Limitations are Optional, from the fine minds of the folks over at We Live Unbound.

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It’s the famous Buckner Building in Whittier, Alaska, a small fishing town with a migrant population. Over the course of six days, Logan Imlach and Matt Wild built and skied the ultimate line, down five stories of the abandoned building. Giddy up.

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I’ve been in touch with the folks at Honey Badger for a while now. I’ve seen their recent website launch and have had the chance to chat with them on the phone. I’ll be honest – these guys seem fun. They have a really cool product, different than what you might initially think, and they’re poised to do some pretty big things in the extreme sports community.

I fired some questions at Luke Cote, Honey Badger’s Director of Sales & Marketing, to learn more.

What is your company mission?

Our mission is to become the best supplement company in the industry. We have a game-changing concept that needs to be introduced into this ever-evolving market. Artificial sweeteners must go; sugar needs to be used in moderation and from natural sources. We feel we can help make an impact on people’s lives as well as have fun doing it. We intend to lead the charge in positive change within the industry. We also want to help grow our charity partner The Mark Forester Foundation. Mark was a roommate and best friend of Robert in the Air Force. All proceeds from our Liberty Bottles go straight to the MFF. We feel very strongly about the organization, as it is personally connected to us.

How did Honey Badger get off the ground?

Founded by Anthony Bonello.

He enjoys living an active and health-conscious lifestyle. He worked long hours with his job in Nuclear Power and had trouble finding the energy to get in productive workouts. He started using PREWORKOUT Supplements and was hooked. After using several different brands he noticed that there were some issues with the formulas. It did not meet his criteria, and he thought that he could do better. He envisioned a PREWORKOUT that fit his personal preference and figured others would follow suit. The criteria consisted of being as natural and clean as possible, no fluff ingredients, and no sugar. Each ingredient had to be absolutely essential to the entire blend or it wouldn’t be added. After finagling with many formulas, many trial and error runs, on family and friends, he eventually created the premise of a formula.

Excited with the results he called upon his most trusted allies; his Brother’s, to help form a company to develop this formula further. Then, came the most important question, what do we name this exciting new formula? There were so many names being tossed around. Nothing would stick. We knew the name had to bold and stick out in a very crowded market.

The story begins with a uniquely fierce animal, which symbolizes everything our company represents. This animal demonstrates characteristics of fearlessness, determination, and resiliency. It can fend off deadly venomous snakes, predators twice its size and endure hundreds of bee stings, stopping at nothing to snack on its favorite foods. It’s lean and mean, resilient, full of energy and never stops moving forward. The fearless attitude and prominent characteristics are what caught our attention and proved a perfect fit in naming both the company and product line, HONEY BADGER. We secured the rights to the name of our category of products and the rest is history.

How long have you been operational?

The Company was Founded October 1, 2011. After a little over a year in development our first product was launched in December 2012.

And you have sponsored athletes?

Many sponsorship opportunities are popping up all over the place as we have a product that can be used by many athletes. We are looking at sponsorship opportunities, but since we are a small brand still, we have to focus on building the company first. We have several segments of business, which we have started to separate and focus on individually.

So far, they are as follows:

• Obstacle Racing
• MMA
• Extreme Athletes
• Conventional Athletes
• E-Gaming

Our present sponsorship roster:

• Jake Rhyner – Professional Triathlete
• Adam Schindler – Professional MMA Fighter
• Darrell Montague – Professional MMA Fighter
• Claire Hewitt-Demeyer – Professional Snowboarder

How did you find these athletes?

Claire Hewitt-Demeyer was the first athlete to embrace Honey Badger. We had sent our friend Mad Max a few jars of Honey Badger. He let Claire try it and she was hooked. He put her in touch with us and the rest was history.

Jake Rhyner is a friend of Robert Bonello, Co-Founder of Honey Badger. They originally met during Special Forces Air Force Combat Controller training. When searching for talent, Robert had mentioned Jake and described him as a “Beast” of an athlete. We reached out to Jake and got him on board with our product. Jake recently placed first in a triathlon in May. He’s going to be our secret weapon for an upcoming event, non-related to a triathlon. Not giving it away just yet. All we have to say is, “watch out!”

Darrell “The Mongoose” Montague is an up-and-coming flyweight MMA fighter. This young man has tremendous potential and upside as he shows quickness and explosiveness. He recently won a big fight. He has a great manager, Steve Lara, CEO of WSMFights.com, doing his best to help get him into the UFC as he deserves a shot to fight the best.

