Looking Sideways: 10 Things
A viral Patagonia take, Powder asking the big questions, and some choice January music selections.
1. My latest Looking Sideways guest is legendary European freeride snowboarder Axel Pauporte. Here’s me dialling in from the French Alps to explain why you should listen it. And here’s the episode link below:
2. Foster Huntington’s highly critical Patagonia opinion piece has been doing the rounds this week.
At first I thought it was an insightful piece. Having re-read it, I realised it is anecdotal commentary, not journalism.
Of course, it is interesting to hear such an avowedly sceptical take on one of the sacred cows of the outdoor industry.
Other than that, I’m not too sure what it really adds to the wider conversation around the brand, other than to help reinforce everybody’s existing view.
It’s an ex-employee talking about his personal experiences at Patagonia, years after the fact, and making the (dare I say, somewhat obvious) inferences that billionaires can be unpleasant and ruthless, that multi-billion dollar company Patagonia has a cutthroat corporate environment, that clothing companies aren’t paragons of sustainability, and that - and this might really shock you - Patagonia are really good at marketing themselves differently.
If your favourite book is Let Me People Go Surfing, then you’re going to think he’s a bitter ex-employee with an axe to grind.
If you’re predisposed to think Patagonia are a bunch of hypocritical shysters and Yvon Chouinard is a huckster, then you’re going to find it revelatory.
One of the main reasons I wanted to make my series The Announcement was because the typical discourse around Patagonia tends to be so cartoonish, Manichean (‘They’re saving the planet! No, they’re evil!) and self-validating, and doesn’t really engage critically with the actual issues at play.
Stuff like: what the future of capitalism looks like, the democratic impact of unelected billionaires, the actual impact of this idea of ‘business for good’ when it comes to fighting the climate crisis, the current state of philanthropic capitalism, the damage caused by everybody constantly leaping to easy win/social-media influenced binary conclusions, and so on.
For me this piece falls into that camp.
3. Billy Strings covering Fearless by Pink Floyd is great.
10 Things will always be free, but it takes a lot of effort, love and curiosity to pull this thing together each week.
So if you want to support Looking Sideways without taking out a paid sub - you can! Click right here.
4. Congratulations to my friends Nick Hounsfield and Abby Richardson on the forthcoming publication of their new book Do Blue. Preorder here.
5. I’m really enjoying Mike Lay’s new YouTube series, in which he’s attempting to surf and cycle his way around the UK. Watch the latest above.
6. Tortoise Media have followed last summer’s Salt Path expose with a forensic new podcast series that goes even more deeply into this most contentious of stories.
7. Does Skiing Matter When The World Is Burns, asks this timely Powder Magazine story.
More simple ways to support Looking Sideways - use any of these codes and I’ll get a small commission 🫡
LOOKINGSIDEWAYS10 for 10% off any order from Finisterre
LOOKINGSIDEWAYS for HUGE savings on ski and snowboard hire with Intersport this winter.
LOOKINGSIDEWAYSXDB for 15% off anything from Db
LOOKINGSIDEWAYS for 15% off any Stance order
LOOKINGSIDEWAYS2026 for 15% off any Albion purchase
LOOKINGSIDEWAYS for a whopping 20% off anything from Goodrays.
8. Perfect January listening: Luke Una is back on Worldwide FM.
9. I’m a little late to this, but the ever-excellent Freak Zone’s David Bowie tribute show was great.
10. My thanks to Chris Hines for sharing this really interesting piece on the impact of climate change on the sports industry.
Which of these stories did you enjoy this week? Let me know ✌️
Good take on _that_ Patagonia piece. I had similar thoughts. Have you seen this response? Embraces the nuance a bit more, I think: https://read.hereandthere.club/p/why-im-not-writing-off-patagonia
Beacause you asked, I love the Luke Una radio show - thank you, that's going to be a longterm follow - and Mike Lay's delightfully guileless bike trips. The subjective commentary on Patagonia from Mr Vanlife mildly annoyed me (the revealation about the US military wasn't really a surprise but it stung a bit) but mostly becuase it seemed deliberatley pejorative. As Kyle Frost put it in the piece Alex shared, it's frustrating how much Oxygen Patagonia suck up when others are doing good and better work. But a grand ten things as usual, thank you.