KLZ 560 AM DENVER'S CONSERVATIVE HOME STATION
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Scott Whatley welcomes Will Marquardt, owner of Davis Tent, for a full-throttle conversation about everything hunters need to know before the fall season. From Made-in-America tent deals and modular cook shacks to the growing need for unity in Colorado’s hunting community, this episode hits hard on gear, advocacy, and outdoor lifestyle. They also cover conservation issues, CPW partnerships, and new backcountry innovations like The Shed and the Royal Throne. Plus, don’t miss the segment on Rocky Mountain Strength with Zach Patron, helping hunters get physically prepared for the season with real-world mountain fitness and archery-focused training programs. This is
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to Sportsman of Colorado, Colorado’s premier outdoor radio show heard every Saturday afternoon on KLZ 560 with insights on hunting, fishing, archery, guns, and ammo from Colorado’s top outfitters featuring the industry’s leading experts on how to enhance your experience in the great outdoors. Now, here’s your host, Scott Watley.
SPEAKER 12 :
Welcome to Sportsman Colorado. Thank you so much for joining us today. Hey, we’ve got a great show in store for you, and we’re going to kick it off with our good friend Will Marquardt, owner of Davis Tent. Will, how are you, my friend?
SPEAKER 13 :
I’m awesome, Scott. How are you today?
SPEAKER 12 :
I’m good, man, I tell you. Hey, somebody turned the furnace on, dude. Warm weekend here. Oh, sure.
SPEAKER 13 :
I know. I opened the back garage door a little bit earlier, and it’s just like this blast was coming in. Holy smokes.
SPEAKER 12 :
Hey, there’ll be some days spent in some tents this year, bud, where everybody’s going, man, I wish I could get warm, you know? So, hey. oh hey it’s always this it’s always this kind of day that reminds me that hunting season is right around the corner yeah for sure for sure hey before we get into some davis tent stuff i want to ask you a few things we’re seeing a lot and uh our friend dan gaze has been talking a lot of things coming this next year um you know some different things going on initiatives and all and then we’re seeing a lot about this a lot of land getting sold off and different things like that man i tell you last year i thought we were under attack but It seems like we are going to be more under attack in this next year than we even were last year.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, absolutely. And that’s the truth. And it’s probably going to be next year and next year and the next year. And so we all got to get used to that as the way it is. And, you know, we had a big victory last year, obviously, 127. No ballot measure had been won by as much as we won that by. But they’re going to keep throwing, I mean, an outdoor hunting kind of an issue. And they’re going to keep throwing things at us. And heck, that’s because they’re organized for fighting to get this, you know, garbage that they want to have happen. And, you know, as a hunting community, we got organized in Colorado to do what we needed to do. And we were highly successful. So we just have to stay organized to do that. And what does that mean? Well, that means organizations like Colorado’s responsible wildlife management with Dan Gates, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the others. Heck, this is the new normal. So, you know, set aside 50 bucks a year if you can do more to give to these organizations for the fight. It’s going to have to be funded, and we’ve got to be willing to put our money where our mouth is.
SPEAKER 12 :
You and I got to attend a deal the other night with Phil Mendoza over No Limits and the Wildlife Council, and I haven’t spent a lot of time around those folks, and they seem to share in some of this stuff of wanting to help out in some areas as well. And I think what I’m hoping was everybody just didn’t say, oh, we won last year, so now the fight’s over. And I hope we can carry this momentum of what it showed with all the unity of all the different organizations kind of coming together and people from all over the United States actually helping Colorado win that. And I think that’s what we’re going to need, like you said, every year from now on, right?
SPEAKER 03 :
It doesn’t mean that everybody has to be as involved as Dan Gates is. And it doesn’t mean that everything has got to be different. It just means that we have to look at the world a little different. Things are coming at us in a way that they haven’t in the past. Some of it is because we have fought back so hard and won. And until they understand that they’ve got somebody that they’re going up against that’s going to fight them at every turn, we’re going to just keep getting this and keep getting this. And look… Bring it on, man. I mean, a lot of us got connected last year that were never connected before. That’s a great start. You’re right. We need support, you know, not only throughout the industry, but throughout sportsmen, throughout, you know, just people that love the outdoors because. We’re on the same team as the people that love the outdoors.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, stay tuned, and we’re going to try to do even more things with some different groups like the Wildlife Council. Will and I talked to them the other night, and, you know, I told them about coming on the show just to try to figure out, you know, really just to educate everybody who they are and what they’re doing. And, Will, I told them this, and then we’ll move on to some of the things for Davis Tent. I said, hey, I think that the biggest failure is our communication lines because a lot of people, they know of organizations, but there’s no – I’m not going to say there’s no outlet. There is of shows like mine and even Terry Wickstrom or whatever. But of coming on and talking about, hey, who they are, what they’re doing, and, you know, hey, are they on our team or not, so to speak, right?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, for sure. And I just – look, I mean – Let me just put it this way. When we were at that meeting, I think I was sitting next to Britt Names with CPW. The CPW is managing things for millions of people, so it’s impossible for people not – everybody’s going to be uncomfortable with something they’re doing because they’ve got so many stakeholders. But CPW does a dang good job in Colorado. We’re lucky to have them. Yeah, we’re not going to like everything that they do. But, man, you talk about the rank and file people that work there. They’re there because they’re passionate about this.
