It is immediately clear that both Gloria Liu and Dan Schwartz are writers simply by the number of times one or both of them will say, “That would make a great story!” in the course of just about every conversation. There’s a bit of Wes Anderson kitsch to the interplay that makes it a ton of fun to listen to. Obscure French music should play whenever they really get going.
Gloria spent two years as the Features Editor at Outside Magazine, and before that, she was the Features Editor at Bicycling Magazine and Runner’s World. Dan has written a catalog of long-form pieces for Outside and Bicycling as well, and you’ll soon see his work in The Atlantic. They bonded, of course, over their love of the outdoors.
Last winter Gloria and Dan were on a ski lift when Gloria had a “That would make a great story!” moment. She could not at that moment share the sentiment with Dan, however. He was occupied with his fans — a handful of dudes who rode lift after lift with Gloria and Dan throughout the day, each one more fascinated with the fact that Dan lived in Silverton, Colorado, while Gloria merely lived in the lowlands of Golden.
Gloria notes that she never felt these men were being malicious, but it seemed fascinating to her that with two simple words — Silverton, Colorado — she could disappear entirely from a universe that apparently only included two men and a lot of mountains.
The article was born. And you can read it here. Spoiler: the experience on the ski lift “made a great story!”
Gloria and Dan both joined me on the Slow Guy on the Fast Ride podcast to talk about how those experiences turned into Gloria’s article in Outside Magazine, and what they both learned about the social hierarchy in the outdoor space, which can often be based entirely on where you pay rent.