Laura Blythe shares her transformative experience through mountain biking and delves into the 7Moons Mountain Biking program, where she intertwines her vibrant Cherokee heritage into every pedal stroke on the Fire Mountain Trails system and throughout the Qualla Boundary. Discover how this program transcends fitness, serving as a bridge between past and present, while nurturing a community that rides together and grows together.
Laura paints a vivid picture of the 7Moons program, where participants pedal through rides rich with Cherokee language, myths, and history, fostering a deeper connection to their roots and promoting physical and mental well-being. Through her narrative, uncover the program’s broader ambitions for youth outreach and cultural preservation, aiming to cultivate a new generation of bikers who carry the torch for their heritage with pride.
The breadth and variety of fishing opportunities present in WNC make it one of the best places to learn to fish. There’s a lot of water and it’s really accessible. We also have a huge number of fly shops and guides, a concentration of industry that doesn’t exist in the rest of the country.
Western North Carolina celebrates a unique and tight knit fly fishing community with an immense impact as an outdoor recreational economic driver. As the popularity of recreational fishing in these waterways grows, more guide and gear companies are born in the region, and generations of families and more diverse communities become involved, we must work together in conservation efforts to ensure clean headwaters and healthy fish populations, particularly our native Brook Trout species, which are an indicator for all other river life. Written story by Graham Averill. Video Directed and Edited by Robb Leahy.
Jessica Whitmire can’t imagine life without the French Broad River. The WNC native grew up on its banks, in the heart of Transylvania County. She learned to cast for trout into its eddies, paddled its rapids, took her first driving lessons on the backroads along those banks. Today, Whitmire is the Director of Operations for Headwaters Outfitters, a fly fishing guide service and shop that her parents co-founded when she was just 7 years old, largely out of their love for the French Broad.
“My mom was the person that made you pick up trash while on an adventure,” Whitmire says. “There isn’t a paddling trip I can remember where she didn’t end up with a big bag of trash she collected.”
The French Broad, and the endless miles of feeder streams that tumble off the mountains surrounding it, have been the canvas for Whitmire’s life, both as a child and as an adult. And, Whitmire is not an outlier in this respect. The mountains of Western North Carolina are pieced together by thousands of miles of streams and rivers just like the French Broad River, that serve as the connective tissues between individuals, cultures and communities.
The trout that thrive in those streams haven’t just fed our bodies, they’ve helped craft our identities. from time immemorial when the Cherokee fished Brook Trout before Europeans arrived, all the way to today. Just consider Sav Sankaran, a first-generation American and son of immigrant parents, who found his sense of place in part through fishing the waters of Western North Carolina.
“Issues of identity and sense of place are central to my story,” Sankaran says. “I found my American identity in the pursuit of trout. My sense of ‘home’ was forged knee deep in Appalachia’s trout streams.”
Sankaran guided and advised local fly fishing trips for years out of Orvis’ Asheville shop, and now his role has grown to a national and global stage, serving as the Inclusion and Engagement Business Partner at The Orvis Company. He works tirelessly to introduce more people to the joys of casting for the very fish that helped him find his place in the world.
“I have a tattoo of a brook trout on my arm as a way to claim my identity,” Sankaran says. “I was made by the wildness of this place. And trout have always been at the center of Southern Appalachian culture.”
Today, those trout aren’t just central to local culture, they’re central to our local economy. According to a newly published economic impact report by the NC Wildlife Commission, the trout fishing industry contributes $1.38 billion to the state’s economy. That money comes from anglers buying licenses and gear, visitors eating at local restaurants, hiring guides and staying in hotel rooms…the list goes on.
Locals like Sankaran and Whitmire are working hard to make sure people of all genders and races feel comfortable casting a line in our streams. Through Pisgah Area Women’s Fly Fishing, Whitmire works to create safe spaces for women to be introduced to fly fishing. Through Orvis’ outreach and education initiatives and as a Board Member of the Minority Outdoor Alliance, Sankaran actively encourages more people of color to try their first roll cast. And he thinks Western North Carolina is the ideal place to introduce new people of all backgrounds to the joys of fly fishing.
