Employee Spotlight: Merril Longmore

 

I grew up with the spirit of adventure. For as long as I can remember my parents fostered this spirit by taking our family to see and explore every chance they got. Every three day weekend we packed up the car and headed out to see all the local national and state parks, hiking and camping all over Utah and the surrounding states. This mentality has carried over into my adult life. Every chance I get to explore the world around me I take. I firmly believe there is always an adventure to be had no matter where you are living.

Besides backpacking, one of my biggest passions in life is fishing. I love fishing and combining backpacking with fishing. This has led me to the sport of Tenkara. Tenkara is Japanese fly fishing. I love it because it is fly fishing simplified. I take my Tenkara rod with me every time I go into the wilderness where I might run into water. I carried it across 400 miles of the Appalachian Trail. I have caught hundreds of fish, both big and small on my Tenkara rod. I would recommend Tenkara to anyone who is interested in learning to fly fish on rivers.

I love animals, especially fish. I volunteer at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium twice a month, educating people about the animals. I had the pleasure of explaining most of the exhibits to a few other employees after the Liberty Mountain Christmas party this year. While Hiking the AT, I picked up and played with most every animal that I could on the trail. Animals of all shapes and sizes are awesome.

I have had some major transformations in my life, leading me to a new lifestyle of health and fitness. I started running last year. I competed in my first races doing 2 half marathons and 1 full marathon. I have now been toying with the idea of running an ultra. I love being active in the outdoors, that’s why ultras and trail running have appealed to me as they combine running with hiking.

Name: Merril Longmore

Number of years working for Liberty Mountain: One

Job title: Sales Channel Specialist

Short description of what you do at Liberty Mountain: Started in the warehouse, moved to returns in the outlet, and I now work in sales. (Minimum Advertised Price, New Customer Acquisitions, Customer Service, etc.)

What do you like most about your job? Being in the outdoor industry

Active in the following sports/activities/hobbies: Tenkara, Fly fishing, Running, Backpacking, Canyoneering, Climbing, Caving, Kites, Skipping Rocks, etc…

Favorite activity: Canyoneering

Favorite outdoor areas: Southern Utah

Piece of outdoor gear you most wish you had: Quality Snowshoes

Most interesting place ever lived: Out of my backpack on the Appalachian Trail

Least interesting place ever lived: Everywhere has something interesting to see or do

Top-five favorite movies: American Beauty, Fight Club, Last Samurai, Groundhogs Day, and Flight of the Concords

Top-five favorite books: A Song of Fire and Ice, Think and Grow rich, Myst: Book of Dn’I, Timeline, and The Client

Top-five favorite bands: Coheed and Cambria, AFI, Rise Against, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy,  and Panic at the Disco

Inspirational Hero: Martin Luther King

Dream vacation: Local: carry an inflatable kayak to the bottom of coyote gulch and kayak out of lake Powell International: Backpacking across Asia

Cake or pie: Pie (key lime)

Dogs or Cats: Fish

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