unlimited access with holiday blackouts* Epic Northeast Midweek Pass – unlimited access with holiday and midweek blackouts* Epic Day Pass – All Resorts, 32 Resorts tiersClosest neighboring ski areas: Windham (:16), Belleayre (:35), Plattekill (:49)Base elevation: 1,600 feetSummit elevation: 3,200 feetVertical drop: 1,600 feetSkiable acres: 320Average annual snowfall: 120 inchesTrail count: 67 (25% beginner, 30% intermediate, 45% advanced)Lift count: 13 (3 six-packs, 1 high-speed quad, 2 fixed-grip quads, 1 triple, 2 doubles, 1 platter, 3 carpets)Why I interviewed himSki areas are like political issues. We all feel as though we need to have an opinion on them. This tends to be less a considered position than an adjective. Tariffs are _______. Killington is _______. It's a bullet to shoot when needed. Most of us aren't very good shots.Hunter tends to draw a particularly colorful basket of adjectives: crowded, crazy, frantic, dangerous, icy, frozen, confusing, wild. Hunter, to the weekend visitor, appears to be teetering at all times on the brink of collapse. So many skiers on the lifts, so many skiers in the liftlines, so many skiers on the trails, so many skiers in the parking lots, so many skiers in the lodge pounding shots and pints. Whether Hunter is a ski area with a bar attached or a bar with a ski area attached is debatable. The lodge stretches on and on and up and down in disorienting and disconnected wings, a Winchester Mansion of the mountains, stapled together over eons to foil the alien hordes (New Yorkers). The trails run in a splintered, counterintuitive maze, an impossible puzzle for the uninitiated. Lifts fly all over, 13 total, of all makes and sizes and vintage, but often it feels as though there is only one lift and that lift is the Kaatskill Flyer, an overwhelmed top-to-bottom six-pack that replaced an overwhelmed top-to-bottom high-speed quad on a line that feels as though it would be overwhelmed with a high-speed 85-pack. It is, in other words, exactly the kind of ski area you would expect to find two hours north of a 20-million-person megacity world famous for its blunt, abrasive, and bare-knuckled residents.That description of Hunter is accurate enough, but incomplete. Yes, skiing there can feel like riding a swinging wrecking ball through a tenement building. And I would probably suggest that as a family activity before I would recommend Hunter on, say, MLK Saturday. But Hunter is also a glorious hunk of ski history, a last-man-standing of the once-skiing-flush Catskills, a nature-bending prototype of a ski mountain built in a place that lacks both consistent natural snow and fall lines to ski on. It may be a corporate cog now, but the Hunter hammered into the mountains over nearly six decades was the dream and domain of the Slutsky family, many of whom still work for the ski area. And Hunter, on a midweek, when all those fast lifts are 10 times more capacity than you need, can be a dream. Fast up, fast down. And once you learn the trail network, the place unfolds like a picnic blanket: easy, comfortable, versatile, filled with delicious options (if occasionally covered with ants).There's no one good way to describe Hunter Mountain. It's different every day. All ski areas are different every day, but Hunter is, arguably, more more different along the spectrum of its extremes than just about any other ski area anywhere. You won't get it on your first visit. You will show up on the wrong day, at the wrong time, in the wrong parking lot, and the whole thing will feel like playing lasertag with hyenas. Alien hyenas. Who will for some reason all be wearing Jets jerseys. But if you push through for that second visit, you'll start to get it. Maybe. I promise. And you'll understand why one-adjective Hunter Mountain descriptions are about as useful as the average citizen's take on NATO.What we talked aboutSixty-five years of Hunter; a nice cold winter at last; big snowmaking upgrades; snowmaking on Annapurna and Westway; the Otis and Broadway lift upgrades; Broadway ripple effects on the F and Kaatskill Flyer lifts; supervising the installation of seven new lifts at three Vail Resorts over a two-year period; better liftline management; moving away from lettered lift names; what Otis means for H lift; whether the Hunter East mountaintop Poma could ever spin again; how much of Otis is re-used from the old Broadway lift; ski Ohio; landing at Vail Resorts pre-Epic Pass and watching the pass materialize and grow; taking over for a GM who had worked at Hunter for 44 years; understanding and appreciating Hunter madness; Hunter locals mixed with Vail Resorts; Hunter North and the potential for an additional base area; disappearing trailmap glades; expansion potential; a better ski connection to Hunter East; and Epic Local as Hunter's season pass.Questions I wish I'd askedI'd wanted to ask Poole about the legacy of the Slutzky family, given their founding role at Hunter. We just didn't have time. New York Ski Blog has a nice historical overview.I actually did ask Poole about D lift, the onetime triple-now-double parallel to Kaatskill Flyer, but we cut that segment in edit. A summary: the lift didn't run at all this past season, and Poole told me that, “we're keeping our options open,” when I asked him if D lift was a good candidate to be removed at some near-future point.Why now was a good time for this interviewThe better question is probably why I waited five-and-a-half years to feature the leader of the most prominent ski area in New York City's orbit on the podcast. Hunter was, after all, the first mountain I hit after moving to the city in 2002. But who does and does not appear on the podcast is grounded in timing more than anything. Vail announced its acquisition of Hunter parent company Peak Resorts just a couple of months before I launched The Storm, in 2019. No one, including me, really likes doing podcast interviews during transitions, which can be filled with optimism and energy, but also uncertainty and instability. The Covid asteroid then transformed what should have been a one-year transition period into more like a three-year transition period, which was followed by a leadership change at Hunter.But we're finally here. And, as it turns out, this was a pretty good time to arrive. Part of the perpetual Hunter mess tied back to the problem I alluded to above: the six-pack-Kaatskill-Flyer-as-alpha-lift muted the impact of the lesser contraptions around it. By dropping a second superlift right next door, Vail appears to have finally solved the problem of the Flyer's ever-exploding liftline.That's one part of the story, and the most obvious. But the snowmaking upgrades on key trails signal Hunter's intent to reclaim its trophy as Snow God of the New York Thruway. And the shuffling of lifts on Hunter East reconfigured the ski area's novice terrain into a more logical progression (true green-circle skiers, however, will be better off at nearby Belleayre, where the Lightning Quad serves an incredible pod of long and winding beginner runs).These 2024 improvements build on considerable upgrades from the Peak and Slutzky eras, including the 2018 Hunter North expansion and the massive learning center at Hunter East. If Hunter is to remain a cheap and accessible Epic Pass fishing net to funnel New Yorkers north to Stowe and west to Park City, even as neighboring Windham tilts ever more restrictive and expensive, then Vail is going to have to be creative and aggressive in how the mountain manages all those skiers. These upgrades are a promising start.Why you should ski Hunter MountainThink of a thing that is a version of a familiar thing but hits you like a completely different thing altogether. Like pine trees and palm trees are both trees, but when I first encountered the latter at age 19, they didn't feel like trees at all, but like someone's dream of a tree who'd had one described to them but had never actually seen one. Or horses and dolphins: both animals, right? But one you can ride like a little vehicle, and the other supposedly breathes air but lives beneath the sea plotting our extinction in a secret indecipherable language. Or New York-style pizza versus Domino's, which, as Midwest stock, I prefer, but which my locally born wife can only describe as “not pizza.”This is something like the experience you will have at Hunter Mountain if you show up knowing a good lot about ski areas, but not much about this ski area. Because if I had to make a list of ski areas similar to Hunter, it would include “that Gwar concert I attended at Harpos in Detroit when I was 18” and “a high-tide rescue scene in a lifeguard movie.” And then I would run out of ideas. Because there is no ski area anywhere remotely like Hunter Mountain.I mean that as spectacle, as a way to witness New York City's id manifest into corporeal form. Your Hunter Mountain Bingo card will include “Guy straightlining Racer's Edge with unzipped Starter jacket and backward baseball cap” and “Dude rocking short-sleeves in 15-degree weather.” The vibe is atomic and combustible, slightly intimidating but also riotously fun, like some snowy Woodstock:And then there's the skiing. I have never skied terrain like Hunter's. The trails swoop and dive and wheel around endless curves, as though carved into the Tower of Babel, an amazing amount of terrain slammed into an area that looks and feels constrained, like a bound haybale that, twine cut, explodes across your yard. Trails crisscross and split and dig around blind corners. None of it feels logical, but it all comes together somehow. Before the advent of Google Maps, I could not plot an accurate mental picture of how Hunter East, West, North, and whatever the hell they call the front part sat in relation to one another and formed a coherent single entity.I don't always like being at Hunter. And yet I've skied there more than I've skied just about anywhere. And not just because it's close. It's certainly not cheap, and the road in from the Thruway is a real pain in the ass. But they reliably spin the lifts from November to April, and fast lifts on respectable vert can add up quick. And the upside of crazy? Everyone is welcome.Podcast NotesOn Hunter's lift upgradesHunter orchestrated a massive offseason lift upgrade last year, moving the old Broadway (B) lift over to Hunter East, where the mountain demolished a 1968 Hall Double named “E,” and planted its third six-pack on a longer Broadway line. Check the old lines versus the new ones:On six-packs in New York StateNew York is home to more ski areas than any other state, but only eight of them run high-speed lifts, and only three host six-packs: Holiday Valley has one, Windham, next door to Hunter, has another, and Hunter owns the other three.On five new lifts at Jack Frost Big BoulderPart of Vail Resorts' massive 2022 lift upgrades was to replace eight old chairlifts at Jack Frost and Big Boulder with five modern fixed-grip quads.At Jack Frost, Paradise replaced the E and F doubles; Tobyhanna replaced the B and C triples; and Pocono replaced the E and F doubles:Over at Big Boulder, the Merry Widow I and II double-doubles made way for the Harmony quad. Vail also demolished the parallel Black Forest double, which had not run in a number of years. Blue Heron replaced an area once served by the Little Boulder double and Edelweiss Triple – check the side-by-side with Big Boulder's 2008 trailmap:Standing up so many lifts in such a short time is rare, but we do have other examples:* In 1998, Intrawest tore down up to a dozen legacy lifts and replaced them with five new ones: two high-speed quads, two fixed-grip quads, and the Cabriolet bucket lift (basically a standing gondola). A full discussion on that here.* American Skiing Company installed at least four chairlifts at Sugarbush in the summer of 1995, including the Slide Brook Express, a two-mile-long lift connection between its two mountains. More here.* Powder Mountain installed four chairlifts last summer.* Deer Valley built five chairlifts last summer, including a bubble six-pack, and is constructing eight more lifts this year.On Mad River Mountain, OhioMad River is about as prototypical a Midwest ski area as you can imagine: 300 vertical feet, 144 acres, 36 inches of average annual snowfall, and an amazing (for that size) nine ski lifts shooting all over the place:On Vail Resorts' acquisition timelineHunter is one of 17 U.S. ski areas that Vail purchased as part of its 2019 acquisition of Peak Resorts.On Hunter's 2018 expansionWhen Peak opened the Hunter West expansion for the 2018-19 ski season, a number of new glades appeared on the map:Most of those glades disappeared from the map. Why? We discuss.On Epic Pass accessHunter sits on the same unlimited Epic Local Pass tier as Okemo, Mount Snow, Breckenridge, Keystone, Crested Butte, and Stevens Pass. Here's an Epic Pass overview:You can also ski Hunter on the uber-cheap 32 Resorts version of the Epic Day Pass:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

