What do you see when you look at this picture. Most people seem to see a nice looking young man enjoying a beautiful day of trout fishing in MT. Glacier National Park paints a marvelous backdrop as Jim effortlessly pulls trout from the river as if he were Brad Pitt.
I’ll tell you what I see. Teton Village Sports Soft Goods Mgr. and Men’s Buyer James Muhlfeld letting me down. All I ask for is some pictures of people using the products we sell. I mean really the guy is in charge of buying men’s apparel and he is in $.49 white cotton tee-shirt. I shouldn’t give him such a hard time, he is casting a Temple Fork Outfitters TiCr X rod and retrieving “Huge Trout” with a Galvan Torque reel.
I appreciate the image Jim, but next time why don’t you just dress up in some J-Crew and plunge a knife in my heart.
squirrel murphy Fishing, General News
Teton Village Sports hardgoods buyer Duffy McGee spends his summers away from TVS. He takes his time away from TVS very seriously. Choosing to spend the majority of his time product testing. “It isn’t enough to take someone’s word on a given product”.
We caught up with Duffy recently on one such product testing excursion. “I think it is safe to say I can wear these Mountain Khakis for just about anything. I have really been putting this pair through the paces. I spent all day building irrigation systems in them. Now I’m going to ride out to the back 40 and check on the herd. Maybe pull a couple of trout out of a spring creek and then I’m going to head out for a nice dinner with friends all in one pair of pants”. He adds “They are sturdy enough to be a work pant, but still classy and stylish enough to fit into that “Mountain Casual” dress code. The chicks dig em”.
That they do Duffy, that they do.
squirrel murphy General News
Stop the presses, I have a problem. The clock just stuck 1am and I can not sleep because I have been tossing and turning thinking about yesterdays post. I have two issues with the “Tubing” post. Stylistically, it is just too long. More importantly, I couldn’t put my finger on what is wrong with tubing. I think I have solved both issues.
The breakthrough came when at witts end I contacted former Jackson Freerider Matt Klene. Matt is now studying radically experimental, free-form, writing techniques. When asked about blogging he postulated that readers do not want to scroll when reading a post. Short and sweet is the key which means you have to hit them over the head with your knowledge and leave. Not great for my rambling style, but I like it. Fortunately, Klene is one of the foremost authorities on gear and the collection of it. We came to the opinion that the problem with Tubing is that it breaks a fundamental law of sport. The law is simple. For someone to be able to claim that they are a true enthusiast in a given sport they must own a “quiver” of equipment pertaining to said sport. Skiing is a great example. Any true skier will tell you that you have to have several different pairs of skis that are designed for different conditions, styles or events. Classically, these skis have been somewhere along the lines of slalom, GS, freestyle… Today in Jackson people have a quiver of powder specific skis. You have your inbounds powder ski. Your back country powder ski. Your side country powder ski. And then you have the old Billy Baroo for those epic days when nothing else will work. The problem with tubing is that currently there is no difference in equipment as far as I know. I need there to be a high volume tube used for running smaller creeks and whitewater. A low volume tube for those hot summer afternoons when you want to be as low in the water as possible. And then of course you need some sort of customized tube with speakers, satellite radio, a built in cooler and cup holder and maybe, just maybe a small electric motor. This tube is for special occasions when you need to impress or you know that “That Guy” who thinks he is a gift to the sport is going to be at the take out and you just want to make him look stupid.
Moving forward I promise to keep the posts short and powerful. If anyone knows how I can start a quiver of tubes please let me know. I like tubing too much to give up now.
squirrel murphy General News
One of the most frequent questions fielded by our employees during the winter is “what do you do around here during the summer?” The answers vary depending on the person, but typically they involve hiking, biking, fly fishing… This weekend I found another answer to add to my quiver of obscure things to say to people.
Tubing! Tubing the various creeks and rivers in the area has been a local pastime for decades. I recently, met some women who claim to have popularized the sport and elevated it to it’s current peak. For their protection we’ll leave their names out of this post, because since they are making such a ridiculous claim I fear for their safety. Whether they have any right to stake a claim to this sport or not, I was fortunate enough to catch up with one of these renaissance tubers this weekend and was lucky enough to get a taste of this up and coming sport.
In the interest of keeping this blog short enough that someone will take the time out of their busy day to read it I will sum up the float and make a few suggestions. We floated North Fish Creek to Wilson. The “Take Out” was packed with other tubing enthusiasts and bagel eaters. All of whom seemed to be enjoying a relaxing Sunday on the creek. This section of creek has several low bridges so be prepared to disembark your tube should the need arise.
All and all I’d say tubing is a great way to relax and enjoy the company of others. The only problem with this sport is that there is very little gear involved. Which means that there is a very low cost of entry which is nice, but aside from the tube, there isn’t any fun stuff to buy. Almost everyone has the same tube and that is just boring. So until Paris Hilton starts tubing I guess we will have to settle for the same boring old inner-tubes. However, I did come up with a few products that you should have in order to have a great time and look like a tubing pro.