On WNC’s waters, you can hike five miles into the backcountry to fish without seeing another person all day, or you can stop at a roadside hole and cast a line for 20 minutes with your buddies on the way home from work. The quality of the streams in this area are unmatched. Take Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which sits within a day’s drive of some of the largest cities in America, but still offers pristine mountain fishing.
“There are few places in the world that you can still catch native trout, in their native habitat that is relatively unimpaired,” says Matt Kulp, Fishery biologist for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Kulp is talking specifically about Southern Appalachian Brook Trout, the only trout species native to Western North Carolina. They’re small, feisty, and prone to cold water at high elevations. Unlike the lumbering rainbow trout, “Brookies” are hard to catch and even harder to protect. The threats are numerous, from acid rain to invasive species to steep-slope development, but keeping this native fish alive and well is more important now than ever, because the health of brook trout is connected to the health of the human population.
“Trout conservation flows downstream,” says Jake Rash, the Coldwater Research Coordinator for the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. “If we’ve helped conserve native Brook Trout, we’ve helped the top of the watershed be in a better place, which means that water starts flowing downstream to the animals, people, and communities that depend on it in much better condition than it would be otherwise.”
Brook Trout conservation is a collaborative effort. Everyone has to buy in, from the legislators passing the laws to non-profits, like Trout Unlimited, that work to implement conservation strategies on the ground, to the kids learning about the fish on their school field trip. Just ask Woody Platt. The professional bluegrass musician worked to restore the small trout stream on his family farm in Transylvania County, and knew he would need a lot of help.
“Everyone piled on,” Platt says of his conservation project. “It was wonderful to see all these agencies work together and focus on doing one job collectively.”
Trout Unlimited spearheads a lot of the conservation efforts that impact our rivers, but they know they can’t do it alone. “We have an ambitious conservation mission,” says Beverly Smith, VP for volunteer operations for TU, “and we know if we thought we were just gonna do this by ourselves, we would be ineffective and we wouldn’t get it done.”
Local anglers know we need to see more of that sort of collaboration moving forward, which is one of the reasons efforts to diversify the sport are so important. Yes, everyone should know what it feels like to catch that first trout on a fly, and everyone should feel at home in the streams of Western North Carolina. But a more diverse angling population means a larger pool of conservations protecting those trout and their streams.
“When someone falls in love with water and trout, they’re more likely gonna fall in love with protecting that,” Platt says.
Sankaran agrees, and thinks that urge to protect is inevitable. “There’s an allure to Appalachia. It’s rooted in the mountains’ inherent ancientness. The settings you find yourself in when chasing trout in the mountains allow you to connect to that feeling. These mountains have gravitas.”
A MADE X MTNS production by videographer, Robb Leahy. Additional Footage by John Dupre and Joel Sandovos. Additional media provided by Trout Unlimited, Matt Kulp, David Wise, Rigged and Ready, Storyblocks, and Ian & Charity Rutter. Interviewers are Amy Allison and Joanna Brown.
Special thanks to: Trout Unlimited – Land O’ Sky, Trout Unlimited – Pisgah, Orvis, Fish Cherokee, NC Wildlife Resources Commission, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Headwaters Outfitters, Rigged and Ready, Outdoor Business Alliance of WNC, Brown Folks Fishing, Minority Outdoor Alliance.
In these mountains, I have played in soil, been cut by brush, cried on ridges, and found comfort in rhododendron tunnels and streams. These mountains taught me to walk, run, ride, swim, climb, love and grow as a person. Now my family and I share adventures in these mountains making a lifetime of memories.
Steven McHone — CoFounder of McHone Performance Training
Husband to Cofounder, Shona McHone, and father of two youngins, Micah and Gabriel,
Steven McHone is the Cofounder of McHone Performance Training in Asheville, NC. McHone Performance Training (MPT) provides Sport Performance Training for WNC’s outdoor athletes, including: cyclists, runners, climbers, paddlers, adventurers, weekend warriors, ultra endurance runners, ultra cyclists and enduro racers.
Steven McHone is an Asheville native who, for the last decade, has dedicated himself to helping his mountain community to stay fit for adventuring in Western North Carolina. As a certified personal trainer, nationally accredited yoga instructor, and a licensed massage therapist Steven, uses his unique skill set to help increase individuals athletic performance with their adventures in mind. His own adventures have led him to bike across the country from West Coast to East Coast and North to South, run the Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim in the Grand Canyon, and compete as a bodybuilder and physique competitor.