We've brought back Mike McCormack, founder of one of the most celebrated (and kickass) mountain bike stage races in North America. The Breck Epic remains true to its roots, filled big, long backcountry rides at high elevation in Breckenridge, Colorado. In our last episode with Mike, we riffed on his diversity, equity and inclusion efforts to welcome all riders, regardless of age, race, creed, ethnicity or gender. In this conversation, we dive into what makes the Breck Epic the iconic race that it's become. Tipping off on Sunday, August 10th, 2025, the Breck will be celebrating its 17th year and it just keeps getting bigger and better—while keeping the rider numbers and thus the rider experience, stable. In this fireside chat, we explore Mike's concerted effort to promote women's cycling through the Breck Epic Women's Tour (they hosted 60 women in the pro field in 2024), along with his ecosystem approach to event organizing including 3-nights of sustainable fireworks (yep, fireworks at the Breck in '25), the Women's Cycling Summit and year two of Breck Bike Week. Quintessential Mike McCormack, his style is very much his own and he shows up raw, real, and willing to bare all. Affable, eccentric and honest, listening to Mike Mac flow on all things event organizing and bike racing is a trip worth taking.WNbL, Breck Epic Website : https://breckepic.com/Breck Epic Instagram: @breckepic Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠beaudacious.com⁠⁠⁠⁠Michael's Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@michaelleachba⁠⁠⁠⁠Show's Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@thebounceforward⁠⁠⁠⁠Michael's Mindset and Mental Endurance Coaching: ⁠https://beaudacious.com/coaching/⁠

Send us a textEpisode 762: The Sharvette Mitchell Radio Show | www.Sharvette.com In this heart-centered episode of The Sharvette Mitchell Radio Show, we're joined by Danielle Wright Breckenridge, the creative force and CEO behind Danie B. Events—a top-tier wedding and event planning company in Richmond, Virginia. Danielle shares her inspiring journey of building a business rooted in faith, creativity, and excellence.