Adam Schindler is a friend of Ryan Bonello, Co-Founder of Honey Badger. Ryan was in Thailand, training in one of his passionate styles of fighting, Muay Thai. During his time at a training camp, he met Adam Schindler. They immediately became friends and stayed in touch as they both are from the US. Adam Schindler has been in the MMA scene for several years and had some major fights in the Bellator franchise. He suffered an unfortunate knee injury that set up back a while. He just had his return to the octagon recently and suffered another knee injury. This guy shows the true heart of a Fighter. His future in MMA is uncertain. But he’s a friend to us and we support him either way.

How are you different than other energy drink and supplement companies?

Our product is more than an energy drink. It’s a hybrid of performance and energy. The benefits of our synergistic blend can help with energy, endurance, focus, intensity, hydration, and recovery. We are marketing it as the ultimate PRE meaning it can be used PREWORKOUT, PREGAME, PREACTIVITY. We purposely designed it to be open-ended for use, and not isolated for one function. The versatility is what makes it unique as it can be used for many applications such as lifting, running, biking, dancing, driving, and gaming to name a few. It is very versatile.

Our flavoring system is what sets us apart from the rest of the pack. No other comparable formula contains Stevia as the only sweetener. We’re breaking the mold of what everyone else is doing. Each ingredient in our formula has to be essential and serve a purpose. You can literally feel our formula working and quickly. We cut out all the fluff and it shows in the results. What I mean by fluff are filler type ingredients. We refuse to use ingredients that are beyond artificial and pose health risks. We will not compromise the health of our customers. We make products that we use ourselves.

No marketing hype with Honey Badger, just pure, proven ingredients, in their superior forms for everyone to see. All the ingredients are sourced from reputable companies with proven track records of providing safe and pure ingredients. All ingredients are analyzed at the manufacturing facility to test for purity. We do not use proprietary blends. We list all the active ingredient amounts for all to see. We say, “active ingredients, because we do not disclose the amounts of the other ingredients in the supplement facts.” We feel it’s important to be as transparent as possible.

Our approach and interaction with the customer is different. We are breaking the mold of traditional corporate models. We connect on a personal level with each and every customer. We try to go above and beyond for everyone. Building real relationships with real customers goes a long way. Social media allows us to instantly connect with people. We also use it to provide customer service by responding to people where they’re spending most of their time. Take a look at our Twitter feed @HoneyBadgerBev and you’ll get an idea of what’s going on with Honey Badger.

What are your plans for the future?

We are actively pursuing several sports. We like to call it the Three-Headed Monster. It’s Obstacle Racing, CrossFit, and MMA. All three are the fastest-growing sports out there.

Our main focus is sponsoring Spartan Races beginning fall 2013 (Sacramento, Malibu, Fenway Park Boston, Austin). We feel Obstacle Racing is the least saturated within our product offering, and we have a huge opportunity to cement our brand within the sport. The Spartan Race presents one of the most challenging Obstacle Racing courses out there. The Honey Badger brand fits well with the rugged sport of Obstacle Racing.

Some other Events we will be sponsoring and attending are a few big supplement events such as the Olympia and Arnold Classic, as well as an up and coming CrossFit league based out of Atlanta (AAL – Atlanta Affiliate League – Championship Series 6/29/13).

One of our other very promising markets to pursue is the gaming industry, as we have recently generated significant interest from some reputable gamers who contacted us directly. This has led to a test marketing phase and so far we’ve begun to make some noise. Since a large audience within that market is teenagers, we’re confident their superiors/ parents would approve of our all natural, health conscious products over other brands, who take less of this into consideration.

What is your company culture like?

Right now our company culture is very family-oriented. We are aggressive, young, relentless, and get things done. The three founding members are all brothers. They’re very competitive amongst each other. Put them together and they synergistically work. Each team member brings value to the table and strives to succeed. At the end of the day it’s all about the customer! We truly stand by that, 150,000%!

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Luke, thanks for taking the time to answer some questions about your company. The Nerve Rush community looks forward to your growth! Check out their company here: drinkhoneybadger.com.

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But that doesn’t mean we can’t dream of that first big snow fall. Personally, I can’t wait to strap my skis back on for another season. Lately I found myself looking at a map of Europe, wondering how many countries it was possible to ski in. I quickly found that there are countless remote and unusual ski resorts around the world. If you’re interested in the Alps, you can head here for ski packages incl lift passes. But if you’re interested in other hidden opportunities, read below.

Here are our favorite three:

Skiing in Serra da Estrela, Portugal

The Vodaphone Ski Resort within Serra da Estrela National Park is home base to some of the best skiing conditions on the entire Iberian Peninsula. The Portuguese landscape is lush and wild, a true winter playground in the heart of seductive Portugal.

