From the Mountain Times

Adventures in Television
New program highlights area sports

By Frank Ruggiero

Adventure has a name, and now it has a place.

“High Country Adventures,” a locally produced outdoor sports program, is hitting area airwaves on the Mountain Television Network.

The show, which premiered last Friday, is the brainchild of area resident and outdoor enthusiast Eric Crews. About 18 months ago, Crews started videotaping his friends in action, from rock climbing to kayaking to mountain biking.

While studying English at Appalachian State University, Crews wrote about the extreme sports he and his friends enjoyed, trying to capture the feeling of involvement in such activities. “I found that it was much easier to show on video, putting together videos to capture the essence of the sport much more than I could while writing,” he said.

Crews started a Web site and began posting videos through YouTube, studying viewer feedback to improve production and content, “getting better and better in what I was trying to accomplish as far as a cohesive flow to the video,” he said.

With the notion of a full-fledged TV program in mind, Crews, as producer, director and cameraman, collected footage, created an introduction and pitched the idea to MTN, which agreed on the grounds the program, “High Country Adventures,” would be self-produced.

Hosted by Jason Chamberlain, each episode features outdoor sports in the greater High Country area, including Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Watauga and Wilkes counties.

“Usually, everything we’re showing is (open to the public), with no known access issues,” Crews said. “They’re all areas you could go to, but we’re not necessarily going to give out directions. Part of the fun in doing these sports is the process of learning where these certain locations are – the slow, gradual evolution that takes place when you start getting into these types of sports.”

The show primarily covers local athletes, and Crews said the show is open to viewer suggestions and submissions, were someone to pitch an idea for a segment or submit a video.

“I’d like to cover as many sporting events as they’re happening as possible, trying to keep it as current as we possibly can,” Crews said. “Say there’s a paragliding open, we’re going to try to be there for that and have it on the air the following week. That’s our goal, to show these sports as they’re happening right now in the area.”

“High Country Adventures” is comprised of several segments, each featuring a different sport, filmed by Crews and company or shot by helmet-cam. As a rock climber, Crews can access often precarious vantage points to offer immersive footage and visually striking shots, vividly capturing the action as it transpires.

Where there’s video, there’s also music. Each segment includes a song to match the action, and Crews is aiming to use as much local and regional music as possible. The Web page, www.highcountryadventures.net, will include links to the featured bands and songs for the week.

“I feel like the music is just as important to the video process as the video, which wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining without,” Crews said. “So, I feel it’s very important to give credit to those musicians, and I’m very thankful to them for allowing me to use their music.”

The show is still accepting sponsorships by way of 30-second commercials, geared toward outdoor adventure sports. “We’re marketing it toward the adventurous person in all of us,” Crews said.

“High Country Adventures” airs on MTN (cable channel 18) on Friday at 8:30 p.m., Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and Sunday at 6 p.m. For more information, visit www.highcountryadventures.net.

From the High Country Press

High Country Adventures TV Show Premieres Friday on MTN

Show Focuses On Local Outdoor Adventure Sports

Story by David Brewer

This Friday, July 17, High Country Adventures, a locally produced television show featuring rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking and other outdoor adventure sports, will debut locally on Mountain Television Network (MTN) at 8:30 p.m. In addition to its debut, High Country Adventures will air again this Saturday and Sunday, July 18 and 19.

The debut episode of High Country Adventures features footage of downhill mountain biking action from the inaugural Beech Mountain Triple Crown, kayaking the Roadside Elk near Banner Elk, climber Tim Larick in action at Shiprock and coverage of the 11th annual Blood, Sweat & Gears bike ride in Valle Crucis.

According to show producer Eric Crews, High Country Adventures seeks to showcase the area’s wealth of talented athletes and outdoor activities that make Boone and the surrounding area one of the nation’s top destinations for adventure sports tourism. Crews founded a new company called High Country Productions to promote the show.

“Boone has been a hub for outdoor sports and this show is going to showcase some of the opportunities for outdoor recreation in the High Country,” said Crews. “The idea of the show is that people will see it and be inspired to go enjoy the outdoors in the High Country.”

An ASU graduate, Crews has spent the last 18 months with his camera trained on dozens of the High Country’s most exciting athletes as they scale sheer rock faces, blaze across mountains and over trails on two wheels and challenge the area’s alluring white water. The Muscle Shoals, Ala. native has been honing his editing skills to deliver half-hour segments of action-packed activity.

“I feel like a lot of people who live in this area might not know how much there is to go out and enjoy,” said Crews. “I think you can show these sports in greater depth than if you were to just read about them.”

Crews also hopes to feature music by local and regional bands on the show and will include links to all the bands’ websites via www.HighCountryAdventures.net.

For more information about High Country Adventures, click to www.HighCountryAdventures.net  or tune into MTN.