This Patagonia Great Divider waterproof gear bag is perfect for hauling refreshments or whatever you might need. Don’t be the person with the Styrofoam cooler held together with a bunge. It is a disaster waiting to happen and you look like a rookie.
As with any river sport a sturdy pair of Chacos is required.
squirrel murphy General News
It’s official, I have done it! I have cooked the finest pie in all the land. It is a three berry masterpiece with a crumble topping that utilizes toasted oats AND toasted, slivered almonds. The almonds are the key. Normally, I would hoot and holler and rub my victory in every one’s face but I recall something about being humble when it comes to pie. If anyone does feel the need to challenge my claim to the worlds greatest pie maker you can find me at the Crystal Springs Lodge. Bring it Bobby Flay, Bring it! I wonder if I can cook one of these things in this portable cooking oven?
Now that I’ve checked this off the list I will get to work on this so called repeating decimal. I’ll find the last digit of Pi, don’t you fret.
squirrel murphy General News
As you loyal blog readers know, many of the employees of www.tetonvillagesports.com are hardcore skateboards. He hit the pool this morning at 7:30 and if I may, we killed it. The team was teeing off this morning. The progression of tricks was mind-numbing. I don’t even know what some of these moves are called. We need to have a compitition so we can actually name some of these things. I’ve never seen so much power and style on display at one session. It was, as one of the team members would say “The Truth”.
The new Vans AV3’s made all the difference for me. I felt like my deck had become a part of me and every movement was effortless and perfect. The best words to describe my skateboarding now are graceful and elegant, but I can’t say that since we are talking about skating. Instead I will use the words raw and hate-inspired. If you want to skate better, go get a pair of these shoes.
Don’t believe any of this post? Well, I didn’t see you at the pool this morning so how would you know.
squirrel murphy General News
As some of you know, I recently took up skateboarding to keep my boss happy. He is a jolly happy soul post pool session and that is just much better than the alternative. Frankly, I have not been killing it in the for-mentioned sessions. So recently I have been looking for ways to increase my skills, because chicks dig guys with skills. In one of my recent epiphanies I recalled from various video games of my youth (I have given them up since they turn me into a mindless vegetable) that certain items give you special powers (I don’t believe in enchanted rings). This reminded me of shopping for shoes with my mother when I was a wee-tyke. The details are sketchy because it has been a long time since I was a wee-tyke, but I recall putting on a pair of spyderman shoe (maybe the Hulk) velcroing them up and running around the store swearing they made we super fast. Everyone else agreed with me so it must have been true. I digress, “Stay on Target”!
Enter the Vans AV3! My latest skateboarding purchase is the Anthoney Van Engelen Pro Model shoe in cookie monster blue or Snorkel Blue as Vans calls it. Bottomline, if I don’t land my first 360 japan air out of the big pool tomorrow I am going to be shocked. Okay, I’ll settle for dropping into the shallow end of the small pool. Regardless, I am going to look good. If these don’t work I am going to buy his pro-model from Alien Workshop. That will definitely do it.
squirrel murphy General News
Seems the summer is being put to good use by someone looking to become the next world champions. Unnamed individuals gathered in a Jackson Park last weekend and practiced up on their Gelande skills. It just goes to show everyone that next year’s competition will be much more serious.
Big Brother General News
The powers at be asked me to stop posting articles about rivers. Well, actually they asked me to stop posting about my river trips. I like to think that they wanted to see a little more diversity and they were not just trying to hold me down. SO today I am posting a picture of a creek and not a river. Symantec’s! Take that!
For those of you not familiar with the term creek (pronounced crick), this body of water would probably be referred to as a stream in your part of the world. My question: Is there a geographic boundary where streams become creeks and vice versa?
In addition to the question of the day I could also do a contest to see if anyone can name this creek. I doubt a lot of people have been here though and I don’t want to be responsible for sending thousands of www.tetonvillagesports.com blog readers on a wild goose chase. This creek is very remote and the fishing is terrible. I mean terrible. Not to mention the mosquitos and always present grizzly bears.
Please post your answers to the question of the day in the comments section. If you know the secret location of the day by all means post that to the comments as well.
squirrel murphy Fishing, General News
I can’t decide which one of these two products is my favorite.
On one hand you have a human powered blender. Which can provide you with that margarita that you have always wanted while camping. On the other hand you have a dehydrator that can allow you to make your own jerky or fruit roll ups. My head is spinning. I need a bigger truck because there is no way I can leave either one of these products behind. I’d rather leave my tent behind. I can make a lean-to in the woods, but I can build a meat dehydrator or a blender out of aspen limbs.
squirrel murphy General News
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