March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, so I’m joined for a chairlift chat by Kelsey Boyer, founder of Save A Brain, who is channeling her experience to shift the brain health of her community. Save A Brain’s mission is to provide education, encourage prevention, and spread awareness about the long-term mental and physical effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and concussions.

Kelsey’s magnetic energy, firsthand experience, and ability to build community give a unique voice and perspective to such an invisible injury. We talk about her path from starting the nonprofit, her lessons learned along the way, and what impact work she’s most proud of and makes her heart (and brain) sing.

As a longtime fan of the work she’s doing and the community she’s formed at Save A Brain, I knew this was a conversation I wanted to have and share with all of you. Personally, I’ve experienced and navigated serious struggles with my own brain injuries, so this hits close to home and I’m grateful for Kelsey and her work.

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This episode is brought to you by I Give A F*ck About Mental Health. For 20% off, use code POD20 at checkout: https://drew-petersen.com/shop

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Learn more and support Save A Brain at https://saveabraininc.com/

Follow Save A Brain on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saveabrain/

Follow Kelsey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelseyboyer/

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Devon O’Neil is a journalist and author of The Way Out. A gripping, consuming read, The Way Out chronicles a 2017 backcountry ski trip in the Colorado Rockies that ended in both tragedy and miracle—and changed a community forever. Set in small towns and towering mountain ranges, it is at once an ode to high-country life and a dissection of what that life costs.

After reading the book, I was left with a profound feeling that it’s a story any member of our outdoor-loving communities should read. Devon’s writing is so much more than a page-turning story. He explores and examines the saga of the accident, but also life in the mountains at-large, with nuance and emphasis on the emotional and communal realities.

Devon himself lives in Breckenridge, Colorado and is a longtime reporter of life in the mountains, our adventurous pursuits, and the psychological realities faced by folks in these communities. He also moonlights as a mountain hutmaster, and in many ways, he became the perfect person to dive into the untold story from this harrowing accident in a true, relatable manner. In the interview, we get into the human side of his writing, the book, and what the process was like to immerse himself in a difficult story.

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This episode is brought to you by Salomon. To check out the QST line of skis, and all Salomon ski gear, click here.

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Buy and read The Way Out wherever you get books: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-way-out-devon-oneil

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Cam Smith just competed in the sport of skimo’s Olympic debut in the Milano Cortina Olympics, including a 4th-place finish in the mixed relay. Cam is an 11-time US Ski Mountaineering national champion, holds course records for The Grand Traverse, Gothic Mountain Tour, and Power of Four, and has also represented Team USA at the Mountain & Trail Running World Championships. As a professional mountain athlete, both in the sport ski mountaineering and as an elite professional trail and mountain runner, Cam has smashed records and established himself as a favorite in the sports for both his performances and how he carries himself as a person.

I had the opportunity to talk with Cam less than a week removed from competing, immediately after he arrived back in the U.S. His reflections from the Olympics are fresh, candid, and personal. In our conversation it is abundantly clear that Cam’s recent success, and the ascendance of skimo, is the result of well over a decade of building up to this Olympic moment. His commitment to that process in the bigger picture shines through admirably.

Cam told me he said yes to my interview request so soon after returning stateside because it was on a chairlift, not a Zoom call—so you know I loved hearing that. We linked up in his home of Crested Butte, Colorado. Everyone I talked to was so excited for him, proud of how he represented their community, and lauded him for so much more than being an Olympian.

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This episode is brought to you by Protect Our Winters. To learn more and to join Team POW, visit protectourwinters.org.

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Follow Cam on Instagram: @camfromcb

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