Brendan Leonard

REI Presents: How to Run 100 Miles

Brendan Leonard|February 12, 2018

In September 2017, I stepped up to the starting line of the Run Rabbit Run 100 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, alongside my friend Jayson Sime. The race is a 10...

Semi-Rad: The Joy of Postholing

Brendan Leonard

You know it might be coming. It’s literally the last thing you want to experience, because once it happens once, it can and will happen again—as many times in a...

Black Mountain Lodge at Arapahoe Basin in Colorado.

Semi-Rad: An Ode to Ski Resort Food Courts

Brendan Leonard

Maybe you’ve had one of those ski days: 7 inches of powder, very little wind, mild temperatures and a somehow uncrowded mountain where you’re still making fresh...

Big City Mountaineers with partner “I Have a Dream” Foundation of Boulder Country on a weeklong backpacking trip in the Flat Top Wilderness, CO

Big City Mountaineers: Finding a New Perspective Outdoors

Brendan Leonard

Lessons learned from sharing the privilege of adventure. For three consecutive summers, I went on a backpacking trip with a bunch of people I didn’t know. We...

Semi-Rad: Weeknight Camping Is Worth Your Time

Brendan Leonard

Probably every other time I email my friend Alastair Humphreys, I get an automatic reply with the subject line, “Sorry: I've gone to sleep on a hill,” and a one...

girl camping in Big Agnes Copper Spur UL 2

Semi-Rad Gear Picks for All-Around Adventurers

Brendan Leonard

I’ve been dabbling in almost everything outdoors for about a dozen years–rock and ice climbing, backpacking, mountaineering, hiking, mountain biking, bike touri...

Lessons on “Fun” from Mom

Brendan Leonard

About a thousand feet from the top of Quandary Peak, a fourteener in Colorado, I pulled my gloved hand off my ski pole and swing my hand around, trying to force...

From Green Vest to Adventure Writer in 10 Easy Years

Brendan Leonard

I’ve been writing about adventure and the outdoors for a little over a decade now, and though I’m no Jon Krakauer, occasionally someone asks for my advice on “h...

(To)day Dream: Find Time to Get Outside

Brendan Leonard

Psst. Hey you. Yeah. It's me. I'm the desktop photo you daydream about. You seem busy. Me too. We're all busy now. You are, I am. Hell, your kids are probabl...

Semi-Rad: Welcome to My Adventure Vehicle

Brendan Leonard

Welcome to my adventure vehicle. Please make yourself comfortable. Oh yes, please, you can absolutely eat in here. I would just maybe suggest that you not eat a...

One Good Gift: An Old Climbing Rope

Brendan Leonard

When Christmas 2004 rolled around, I was pretty sure I didn’t want to be a rock climber. I had been working at the REI store in Phoenix for six months, ecstatic...

Semi-Rad: Avoid Shoulder Season Sadness with This Handy Quiz

Brendan Leonard

I’ll bet whoever came up with the term “shoulder season” was living in a ski town. The phrase expresses that mild dissatisfaction from the change in temperature...

Author Bio

REI Presents: How to Run 100 Miles

Semi-Rad: The Joy of Postholing

Semi-Rad: An Ode to Ski Resort Food Courts

Big City Mountaineers: Finding a New Perspective Outdoors

Semi-Rad: Weeknight Camping Is Worth Your Time

Semi-Rad Gear Picks for All-Around Adventurers

Lessons on “Fun” from Mom

From Green Vest to Adventure Writer in 10 Easy Years

(To)day Dream: Find Time to Get Outside

Semi-Rad: Welcome to My Adventure Vehicle

One Good Gift: An Old Climbing Rope

Semi-Rad: Avoid Shoulder Season Sadness with This Handy Quiz

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