“Being born and raised in WNC, I have always called Asheville home. After living in a city for 4 years while attending college at University of North Carolina – Greensboro, I found myself returning to WNC most weekends to backpack, mountain bike, trail run and swim in waterfalls,” said McHone. “In 2011, the call of the mountains brought me back home permanently.”
“I believe that a time spent outdoors is a life well spent! When opening McHone Performance Training, I hoped to help my community to keep adventuring in WNC’s Outdoors for a lifetime.”
McHone Performance Training is a grassroots gym built by outdoor enthusiasts for outdoor enthusiasts, delivering a unique style of training specifically designed for individuals with active outdoor lifestyles. New Squat PR’s are always nice, but feeling stronger and more confident while ripping down your favorite trails is what MPT is all about. The challenge is to get folks to dedicate time off the mountain to strength training, so that they can keep playing for a lifetime.
Team MPT loves being a part of the local mountain sports community by volunteering on the trails, volunteering at races and events, and also competing in many local races.
“I’m inspired by my fellow adventurers. It is an honor to be surrounded by so many inspiring mountain athletes. I connect with individuals who dare to dream big.”
Steven McHone
Steven currently enjoys his daily movement practice, backpacking, distance running and mountain biking as much as possible. All of his adventures in Pisgah National Forest have led Steven to refine various movements using his extensive knowledge of sports medicine, massage, yoga, performance training and corrective exercise. These experiences inform his coaching methodology for the classes offered at MPT.
“I’m stoked to see so many new faces in the Outdoors and I’m looking forward to seeing
how WNC grows together. An organization I’m excited about these days is Catalyst Sports, who specialize in bringing adventure sports to people with physical disabilities.”
Steven’s wife and MPT co-owner Shona McHone lives by the motto: “move, connect and explore.” She is an avid outdoor adventurer pursuing the world from the seat of her bike. She is passionate about fitness that leads to unmarked trails and paths, unleashing new possibilities within the body and spirit. She is motivated pursuing the ‘why’ in your fitness journey helping people to move in new and dynamic ways that lead to their most courageous self.
Together, Steven and Shona are building community through their business while providing a safe and efficient program to lead athletes through their optimal fitness goals to find success in athletic events and adventures. Inspired by the Western North Carolina Mountains, the McHones turn movement into medicine, and help clients on their path to success in achieving long term results.
Learn more about McHone Performance Training at mchoneperformancetraining.com.
Asheville has been a key part of our success. It’s the mountains, the trails, the riding, but more importantly, the people here. Western North Carolina has such a great biking culture, and a rich history in textiles. Those are all the elements I needed to lean on to start and grow the business the right way.
– Greg Hardy, PhD., Owner
Rockgeist Bikepack USA makes quality waterproof and custom bikepacking bags, sewn in its workshop just north of Downtown Asheville, NC along the French Broad River. Greg Hardy, a medical research engineer with a PhD, founded Rockgeist in 2014 because he loved the simple act of riding bikes and camping. The company has grown as the niche of bikepacking has grown, and Rockgeist now has customers from all over the globe. Here, Hardy, and a few of Rockgeist’s loyal employees, discuss the nuances of small business, local bike culture, and their love of these mountains.
Rockgeist’s goal is to help you become more self-sufficient on your bike through gear defined by innovation, advanced materials, and made-in-USA craftsmanship. From its 2014 beginnings, Rockgeist has risen to acclaim in the rapidly growing bikepacking sport, making their mark with their “photo fit” custom build technique that tailors specific fitting gear for cyclists worldwide.
I first came to North Carolina to Durham for grad school. I kept driving out west to Asheville, and the Brevard area for the biking scene. That’s when I saw the mountains, got exposed to the towns out here. After grad school I made the transition to move to Asheville instead of driving here every weekend.
Originally, I was doing this part time after work in my apartment. We had 300 yards of fabric in the kitchen and machines in the living room. I like the autonomy of running a business and having the freedom of what we’re trying to build from the ground up. I also wanted to find a way to contribute to the bikepacking scene. Through gear and materials, it was the best way for me to be involved with the community and help encourage other people to get out and try bikepacking for the first time and have the type of experience that drew me into the sport.
