Today Colin is joined by The Monday Boys (outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford and brand & creative expert Producer Dave) to talk about the following topics and news to come out of the outdoor industry over the past week!

• The Footlocker/Dicks merger is one step closer to being finalized. What's next? (05:55)
• The Lightning Round: Nike loses to While On Earth, Polartec's Warm Weather Fleece, and Athleta's disappointing second quarter. (11:05)
• The big news of the week? Retailer Summit Hut announces that it will be closing its doors. Is this a sign of the outdoor industry's demise or just another sign that things are evolving? (18:12)
• The Outdoor Brand Scorecard! Eoin put together a scorecard to evaluate outdoor brands relationship with their retailers. (32:26)

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Today on The Rock Fight, The Brief is back!

The Brief is a look at the brand and creative efforts of the outdoor industry as broken down by our brand and creative expert, Producer Dave. Today we're taking a look at Columbia's recent (and maybe controversial?) campaign: Engineered For Whatever.

And we have a special guest as Colin and Producer Dave are joined by Columbia's SVP of Marketing, Matt Sutton.

Matt talks about the origins of Engineered For Whatever, how he and his team were empowered to go big, and what the campaign means for the future of Columbia. And of course we ask Matt about the reaction to the campaign; both the positive and the negative.

Would you like your brand or marketing campaign to be broken down on a future edition of The Brief? Drop us a line at [email protected].

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Today on the show Colin & Shawnté bid farewell to the Wednesday episodes of The Rock Fight and welcome in the forthcoming Gear Abby.

The Rock Fight is moving to two episodes a week with episodes dropping on Monday and Friday. Fans of the adventure sports and outdoor community topics we typically covered on Wednesday should run right over and follow Shawnte's new podcast Gear Abby. The trailer is now live and the show debuts on September 4th! Colin will be cohosting so you'll get your outdoorsy banter fix on Gear Abby going forward.

Today Colin talks about the decision to move on from Wednesday and Shawnté previews what listeners can expect on Gear Abby.

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Today on the show Colin convenes with The Monday Boys (outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford and brand/creative expert Producer Dave) to run through the following headlines to come out of the outdoor industry:

• Mailbag! A listener looks back on one of the OG low top hikers. (05:23)
• Consumer sentiment is on the decline. What does this actually mean for the outdoor industry? (09:57)
• Gravel Running Mania! Salomon has added gravel as a category on their website. Is that the first domino to fall that leads to gravel becoming a full time shoe wall category? (17:52)
• Big week for Vans. First they unveil the objectively terrible 'Future Clog' while prognosticators ponder if vulcanized rubber sneakers are poised for a comeback. (23:17)
• The Rock Fight Lightning Round! This weeks topics: Angler Core! Alcohol Consumption! Inactivity! (28:35)
• According to The Rock Fight's consigliere, retailers are being conservative heading into the F26 selling season. What's going on out there? (32:20)

Lastly for The Parting Shot Eoin takes over and creates his own 1990's playlist. (43:58)

Thanks for listening! The Rock Fight is a production of Rock Fight, LLC.

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Today on The Rock Fight Colin & Shawnté discuss the following topics that have come out of the outdoor adventure community over the past week:

• Fake summit selfies! Scandal breaks in the mountaineering world as a climber is accused of faking summits. (08:44)
• Nepal pimps other peaks! Nepal is issuing free permits to 97 other mountains to try and relieve some of the traffic on Everest. Will it work? (17:32)
• The Rock Fight Lightning Round! Today's topics: a bear kills Japanese hiker, a rattlesnake kills a Tennessee hiker, and SUPs are killing more people than ever before. (24:30)
• Is completing the Triple Crown of Hiking 'dumb'? A recent blog post ponders the motivation of those who pursue thru hiking the PCT, CDT, and AT. Do we agree? (29:12)

For The Parting Shot, Shawnté reflects on Hurricane Katrina's 20 year anniversary while Colin follows up on Kilian Jornet's new venture.

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Today Colin along with Outdoor Industry Insider Eoin Comerford and Brand & Creative Expert Producer Dave dig into the following topics and headlines that have been percolating in the outdoor industry:

• With brands like On Running and Brooks joining Altra, Saucony, and Hoka in the 'recent excellent financial performance club', is the category of running set up to weather the tariff storm better than everyone else? (05:50)
• The Rock Fight Lightning Round! This weeks lightning round topics include: Gildan Activewear acquires Hanesbrand for $2.2b, Merrell's claim that they are modernizing hiking, and a stop by Pickleball Corner. (21:41)
• Vuori turns 10 and celebrates by opening its 100th store. Is there anything that can slow them down? (29:03)
• On the other side of the athletic coin Under Armour is still trying to refind it's footing. Maybe they need a little more 'grrrr'. (36:08)

Lastly for The Parting Shot Colin has a look at the endurance world's 'discovery' of Rice Krispie Treats. (45:12)

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Today Colin sits with OG Rock Fighter Justin Housman to discuss his career pivot from a journalist in the human powered outdoor media world to his new role in conservation at Save the Redwoods League.

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Today on the show Colin and Shawnté get into the following topics that have come out of the outdoor adventure community!

• A British hiker ignores the signs and is now on the hook for his $16,000 rescue. Should people have to pay to get help? (06:44)
• A NY man was arrested for leaving his 9 year old in the VIP tent of the Lake Placid Ironman while he went out and competed in the race. Did Ironman also submit an invoice for their babysitting fees? (14:57)
• Killian Jornet has a new project... because of course he does. (21:35)
• The Rock Fight's Lightning Round: The fastest 3 minutes in outdoor news! Antarctica tourism, a Russian chairlift collapses, and long distance mushroom boating! (30:56)
• Let's talk about trail etiquette...because it seems that not enough people know the rules these days. (33:23)

Lastly, for The Parting Shot, Colin declares his now semi-eternal position on e-mountain bikes. Brace yourself... the rocks are coming in fast for this one. (53:52)

Thanks for listening! The Rock Fight is a production of Rock Fight, LLC.

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Today on the show Colin, outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford, and brand/creative expert Producer Dave hit the following topics!

• Tariff Watch 2025! After week of surveys, brand reports, and new tariff percentages it is time to check in on the latest tariff situation. (05:32)
• ThredUp's recently earnings report shows that secondhand continues to be an opportunity that everyone should be leaning into. (16:53)
• The Rock Fight Lightning Round! The fastest 3 minutes in outdoor industry news. This weeks topics: Altra's impressive growth, Saucony's even more impressive growth, Reebok sale rumors, and Emerald Expositions overall flat earnings. (22:29)
• Columbia launches it's new brand campaign: Engineered For Whatever. A new video and a new stance from Columbia was the buzz of the outdoor industry last week. We take a look at what the brand is trying to do, determine if they were successful, and discuss the backlash. (28:00)

For The Parting Shot, Colin ponders what you give up when you pursue big outdoor goals. (42:54)

Thanks for listening! The Rock Fight is a production of Rock Fight, LLC.

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A few weeks back on the show Colin, Producer Dave, and consigliere to The Rock Fight Eoin Comerford had some choice words about a new product line that had just been announced from outdoor brand Ortovox.

Ok to be fair, they mostly poked fun at the press release, but still they were not optimistic about Sequence, Ortovox's forthcoming lineup of outdoor apparel and gear.

Tom Mason, the US Brand Manager for Ortovox, heard their comments and today he is on the show ready to throw some rocks of his own!

Thanks for listening! The Rock Fight is a production of Rock Fight, LLC.

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Please follow and subscribe to The Rock Fight and give us a 5 star rating and a written review wherever you get your podcasts.

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