Skiing in Gudauri, Georgia

There’s no sweet tea or peaches in this Georgia. Despite recent unrest in the Caucasus region, Georgia is an extremely pleasant place to travel. I’ve been there! The food is amazing, the people are incredibly friendly, particularly toward Americans. Little did I know that it’s possible to ski there.

While very few people in Gudauri speak English, the ski tour guides do. The Caucasus Mountains are riddled with massive peaks, many over 16,000 feet. If you’re looking for a unique winter experience, Georgia is a great place to travel. Don’t forget to hang out in Tbilisi, the capital city!

Skiing in Bláfjöll, Iceland

No one comes to Iceland for downhill skiing. The slopes just aren’t good enough. That said, other forms of ski touring, like cross-country skiing, ski mountaineering and Telemark skiing, are becoming increasingly popular.

Bláfjöll, which is located just 21 miles southeast of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavík, is the country’s largest ski center. It has 15 lifts, a snowboarding course and cross-country tracks.

photo: Haukur H.

Have you skied in any of these countries before?

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In November 1992, Plant had registered for his fourth expedition and in two weeks time was to set sail from France with his competitors. When Plant’s boat, Coyote, went missing in the mid-Atlantic, the sailing world held its breath.

Now, twenty years later, the mystery and tragedy is unraveled.

In Coyote Lost at Sea: The Story of Mike Plant, America’s Daring Solo Circumnavigator, author Julia Plant exposes some of the underside of her brother’s hero worship. It’s a fascinating read. Her diligence to understand precisely what happened to her brother adds a deeply emotional layer to the story.

Julia Plant walks us through her brother’s life, from a solo trip to South America to secretly thwarting authorities in the Greek isles. Mike Plant epitomizes fearlessness and risk-taking of the highest order.

I had the chance to ask Julia some questions about her book. Thank you to her and to her publishing company for putting us in touch!

Writing a book is a big deal. What compelled you to kick-start the process? Why now, twenty years later?

Mike’s life, even when he was alive, was always worthy of a book. He started to write one several times. I have always wanted to write, and this seemed a perfect opportunity for me. I started writing it within a year of Mike’s death.
The fact that the book has come out only recently has nothing to do with me; I tried to find a publisher for years. McGraw-Hill expressed interest in the book in 2011. They wanted to get it out to coincide with the 20th anniversary of his death, but missed by a couple months.

When conducting research for this book, did you find anything about Mike’s story surprising?

I never knew Mike was the one who actually lit the match that burned down Danceland, and that he knew Jeff (his friend) took the rap for the crime, while he went to Europe to buy a sailboat.

Imagine someone has just finished reading your book. What big takeaways would you like him/her to walk away with?

I admired Mike’s appreciation or love for nature, for the wild places in the world. It was as if he needed to be in those places to feel alive. To many, the southern ocean was/is a frightening place, and Mike understood that it was scary there, but he also wanted to be there, because it was wild, devoid of mankind, and beautiful. In some ways, the absence of man’s presence, allowed it to be beautiful. I think that if more of us felt that way the world would probably be a better place.

The obvious takeaway is that Mike proved how much a person can do if they make up their mind to do it, and the reason they can make that decision in the first place, is because they utterly believe it is the right thing to do, and he/she is the person to do it.

Perhaps, the third takeaway would be that sometimes we all need a second chance, and one of the best ways to find that second chance, is in a place where no one knows our past.

##

Julia, thank you again for your wonderful book and for taking the time to answer my questions.

In 1993, the Plant family launched The Mike Plant Memorial Fund, which honors Mike’s passion for sailing. It offers sailing opportunities for kids who are likely to spend their childhood without ever coming near a sailboat.

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ARC’TERYX runner Adam Campbell stars in a short, passion-driven film, shot in Vancourver and Whistler. Well done, team ARC’TERYX.

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From INFINITYLIST Productions, this clip features Mitch Baldry, one hell of an extreme scooterer. Might have to add this to my list of extreme sports!

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A line of kayakers bobbed like baby ducklings in the University of Illinois, Chicago pool, where just an hour earlier 10-year-old swimmers had raced each other, running laps through the lanes. The smell of chlorine was pungent in the humid air. Brian Westrick herded a group of five into the far corner of a pool. There, he demonstrated the lesson for the evening: slap, drop and roll.

He smacked the water with his yellow paddle, sending drops flying onto his red, long-sleeved T-shirt and light brown hair. Next, he tilted his head away from the paddle in the water in a slow, dramatic movement. Finally, he rolled his hips, moving his weight away from his paddle and righting his tipped boat.