SPEAKER 13 :
Right, right.
SPEAKER 03 :
So we’re really fortunate. And, I mean, to the degree that we can, we always want to line up anywhere we can with CPW because, you know, we’re mostly going to align. And sometimes things are going to annoy us. We’re going to let them know what those are. But we don’t want to like people to start thinking that, CPW is on a different team than us because they’re not.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, absolutely. Again, if you’re just joining us, Will Marquardt is with us. He is the owner of Davis Tent, the finest tent money can buy, by the way, made right here in Denver, Colorado. All right, Will, like you said, hey, man, we’re just weeks away from the big game season opening up. And, hey, if you haven’t thought about a tent yet and you need to be thinking of one, now’s the time, right?
SPEAKER 03 :
Besides that, you know, with all that’s going on in the world today and people feeling kind of unsettled, you know, whatever you want to talk about, but certainly things like tariffs and whatever. Hey, That means that you need something else to focus on, and why not focus on spending time outdoors and getting out hunting and getting what you need to do it.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, absolutely. So let’s talk about your top couple of tents right now that are good for folks and maybe the solo guy that’s going to be doing it on his own and then maybe needing to pack a few buddies in one. Let’s talk about a couple.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, on the smaller side of that, there’s a tent that I use a lot. We’re now making it in two different sizes. It’s our Go Tent line. And the Go Tents are made for a quick setup, you know, less than 20 minutes, 10-minute takedowns, so you could even move them inside of a hunt, you know, if you wanted to move to another drainage. They’re great for one, two guys. You could get three into a 12×12 if you wanted to. But those tents are also priced for anybody. You can get fully set up if you want with a go tent that’s 10 by 10 for as little as $599. A 12 by 12 go tent is just $799. So those prices compete with anybody in the world. If you want to go and get a tent made in China, you can do that, but we’re competing with them dollar for dollar on those tents, and sometimes we’re less expensive. So those are unbelievable deals, especially if the budget’s a little challenging or if you’ve got a smaller group.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right. And I’ll tell you, the accessories that you guys offer are unbelievable. Man, when I think about growing up and my dad and I coming to Colorado, you know, in the early 70s and all and thinking about the type tent we had and then now looking at what you guys offer with all the accessories. I mean, you can make these tents pretty nice now.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s amazing. And, you know, I don’t know what’s influenced what, but hunting and glamping, I mean, you know, I know they’re two different things and probably two different kinds of people, but there’s kind of a fusion between them when people are to run out their hunting tents the way they are.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, you’re 100% right. Yeah, absolutely. Another thing I want to bring up, and we kind of talked about being hot and stuff, but on the heating side, what are you recommending now for people? And I’ll let you walk through again your best sellers there and kind of what you’re recommending on the heat side.
SPEAKER 03 :
So in those small tents, we make two small stoves. We make a stove that we call a river’s bend stove, which is just about a 40-pound stove, smaller, lighter stove. 15 by 15 box and then we have our classic barrel stove the small one is called the valley stove and those are two two stoves that are appropriate for the tents that i mentioned now i mean i didn’t talk about the made in america sale that we’ve got going on right now so that’s a whole other issue as far as tent size and stove size right and and that is one thing man made in america hey we that’s what we need to see on everything for sure You get a tag right in your tent that says Made in America when we make it.
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely. So do you have some things in stock right now? Some folks are here and there, so I’m like, oh, yeah, I’ve been meaning to get by there. Or do you have some in stock that they can get here in the next few weeks?
SPEAKER 03 :
In fact, our core product, as far as number of sales go, is a 14 by 15, kind of the classic wall tent build. you know, the regular wall sizes and all that. And that, in the Made in America sale, these tents are all pre-made. They’re online. If you go to our homepage, there’s a button in red, white, and blue that says Made in America sale. You go there, and there’s a drop-down box, and you can just hit any of those things in that drop-down box, and there’ll be a little description of it. So you’re going to save $150 on any 14×10 tent, which we bill as our cook shacks. and you’re going to save $200 on any of our 14×15 tents in that sale. So it’s a great opportunity so close to hunting season to still be able to get something on sale.
SPEAKER 12 :
Wow, no doubt. You know, I don’t know what it is. Over the last couple of months, I’ve met more folks that are getting out with the live hunting, you know, and they’re looking for maybe even a few more of the things we were talking about earlier with the accessories and all. But I want to talk about your throne cover you got there. And then what do you offer, like, for showering and things like that? And then what are you suggesting, you know, for kind of a cook shack set up?
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, speaking of husband and wives, right now in our shop, we’ve got a couple here that drove here from Missouri because they wanted to buy one of our tents because they’re so disappointed in what else they’ve been able to buy. So, yeah, that’s a great point. We see more husbands and wives than ever before, or sometimes some all-female groups.
SPEAKER 12 :
Sure. No, that’s huge, too. Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I said that, and you asked me a question, and now I can’t remember.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, no. What are you offering? I want to talk about your throne deal because I told you a story a few years ago. I went on a hunt, and, man, I was like, dude, what? This is where we’re supposed to go to the bathroom anyway. But you’ve got something pretty cool.