Join me (Jason) without Abby this week as I share the first travel days of 2025 in the Saber 37RVMiles fifth wheel. Abby had to leave unexpectedly due to a family emergency, leaving me and the boys to navigate the snowy landscapes of Breckenridge, Colorado. I'll talk about the challenges we faced getting the new rig road-ready and our first few days on the road, battling headwinds, testing the new power system, and more! *Become an RV Miles Mile Marker member and get ONE MONTH FREE  at https://rvmiles.com/milemarkers *Get all the details about Homecoming 2025 here: https://rvmiles.com/homecoming/ Support our Sponsors: *Win a free RV with @LiquifiedRV here: https://liquifiedrv.com/RVMilesRVGiveaway * Harvest Hosts: Save 15% on a Harvest Hosts membership with MILES at https://harvesthosts.com *Check out all Blue Ox has to offer at https://BlueOx.com *Find all the RV parts and gear you need at etrailer: https://www.etrailer.com/vehicle-finder.aspx?etam=p0001 Get 25% Off RV Life Pro here: https://my.rvlife.com/bill/signup/3?s=rvtw&coupon=QE7KAHVF3E *Use code RVMILES15 to get 15% off Travelfi here: https://travlfi.com/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Ad+Read&utm_campaign=RV+Miles+YouTube+Ad+Read   00:00 Spring Camping and First Travel Days of 2025 02:08 Camping in Breckenridge 03:20 Getting the RV Ready for the Road 05:42 Shakedown Trip at Scott County Park 09:37 First Travel Day Challenges 13:53 Harvest Host Stops and KOA Stay 21:01 Windy Travels Across Nebraska 23:19 Settling in Fort Collins 26:39 Checking the Levels: Black and Fresh Tanks 30:54 Conclusion

Jeremiah Wilber - (Ret) Army Green Beret, Mountain Man, Founder of War Party Movement, Cofounder War Party Ranch, Getto Vaquero, and Your Mom's Favorite Cowboy. Jeremiah was born in Ennis, Montana and grew up on Fort Belknep Indian Reservation. From an early age, Jeremiah was an avid outdoor enthusiast, spending much time hunting, fishing, and cowboying. Following high school, he enlisted in the US Army, attending the Military Police School (MP) at Fort Leonard Wood. As an MP, Jeremiah served two combat tours and completed the Sapper Leader Course and Army Ranger School. After graduating from Ranger School, Jeremiah attended Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) and was selected for the elite Green Berets. As a Green Beret, Jeremiah Served in 3rd Special Forces Group as a Special Forces Communications Sergeant and in 10th Special Forces Group as Special Forces Operations (Team) Sergeant and a Master Trainer at the Special Operations Mountaineering and Arctic Warfare Course. Following retirement from the US Army, Jeremiah has decided to channel his time and energy into raising money for veteran and human trafficking nonprofits. In 2016, he completed his first ultra-marathon, running from Denver to Breckenridge to support the Green Beret Foundation and in 2021 Jeremiah took on the most arduous ski race in North America, the Grand Traverse Backcountry Ski Race on behalf of the Heroes and Horses Foundation. Tune in as Jeremiah Wilber joins Bobby Marshall in studio to discuss the human trafficking epidemic, Native American culture, kidnapping, perdition, domestic violence, hunting, veteran life, conservation, Colorado, outdoor life, and much more. Please subscribe or like us on social media platforms for updates on shows, events, and episode drops.www.TheMountainSidePodcast.comShow Linkswww.warpartymovement.comwww.warpartyranch.orgAffiliates LinksSponsor Linkswww.BulletProof.comMountain Side listeners Use Discounts code: MOUNTAINSIDE to receive 20% off all Bulletproof products!www.Knicpouches.comMountain Side listeners Use Discounts code: MOUNTAINSIDE15 to receive 15% off all K-Nic products!www.ONNIT.comMountain Side listeners use Discount code TMS to receive 10% off ONNIT products!

This week on Everything You Didn't Know About Herbalism, we are joined by the profoundly talented and prominent Native American gallerist, documentary filmmaker, writer, and passionate entrepreneur, Ruth-Ann Thorn. As a member of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Mission Indians, Ruth-Ann joins us for a conversation surrounding why cultural representation and awareness for Native American peoples is crucial throughout every industry and community—whether that be art, filmmaking, wellness, herbalism, and everything in-between. As always, we thank you for joining us on another botanical adventure and are honored to have you tag along with us on this ride. Remember, we want to hear from you! Your questions, ideas, and who you want to hear from are invaluable to our podcast. Email us at podcast@mountainroseherbs.com to let us know what solutions we should uncover next within the vast world of herbalism.  “Just because we can't speak the language of water, does not mean that water does not have a language.” – Ruth-Ann Thorn  Learn more about Ruth-Ann below! ⬇

SVP and Stanford Steve react to the NCAA Tournament bracket and discuss what they liked and didn't like. The West Region is LOADED with Florida and Maryland potentially on a collision course whereas the Midwest is not. Also, the guys break down the biggest issues with North Carolina making it in over West Virginia and Indiana. Steve also breaks down his Chuck E. Cheese birthday party experience and SVP recaps his weekend in Breckenridge. | SVPod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of First Chair, host George Thomas sits down with Jeff Lifgren, the newly appointed CEO of PSIA-AASI. Jeff shares his journey from working at top destination resorts like Breckenridge and Park City to leading ski schools across the country, including smaller Mid-Atlantic resorts. He discusses the value of diverse teaching experiences, his commitment to professional development, and his vision for PSIA-AASI's future. Tune in to hear Jeff's thoughts on leadership, innovation in snowsports education, and how PSIA-AASI can better support its members—whether they're full-time instructors, weekend warriors, or lifelong enthusiasts. Plus, get a sneak peek at upcoming events like National Academy and Interski! Learn more by tuning in and at thesnowpros.org.