The workshop opened in 2017, and I knew I needed to hire someone to grow the business. My first employee was one of my first customers, Eric. He came in one day and saw what was going on and offered to help. Hiring that first person was probably the biggest step.
Collaboration with all of the small and larger businesses in Western North Carolina is a huge benefit to being located here. There are a lot of more mature companies in textile and manufacturing that I’ve definitely leaned on and gotten great guidance from. When Rockgeist was young, I enrolled in the Waypoint Accelerator Program. We were working through the process of running a business and growing, finding customers, working on a website…all of the things you have to do to get out in the world. I had no experience running a business before, but with the Waypoint Accelerator Program, I was in a group of nine other small business owners trying to figure this thing out. We had some commonalities, but we were coming from different perspectives and were able to lean on each other and find ways to solve problems in different ways.
When we first started, the thing that really put us on the map in the bikepacking scene was our PhotoFit process for custom frame bags. Rockgeist specializes in custom frame bags for the bike, different ways to carry gear on the bike. One of the core elements of that is a custom frame bag. Before we started, that process involved customers tracing cardboard cutouts of their frames and mailing them to bag makers. We created a process called PhotoFit, where bikers can take a strategic photo of their bike, and we can take that photo and add the customization and features that the customer wants. That process has expanded our customer base to a global level.
Collaboration with all of the small and larger businesses in Western North Carolina is a huge benefit to being located here. There are a lot of more mature companies in textile and manufacturing that I’ve definitely leaned on and received great guidance.
GREG HARDY
Dealing with the supply issues in the last few years has been a headache, but fortunately we’ve been able to rely on other companies in the Outdoor Gear Builders of WNC with those supply issues. Whether it be buckles, zippers…all that stuff that we took for granted four or five years ago, it’s a headache now. Having fellow companies to lean on in a network to navigate us through today’s challenges has been key.
The Outdoor Gear Builders is a group made up of a lot of different companies with different perspectives. We’re fortunate enough to connect with all of these owners of other businesses. In our early years, we definitely relied on OGB, because we only had two or three people here. We leaned on that collaborative aspect as other businesses in the area had equipment or systems we could leverage to help develop our products.
As a small business we’re reliant on other companies to help us solve challenges. Sometimes it’s sharing the work load, contracting work out that doesn’t make sense for us to do but still needs to be done. It opens up our time to spend on our specific product, where we don’t have to do some areas of work that we’re not set up to do. Having that relationship where you can talk face-to-face with local people, accelerates that collaboration and allows us to get a lot out of these relationships.
The growth of bikepacking has definitely surged, and I hope it has become more accessible. One of the things we’re doing to encourage that is our rental gear program. If you don’t have the experience and want to talk to someone face to face about the right gear to put to put on your bike, we’re here for you. And you don’t have to purchase, a $600 kit to get out. You can take some of our gear, rent it for super cheap, and it’s enough to get out on some of our local routes for a few days.
“Western North Carolina is a good bikepacking destination because the infrastructure is there. There are good gravel roads and good places to camp, so it’s fairly easy to tie things together and do whatever kind of trip you want to do.”
Greg Clemmer – Fabric Alignment Specialist,
The mountains of Western North Carolina are our livelihood. They’re the pulse of our business. They’re what motivates us. They’re how we pay our bills.
Pisgah National Forest is special. It’s such a beautiful place. Sleeping under the canopies of the trees of Pisgah is magic. I like to go to Big Ivy, which some people call Coleman Boundary, which is out of the way, but I do a lot of townie rides too, finding as much gravel as I can to connect to a beer or to a sandwich, to see all the places Asheville has to offer.
Jen Weeks – Wholesale Specialist
Anytime you’re camping off of your bike, it’s a win. If you’re a hiker, and haven’t thought about bikepacking, this might be a great opportunity to get out and try something new.
“A local group that’s doing awesome things is Asheville On Bikes. They’re working hard on expanding trail networks and greenways to connect the communities in our region. The Hellbender Trail is a good example, which will connect Brevard and Hendersonville and potentially up to Marshall. They’re also working on creating unpaved trails, which is a quicker way to connect a community without bringing in paving and construction. It’s a faster way to connect communities by bikes.”
