April 12, 2024 Newsletter

Hey folks,

Hope you had a good week! It’s been rainy here, but we’re in for a beautiful weekend. We plan to get out on the court and take walks with our dog to enjoy the last of the azalea blooms.

Today we’ve got the 411 on pickleball, snow biking, hiking and the story of an older entrepreneur who’s made a fortune. Also, you can go down the YouTube rabbit hole with us to the Arctic, then enjoy getting even with a scammer.

Pickleball

Watching the pros always inspires us to up our game, so we’ll check out some of The Minto National Pickleball Tournament, to be held in Naples, Florida April 13-20. Streaming is available daily on YouTube, Facebook and at pickleballchannel.com.

Google claims Minto is the largest pickleball tournament in the world. With a party atmosphere (think Indian Wells), the venue will feature top pros Megan Fudge, Jorja Johnson, Anna Leigh Waters, Andrei Daescu, Hunter Johnson, and Yates Johnson. 

Skiing, Accessibility

Haven’t yet embraced adaptive skiing? Are bad knees a sore spot in your life? Or maybe you’re missing the thrill of mountain biking during the snowy months. Why not hop on a ski bike, like Sno-Go, a growing alternative to downhill skiing.

Hundreds of resorts in the U.S. allow the bikes, including my home mountain of Arrowhead. This winter I saw a woman loading her bike onto the shuttle back to Beavercreek- the first time I’ve seen that NOT associated with adaptive skiing.

The bikes- with two or three skis depending on the model- offer a new way to ride the slopes. “The learning curve is minimal, and before long I’m arcing across the groomer, dipping in and out of the spruce and pine woods that line the slope,” says Chris Meehan who tested a bike at Winter Park this winter.

Something to keep in mind for the 2024-25 season.

Hiking

While snow’s still blowing in the Rockies, it is hiking season somewhere. No matter where you are, get a vicarious thrill by following a through-hiker on one of our national trail systems. The Trek.co has an official list of bloggers who regularly update their progress along the journey along the AT, PCT or CDT.

This week, Mike McGhee has been posting (in what seems to be constant rain), most recently at the Bird’s Nest #3 hut in the Shenandoah National Forest. So far, he’s met other through-hikers, “Fire Flo” and “Spicy Ramen” and, thank goodness, recovered from pink eye. And it’s only Day 15.

Business

Forget about those 23 year old wunderkinds. Meet Morris Chang, the Taiwanese entrepreneur who started his semiconductor company at age 55. At 92, he’s now worth $3.4 billion.

Chang believes with age comes wisdom which can be more beneficial in business than the exuberance of youth. Research bears this out: “50-year-old founders were almost twice as likely to achieve major success as 30-year-old founders, while the founders with the lowest chance of success were the ones in their early 20s.”

Entertainment

Ilia Malinan from the US won the ISU World Free Style Skating Championships with an historic six quad jumps. Extra points from us because he used the much missed theme music from Succession.

Travel

And in honor of National Colorado Day…Building those scenic mountain roads is complicated. And expensive:

In short

Speaking of travel, we’re obsessed with Cecilia Blomdahl, a photographer who lives with her boyfriend and dog, Grimm, on Svarlbard, “an island close to the North Pole.” She posts a beautiful video every Sunday about her life on the remote island. (If you’re into hygge, check out her cabin.)

And while you’re going down YouTube rabbit hole, check out Kitboga, a hilarious vlogger who scams the phone scammers by pretending to be a little old lady (among other impersonations). Here’s one of his latest gems.

Well, that’s it for this week. As always, thank you for subscribing and forward this email to a friend, if you think they’d like it.

Have a great weekend!

The Chomp