Karl and Erum sit down with Veronica Breckenridge, founder of First Bight Ventures, to discuss how the convergence of biology and technology is driving the biggest innovations of the 21st century. Drawing from her deep tech background, including her time at Apple, Veronica explores rapid advancements in genome sequencing, AI-driven biotech, and the vast untapped potential of microbes, emphasizing why now is the time to harness biology to tackle global challenges in health, nutrition, sustainability, and manufacturing. From synthetic biology startups to biomanufacturing at scale, this episode delves into the future of biomaterials and how venture capital can accelerate the next wave of biotech breakthroughs—making it a must-listen for anyone interested in scaling biotech innovations, investing in the bioeconomy, or exploring the intersection of computation and biology.Grow Everything brings the bioeconomy to life. Hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan share stories and interview the leaders and influencers changing the world by growing everything. Biology is the oldest technology. And it can be engineered. What are we growing?Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.messaginglab.com/groweverything⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Chapters:00:00:00 - How Biology is Moving Faster Than Moore's Law00:00:17 - Checking In from Panama00:00:42 - Exploring Panama City's Biotech Potential00:01:26 - A Futuristic Robot Massage Experience00:02:11 - Reflecting on International Women's Day00:02:40 - Networking with Women in Biotech in Brooklyn00:05:27 - Inside the Merck Digital Sciences Studio Event00:06:19 - Breakthroughs Shaping the Future of Drug Development00:07:15 - The Biggest Hurdles for Startups in Pharma00:16:20 - A Deep Dive with Veronica Breckenridge00:30:41 - Why Manufacturability Matters in Biotech00:31:28 - The Role of Research and Pilot Facilities00:33:48 - How Scientific Founders Can Accelerate Their Business00:35:25 - Houston's Rising Status in Biomanufacturing00:39:12 - The Power of Collaboration and Mentorship00:43:04 - What It Takes to Scale and Commercialize Biotech Innovations00:48:12 - First Bight Ventures' Approach to Investing in the Bioeconomy00:51:26 - Building the Biotech Ecosystem & What's Coming Next00:54:28 - Final Advice for Startups Looking to ScaleLinks and Resources:First Bight Ventures  Biowell - nonprofit acceleratorThe Machine That Changed the World (book)Cemvita (company)  / Grow Everything Episode with CEO Moji KarimiIndustrial Microbes (company) / Grow Everything Episode with CEO Noah HelmanTopics Covered: biomanufacturing, biotech startups, biotech investing, biomanufacturing pilot plants, Houston economic development, synbioHave a question or comment? Message us here:Text or Call (804) 505-5553 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  / ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Grow Everything⁠⁠⁠Email: groweverything@messaginglab.comMusic by: Nihilore

You're not just bad if you notice. You're an antisemite deepstate operative apparently. Plus all the other names that mean nothing anymore.Segment 1: Ukraine and Zelensky Critique (00:02:08 - 00:20:03)* Main Topic: The hosts criticize Ukrainian President Zelensky, calling him weak and accusing him of sabotaging peace talks with the U.S. administration.* Key Points:* Ukraine is depicted as devastated, with no army left, conscripting the elderly and mentally handicapped.* Zelensky's attempt to "bully" the U.S., particularly J.D. Vance and Donald Trump, is mocked as illogical given Ukraine's dependence on U.S. support.* Claims of corruption: Ukrainian oligarchs allegedly misuse U.S. aid for personal gain (e.g., spending in Switzerland and U.S. ski resorts like Breckenridge).* Reference to a supposed list of U.S. politicians receiving kickbacks from Ukraine (e.g., Joe Biden: $92M, Mitch McConnell: $89M, Nancy Pelosi: $86M).* Tone: Sarcastic and hyperbolic, with strong anti-war sentiment and disdain for U.S. involvement.* Notable Quotes:* "Zelensky's a little bit of a b***h." (00:03:20)* "If you get the most warmongering homosexual on the planet [Lindsey Graham] to go against you, you done effed up." (00:08:15)Segment 2: U.S. Domestic Issues and Principles (00:20:03 - 00:27:00)* Topics Covered:* National Debt: Discussion of the U.S. debt ceiling rising to $40 trillion, with projections to $50 trillion, tying it to the Ukraine war funding.* Social Media Arguments: StwrongOne recounts debating former college and high school friends who support the war, challenging their willingness to send their own kids or money.* Political Hypocrisy: Critique of both parties, noting Republicans like Lindsey Graham and Mitt Romney allegedly taking Ukrainian money alongside Democrats.* Perspective: Emphasis on principles over party loyalty, advocating for peace and fiscal responsibility.* Notable Quote: "We're how many trillions of dollars in debt right now? 36... Going on 37." (00:14:27)Segment 3: Andrew Tate and Cultural Critique (01:26:50 - 01:37:39)* Main Topic: The hosts discuss Andrew Tate's arrival in America and his influence on young men.* Key Points:* Tate is criticized as a "whoremonger" promoting a lifestyle of avoiding marriage and having multiple "baby mamas," compared to figures like Elon Musk and Sean Kemp.* Rejection of Tate's philosophy as antithetical to biblical masculinity and conservative Christian values.* Assurance that young men are shifting toward conservative Christian ideals, not Tate's ideology, countering evangelical fears of his influence.* Tone: Passionate and dismissive, with a mix of humor and moral conviction.* Notable Quotes:* "If someone's telling you that being a whoremonger is based and being a committed married man is gay, you're an effing retard." (01:29:04)* "The people that are influenced by Andrew Tate aren't going to reproduce and push more values." (01:32:25)Segment 4: Courage and Biblical Boldness (01:37:39 - 01:47:06)* Guest Reference: Discussion inspired by Ernst Roets' appearance on Tucker Carlson, referencing the Odyssey's Scylla and Charybdis.* Key Points:* Courage is framed as a balance between cowardice and recklessness, with a preference for erring on the side of boldness when motivated by faith.* Biblical examples: David vs. Goliath, Jonathan's mountain attack, Israelites at Jericho, and David's Mighty Men fighting "lion men."* Call to action: Christians should be reckless for God's glory, not personal gain, contrasting with cultural cowardice.* Tone: Inspirational and scriptural, urging listeners to act boldly.* Notable Quote: "Cowardice got us where we are... Let's err on the side of recklessness." (01:46:47)Segment 5: UK Freedom of Speech and Final Thoughts (01:47:06 - 01:53:50)* Main Topic: The hosts address declining U.S. tourism to the UK due to strict social media scrutiny.* Key Points:* UK requires social media logins for visas, arresting Americans for past posts, leading some to delete accounts entirely.* Comparison to other nations: Canada, Germany, and the UK lack U.S.-style free speech; Mexico is freer due to apathy.* Encouragement to expose this issue and maintain faith despite global oppression.* Closing Prayer: A heartfelt prayer thanking God for U.S. freedoms and asking for strength to proclaim faith boldly.* Notable Quotes:* "The only country in the entire world that has a constitutional amendment that says we can say and think what we want is the United States." (01:50:00)* "Don't be astonished by the stupidity because it's going to happen because we live in a fallen and depraved world." (01:52:21)Outro (01:53:24 - 01:53:50)* Sign-Off: The hosts wrap up, encouraging listeners to like, share, and subscribe, reinforcing their mission to serve "the King of Kings, Christ Jesus."* Tagline: "Where the people are free, the taxes are voluntary, and your two kings serve the King of Kings." This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kingsplaining.substack.com/subscribe