SPEAKER 03 :
Here’s the deal. We have a tent called a royal throne, which is a shower potty tent. So you can think of it as a bathroom tent. You can think of it as a shower tent. I’ve even had people that buy it that have a mixed camp of men and women, and they put it right in there like 16 by 20 tent for a changing room for the women. So there’s all kinds of reasons for it. So you’ll find these. If you want to get a cheap nylon one online, you can. They’re $70 or $100 online. Uh, it’ll last you a year or two. I hear this all the time. That’s why I say, and I’ve never owned one. This is what I hear. Ours are going to cost you 389 bucks. That’s the canvas tent. That’s five by five finishes just a little bit smaller than that. Uh, along with the four angles that it takes to set it up, it’s got a window in it for ventilation. It’s got a strap on it for a toilet paper roll and a little pocket through magazine or a book or whatever. Uh, Three eighty nine. We sell them all over the country because once people discover, you know what they can have and instead of buying something that’s not going to last very long, that they can have a lifetime product that’s typically bigger than anything else they could buy. You know, it’s like it’s such a no brainer. So, yeah, that’s a. Very popular product we make for sure. Royal Throne.
SPEAKER 12 :
Royal Throne.
SPEAKER 03 :
You can find it on our website.
SPEAKER 12 :
And then what are most people doing for if they want to set up a separate deal, which we usually recommend for like a cook shack thing?
SPEAKER 03 :
So we make a whole line of tents that you find online or, for instance, the 14 by 10 size, which is the most popular size that would meet up with another 14 foot wide tent. We call those cook shacks, and what makes a tent a cook shack is that it has two doors. And so two doors is really important for a second tent because some people bump it right up against their first tent, and then typically you don’t stake down the front of your first tent or your big tent or the back of the tent, the cook shack. That way you can roll back the doors and open it all up into one space. And people that do that, then at night after they’re going to just heat their area and go to bed, They’ll let those walls down and just zip up their main tent so they only have to heat that part of it. They’ll use that as a sleeping area, I guess, for lack of a better way to put it. And then other people, though, will use that 14 by 15. They’ll have an awning out in front of it, and then their cook shack. So they’ll have the functionality of it, but there’ll be a breezeway more or less in between the two tents. The key, though, is this. Our tents are as modular as you can get. So you can use them in many different ways. And, you know, if you tell us what you’re thinking, if you call us and you come in, we’ll kind of give you some ideas on how to set that camp up or what works good for other people. And then you ultimately, obviously you do whatever you want to do.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, very cool. Now, I think it was in the last year you came up with this other new thing. You guys are always on the innovating side of things. Hey, maybe you want to pull your ATV in something, your side-by-side. Kind of talk about that unit. That’s pretty cool.
SPEAKER 03 :
I’ll talk about that and one other new product for us anyway. The product you’re mentioning we call the Shed. It’s $399, basically including… The cover or the space, which is seven by nine, it’s made out of the same poly material that our most hunting flies are made out of, but it’s made big enough to fit an ATV. So we see this as something that’s going to be really big for the ATV market, especially those that are out in the wintertime, but also big for the RV market because, you know, there aren’t any places to put things a lot of times when you RV other than underneath your RV. So if you’re going to be away from your place, if you get bad weather, if you’re going to be away, you have a place where at least it’s not being seen by people driving by. Just visually covering it up makes a big difference as far as security goes. So that’s a big one there. And then from a hunting perspective, I mean, it’s just hard to find anything that actually does a good job covering your ATV and protecting your ATV if you’re getting crummy weather when you’re hunting in your wall tent. But also, it could be a woodshed. It could go in your backyard. You could throw kids’ toys in it. I mean, there’s a thousand…
SPEAKER 12 :
cool uses for it no i mean like i say man yeah that was awesome minute i saw it i was like that’s gonna be a good seller you know so we’re just let you know hey we’ve rolled good we rolled that out at 399 we’re not promising that price forever we just want to get enough of them out into the marketplace
SPEAKER 03 :
So we want to do it at a really good cost so we can get a lot of people out there using them so others can see them and know how good a product it is.
SPEAKER 12 :
Sure. And, hey, again, we’re a few weeks away here, but, hey, now’s the time. If you’re looking at putting a few things together, there’s not many stores you’ll go into to have the in-field experience that they can just ask you the right questions, figure out what you need as far as a setup intent. to make it all right for you, and that’s at One Stop at Davis Tent. And Will and Taylor there will be glad to help you. And, Will, what are your hours?
