The outdoor type

Michael Collin sporting his geek-extraordinaire fur-lined trooper hat. Photo by David Lansing.

I feel like the only urban guy in this group (even though Erika is from NYC). This morning around breakfast, everyone was talking about walking sticks and ski clothes that heat themselves and their favorite hiking boots. The king of the woodsy geeks has got to be Michael. He’s the only guy I know who would not only come down to breakfast wearing a fur-lined buffalo plaid troop hat but also look pretty good in it (if I wore it, I’d look like Dan Ackroyd in a comedy sketch about whacky Canadians).

Michael lives in Portland, Maine, and when I told him how sorry I was that he was stuck there, he said, “Hey, I love winter…I mean I love winter.”

Well I do too. I just don’t like rain and snow and minus ten degree days and nights that last 18 hours. I don’t like muck boots and the smell of always-wet wool coats and slush. What’s to like about slush? But Michael lives in Portland, Maine, because he’s a pinhead; he likes to hike up the side of frozen mountains, his skis on his shoulder and an avalanche beacon in his backpack, listening to the sound of his blood surging through his veins like a train going through a tunnel, and then telemark down through snow so thick that if his ski comes off, he just abandons it and continues on down the mountain on one ski because there’s no way in hell he could ever find the lost ski or dig it out even if he did.

That’s the kind of a winter dork Michael is.

Does this look like fun to you?

Michael works for a pr company called Pale Morning Media whose tag line is “Public relations for the outdoor world.” If you click on the tab ABOUT Pale Morning Media, you’ll see a picture of a guy who has crashed and burned while powder skiing. He’s up to his chin in snow and his skis are at such angles that surely his legs must be dislocated if not snapped. Oh, and he’s smiling. Is it Michael? Could be. If it’s not, it’s something Michael would do. Their clients include Kelty, Primus Camping, Simms Fishing Products, and, of course, Woolrich. All über-geek outdoor companies. The perfect match for Michael. Still, for all his plaid-flannel-moccasin-fleecy geekness, I have to say he’s a lot of fun to be around. And I rather like him.