Hoppin Fort Worth is Located at 2616 Weisenberger on Instagram as @hoppinfwtx Music by Taylor Pace on Instagram as @taylorpacemusic Call in to the morning show and let us tell North Texas about your upcoming event! Email: media@fortworthroots.com Call:817.988.1292 Find all of our sponsors under our "Trusted Sponsors" Tab on our soon to be renovated web site, www.fortworthroots.com Donovan Manufacturing www.donovanmfg.com Night vision, thermals, machine gun rentals, AR-15 parts, classes, and more! Also under the same umbrella get all of your print needs through our friends. Banners, vehicle wraps, business cards, brochures, tshirts, and anything else you might need. Find information on the print shop on Facebook at dillon-press. Also, you can email them at dillon@dillon-press.com Purple Web Consulting www.purplewebconsulting.com Website design and hosting, E-commerce integration, digital strategy and consulting. 817.629.6069 Making modern business tools accessible to the small business owner so that they can compete with the big dogs! Fort Worth Float Company Is your day filled with noise and distractions? Overstimulating sounds and activity? Our daily lives have become overwhelmed with tasks and responsibilities, with very few ways to shut off the world for a brief moment. WELCOME TO FORT WORTH FLOAT COMPANY. They specialize in providing sensory deprivation flotation tanks, providing the ultimate relaxation experience. Offering various pricing and packages, and three different tanks, Fort Worth Float Company meets everyone's floating needs. Hoppin (Fort Worth) Weisenberger St, Fort Worth TX 76107 No more waiting for the bar tender. Simply walk up to the wall of taps, scan your arm band, and enjoy!!! This place charges you by the ounce. A great place to unwind or for your next big event. Find them on Instagram as @hoppinfwtx. Have a Fort Worth Event coming up this week? Call during our recording window and let us share it with the city. 817.988.1292. The Davis Team Look no further than our friends at The Davis Team for all of your property needs. They have already sold two homes for us at the Fort Worth Roots and helped us find and close on our most recent home purchase. We wouldn't have accepted any other offer of sponsorship from a realtor in Fort Worth because in the back of our minds we would have always known the best was still out there. No commitment necessary. If you have questions about property then visit them online : yourdavisteam.com or give them a call 817.755.0504 Galaxy Wilderness Disc Golf Galaxy Wilderness is dedicated to promoting Disc Golf to the masses for its health benefits through outdoor therapy, exercise, and camaraderie. Find them on Facebook as Galaxy Wilderness Disc Golf GalaxyWildernessDG@gmail.com (682) 228-0399 The Body Scrubbery on Instagram @thebodyscrubbery Online at www.thebodyscrubbery.com Phone:925.808.8222 A boutique and unique spa experience. "Don't cheat yourself, treat yourself!!" Luxury foot spa, full body scrubs, infrared heat wraps, massage, bubble tub, mud wraps, facials, couples packages, and small group parties. Boulevard Brew Great Coffee in a rad little space right off of River Oaks Blvd. A cozy little bar scene in the back with a new home for local musicians. Give these guys a try next time you need a coffee or a place to chill. 5406 River Oaks Blvd, River Oaks, TX, United States, Texas (682) 250-2544 Email:brew@boulevardbrew.com www.boulevardbrew.com Eaton Data Solutions We work to have relationships with vendor partners who specialize in different methods of vulnerability detection and management so that we can offer enterprise tools and solutions to small and medium sized companies (SMB's). Find them online www.eatondatasolutions.com Roofing Solutions by Darren Houk! Roofing Solutions can help with all your residential and commercial roofing needs. Roofing Solutions by Darren Houk is locally owned and operated. We are insured and have the experience to carry out most roofing projects. Web Page: https://www.roofingsolutionshouk.com/ Phone : 817-882-6520 McFly's Pub 6104 LTjg Barnett Rd, Fort Worth, TX 76114 · 4.1 mi A BADASS little 1980's/ Back to the Future themed bar with an excellent outdoor patio complete with fire pit and room for your fur baby. Daily drink specials and fun activities almost every day of the week. See whats new at McFly's on their Instagram page @McFlysPub. Tres Amigos Tacos and Tequila tresamigostacosandtequila.com Chef Sandy brings a fresh perspective and culinary expertise to Tres Amigos, continuing the spirit of female led entrepreneurship and the culinary excellence that Chef Paul was known for. 909 W Magnolia Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76104 Cloudland Recording Studio www.cloudlandrecordingstudio.com Cloudland Recording Studio is an analog and digital recording studio located in the heart of Fort Worth, Texas. We are just one mile from downtown and five minutes from the Near Southside entertainment district of Magnolia Avenue. Baez Maintenance Services. www.baezmaintenance.com 817-528-3056 BMS is family owned and operated providing professional commercial cleaning services to establishments throughout DFW.With client satisfaction as a primary goal, high quality maintenance is available as frequently as requested. This includes a 24-hour support system, which guarantees a quick response. Since our beginning in 2017 there has only been one major goal here at BMS; customer satisfaction.

Send us a textWe have Billie Keithley the Liquid Chef of Breckenridge Distillery and Davis Stuart the Marketing Executive on the podcast today. They will be leading us through three different Whiskeys. We will try them as a shot and in a mix drink.Whiskey Flights: We grill Billie and Davis about themselves and Breckenridge Distillery.Whiskey and Cocktail had: Obi Wan Old Fashion made with Breckenridge Port Cask FinishDive Bar Review: Honer takes us to Breckenridge's best Dive, Mother Loaded Tavern!!Whiskey and Cocktail had : Grandma's Recipe made with Breckenridge Rum Cask FinishTop Shelf- Star Wars Movie/TV show Fantasy DraftWhiskey and Cocktail had: Apres Ski made with Breckenridge PX Sherry Cask FinishTheme Song by Lost Like Lions Shouts out to our sponsors:Hop Station Craft Beer Bar!Niles Brewing CompanyVinyl Tap & TableGuest Links and Social Media:Website: Breckenridge DistilleryInstagram:  @breckenridgedistilleryFacebook: Breckenridge DistillerySupport the show