SPEAKER 03 :
From May until the end of October, we’re open on Saturdays from 8 to noon. So if you can’t make it during our kind of, you know, it’s hard. Our hours are 8 to 430 Monday through Friday all year long. I realize people work. And that’s not always convenient. So during the times of May through October, we’re open on Saturdays from 8 to noon. So feel free to visit us then as well.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right. And that was the last couple minutes here. But anybody doing some things with horses and maybe renting some horses and they need some gear, you’ve got some pretty cool stuff there for that too.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, we are. we can help those people and make very specific recommendations for them, depending on what their plan is on using those horses. Right. Some people are going to have pack horses. Some people have riding horses. I mean, how do you get set up? So you have a pannier when you get an animal down and you’re four miles back. Uh, you know, we can do that, you know, something that you can carry easily. So, or if you need saw bucks or whatever you need, uh, hobbles, uh, saddlebags, we have all that here, and we make it all right here.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yep. Hey, Davis Tent, again, highly recommend them, and we want to thank Will for being a great supporter and help, you know, for our show, and not only our show, but I’m telling you, a lot of things we went through last year with Prop 127. Will, I mean, when I say you dove in with both feet, man, you dedicated many, many, many hours of that and probably some short sleeping nights, but man, thank you for all that you did as a company and as an individual, uh, to help us there. And I know you’re one that really cares about all this and man, we just appreciate you very much.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I’m really fortunate to be able to do that. And I just want to encourage everyone. I realize that not everybody can do that. A lot of people would like to, but just can’t because of work obligations, family obligations. But boy, if you can give a few bucks to the effort, I’m just telling you, I understand $150 doesn’t do that much, but $2,050 does a hell of a lot. And, you know, that’s what we need. We need just this broad support that allows us to get down in the dirt and fight the fight that we need to fight for everybody.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, for sure. Hey, get by and see them. Let them know you heard them here on Sportsman of Colorado, and we’d appreciate that as well. So, Will, appreciate your time, sir, and I’ll catch you real soon.
SPEAKER 13 :
Come on, Scott. Take care.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, you as well. That’s Will Marquardt, owner of Davis Tent. And, hey, now’s the time to get by if you need something for this hunting season especially. You’re listening to Sports from Colorado. We’ve got to hit a quick break and we’ll be back with more right after this.
SPEAKER 09 :
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SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 12 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
560 KLZ, your home station.
SPEAKER 12 :
Welcome back to Sportsman of Colorado. Again, thank you so much for joining us. Just a quick reminder now, you miss our live show on Saturdays 1 to 2. You can catch us twice on Sundays. That’s 8 a.m., 8 p.m. Then the following Thursday at 9 a.m. So hopefully one of those four times will work out for you. And if you miss that, you can catch our podcast, of course, on our website, sportsmanofcolorado.com or wherever you may listen to your podcast. All right. Hey, we are actually live from the world headquarters of the backcountry wilderness area here over in Highlands Ranch. And came over here to see our friends, Mark Giebel. And Mark’s been on the show here the last few times hogging the microphone. So he wanted Lindsay to come on the show today. So Lindsay McKissick is with us. And then we’ve got a special guest with Lindsay. Thanks for having us over.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hey, thanks for coming.
SPEAKER 12 :
How are you?
SPEAKER 05 :
I’m good. It’s about summer.
SPEAKER 12 :
Man, I’m telling you, we were just talking before we came on air. Man, this year has flown.
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s flown.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah. I’m going to have you bring that mic to you just a little bit. There you go. But it has. Yeah, time has just really flown by. This is a busy time for you guys.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, we kick off summer camp on Tuesday right after Memorial Day. So we’ll be having 120 kids out there every single weekday morning of the whole summer.
SPEAKER 1 :
120?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
Come out and play in the woods all summer.
SPEAKER 12 :
And what age is it?
SPEAKER 05 :
So we do everything actually from 3 to 13 for summer camp. So 3 to 6-year-olds doing wild roots. And then our 7 to 13-year-olds doing camp backcountry, nature, art, horse, and girls of the outdoors camps.
SPEAKER 12 :
Wow.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 12 :
That’s so cool. I don’t know if we’ve ever really talked about how all this got started. We won’t take all the time today, but… Any quick little history snippet you can give us here for the backcountry?
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s evolved from being a small camp of a few kids out for half days in the summer all the way to now where we have, like I said, 120 kids out for full days. They’re out there from 8 to 4 spending their days out in the woods doing nature education, having the childhood summer we all had and miss.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right, yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
So getting them out to nature, getting their hands dirty, building forts.
SPEAKER 12 :
You know a buddy we were talking the other day about? When I grew up, which was a very long time ago, you know, but you would go by parks, you would be in streets, and you couldn’t even drive down the street for kids out playing. You don’t see that today. No. I mean, and that’s a shame.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, and the benefit is that we can offer that for the Highlands Ranch community and beyond. So there’s still a few spots left if you want your kid to have that experience this summer.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, cool. Hey, we’re going to be doing more shows here throughout the year with these folks. They’ve got a lot of great programs that go on. Of course, we get into the hunting area here a little bit later in the fall. But if you’re not familiar with the backcountry, you need to look it up, especially if you’re in Highlands Ranch, right? They do a great, great work. All right, Lindsey, we’ve got a special guest with us today. I’ll let you introduce him and then kind of tell about the partnership.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, so we’ve got Zach Patron here from Rocky Mountain Strength. He’s one of our Backcountry Backer corporate sponsors. So he’s with us, believes in the mission of our recreation, education, conservation, getting people outside so that they can turn into protectors of wild places like the backcountry wilderness area. So he’s here to kind of talk to us about getting fit for the hunt season, which doesn’t start the day before the hunting season. Sure. No, it turns out.
SPEAKER 12 :
I walked around the block right before I went to go climb the mountain.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, good. And then some programs that he’s doing specifically in the backcountry wilderness area to get hunters ready.