The students, each sporting a life preserver and sea skirt, were there to master their kayaking skills. In Chicago, where Lake Michigan freezes during the long, winter months, kayakers head to the indoor pool to splash around. Some go to perfect techniques, while others just want to keep paddling. Dave Olson’s company, Kayak Chicago, has spent chilly months in the UIC pool for the last 15 years.

On that April evening while rain poured outside, three separate organizations of kayak enthusiasts crowded the pool swarming together. Because all three were heavily involved in Chicago’s kayak community, many members from different groups spotted familiar faces across the pool. Olson’s Kayak Chicago students were there to learn the beginning moves of Eskimo Rolls. His instructors were also teaching Wounded Warrior kayakers, an organization that helps wounded members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin, a petite woman with big, blonde curls, helped lead the final group in the pool: the Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association, a group dedicated to promoting safe paddling and protecting the waterways of the Chicago area.

Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association member Michael Taylor sat on the sidelines, watching members sign paperwork and zip into life jackets with a constant smile. Taylor, originally a boater, got hooked on paddling when he stumbled upon a kayaking magazine on a long plane ride seven years ago. “Girl, I couldn’t put it down,” said Taylor flashing his bright white teeth. “It was like a bug that bit me.”

Since it was mid-October, a chilly time to launch a boat onto the Chicago rivers or lake, Taylor searched the web for indoor options. He came across Olson’s company and signed up for lessons at the UIC pool. In November, he bought the most expensive kayak the outdoor gear store Cabela’s sold, knocked down from $1,000 to $600 in the off-season.

He never stopped kayaking. Today, he’s president of Calumet Waterway Stewards, a group dedicated to promoting Southland paddling and keeping waters clean for kayaking and canoeing enthusiasts. For his first time back to paddle the pool waters, he dressed in a bright blue shirt in thick black pants. He remembered how cold it was his first season in the chlorinated water seven years earlier.

While Taylor’s fellow Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association members exchanged greetings on the other side of the pool, Olson’s staff instructed Kayak Chicago and Wounded Warrior students. It was time for them to try the techniques Westrick demonstrated earlier. No one smiled or spoke for at least 10 minutes. One by one, they teetered back and forth, the sides of their boats barely dipping into the water.

After several timid tips, one kayaker, a muscular man with a blue shirt, paddled to the center of the pool. His tattooed arms moved furiously. When he had as much space as he could find, a 10-foot circle of empty water around his yellow kayak, he began to tilt his boat with as much enthusiasm as he’d paddled. Swaying right and left, he dunked his yellow paddle into the pool over and over again. With a loud splash, he flipped his boat all the way over, forgetting to roll his hips away from his paddle as Westrick had demonstrated. Students around him stopped for a moment, watching as his bald head popped up from the pool lane. He glared at his up-side-down boat bobbing next to him.

The onlookers returned to their cautious swaying, but Olson stayed still, watching. His lean body towered out of his bright yellow boat, his dark head of hair growing taller as he strained to see the bold captain of the overturned boat. A smile softened his angular features before he turned his boat and attention back to a middle-aged man splashing, on the verge of tipping himself.

With summer finally here, the rivers and Lake Michigan have warmed up enough for kayakers to hit the outdoor waters. For tours, rentals and lessons check out kayakchicago.com.

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I live in Boston. Sure, we’ve got the White Mountains not too far away, and some pretty nice biking trails right outside of the city, but Boston certainly isn’t extreme.

So are you like me, living out an urban existence, working a full-time job and yearning for the next adventure? What can you do? Here are your options.

1. Get creative and extreme-ify your surroundings.

You don’t have to climb mountains or jump out perfectly good airplanes to get a proper dose of adrenaline. What about some urban climbing? Or train surfing? Many opportunities arise as you start to rethink your landscape. Stairs become jump pads, buildings become scalable and nooks and crannies become epic parkour territory.

It’s all about perspective, I guess.

2. Get outside (of the city, I mean).

Most of the cities you find around the world will have outdoor opportunities within a half-day’s drive. If you don’t own a car you can always rent one that’s big enough to fit your purpose. If you’ve got your own equipment, you can throw it into a car, which fits bikes, bags as well as snowboards. But if you don’t, many outfitters will rent you gear. I’m talking about skiing, snowboarding or ice climbing in the winter, and mountain biking, kayaking or cycling in the summer. Very easy to rent the necessary gear and apparel, folks.

3. Become an armchair adrenaline junkie.

Sometimes, all you’ve got is a TV, laptop screen or mobile phone. I get it. You’re sick, or recuperating, or lack funding, or scared – no worries! You can still get amped up with the right content. From amateur GoPro to award-winning films out of production houses like Sender Films, there are plenty of options. That’s what Nerve Rush is for, of course. We’ll curate the best clips and post ‘em right here.

photo via andrew c mace

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