#479 Breckebeiner USAT Winter Nats Welcome Welcome to Episode #479 of the 303 Endurance Podcast. We're your hosts Coaches Rich Soares and April Spilde. Thanks for joining us for another week of endurance news, coaching tips and discussion.  The Breckebeiner USAT Winter National Championship was last weekend in Breckenridge, Colorado and turned out to be the most fun you can have with all your clothes on.  I tell you what, Rich! I was nervous I wasn't going to be dressed warm enough. Man, was I wrong! When all was said and done, I was completely drenched and I'm glad I brought an extra change of clothes. Looking forward to our discussion later and sharing what we learned about this experience!   Show Sponsor: UCAN UCAN created LIVSTEADY as an alternative to sugar based nutrition products. LIVSTEADY was purposefully designed to work with your body, delivering long-lasting energy you can feel. Whether UCAN Energy Powders, Bars or Gels, LIVSTEADY's unique time-release profile allows your body to access energy consistently throughout the day, unlocking your natural ability to finish stronger and recover more quickly!    In Today's Show Announcements and News Ask a Coach: Winter Triathlon Training Tips  Get Gritty Tip: Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway! TriDot Workout of the Week - Rich Fun Segment: Quick Q&A    Announcements and News:   Champions Crowned at the 2025 USA Triathlon Winter National Championships in Colorado BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. - USA Triathlon kicked off the 2025 National Championships season on Feb. 15-16 at the USA Triathlon Winter National Championships in Breckenridge, Colorado, at The Breckebeiner. Athletes from across the U.S. raced the unique winter multisport format that combines running, biking and cross-country skiing, competing for national titles in the Winter Triathlon and Winter Duathlon National Championships. Athletes also raced to qualify for the 2026 World Triathlon Winter Championships.    Group Ride Schedule - March 1st pivot from Garden of the Gods Group Ride to Manitou Incline Group Hike.   Announcing Coaches Corner (aka Office Hours) with Coaches April Spilde and Rich Soares. Every 3rd Tuesday of the month. Link to March 18 Coaches Corner - https://www.facebook.com/share/15reK1J3m5/   Upcoming Programming - Our February focus will be on swimming. Mar. 1 - Run Intensity as HR, Pace, GAP and Power Mar. 3 6pm - Webinar with author and coach Matt Fitzgerald on his new book Chasing Mastery https://www.facebook.com/share/166xUjYuYp/ Mar. 15 - Run Drills to Become More Efficient and Powerful Mar. 22 - Trail and Snow Running Tips   Grit2Greatness Endurance Website and Social Media - Come check out our new coaching  Website - Grit2Greatness Endurance Coaching Facebook page @grit2greatnessendurance Ask A Coach Sponsor: G2G Endurance Hey triathletes, what if you could train smarter, not just harder? At Grit2Greatness Endurance Coaching, we've partnered with TriDot to give you the data-driven edge. No more guesswork—just custom workouts designed around YOU. Sign up through Coach April's or Coach Rich's TriDot links and start a 2-week free trial. Plans begin at $14.99/month and trust us—you'll feel the difference. Ready to step up your game? Click the sign-up link in our show notes and let's go! Ask A Coach: What did you learn at USAT Winter Nats? Even before last weekend's race, several of my friends and athletes that I coach knew I was going to participate in my first winter triathlon. There was a lot of curiosity before and since the post I've received a lot of continued curiosity and questions about what this event was all about and how to train for one. When I first proposed the idea for doing the Breckebeiner USAT National Championship for Winter Triathlon, I really didn't know what to expect. I know I had my own reasons for being on the fence initially, but I got swept up in the excitement and fun from the interview we did with Vic Brumfield and Liz Kollar from USAT.  Just as I was on the fence, I know this was not a “no brainer” “all in” decision for you initially and for the purpose of this discussion, you and I can unpack what our reservations may have been and contrast it with how we actually experienced this winter triathlon and share some recommendations for others, so they can experience it for themselves. Get Gritty Tip: Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway Fear isn't a stop sign—it's a signal that you're stepping into something meaningful. The fear of failure, judgment, or the unknown is what keeps most people stuck in the comfort zone. But here's the truth: waiting to feel "ready" is the fastest way to stay exactly where you are.  Courage isn't about eliminating fear. It's about moving forward despite it. That first open-water swim? That first race? That business move you've been avoiding? The fear won't disappear before you start—you must start *with it*. And once you do, fear loses its grip.   Challenge: Identify one thing you've been avoiding because of fear. Commit to taking one action toward it today. Don't wait for the fear to subside—prove to yourself that you can move through it.   Grit isn't about never feeling afraid. It's about showing up anyway. TriDot Workout of the Week:  “Big Gear Work” Session Note Perform this session on an indoor trainer. Perform all efforts in race position unless directed otherwise. Planned time in Z6 reflects squats. Time spent in Z5 on the bike automatically earns you equal time spent in Z6, as proxy for your squats since they cannot be tracked on your device.   Warmup 10 min @ Z2 with 2 x 30 sec (30 sec) Spinups and 3 x 1 min (1 min) @ Z4   Main Set Dismount 30 sec Squats (shoot for 1/second) 30 sec Isometric squat   Mount quickly w/o recovery 1 x 3 min @ Z5 in biggest gearing at 55-65 cadence 1 min @ Z2 before dismount   Dismount 45 sec Squats (shoot for 1/second) 60 sec Isometric squat   Mount quickly w/o recovery 2 x 1 min @ Z5 (60 sec) in biggest gearing at 55-65 cadence 1 min @ Z2 before dismount   Dismount 60 sec Squats 30 sec Isometric squat   Mount 5 min @ Z2 Balance of time @ Z2   Today's Fun Segment: Quick Q&A Sometimes I think we take for granted that our audience already knows who we are and what makes us tick, so this week I thought I'd throw in a fun “get-to-know-you” segment with a quick Q&A. So I'm going to ask you a couple of general and then a few personal questions! Don't worry, I'll share too

Thinking about investing in a short-term rental (STR) in Summit County, Colorado? Candice De and Amy Nakos break down everything you need to know about STR regulations in this must-watch video! ⏳ One of the most common questions we get is: "Can I short-term rental up there?" – and the answer isn't always straightforward. 