Tim Bateman – Customer Service Specialist,
These mountains are what inspires us to contribute to the community, and help people get out and experience the outdoors in maybe a new and different way with bikepacking. They hold tremendous networks of trails that can link different forests together, and you might find yourself in a new area you’ve never explored before.
Thanks to the Rockgeist Team for their time, hospitality, and sharing their story with us. Thanks to story writer, Graham Averill, and to videographer, Robb Leahy.
There is more interest in hiking and backpacking and outdoor adventure than ever, and a new generation of stories waiting to be told. And, without doubt, the better those stories are told, the more people will be in alignment with The AAC’s mission to share the stoke of adventure while protecting the planet – a mission I’m fully behind. Together, we decided to launch Content Creators Camp (CCC) with support from MADE X MTNS and Eagle’s Nest Outfitters, to help equip new and aspiring content creators with skills and vision, forged in the mountains.
By Shannon Davis — Former Editor-in-Chief of Backpacker and Climbing Magazines; Adventure writer; Content Strategy and Marketing.
The Appalachian Adventure Company’s Content Creators Camp hosted a masterclass-level experience in outdoor content creation July 8-11, 2022, with an overnight backpacking trip on the Mountains to Sea Trail followed by a two night stay at the rustic Cabins at Sandy Mush Bald. Participants had the opportunity to hone their skills around creating outdoor product photography and telling an authentic story.
I don’t know why I wore those knee-high gaiters. It was hot and humid near the North Carolina/Georgia line, and the well trodden trail was dry. Sunscreen or DEET would have been better protection than swampy Gore-Tex. But hey — I was on the first real backpacking trip that I researched and planned myself, and we were all just trying to look like the folks in the pictures we’d seen in magazines like “Backpacker.” On my second “big” backpacking trip, we started late from the trailhead at Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia, hiked into the dark, promptly got lost, futzed with our seemingly impossible tent and stove by headlamp, and slept only intermittently. We thought the wild ponies who came to graze nearby were bears of course….grizzlies, probably.
Every trip you take, no matter how many times you’ve left the frontcountry behind, has opportunities for mistakes and growth and awe. Those experiences and the landscape surrounding them become part of you and part of your story. My story grew from those first two bumbling outings in the Appalachian Wilderness, all the way across the nation to guiding on Mt. Rainier, a Teton Grand Traverse, summiting Denali and more. Experiences in the wilderness, both the embarrassing and epic, make your story.
Earlier this year, I was talking with my friend Steven Reinhold, founder of The Appalachian Adventure Company, about this: There is more interest in hiking and backpacking and outdoor adventure than ever, and a new generation of stories waiting to be told. And without doubt, the better those stories are told the more people will be in alignment with The AAC’s mission to share the stoke of adventure while protecting the planet – a mission I’m fully behind. Together, we decided to launch Content Creators Camp (CCC) — with support from MADE X MTNS and Eagle’s Nest Outfitters — to help equip new and aspiring content creators with skills and vision, forged in the mountains.
I’ve been in outdoor media a long time, most recently serving as Editor-in-Chief of Backpacker, and, with “content” bombarding us all day, every day, and from every angle, I know we need more of that good experiential stuff, shaped by the mountains. Those stories and images are the ones that make you need to go pack your pack and hit the trail. So we ideated CCC and planned its inaugural offering in the misty, dreamscape hills outside of one of America’s coolest and “outdoorsiest” towns: Asheville, North Carolina. Our participants ranged from guidebook authors, to social media managers, to climbing club founders. Everyone brought an open and energetic mindset to learning adventure photography and writing skills while on a killer little backpacking trip. All of us walked away buzzing with new skills, and new stories.
“At its heart, what I believe outdoor content needs to do is inspire people to get outside more, remove barriers to entry, and empower folks to do it better, more comfortably, and more often. To have more fun out there. This is the stuff that makes your life better.” — Shannon Davis
At its heart, what I believe outdoor content needs to do is inspire people to get outside more, remove barriers to entry, and empower folks to do it better, more comfortably, and more often. To have more fun out there. This is the stuff that makes your life better. To me, this makes content creation a service. If you’re a content creator who wants to share outdoor stoke, you’re in the service industry just like a mountain guide, and should strive to connect with people in relatable, useful, and human ways to light a little fire inside. We gather tinder and fuel, and light a match together. That’s what a content creator should strive to achieve through their storytelling.
