Looking Sideways Action Sports Podcast Matthew Barr

Welcome The Wave - the latest additions to HKC Discount Club! They’ve joined my other partner brands Finisterre, Stance, Albion, Vivo and Db to offer Looking Sideways listeners and readers yet another an exclusive discount code: this one offering 10% off ANY session at our favourite inland lake. Just drop the code SIDEWAVES10 at checkout to get the goods, and click here to see the other discounts.
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As regular listeners will know, I don't often cover mountaineering and climbing on Looking Sideways.
But I knew I had to make an exception for Everest Inc., Will Cockrell's brilliantly written and nuanced exploration of the increasingly commodified world of mountaineering on the world's highest peak.
Firstly, as somebody who's been devouring books on climbing, adventure, and exploration since I was a kid, I was intrigued to discover that Will had managed to find a fresh angle on the most obvious topic of all.
Secondly, there’s much more to Will’s book than a straightforward retelling of the history of guided exploration on Everest. At its heart, Everest Inc. is a dispassionate examination of the increasingly commodified nature of adventure, bookended by those first British expeditions and, latterly, Nirmal Purja’s testosterone-fuelled approach to the business of mountaineering.
In this classically meandering Looking Sideways chat, Will and I discuss the ethics of commercialisation, the socio-economic impact of climbing, and the legacy of colonialism and empire that underpins the entire tale.
We also pondered the challenges of writing about a subject that has at this point been done to death - especially when two of your main subjects refuse to be interviewed - as well as the recent New York Times story about Nirmal Purge that broke the week we spoke.
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This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lookingsideways.substack.com/subscribe

HUGE thanks for Db for kicking off my new HKC Discount Club with a whopping 15% off for Looking Sideways listeners and readers. Use my Db Journey discount code LOOKINGSIDEWAYS at checkout for 15% off.
I’ve been really enjoying the recent online ‘Creative Exchanges’ I’ve been doing with my friends at Db Journey. They’re such a brilliant idea that I’m not surprised they’re going down so well.
The premise is really simple - Db gather together some of their ambassadors and creatives to form a loose panel to discuss that week’s topic. We then extend the invite to people on our mailing lists, jump on a Google Meet link, and see where the discussion ends up.
Our February subject was a pretty hot topic right now - what does ‘responsible travel’ mean?
The resulting chat was about the ethics of travel in the age of the climate emergency, sure, but we also covered plenty of other themes - the ethics of travel today, the 90s-to-pre pandemic ‘Golden Age’ of travel, and what the future of travel looks like.
For this discussion, I was joined by panellists Kepa Acero, Timothy Myers, Alex Aubry and Db Journey’s Jon, Marcus and Tin, as well as over 100 passionate and smart people who proved there’s a huge appetite for this type of debate and knowledge-sharing. We discussed our own experiences, took questions, and generally engaged in a really fascinating and wide-ranging debate on this fascinating topic.
Big up the Db Journey team for the brilliant idea and for getting me involved, to the panelists for their thought-provoking insights, and to everybody for participating.
PLUS! We’re are doing a LIVE Creative Exchange in London in June! Keep an eye out for more details on this one, and if you enjoyed this chat then, please do share or leave me a comment:
HKC Discount Club is kicking off - click here for exclusive discounts from my partner brands such as Finisterre, Db, Goodrays. Albion and Vivobarefoot. Coming soon - Stance and The Wave!
To find our more about what I do, you can sign up as a subscriber to my Substack newsletter here. There's a brilliant community and much more than just the podcasts.
Or you can follow me on Instagram here.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lookingsideways.substack.com/subscribe

When Freddie Meadows finally surfed RÁN, it signified more than the biggest wave ever surfed in Scandinavia.
It was also the fulfilment of a lifelong ambition; the endgame of a ten-year search; and the symbolic culmination of Freddie’s singular career as a surfer of proud Scandinavian and Swedish heritage thus far.
No wonder he named it after the Norse goddess of the sea.
But then, the long, thoughtful and myth-strewn trip that led to RÁN is emblematic of Freddie’s wider path through professional surfing.
I’ve been following him for years, and have always been fascinated by the way he has looked east instead of west - eschewing the classic professional surf career for something much more original and unique.
It’s an approach that comes through in everything he does, from the particular brands he chooses to work with, to the particular aesthetic that always embellishes the work he puts out.
And it’s why our thoughtful, involved conversation for Looking Sideways covers so much more ground than the usual pro surfer chat.
We discuss what RÁN means to Freddie, of course, now he’s had time to digest the experience.
But we also covered plenty of the classic Looking Sideways themes: our place in nature, the important of honesty when it comes to creativity and a fulfilling life, and why you need determination and vision to follow your own path.
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PLUS! HKC Discount Club is kicking off - click here for exclusive discounts from my partner brands such as Finisterre, Db, Goodrays. Albion and Vivobarefoot. Coming soon - Stance and The Wave!
To find our more about what I do, you can sign up as a subscriber to my Substack newsletter here. There's a brilliant community and much more than just the podcasts.
Or you can follow me on Instagram here.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lookingsideways.substack.com/subscribe