Hi everyone! Today's episode was such a treat. I have known Alexandra Breckenridge since we were babies in the industry— we did a pilot together called Locust Valley almost 25 years ago. Since then, Alexandra has had an unbelievable career. She played Jessie Anderson on The Walking Dead, Sophie Larson on This Is Us and now she's doing amazing work as Melinda Monroe on Virgin River. We talk about what it takes to build resiliency as an actor and why we both ultimately decided to leave California. I gotta say, she lives on a beautiful farm in Georgia and if you don't already follow her on Instagram, you definitely should. Be sure to stick around for the Hindsight, where producer Jeph and I give an update on the fires in LA and read your pitches for how I can brand a day of the week for Bo-Katan (Fracked-Up Fridays, anyone?). Send me an email thesackhoffshow@gmail.com Produced by Rabbit Grin Productions Mail Sack Song by Nicolas @producer_sniffles

Alexandra Breckenridge (Virgin River,  The Walking Dead) joins Rachel and Olivia to discuss the art of pickling,  raising kids and living in Georgia. Check out the latest season of Virgin River, now streaming on Netflix.Broad Ideas is sponsored by IQ Bar 20% of all IQ products, text IDEAS to 64000.Broad Ideas is sponsored by BetterHelp.  Visit BetterHelp.com/ideas to get 10% off your first month.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alexandra Breckenridge (Virgin River,  The Walking Dead) joins Rachel and Olivia to discuss the art of pickling,  raising kids and living in Georgia. Check out the latest season of Virgin River, now streaming on Netflix. Broad Ideas is sponsored by IQ Bar 20% of all IQ products, text IDEAS to 64000. Broad Ideas is sponsored by BetterHelp.  Visit BetterHelp.com/ideas to get 10% off your first month.

Old-Fashioned Football and Jmark and Mir are talking about the 2024 Fantasy Football season recap. See who finished in the top-12 by position, and which players they were accurate on. They'll also show which players they missed on. They'll talk about which players surprised them and which disappointed them.After recapping the 2024 fantasy football season, the hosts preview the NFL Playoffs. Plus they give out their FFPC Playoff Challenge lineups!Finally, the hosts review Breckenridge Distillery's Port Cask Finish bourbon whiskey. The hosts give a brief rundown on the background of Breckenridge as well as how the Port Cask was in an old-fashioned. Finally, they taste it on its own and give tasting notes.Time Stamps:0:00 - Intro12:56 - 2024 Fantasy Football Quarterback Recap21:15 - Running Backs Recap29:10 - Wide Receivers Recap38:07 - Tight Ends Recap49:00 - NFL Playoff predictions53:00 - FFPC Playoff Challenge Lineup1:12:57 - Breckenridge Distillery Port Cask Finish Review Exclusive SGPN Bonuses And Linkshttp://linktr.ee/sportsgamblingpodcastFollow The Sports Gambling Podcast X/Twitter - https://x.com/GamblingPodcastInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/sportsgamblingpodcastTikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@gamblingpodcastFacebook - http://www.facebook.com/sportsgamblingpodcast Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER CO, DC, IL, IN, LA, MD, MS, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY) Call 1-800-327-5050 (MA)21+ to wager. Please Gamble Responsibly. Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (KS, NV), 1-800 BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help (MI)

Old-Fashioned Football and Jmark and Mir are talking about the 2024 Fantasy Football season recap. See who finished in the top-12 by position, and which players they were accurate on. They'll also show which players they missed on. They'll talk about which players surprised them and which disappointed them.After recapping the 2024 fantasy football season, the hosts preview the NFL Playoffs. Plus they give out their FFPC Playoff Challenge lineups!Finally, the hosts review Breckenridge Distillery's Port Cask Finish bourbon whiskey. The hosts give a brief rundown on the background of Breckenridge as well as how the Port Cask was in an old-fashioned. Finally, they taste it on its own and give tasting notes.Time Stamps:0:00 - Intro12:56 - 2024 Fantasy Football Quarterback Recap21:15 - Running Backs Recap29:10 - Wide Receivers Recap38:07 - Tight Ends Recap49:00 - NFL Playoff predictions53:00 - FFPC Playoff Challenge Lineup1:12:57 - Breckenridge Distillery Port Cask Finish Review JOIN the SGPN community #DegensOnlyExclusive Merch, Contests and Bonus Episodes ONLY on Patreon - https://sg.pn/patreonDiscuss with fellow degens on Discord - https://sg.pn/discordDownload The Free SGPN App - https://sgpn.appCheck out the Sports Gambling Podcast on YouTube - https://sg.pn/YouTubeCheck out our website - http://sportsgamblingpodcast.comSUPPORT us by supporting our partnersUnderdog Fantasy code SGPN - Up to $1000 in BONUS CASH - https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-sgpnRithmm - Player Props and Picks - Free 7 day trial! http://sportsgamblingpodcast.com/rithmmRebet - Social sportsbook - 100% deposit match promo code SGPN in your app store! ADVERTISE with SGPNInterested in advertising? Contact sales@sgpn.io FOLLOW The Sports Gambling Podcast On Social MediaTwitter - http://www.twitter.com/gamblingpodcastInstagram - http://www.instagram.com/sportsgamblingpodcastTikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@gamblingpodcastFacebook - http://www.facebook.com/sportsgamblingpodcast FOLLOW The Hosts On Social MediaSean Green - http://www.twitter.com/seantgreenRyan Kramer - http://www.twitter.com/kramercentric Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER CO, DC, IL, IN, LA, MD, MS, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY) Call 1-800-327-5050 (MA)21+ to wager. Please Gamble Responsibly. Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (KS, NV), 1-800 BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help (MI)================================================================Watch Old-Fashioned FootballYouTube - www.youtube.com/@Old-FashionedFootball Follow Old-Fashioned Football On Social MediaTwitter - http://www.twitter.com/OldFashionedFBInstagram – www.instagram.com/oldfashionedfootballpodcastFollow The Hosts On Social MediaMiranda - http://www.twitter.com/themirmarkJustin Mark - http://www.twitter.com/JMarkFootball

This week, we're thrilled to bring you Part 2 of our conversation with Donna-Jean Breckenridge. If you enjoyed Donna-Jean's story in Part 1, you won't want to miss Part 2, where we dive deep into the world of homeschooling! Donna-Jean shares her passion for education, offering insight into common questions like: Can homeschooled children get enough social interaction? How can parents ensure their kids are learning everything they need? What are the unique benefits of the homeschooling lifestyle? We also explore the timeless philosophy of Charlotte Mason and how it shaped the curriculum Donna-Jean co-created: Ambleside Online, a free resource empowering families to provide a rich and meaningful education at home. Whether you're a seasoned homeschooler, just curious, or somewhere in between, this episode is packed with inspiration and practical advice! Ambleside Online Six Voices, One Story: The Heart of Ambleside Online The Country of Ours Follow Donna-Jean on Insta → @djabreck Follow SWE on Insta → @so.what.else  Follow Kaitlin on Insta → @kaitlingraceelliott  SWE Website