SPEAKER 12 :
Zach, welcome to Sportswear Colorado. Thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER 04 :
I appreciate it. You bet. Tell us a little bit about your background, what got you into the fitness world. Yeah, so I actually have a business degree, so that’s helped with running of the business. But kind of my whole life, just, you know, grew up, born and raised in Colorado. So this is home, camping, hunting, fishing, growing up with my family, my dad. stepfather and my uncle and you know that side of families hunted colorado since they’re kids as well so um i think i’ve been super blessed and lucky to you know get involved and learn from some of the best you know hunting at a young age so that’s been kind of part of just me you know in my life growing up in colorado just loving the outdoors and then On the fitness side, you know, my dad was a big athlete and kind of had me in the gym since I was eight years old or so. And it’s just been kind of a natural progression on the fitness side and became a certified trainer 10, 12 years ago now. And kind of worked through the different types of gyms and ranks and, you know, finally started. Had the chance to open up my own gym and really brand it to what I believe in and what I want to help people with, which is, you know, mountain fitness and living the Colorado lifestyle. Sure. And with that, hunting is a big part of that lifestyle. And that’s something I really enjoy. Coaching is the hunting side of fitness and, you know, the programs that we have. Through backcountry wilderness area, it kind of, you know, is the cherry on top for what I’m able to do. Excited to run it each year, and it’s been amazing having that opportunity with them.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right. So what type of folks come and see you? I mean, is it more guys your age? I mean, very few my age.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I mean, believe it or not, I wish I could say the gym was 99% hunters that are 30 years old that are there to just kick ass every day. But we’re a general population gym of, you know, helping a mom that wants to carry her, you know, two-year-old on her back for a hike in Colorado. Okay. We’re here to help those people that want to ski until they’re 80 years old. And then really the big part is, you know, helping those hunters that – can be as prepared for the mountains as they can. But our jam, Rocky Mountain Strength, is for anybody in Colorado, anybody that just loves the mountain lifestyle, really the overall Colorado lifestyle. And a lot of that has to deal with, you know, hiking, even the backcountry trails. It doesn’t have to be some crazy adventure in the mountains. But we really focus on kind of prepping people for big mountain excursions, whether it’s 14ers or, you know, big trail runs, whether it’s ultra running. And then just your typical… You know, mom or dad that want to go on a hike with the kids and feel good and strong and, you know, carry their kid on their back and say, yeah, I’m trained for this. I’m ready to roll type of thing. Cool. Yeah. Cool. And you’re over by Topgolf. Yeah. Yep. Just off of Havana, right over, right across from Topgolf. You could hit a ball into our front of our business if you tried hard enough.
SPEAKER 12 :
You must not have seen me play golf. I haven’t seen you out there yet. Hey, that’s 6855 South Havana Street, by the way, and it’s Rocky Mountain Strength. All right, so someone here has a show. They want to come in. What does that initial assessment look like?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, sure. Obviously, coming in, we give complimentary classes, a couple options for kind of intros, but we offer small group classes, and that’s the main thing we do. We offer about 30 of those a week, so a full scheduled Monday through Saturday, and then we have personal training as well, which is the private side, and then we are now working on actually a 2,000 square foot expansion that opens in August, and that’s going to include recovery centers, so sauna, Cold Plunge will have a total of four physical therapists in the facility as well, which is a big part of dealing with injuries you may, you know, occur in the mountains or just everyday life as well. So we keep it really simple of coming in and checking out the facility, you know, trying to make you as comfortable as possible. And we want it to be a safe space as well where, you know, any age, any gender matters. come on in and we’re going to make it a place for you. And that’s also really important to us as well is we want anybody and everybody to come in and also see a little bit more of, you know, things you can do in the mountains that maybe you weren’t thought you weren’t capable of. And that’s exciting for us as well as I want to help a hunter go get a big 6×6 bull, but at the same time, I want to help somebody take their first steps on a trail for a simple hike and to enjoy what Colorado has to offer. And I think that’s what’s so unique about Rocky Mountain Strength is we’re not just a gym. We are a culture and a brand of you come in to work out, but we’re not there to just get stronger in the gym. It’s for actual use outside in the Colorado mountains, preferably. It’s been really fun, and we just really stay authentic with what we know and what we do.
SPEAKER 12 :
It’s proven. Whether you’re looking at weight loss, anything, doing it with a coach. Yep. About three times more successful on anything you look at, right? For sure, yep. And so talk about that a minute and kind of how do you pair up a coach with a person to try to figure out, you know, is this going to be a good fit for that person?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, definitely. I think – Um, you know, one of the first things is, is like you said, having a coach, whether it is a small group coach or just a private trainer is accountability. Yeah. And there’s a lot of my clients that know somewhat what they’re doing and can work out on their own, but they can’t make it there on that time on their own. Right. And so that accountability part, I think is one of the biggest things in fitness is, is staying accountable to yourself, but having that coach or that time slot that you sign up for that you can’t miss. Right. Um, Coming in, kind of pairing it, it’s, you know, male, female. Do you prefer a male trainer? Do you prefer a female trainer? We have a great wide variety of different styles of trainers. You know, are you looking for something specific, like you want to get ready for a hunt? Well, that’s probably going to be, you know, with me. Are you looking for more of a return activity post-injury? We have trainers for that. And then we just kind of have the general population, right, trainer of somebody that doesn’t have any… Big goals, you could say, but wants to learn how to work out, how to lift, kind of, you know, become part of a community as well. And that’s what’s really fun with what we have is you’re not just joining a gym. You’re not just there to get fit. It’s the community aspect. And, you know, a lot of that obviously has to also do with the backcountry wilderness area and how we can bring people together and show them, you know, what Colorado is all about. you know, 10 minutes from our gym, too, which is so unique. So fun.
