“Friends” of Tommy Caldwell, a renowned rock climber and Estes Park native, got to see the view from his bedroom on October 18, 2012. The view wasn’t of a street, a tree, or a playground.
No, instead it was a view of nothing but sheer cliffs and blue sky. Caldwell was in the midst of climbing El Capitan and was keeping all 19,741 of his “friends” up-to-date with his bedroom views, meals and progress via Facebook. Broadcasting an expedition live is something adventurers could only dream of a few years ago.
“While in a military zone in the Venezuelan Amazon in 2007 I wanted to broadcast the adventure live through satellite phone. But the technology just wasn’t there yet,” said Asa Firestone, co-founder of Boulder’s Beyond Adventure Speaker Series. “Now, when Caldwell is getting ready to sleep on the side of a cliff he is connecting to people through social media,” said Firestone. “How does this change the experience, the expedition – and what’s next?”
These questions as well as Caldwell’s incredible accomplishments and stories are what inspired Firestone and his co-founders to invite him to speak at this month’s Beyond Adventure Speaker Series (BASS), May 6.
“The idea of BASS is to explore the stories of people being inspired by adventure to create innovation,” said Firestone. “This is a great opportunity to combine the entrepreneurial and tech scenes in Boulder with adventure.”
Firestone hopes through bringing “the smartest tech guys” and “adventurers” together, new entrepreneurial and adventure products will be created.
“I want people to be inspired to not only go further in their adventures but to explore how adventure can create innovation,” said Firestone.
To facilitate these conversations, a happy hour always immediately follows the guest speakers.
“Everyone gets psyched at the series and then everyone gets drunk together… and talks,” said Firestone.
Tommy Caldwell will be speaking at BASS at Boulder’s Patagonia location on Pearl Street May 6 at 6:30 p.m. with happy hour deals at Hapa Sushi afterwards. Admission to BASS is free and open to the public.
