WATCH: ADIDAS SOUL CAP
Once just an asymmetrical disk of floppy silicone lost in the bottom of our PE bags, the humble swimming cap this month became a beacon of promise in a sport too slow to adapt to cultural demands for better accessibility. London-based start-up SOUL CAP’s specialist swim caps - designed for hair of various volumes, lengths, and textures - had just been approved for use in the Olympics when the results of our full creative and production brief showcasing their collab with adidas Swimming landed across the digital landscape. See how the product is breaking down barriers to swimming in our film here.
READ: OPENING UP THE OUTDOORS
The outdoors - a place, a concept, a cure - is broken. Barriers into our wild spaces cause a lack of diversity; a glaringly obvious and embarrassing problem that the launch of Opening Up The Outdoors (OUTO) is driven to do something about. The not-for-profit initiative is a collective of organisations, brands, community leaders, and experts, collaborating to create a safe, welcoming, and inclusive space outside for all, irrespective of race, religion, sexual orientation, or physical ability. We’re dead proud to say ACM founder Matt has been involved for two years, alongside a host of supporters and friends listed here.
HOW WEB3 IS SET TO REVOLUTIONISE YOUR FAVOURITE SPORT
You don’t have to fully understand what blockchain is or how NFTs work to realise that they’re signifiers of a transition into another era of online: web3. In former BBC sport editor Lewis Wilshire’s thinkpiece for The Drum, he predicts that sport, with its community-led principles, and the dawn of the new internet, with its community focus, will scratch each other's backs. Think tickets bought via blockchain, or sporting events streamed in 3D across the metaverse, whilst our participation drives web3 upwards, onwards, and outwards. If you’re waiting for our rescheduled ACM Outdoors 3.0 event to happen, Wilshire’s digital vision might be a welcome distraction.
WATCH: THE SCALE OF HOPE | CLIMATE, CLIMBING, AND SYSTEMIC CHANGE
“When we can lead with hope, everybody can be a part of it.” What sounds like the perfect summary of Yvon Chouinard’s recent donation of his own company to fight climate change is in fact the emotive sentiment that kicks off Patagonia’s latest film. ‘The Scale of Hope’ marries the same epic storytelling we’ve come to expect from their cinematic offerings, this time with Molly Kawahata in the spotlight. The former White House climate advisor touches on her mental health struggles and love of climbing to paint a lesser-seen positive vision of our capabilities within the environmental crisis.
READ: STONE SKIPPING IS A LOST ART: KURT STEINER WANTS THE WORLD TO FIND IT
We’re calling it: of all the articles about stone-skimming competitions that you’ll read this week, this will be the most beautiful. Writer Sean Williams’ time spent with cabin-dwelling wild man and world’s finest skimmer Kurt Steiner unveils a wonderful tale of love, loss, death, rivalry, financial ruin, meditation, and buckets upon buckets of palm-sized slate projectiles in the deep forest of Pennsylvania. Expect flowing brushstrokes of imagery for paragraphs, and for that coffee you’ve just settled down with to go cold.