SPEAKER 12 :
Zach Patron is with us. He’s with Rocky Mountain Strength. And once again, in partnership with the Backcountry Wilderness Area, they’re located at 6855 South Havana Street. So if someone wanted to come over and just kind of check things out. Is that something that you can kind of greet them and walk them around, show them what’s up?
SPEAKER 04 :
Amazing studio manager that’s, you know, staffed up front for the most time. Tori, she’s there to walk you through, show you our facility, the small group side, the recovery room, the physical therapy, come in, you know, sign up for a class, try one out first. We want to make sure it’s a place you really want to be and enjoy. So that’s Important that you come in on us first and complimentary wise and see if it’s a good fit for you as well. We want this to be a place that you want to be. We’re not a gym that just has these memberships of reoccurring revenue where people aren’t coming in. We are calling you if you’re not there every two weeks. And that means a lot to us to make sure you’re getting in. using your membership. Um, and so I think we have that personal touch that’s a little different than maybe a big box gym where it’s just thousands of members, you know, and we want a community of people that want to be with each other and you know, enjoy being with each other and at the gym. We’re there to work hard, but at the same time, we’re there to have a good time and enjoy the time, you know, in the process of whatever you’re training for.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right. You know, at the beginning of the year, everybody makes their New Year’s resolutions and all, join gyms, gym memberships skyrocket. And most studies show that I’ve looked at, by Super Bowl Sunday, they’re off. Yeah. I mean, really. And so… It’s a mindset, isn’t it, to just, if you just want to get healthy. And I tell people all the time, I do a few shows with doctors during our weekday show we do. And I tell them all the time, hey, now’s the time to take control of your health and wellness, so to speak. Because once you get diagnosed with diabetes or, you know, something else, type 2 diabetes, whatever, then that doctor is going to be controlling your health, right, and telling you what you need to do. So now’s the time just to get healthy, man.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I totally agree. And it’s interesting because going off of what you just said of that New Year’s resolution, we’re actually where you go post Super Bowl Sunday. So we don’t get this crazy influx. You know, it’s typically they’re going to go to that big box gym, the $10 a month membership, try it out on their own for two or three months, realize. I don’t have that accountability. I don’t know what I’m doing in there. Then our influx comes a little bit more in that March time timeline of post, you know, realizing, oh, I need some one-on-one help, maybe some private help or just getting into a class with that coach, that certified coach that’s there to help a group of us, but still giving me that one-on-one attention as well. Yeah.
SPEAKER 12 :
Because there are some people that like that class scene. Other people don’t. Right. For sure. And that’s what you kind of can tailor to fit everybody’s need and what they like. Exactly.
SPEAKER 04 :
You know, half my half my personal training clients don’t want to go take a class. They just want that two or three times a week, one on one with me. The other half will train with me once or twice a week and then go and take two or three classes at the same time as well. So. It’s kind of a mix of what you really prefer and also your schedule, you know, with how busy everybody is, like what you can fit in, when you can fit it in. To tell you the truth, I think everybody can find an hour to work out in the day no matter what, whether you have two kids, whether you’re older, whether you’re younger, you know. There’s time and there’s a way to take care of your health and fitness. And it’s not even, you know, just about the physical part, but the mental aspect of what working out does for you is beyond, you know, the main reason why I work out to feel good or look good. It’s that mental aspect, I think. In society, that’s what’s missing is moving your body to then help, you know, that mental side more than anything.
SPEAKER 12 :
Is there a better time to set aside that time in the day? I mean, do you like… Some people like to be there 5 o’clock when a gym opens or 6 o’clock when a gym opens. Others like to go, I’ve seen, after work. And some people do it on a lunch hour. Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Is there a better time to work out? You know, it’s really what works for your schedule, right? What you’re going to do, right? Yeah. Like me personally, after I’ve had some calories in my day, some caffeine, I’m going to work out at 2 or 3, 4 p.m. if possible. You know, like that’s the best time for me to get the most out of my workout. But I’m also at the gym all day, so I can find those times midday where if you have your 9 to 5 or, you know, you’re an entrepreneur, have your own business, I think you just need to find that time that you can – can work out and get it in. It’s, it’s not about when you feel your best. It’s, you know, being accountable to yourself and, and just finding that time to do it 45 minutes, half the time, Scott, I get a 30 minute workout, right?
SPEAKER 12 :
That was, I just wrote down time of workout. I wanted to ask you that because some people think I can’t go for two hours. You don’t need to do two.