Why is direct action important? Why is there such apathy as our democratic right to protest is being removed? How can the outdoor community and industry enact a more impactful and effective type of protest and activism?
All topics I discussed with snowboarder, activist and campaigner for Just Stop Oil Calum Macintyre. You might not know Calum, but he has a vital story to tell about how our democratic right to protest is carefully being steadily and stealthily dismantled in the age of the climate emergency, and I implore you to listen to what he has to say.
I first met Calum in Lofoten back in 2019 on a Patagonia activist camp. We became friends and stayed in touch, and since then I’ve watched with great interest as Calum has become more and more immersed in the world of direct action.
It was Calum who wrote my most popular ever guest blog - last year’s thought-provoking 5 Reasons Why Our Community Does Not Engage, in which he was politely yet forcefully critical of the outdoor and action sports community’s approach to protest and activism.
We’ve spent much time over the last year discussing these ideas, which has helped inform and shape my own thinking as I’ve been working on The Announcement, my forthcoming podcast documentary series about Yvon Chouinard’s September 2022 decision to give away Patagonia.
Calum’s participation in this movement has also given him a minor role in a wider, much more important story - the way that climate protest is being weaponised by a government intent on criminalising protest for their own nakedly political ends.
Which was why, in March 2024, after Calum successfully defended himself in court after being arrested for taking part in a slow march for Just Stop Oil, I decided to ask him to come on the podcast to discuss these topics.
This is a vital conversation about the climate crisis, the notion of protest, effective activism, and how the climate emergency is being weaponised as part of the culture wars. It’s also about how Calum has found a little untouched snowboarding paradise in one of Europe’s last wildernesses, which might make you want pack up and head for the hills.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lookingsideways.substack.com/subscribe

HUGE thanks for Db for kicking off my new HKC Discount Club with a whopping 15% off for Looking Sideways listeners and readers. Use my Db Journey discount code LOOKINGSIDEWAYS at checkout for 15% off, or this link to have it added at checkout
I’ve been really enjoying the recent online ‘Creative Exchanges’ I’ve been doing with my friends at Db Journey. They’re such a brilliant idea that I’m not surprised they’ve had such a great take up.
The premise is really simple - Db gather together some of their ambassadors and creatives to form a loose panel to discuss that week’s topic. We then extend the invite to people on our mailing lists, jump on a Google Meet link, and see where we end up.
The most recent was about a topic close to my heart - how to pitch ideas, and how to make sure you’re being paid the right rate, rather than be fobbed off with the old ‘it’ll be great exposure/networking’ nonsense. As I’ve long maintained, any company, brand or outlet event who says they can’t afford to pay speakers or contributors properly is either being disingenuous or has a problem with their business model.
For this discussion, I was joined by panellists Caley Vanular and Db’s Jon and Marcus, as well as over 100 passionate and smart people who proved there’s a huge appetite for this type of debate and knowledge-sharing. We discussed our own experiences, took questions, and generally engaged in a really fascinating and wide-ranging debate on this thorniest of issues.
Big up the Db team for the brilliant idea and for getting me involved, to Caley for her amazing insights, and to everybody for participating. We’re talking about doing a couple of these live over the coming months - if you enjoyed it, please do share or leave me a comment


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lookingsideways.substack.com/subscribe

HKC Club has launched! Click here for exclusive discounts from some of my partner brands such as Db Journey and Goodrays.
Eric Blehm is a journalist and author who has had one of the most interesting and quietly-influential careers in snowboarding.
As one of the original and most high-profile American snowboard journalists, he certainly had an influence on my own career.
His work at Transworld Snowboarding, in particular, where he combined a none-more-geeky passion for snowboarding with an insatiable curiosity about the wider world, inspired me to think it might be a path that I could also follow.
Eric’s storytelling talent meant he soon outgrew our little world, and these days he’s an acclaimed none-fiction writer in the Krakauer/Grann mould. But with his latest book, The Darkest White, he’s returned to his sideways roots to tell one of the most important stories of all - the life and death of Craig Kelly.
I have no hesitation in saying that The Darkest White is the best book ever written about snowboarding. It is a subtly structured and truly brilliant piece of work that, like all the best none-fiction, is about much more than its ostensible subject matter.
Of course, it a lovingly and respectfully put together biography of Craig, Eric’s friend and mentor who clearly had a huge personal impact on his life. But it is also the grown-up history of snowboarding we’ve been crying out for, which sheds new light on the key phases of our culture’s development.
And it is also a dispassionate, forensic and at times enraging (for me, anyway) look at what actually happened to Craig, and which cast the entire sorry episode in a completely new light.
Myself and Eric have plenty of mutual friends and have known of each other for years. But this is the first time we’d actually connected, which made this one a real pleasure. This one covers a lot: the books, of course, but also Eric’s own remarkable career. Hope you enjoy our conversation.
Buy The Darkest White here.



This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lookingsideways.substack.com/subscribe