Why? Depending on the nature of your goals and platform, you have various key performance indicators (KPI’s) and revenue to work toward, of course. But, beyond the metrics, we do it because we believe in the power of the outdoors to change lives. Outdoor experiences make stress go down and smiles go up. Friendships deepen, and your cardio gets a kick in the pants. We also do it because folks who get outside grow to care more about the land and to learn more about its history and best means for conserving it. We care more about nutrition and how best to fuel an adventure. We care about how our gear is made. This stuff that happens in the backcountry all translates to myriad frontcountry purchasing and ballot-box decisions that can change the world.
How do you pull off that grandiose stuff? Well, you can come along on next year’s CCC and get immersed in ideas with which to fill your bag of tricks. Also, you can do one simple thing: go have real experiences in the wilderness. Go and make mistakes, and learn how not to make them next time. Learn for yourself just when you’ll need to rock gaiters, and when you won’t. Go and have successes, and learn how to have more. Become a subject matter expert. Go and find out how you are made by these mountains.
The first Content Creators Camp crew from left to right; Danielle Johnson, Avery Hayden, Rose Goodbread, Jessie Johnson, Shannon Davis, Lee Trebotich and Steven Reinhold
The Appalachian Adventure Company was founded to share the stoke of adventure while protecting and preserving our planet. Founder Steven Reinhold, a native of Waynesville, NC who now resides in Sylva, NC, is an avid explorer and adventure philanthropist who has pursued his passions around the globe. He created the #trashtag cleanup effort, has represented Big City Mountaineers’ Summit for Someone Program and served as Backpacker Magazine’s Brand Ambassador. Steven founded The Appalachian Adventure Company in 2014 after climbing several of America’s most iconic peaks with the industry’s leading guide services. On those original expeditions he realized that mountain guides are the coolest people on the planet and that he found his best self while climbing mountains. The AAC was founded to share the stoke of adventure with everyone! Find out more at TheAACSite.com
Shannon Davis is a former Editor-in-Chief of Backpacker and Climbing. His family tree hails back to the mountains of WNC. He now lives in Lyons, Colorado on the banks of the North Saint Vrain Creek with his son, doggo, and a few chickens.
Through Waypoint Accelerator, I met an incredible group of outdoor industry professionals. The team at Hellbender Paddleboards was the first outdoor brand to take a chance on Adventure Nerds. I pitched them the idea of a guidebook collaboration, and they loved it. Our goal was to celebrate a great paddling destination in Western North Carolina that was accessible for most people and show how Hellbender Paddleboards could be used for an overnight adventure.
By Nate Trappe — Founder of Adventure Nerds
Outdoor adventure publishing company Adventure Nerds and Asheville-based inflatable paddleboard manufacturer Hellbender Paddleboards recently announced a new guidebook for paddling adventures in North Carolina. Lake James Paddling Adventure Guide Notes is a 31-page interactive guidebook that contains hyper-specific information about planning an overnight paddling adventure and the natural and cultural history of Lake James. The book features dynamic photographs of Hellbender paddleboards in action and celebrates a collaboration of two brands, celebrating the amazing paddling opportunities in North Carolina and reaching new audiences with the tools to get outside more.
The trick to starting anything new is finding a way for optimism to outweigh uncertainty. When I walked into the conference room for the first session of the Waypoint Accelerator program I was filled with uncertainty. I still am. One of the joys of being an entrepreneur is seeing uncertainty as an opportunity to create something new.
I met the team from Hellbender Paddleboards in November 2021. We sat in the conference room and introduced ourselves and our dreams for our fledgling companies. It’s odd to lack confidence and feel optimistic at the same time. But there we were, taking a big step on our startup adventure. The Waypoint Accelerator program created a structure and a support system to build our confidence and stoke our optimism. The outdoor community of Western North Carolina has been amazingly supportive, and something special happens when a bunch of other people believe in your idea with you.
