Agenda:
Something New
Here’s the first issue of our newsletter. You can expect to get one of these a couple of times each month - no more than weekly. What’s inside will be wholly determined by what’s been happening at Dakota Adventure Supply and whatever randomness has been taking up space in my mind lately.
With that, let’s get started!
Reflections
We’re hitting that season when you naturally look back at the year and take stock. All in all, 2023 was pretty incredible. Here’s a few of the highlights:
- What started with a crazy idea amongst two friends was launched as Dakota Adventure Supply. With the support of friends old and new, we started selling the Adventure Tote 44 from our website, and have since launched several apparel items.
- Paxton and I went backpacking in the Black Hills in July, and I reconnected with my camping roots (Read: developed tendonitis halfway through the trip and hobbled the last few miles!)
- We had the opportunity to fill a custom order of 200 Adventure Totes with a custom patch added that was an exciting project to work on - A BIG THANK YOU to our client 🤘!
- Paxton summited Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams in Washington State
- Jeff went backpacking in the Superstition Wilderness Area in Arizona
- And saving the best for last - we’ve met so many amazing folks who took interest in our brand - partners, mentors, customers, friends - we’re so thankful for all of your support!
Those are a few of the things that happened this past year, and we’re excited to keep the momentum going as we head into 2024. Onward!
Holiday Playlist
Perfect timing, right?! Yes, I meant to send this out sooner, but sue me. In case you didn’t know, we’ve partnered with our good friend Thomas Hentges, co-owner over at the Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls to create some curated playlists that capture the sound of Dakota.
Thomas put together a special holiday-themed playlist for us that we just had to share, even though we’re a day late. You can listen to the playlist here.
Thomas says, “Some classics. Some contemporary. My personal cream of the holiday crop.”
Thank you as always, Thomas. You can find links to all of the past playlists here.
Mountain Gazette
A couple of months ago, I stumbled upon (or had an ad served to me by) Mountain Gazette, and I was pretty quickly smitten. Originally founded as “Skier’s Gazette” in 1966, the long-form content magazine has featured the writings of Hunter S. Thompson and Edward Abbey.
It’s gone through a number of changes over the years, before being acquired and relaunched most recently in 2020 by Mike Rogge, a skier and journalist. Mike’s setting out to prove that there is more to the outdoors than blind consumerism - that people might just be interested in reading about enjoying the outdoors.
At 11 x 17 inches and 160 pages (200 for the special 200th issue, that you can get a copy of for a limited time when you subscribe!), the Mountain Gazette is like a Coffee Table Book that arrives twice each year.
There’s something about the nature of MG that we’re drawn to and identify with. In a digital world with an over-reliance on fleeting, short-form communication, it’s refreshing to have a physical representation of slow-living. I subscribed soon after listening to a recent Gear Junkie episode that featured Mike as the guest, and I can’t wait to shut off my phone on a winter weekend in January, curling up with my new MASSIVE Mountain Gazette and escaping to the mountains.
Wrap up
Okay, that’s it for the first one of these. What did you think? If anything spoke to you, please let me know, and if you’ve ever got suggestions - a joke, a news article, another brand doing something cool - please let me know!
Hope you had a great holiday. Take care.
Yours in Comradery!
Jeff