SPEAKER 04 :
I prefer six 30 minute to 45 minute workouts a week for myself. rather than three-hour-and-a-half type of workouts. Make it quick, efficient, effective. Our classes are 45 minutes to 50 minutes total, including a dynamic warm-up, the actual workout, and a cool-down. So you’re getting all that in with instruction in 45 minutes walking out the door. And so I would rather have you come and doing four, five days of those than three days of 90 minutes on your phone in between sets, that type of thing. Just efficiency, being effective. Today I have an hour on my day. Um, I’m going to go and I’m going to push the sled back up and down the turf, carry some heavy weight, keep it simple, you know, keep it effective. And in 30 minutes, you know, I just trained for an elk hunt for myself personally. Right. And feel good about it and feel strong. And, you know, did it in a safe manner where my body still feels good. I don’t need to be max back squatting. You know, I don’t need to do a lot of these max weight, max effort exercises. I need sustainability. And I need to also keep, you know, maintenance to what I want to do personally, which is Most of the time for what we train for at our gym is, you know, maintenance and keeping strength for that continual year long of activity, right? We’re not there to max out bench press, max out your back squat or deadlift. There’s times in the winter when we have a winter strength series that we are pushing heavier weights. But everything we do is trained around the season at our gym. So it’s winter strength. Then you go into more of a spring endurance, summer sprint, and then the fall rebuild. So we phase everything off of how we’re using our body in Colorado within our programs as well.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right. Again, if you’re just joining us, Zach Patron is with us. We are at the Backcountry Wilderness Area headquarters here in Highlands Ranch. His gym is Rocky Mountain Strength, 6855 South Havana Street. And, hey, when you go in, let them know you heard them here on Sportsman of Colorado, and we’d appreciate that. And you can ask for Zach, and I’m sure he’d be glad to show you around.
SPEAKER 04 :
all right let’s talk about memberships and different what different types of memberships you have sure yeah so we have small group memberships and that’s going to get you some small group classes it could be a you know a consultation with our physical therapist um recovery room options open gym options those small group memberships vary um from like an unlimited membership comes six days a week in small group classes come during open gym times if you want to do your own thing Um, use our physical therapists, get those consultations, see where you’re at, um, you know, biomark biomarker wise. And then you got like a 12 times a month, which would be like three times a week. And then you’re eight times a month, twice a week. So it’s what fits in your schedule. Or if you enjoy being in the gym twice a week and trail running four days a week. how you can make that work. Every single person, no matter what, I don’t care who you are in this world needs the strength train consistently. Um, does it have to be your, your, your main thing three, four times a week? No, but at least twice a week, everybody needs to be lifting weights. I mean, there’s so many different reasons why, right? Women for the osteo wise, I mean, you know, people for the mental health wise, but strength training, you know, is what keeps me doing what I want to do as well in the mountains. So, um, We focus on four or five different classes at our gym. Small group classes, our main one is called Mountain Fit, right? So we train strength, balance, stability, endurance. That’s kind of our flagship of a class that’s unique to any other gym. And then we have strength class focusing on just lifting, push days, pull days, full body days. A conditioning class, which is just like it sounds, higher heart rate, metabolic training. Um, it changes throughout, you know, winter session, we might be doing a lot more zone two consistent fat burn where now in summer we’re on those treadmills doing 10 second sprint intervals, that type of thing, just like you would be if you’re out and, you know, outdoors now moving a little bit faster. Um, and then our last class is a hit class, which kind of, uh, you know, intermediate, uh, hit high intensity interval training stuff. So that’s going to be a little bit more of a higher heart rate. So, um, we are a strength and conditioning gym first and foremost, and everything we do is based off of strength. Second part conditioning.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right.
SPEAKER 04 :
And what are the hours that you’re open? Yeah. Typically that our gym, depending on class times is open from 5.00 AM till six to 7.00 PM at night. Okay. So you’re All day long, you have to… No excuse. No excuse. That’s what I’m saying. You know, you have to have… We use an app. You have to go book your own class time and or you’re booking your trainer. So we are a private gym in the sense of it’s not just a come in and come out gym. You have to have specific times. that you are books on you know and that’s for safety and it’s also for you know the attention that we want to make sure everybody’s getting arm you know as much as we want as many members ever as we can get we want you know a safe space you wanna place available and big enough for everybody do what utilize and we are private gym in the sense of you know there’s only so many people in that gym per hour from home and that helps us you know foster the type a community what we want and and religious focus on each individual that comes in there sure so is it have you seen more success with people that work with a personal trainer and you know that’s just their program then doing it on their own even in your gym it’s a great question typically you can’t go wrong with having a personal trainer you know those are tailored exactly to you exactly your goals um you know there’s a day you didn’t get great sleep because you have young kids well you know we’re going to take your session back a little bit and keep your heart rate a little bit lower that type of thing right now it’s kind of an interesting question because then we have people that come you know four or five days a week consistently in small group classes you know really focus on the program whether it is trying to increase strength or staying in the zone two for a long run And they see great results too, but consistency is the biggest thing on both sides of whether with your trainer or with your small group classes. So I think you can see great results on both. Typically with a trainer, I think it’s quicker results just because it is fine-tuned to just you. but we program our small group classes just like we would you know for a client in the sense of hitting all muscle groups and hitting you know the balance and stability and conditioning aspects that anybody you know as a human being should be working on do you get people in there that haven’t been to a gym in a long time or are there a lot of gym rats what we know people that are