That’s why I was excited to be a part of Waypoint. I wanted to make connections with others and discover people in the outdoor industry that might see the potential of Adventure Nerds. I founded Adventures Nerds to increase access to adventure and create new opportunities for the outdoor community. Before Waypoint, I quietly published my first Guide Notes, a digital guidebook for multi-day adventures. It was the first step in my plan to create the worst business model ever – a low-cost, highly-produced, hyper-specific item that only appeals to a small demographic. However, the person buying Guide Notes and planning an adventure is also the ideal customer for other outdoor brands. All that was left to do was to figure out how to grow a three-sided marketplace for writers, customers, and outdoor brands that only works with scale.
Through Waypoint, I met an incredible group of outdoor industry professionals. The team at Hellbender was the first outdoor brand to take a chance on Adventure Nerds. I pitched them the idea of a guidebook collaboration, and they loved it. Our goal was to celebrate a great paddling destination in Western North Carolina that was accessible for most people and show how Hellbender Paddleboards could be used for an overnight adventure. Then, Adventure Nerds borrowed a couple of Hellbender paddleboards and went on an adventure. The result was an interactive, digital guidebook that featured Hellbender Paddleboards in photographs throughout the book.
“Unless you’ve done it or have a friend who’s done it, it is time-consuming to find, research, and plan an overnight adventure. This guidebook is the result of our common passion for paddling in Western North Carolina and a desire to help more people get on the water. Lake James was the ideal location for a beginner-level overnight paddling adventure that demonstrated the stability and durability of Hellbender paddleboards.” — Nate Trappe
We recently published the book and are excited to use it as a proof-of-concept example to connect with other outdoor brands to create more guidebook collaborations. We are building a library of mini guidebooks for outdoor adventures and we believe there is an enormous opportunity to create a mutually beneficial network of outdoor brands, outdoor creatives, and customers that share a common love for adventure. The Adventure Nerds and Hellbender Paddleboards guidebook collaboration was an important first step in launching a business model that will support our growth.
We are a small company, and the future is uncertain, but we have over 20 guidebooks in production for 2022, and we are thinking big. I know we will continue to meet more people that believe in our mission of increasing access to adventure. It won’t be easy, creating something new never is, but it all starts with finding a few people to take a chance on an idea and keep the optimism alive. A big thanks to the teams at Waypoint and Hellbender Paddleboards for taking a chance on this wild idea with us. Who’s next?
Adventure Nerds is a global network and marketplace for hyper-specific guidebooks about multi-day outdoor adventures. We make it easy to find and plan new adventures. Adventure Nerds is on a mission to increase access to adventure. We believe in elevating the value of adventure, inspiring action, and supporting a diverse and inclusive outdoor community. Since 2022, Adventure Nerds has hired an ever-expanding roster of local and global outdoor writers to create mini guidebooks about multi-day backpacking, bikepacking, canyoneering, paddling, skiing, and surfing adventures. Contact Adventures Nerds to discuss a guidebook collaboration that features your brand on an adventure near you. You can purchase your copy of “Lake James Paddling Adventure Guide Notes” today at AdventureNerds.com.
Hellbender Paddleboards’ mission is to create a better paddleboard for the rivers and lakes of Western North Carolina. Our paddleboards are built for adventure, designed for stability and durability, and come with an excellent warranty. Hellbender paddleboards come in multiple sizes with innovative features and a focus on sustainability. Learn more at HellbenderPaddleboards.com.
The Waypoint Accelerator program is designed to help early-stage outdoor businesses and entrepreneurs map out and reach the next waypoints in their growth journeys. This program, the first of its kind in the East, is recruiting for its 4th cohort, after helping nearly 30 past participants grow their revenues, expand their teams, accomplish huge projects, and realize big dreams. Through a collaborative network of peers and mentors, in-depth training and coaching, access to growth capital, and dedicated time set aside to focus on the future of the business, Waypoint provides companies with the support, knowledge, clear vision, and resources needed to thrive. More information and program application at WaypointAccelerator.com.
The craft beer industry thrives in WNC because the mixture of natural beauty and quality of life ties so beautifully into the region’s love of great food and drink.
