Just a few minutes ago I came in off the trail from the rim of the Grand Canyon. Settling into a wireless hot spot and a cold Corona at the Yavapai Lodge I fired up the laptop to find a message on Facebook from my old friend Menno van Wyk. He was my boss at Montrail since before it was called One Sport. So we go way back. It was of course great to hear from him, but his post to my time line filled me with dread. "James...
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” ~ Chinese philosopher Laozi (c 604 bc - c 531 bc) Our journey to the highest peak in North America technically began months ago. During the past several weeks a flurry of emails and text messages across the Internet pulled together a cadre of disassociated adventurers to share a common dream. And over a weekend in May we took the first actual steps toward our goal. In a remote lodge on a ridge above Lake Tahoe our team...
“Artists have gone with us into the Arctic and I have heard them rave over the wonderful beauties of the scene, and I have seen them at work trying to reproduce some of it, with good results but with nothing like the effect of the original…”it is color run riot”’ ----from A Black Explorer at the North Pole, pg. 67, by Matthew A. Henson African Americans have been explorers and adventurers from the very beginnings of our republic. People of African descent accompanied many of the earliest Spanish explorers including...
[caption id="attachment_6951" align="aligncenter" width="541"] Cheleas Griffie on Separate Reality, Yosemite Valley (photo by Greg Epperson)[/caption] When it comes to diversity in outdoor recreation it seems there are simply those who don’t care. After 400 years of racial strife and oppression throughout American history I’m sure we’d all like to put it behind us. In fact most of us likely spend time outside to get away from all the socially charged bickering back and forth between one ethnic group or another. I get that. But please, don’t tell me, a...
[caption id="attachment_6921" align="alignleft" width="300"] NOLS Denali Expedition participants Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, Chelesea Griffie, Philip Henderson, James Mills & Stephen Shobe[/caption] For the first time a team of African-American climbers is assembling to make a bid for the summit of the tallest peak in North America, Mount Denali. To be lead by the National Outdoor Leadership School in 2013 this expedition aims to encourage minority youth to enjoy outdoor recreation as part of an active lifestyle as well as create a cadre of role models for careers in environmental protection. Also known...
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