SPEAKER 12 :
Already in really good shape and you kind of look at them and say why are you here?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah both You know both and that’s that’s what’s cool is is our classes, right? You can be a you know a 21 year old, you know first time person in the gym or a 50 year old that’s you know Been in the gym and knows what we’re doing, you know working out next to each other in the class you choosing your own weight You’re choosing your own pace, right? So every class is tailored to you specifically in this in the sense of you know, you’re going at your pace you’re You’re going at your level of fitness at that time. And that’s what’s really cool is we have a wide variety of people in these classes. And really, people come for the community as well. So even a lot of these people that know what they’re doing, they just love being part of, you know, rocking on strength. And our coaches and our community is, you know, first and foremost, I think one of the coolest things we have.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right. Now on the hunting side, last few minutes here, but on the hunting side. Yeah. You’ve got a program designed really for hunting. Correct. So kind of walk us through maybe what that looks like.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. So it’s pretty much a nine-month program, right? Hunting season, we’re really not doing much. That’s what we train for. That’s the Super Bowl of our year. Sure. So starting in January through March, we have just back country hunting, strength and conditioning. And that’s not with the wilderness area, but that’s just at our gym where we’re building that foundation post hunting season, you know, kind of rebuilding, finding those imbalances, building that foundational strength. And then from there, we kind of start working into some outdoor activities, whether it’s a couple of one-off sessions at the archery range where we’re just kind of getting people together, getting that hunting community back together, shooting our bows a little bit. But really, you know, our biggest event of the year is with the backcountry wilderness area. And that is our six-week bowhunter training camp. We’ve ran it, I think, for two years now. I think this is our third year. It’s grown substantially every year. I think this is going to be our next biggest year, which is exciting. This is a six-week program. This year, I think it’s going to be Tuesdays starting at 6 p.m. Last two weeks of July all the way through August, we lead right up into the opener of archery season. Okay, so last two weeks of July is when it starts. Yep, yep, and it’s a six-week program, 90-minute sessions. During that 90 minutes, I have a certified archery coach on the shooting side. I’m the strength and conditioning coach. So we kind of have different blocks of strength and conditioning out there in the fields at the archery range, which is super fun. So endurance runs, tire flips, heavy carries, weighted step ups. things that you’re going to see, you know, while you’re hiking up in the high country and then you’re then going over and shooting your bow with packs on, maybe it’s an elevated heart rate, working techniques, controlling your heart rate. I mean, as you know, Scott, like when you get that animal in front of you, you know, it’s a whole different deal. And so what can we do at least kind of get you into that feeling in that situation. So when you get to that point of a high heart rate, you can steady your bow, you know, maybe you can steady your rifle a little bit. That’s not the surprise, you know, point of, of that hunt is a high heart rate. Now I have to see what I can do with it.
SPEAKER 12 :
Wow. Cool. All right, Lindsay, how do people sign up? How they,
SPEAKER 04 :
get registered for this so actually you do it through zach so everything is done through rocky mountain strength he gets all the registration okay wrangled um and the cost uh i think cost this year’s 350 dollars okay and that includes six 90 minute sessions wow swag bags things like that really kind of some open range time you know when i’m out there as well so just fine tuning shooting skills um with that too
SPEAKER 12 :
All right. That’s cool. Yeah. And male, female?
SPEAKER 04 :
Anybody. You know, I think last year we had five females, and we’re trying to really push that, you know, more than anything right now is more of these female bow hunters. And it’s been really cool seeing a lot more females out there doing this.
SPEAKER 12 :
And, man, I’m telling you what, the female community over these last few years has really shown up at a lot of different events and done really well. I mean, they shoot well.
SPEAKER 04 :
You know, they’re in shape. Stronger than most of the men out there. Yeah.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
Also, I was going to say that our archery range season passes are on sale now. So if you’re getting ready to go to Zach’s program at the end of July and want to get out on the 3D range, get to our static range, come check things out. You can go to any HRCA recreation center and get a season pass now.
SPEAKER 12 :
Okay. And you’ve got your, I’ll let you explain the range.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, so we have a range off Ron King Trail in Santa Fe, 6005 Ron King Trail. It has a 3D range and a static range that you can go out and practice, get your reps in. And it’s also just a beautiful place to go out and shoot archery. Sunup to sundown, 365 days a year.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, cool. Well, Zach, thanks, man. Thank you, Scott. I appreciate it. It’s been great. Hey, maybe I can do a picture for you, the workout picture. I can be that picture, okay?
SPEAKER 05 :
We’ll see. Love that.
SPEAKER 12 :
We’ve got to get you there. All right, Lindsay, thanks for setting this up for us.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, you bet.
SPEAKER 12 :
It’s the Backcountry Wilderness Area. You’re into archery. This is it. Starts the last couple of weeks of July. Get in touch with Zach at Rocky Mountain Strength, 6855 South Havana Street. Let them know you heard them here on Sportsman of Colorado. Thanks for being with us today. Hope you have a great rest of your weekend. Remember now, got replays on Sundays, 8 and 8, and then on the following Thursday at 9 a.m. Thanks for being with us. Hope you have a great rest of your weekend. Leave it right here on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 08 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