Leah Wong Ashburn is the CEO of Highland Brewing, Asheville’s first legal brewery since prohibition. Her father, Oscar Wong, founded the company in 1994 in the basement of Barley’s Taproom. They’ve since grown to occupy a large brewing facility nestled on more than 40 acres of land—their own mini outdoor paradise. From the beginning, they’ve been inspired by and committed to protecting the region’s amazing natural resources.
My parents fell in love with Asheville on their first visit: the mountains, the people, and the culture really spoke to them. The history of creative makers runs so deep in our area that I think Highland Brewing was born by these inspiring surroundings. Craft beer is really all about innovation and creativity.
The craft beer industry thrives in WNC because the mixture of natural beauty and quality of life ties so beautifully into the region’s love of great food and drink. As a part of a recent meeting, we took our entire sales team for a hike to Craggy Pinnacle on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We really wanted to do something outside so that our reps from across North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee could really understand why we’re here in Western North Carolina, and what is so amazing about it.
It was wonderful to see their delight at the wildlife and the 360-degree views from Craggy Pinnacle. But for us, this is just everyday life. I have two incredible mountain views just on my ten-minute commute to work everyday! That experience allowed our staff to live a little chapter in our story and helped them to better understand our culture—and even our branding and packaging.
In 2018 we made the decision to update our brand. It was terrifying. Here I was making changes to my dad’s 20-year-old company. But our beer portfolio had evolved, and we wanted our brand to reflect that. We were able to work with a designer who had grown up in Black Mountain. He was not only familiar with our area; he knew exactly where we started and what we’d become. Referring to our original brand, he said, “You guys are not Scottish. You are pioneers!” That was really the key.
Our logo now revolves around a simplified compass to capture that pioneering spirit. When I saw it, I said, “This is right.” I knew it was a reinvigorated brand rooted in the same place, but our identifying characteristic was moving forward. That really spoke to our staff. They were like, “Let’s keep creating. Let’s keep innovating. Let’s keep forging a path.” Our branding now reflects the brand that we are today and will be tomorrow.
We’ve also designed our packaging to reflect WNC’s beautiful natural resources. All of our year-round beers feature mountains on the packaging, and our seasonal beers are tied to something of regional significance, be it mountains, flora, or fauna. I think that beer and the outdoors complement each other beautifully. Enjoying a great beer and exploring the outdoors are both celebratory experiences. They give you a feeling of connection.
I think being a woman-led company has made women more comfortable applying to work here. 40 percent of our staff and nearly 50 percent of our management are women. That percentage of women in management is rare in general, but in craft beer, it’s almost non-existent.
It’s great to stand out. When Highland was founded in 1994, we stood out because we were the only brewery. We’re now part of a huge community, but we still stand out because of our diversity. I think being a woman-led company has made women more comfortable applying to work here. 40 percent of our staff and nearly 50 percent of our management are women. That percentage of women in management is rare in general, but in craft beer, it’s almost non-existent.
My earliest memories of coming to Asheville are of visiting my parents when they owned a place that they called “The Farm.” When I pulled up and opened my car door, the air was different. I couldn’t help but take a huge deep breath of this mountain air. That is so special, and it’s easy to lose.
People often make the decision to move to Western North Carolina before they’ve even decided what to do for work. It’s our outdoors that draw them.
People often make the decision to move to Western North Carolina before they’ve even decided what to do for work. It’s our outdoors that draw them. I think that says a lot about what this area has to offer. There people care a lot about our natural resources – and they also care about protecting those resources.
We’ve always operated with a long-term view, and conserving our 40-acre property is a big part of that approach. We recently hired a full time land management professional. With his help, we’re working to control invasive species and develop trails that complement the land—not destroy it. We’re also creating opportunities to go outside, be it to play volleyball or disc golf, or to walk trails. That’s important because when you bring people to the outdoors, they care more about it.
Getting outdoors in WNC is my mental health, centering, recovery, and inspiration. One of my favorite things to do is to go to Bent Creek by myself and run. There’s just something so refreshing about that experience: the quiet, the fresh air, and being around others who are enjoying the same things.
I feel like I’m a better person living here. I give credit to the people who live here and the culture of this place, but that’s all based on the natural beauty that we have. You can’t have one without the other. I’ve felt inspired to dive into who Highland is, what we stand for, and what we can become because of our surroundings.
