Grit or Gift

Our guest today is Dr. Ryan Rhoades, one of the foremost experts on beef in the world. He’s renowned for producing some of the most marbled Wagyu in the U.S.—and he's the ranch manager for our new company, Miraflora Wagyu. In this episode, we’ll explore the fascinating origins of this special breed of cattle and learn what makes it so delicious. Welcome to the show.

Our guest today is Dan Abrams, the founder of outerwear company Flylow. Dan and his former partner, Greg Steen, both Colorado natives, started Flylow in 2005 because they were sick of spending hard-earned money on ski kits that they destroyed in a single season. From bartending at night and designing apparel by day in his mom’s basement, Dan has built Flylow into one of the most popular brands in the ski space. We caught up with Dan at his home in Tahoe, where he lives with his wife, Megan, and their two kids. Welcome to the show.

Our guest today is Sam Long, a Miraflora-sponsored professional triathlete and native of Boulder, Colorado. He has won two Ironmans and eight middle distance races, and he got a silver at the 70.3 World Championships in 2021. This past season, he’s had some ups and downs, and was the subject of controversy when his feud with fellow triathlete Sam Laidlow went public. He also got a controversial penalty in the St. George 70.3 World Championships last fall, which cost him the race. We caught up with him from his new home in Arizona to ask him all about this and more. Welcome to the show.

Our guest today is Tim Neville, a travel and adventure writer for the New York Times, Outside, Men’s Journal, and SKI Magazine. His work has been included in anthologies like “Best American Travel Writing,” “Best American Sports Writing,” and “Best Food Writing.” He’s traveled to roughly 90 countries and was named travel writer of the year in 2015. he joins us today from his home in Bend, Ore. Learn more about him on his website, or follow in on Instagram @Tim_Neville.

American alpinist Conrad Anker is one of the world’s most renowned adventurers, whose first ascent up Meru was made into an award-winning documentary film. Anker notably found George Mallory’s body on Everest in 1999, and then survived the avalanche that killed his climbing partner Alex Lowe and cameraman David Bridges that same year. He recently suffered a heart attack and stepped down from his role as team leader for the North Face. We caught up with him recently at his home in Bozeman, Montana. Welcome to the show.

Anneke Beerten, a former professional mountain biker, joins us to talk about the highs and lows of her career. She’s a two-time BMX world champion, a three-time four-cross world champion, and Queen of Crankworx. She recently retired due to a traumatic brain injury sustained in a car accident in which someone ran a red light, and she is still working on putting the pieces of her life back together. She joins us today from her home in Bentonville, Arkansas. Welcome to the show.

Welcome to our special Olympics series, where we interview athletes who have climbed to the top of their field. Our guest today is alpine ski racer Susie Corrock Luby, bronze medalist in the 1972 downhill at the Sopporo Games and member of the Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. She was a dark horse at the event, and her medal ended the U.S. Ski Team’s eight-year losing streak. She joins us from her home in Spokane, Wash., to talk about the Olympics then and now, and her passion for an unlikely sport—curling.

Welcome to our special Olympics series, where we interview athletes who have climbed to the top of their field. Our guest today is Bella Wright, a current member of the U.S. Olympic Alpine Ski Team. She’s made an incredible and rare comeback from injuries that threatened her Olympic dream, making her Olympic debut even more exciting. We caught up with her in a hotel room in L.A., en route to Beijing for the games.

Welcome to our special Olympics series, where we interview athletes who have climbed to the top of their field. Our guest today is Sophie Caldwell Hamilton, two-time Olympic cross-country ski racer. She was the second U.S. woman ever to win a World Cup race, and became renowned for her sprinting prowess and strategy. She comes from a long line of Nordic Olympians, graduated with a degree in psychology from Dartmouth College, and just retired at the age of 31 last year. She joins us from her home in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado.

Welcome to our special Olympics series, where we interview athletes who have climbed to the top of their field. Our guest today is Olympian Ben Berend, who competed in Nordic combined at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. Berend, who grew up in Steamboat, Colo., talks about how this strange combination sport of cross-country skiing and Nordic jumping evolved, what it was like to be a U.S. athlete at the Games, and who to watch in the February Games in Beijing.

On today’s show, our guest is former professional basketball player Andrey Kirilenko, otherwise known as AK47. Andrey is best known for his long career at the Utah Jazz, where he became one of the top players in the NBA. Andrey now acts as the commissioner for the Russian Basketball Federation and runs a nonprofit foundation with his wife, Masha, that helps kids in need.

On today's show, our guest is Ellen Hart, a former competitive runner who, at the age of 50, began her second athletic career as a triathlete and is now a world champion many times over. She’s now 63, and she recently qualified for the Kona Ironman world championships in October. Ellen, who was formerly married to Denver Mayor Federico Peña, has been outspoken about her struggles with bulimia and anorexia, and was the subject of a Lifetime movie "Dying To Be Perfect." She joined us today from her home in Boulder County.

On today’s show, we’re interviewing Mikaela Shiffrin, the best American alpine skier ever. She’s a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and a three-time overall world cup champion. The past year has been a hard one for her, especially with the loss of her father, Jeff. We caught up with her at her home in Vail, Colorado, to find out how she’s pushing through it.

Our guest is Irina Pavlova, former president of Onexim Sport & Entertainment, where she transformed the Brooklyn Nets from a dying franchise into a profitable business and a damn good basketball team. Before that, she was the head of Google’s Strategic Partnerships in Russia. We caught up with her while on vacation in Miami from her home in London.

Our guest today is professional skier Ingrid Backstrom, who is perhaps the single most influential female skier in modern times. She has appeared in more than 20 ski films, podiumed in 12 big mountain competitions, and bagged first ski descents all over the world. She joins us from her home in Leavenworth, Washington, where like a lot of us these days, she’s home with her two young daughters playing in the background.