“It all comes from not knowing my left from my right when I panic,” says Valerie Douglas, a Utah wheeler (a motorized outdoor explorer in a Jeep) in the video above. “I went left when I should have gone right, and there was a cliff, and I went over two and half times. We had some people at the bottom of the hill flip it back over, put some oil in the engine, aired up the tires and went and hit the trails .… You can’t let stuff like that scare you. It’s just one of those things. You gotta keep going.”
New Belgium Brewing Co. wants to inspire fellow outdoor enthusiasts and beer lovers to keep pushing forward when it comes to the natural landscapes. It’s part of the company’s Finding Common Ground campaign. The nearly seven-minute movie above — “Wheeler X Biker” — pairs Douglas with Renee Hutchens, a Fort Collins, Colo.-based mountain biker. Motorized wheelers and mountain bikers are often competitors when it comes to trail riding, but the two find common ground in their love for public lands. That’s the big theme of these three pristinely-produced mini movies by New Belgium. Regardless of our differences, we can all meet in the middle when it comes to our love for public nature (and maybe a quality craft beer).
New Belgium Brewing is so committed to the cause that its brand Fat Tire is donating up to $250,000 to organizations that protect public lands. Simply by sharing these videos, you can rack up donations. Look at this awesomeness:
- Fat Tire donates $1 to a pair of organizations (American Whitewater and National Wildlife Federation) each time you share these films. Use #FindingCommonGround to show your favorite place to enjoy outdoors.
- Drink Fat Tire: Fat Tire donates 1 percent of all its sales to nonprofits protecting the outdoors.
All three of these videos are equally awesome. “Climber X Hunter” pairs Mikhail, a climber from Brooklyn, with Allie, a bow hunter from western Pennsylvania, who enjoy the forests in unique ways. “Kayaker X Angler” pairs Leland, a fly fisher, and Tyler, a whitewater kayaker, learning how to share the river together.
The connection between craft beer and the outdoors is certainly not a new thing — Sierra Nevada recently launched a marketing campaign connecting the two — and while brewing can definitely have an adverse effect on the environment (from wastewater to packaging), it’s still cool to see beer makers like New Belgium open up its efforts and checkbook to help protect the planet. I think we’re all looking for better balance when it comes to that.
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