The Bible is clear that children are a blessing from the Lord. Does how we conceive them matter to God and is there something morally wrong with reproductive technologies? Katie Breckenridge writes on the ethics of reproductive technologies and abortion for Salvo Magazine and Them Before Us, and she is on the show to share how Christians ought to think about and have these conversations with others. This episode is not meant to offend anyone who has conceived a child through reproductive technologies or adopted a child. The goal is to get us thinking about what God, the giver of life, says about how we ought to value human life and what that means for the Church.   Get your 2025 Madalynn Faith Planner! Find Shanda www.shandafulbright.com Instagram & Facebook: @shandafulbright Email: hello@shandafulbright.com Free Resources: https://shandafulbright.com/links YouTube: http://bit.ly/ShandaYT2021 Store: www.Shandafulbright.com/shop  

Hello & welcome back to Raw Intentions! This week, I'm sitting down with my sweet friend and local Breckenridge photographer, Jessica Luann, to chat about all things creativity, community, and finding balance. Jess specializes in micro weddings and elopements in the mountains, and she takes us through her journey of falling in love with photography, discovering the risk, reward, & power of niching down your craft, and building an intentional life in the mountains. We dive into topics like social media burnout, finding community amongst competitive spaces, the importance of work-life balance, and being okay with stillness—a reminder we all need. Jess also shares why she ADORES micro weddings over traditional ones, the special ways she creates a magical client experience, and how growing up in Colorado shaped her love for the outdoors. Whether you're a creative, an entrepreneur, or just someone looking to live more intentionally, this episode is for you. Jess has so much wisdom to share, and I can't wait to hear what resonates with y'all. XoJessica Luan: https://www.instagram.com/jessicaluann/?hl=enJessica Luan: https://jessicaluannphoto.comShop Raw & Rebellious: https://www.rawrebellious.com/Raw & Rebellious Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raw_rebellious/Raw & Rebellious TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@raw_rebellious?lang=enRaw Intentions Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rawintentionspodcast/

This week, we're bringing you Part 1 of an incredible two-part conversation with Donna-Jean Breckenridge. Her story was so inspiring and rich with insight that we couldn't fit it all into one episode! Donna-Jean is a mom, grandmother, widow, author, speaker, and co-founder of Ambleside Online—a free Charlotte Mason-based homeschool curriculum. In this episode, she opens up about her life, sharing her struggles with infertility, the joy and challenges of adoption, the profound grief of losing her husband, and the heartbreak of losing her son-in-law. Through it all, Donna-Jean's resilience, faith, and wisdom shine as she reflects on finding hope in the midst of loss. Don't forget to come back next week for Part 2, where she shares her passion for homeschooling and how Ambleside Online came to life! Six Voices, One Story: The Heart of Ambleside Online This Country of Ours Follow Donna-Jean on Insta → @djabreck Follow SWE on Insta → @so.what.else  Follow Kaitlin on Insta → @kaitlingraceelliott  SWE Website

This week, we're bringing you Part 1 of an incredible two-part conversation with Donna-Jean Breckenridge. Her story was so inspiring and rich with insight that we couldn't fit it all into one episode! Donna-Jean is a mom, grandmother, widow, author, speaker, and co-founder of Ambleside Online—a free Charlotte Mason-based homeschool curriculum. In this episode, she opens up about her life, sharing her struggles with infertility, the joy and challenges of adoption, the profound grief of losing her husband, and the heartbreak of losing her son-in-law. Through it all, Donna-Jean's resilience, faith, and wisdom shine as she reflects on finding hope in the midst of loss. Don't forget to come back next week for Part 2, where she shares her passion for homeschooling and how Ambleside Online came to life! Six Voices, One Story: The Heart of Ambleside Online This Country of Ours Follow Donna-Jean on Insta → @djabreck Follow SWE on Insta → @so.what.else  Follow Kaitlin on Insta → @kaitlingraceelliott  SWE Website

Go to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Notes: Mo Bunnell is the author of Give to Grow, The Snowball System, and the founder of Bunnell Idea Group (BIG), who has trained tens of thousands of seller experts at over 400 clients all over the world. I wake up every morning looking to help my friends succeed, and some just happen to be clients.  — Proactively thinking of ways to add value to others is a great way to build a meaningful life. Our brains think literally. Relationships grow exponentially. Give consistently to grow relationships. Celebrate incremental progress. Mo writes in a journal the growth of himself, his business, and his customers. We all should be better at celebrating incremental progress. Teresa Amabile's research shows that this leads to a more enjoyable life. August 4, 1984, was a meaningful day for his family. (Dad's alcoholism. That was the day of his last drink) The difference between doing the work versus winning the work Example: You win the work by asking lots of questions. You do the work giving answers. Every successful career hinges on two things: Doing The Work and Winning The Work. Both delivering value on the current work and developing the relationships that create future opportunities are vital for long-term success. Whether you're in a new role or want new outcomes, the most powerful results come from prioritizing both Doing The Work and Winning The Work. Ask questions – Mo shares 50+ questions to ask. Ask self-disclosure questions. Those are questions that only that person can answer. Fall in love with the problem. Pronoia – The world is out to help you succeed. People can live in 1 of 3 ways. Drift - Stay busy. Answer emails.  Driven - Hyper emphasis on one thing at the detriment of others (triathlon guy) By Design - Write down where you want to be and make a plan to do it. On purpose. Delayed gratification: Weekly planning process Offer 3 proactive change agent ideas Mo is in 5 masterminds Shawn Blanc in Breckenridge. Net givers. MASHUP - His house. Help others. Ask for help. Elite Adventure athletes GivetoGrow.Info MASHUP! Mastermind of Awesome Super Human Unreal People

Before this week's Ask Away kicks off, Raeann shares her sister's Breckenridge house chaos and Kristina agrees that homeownership isn't all sunshine and roses. They also get into the Christmas spirit by sharing Christmas highlights from childhood gifts to nostalgic movies.    In today's Ask Away, the girls dig into relatable struggles, from ending the cycle of dressing to look skinny and overcoming wedding dress shopping anxiety to embracing cellulite with confidence. They also unpack the uncertainty of deciding when to have a baby and tackle uncomfortable topics, like how to tell a friend you're not a fan of their toxic boyfriend. Hope you found this advice helpful—until next ti         Thanks to our sponsors: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code TCC at https://www.oneskin.co/  #oneskinpod #sponsored   Resources: Submit your question for the next Ask Away: Click Here Follow us on Instagram: @confidentcollective Follow the Hosts/Founders: @kristinazias & @raeannlangas Learn more: https://www.theconfidentcollective.com/ Stay in the know with our newsletter!