Paul Fish, outdoor recreation and environmental advocate, remains busy with his adventures and causes four years after closing the Mountain Gear Inc. retail business, for which he was founder, owner, president, and CEO.

Fish, 65, still lives in Spokane. He organizes a tour of the Banff Mountain Film Festival, with showings in nine U.S. cities through a business called Live to Play, which formerly was the events division of Mountain Gear. He also mentors a group of small businesses in the Spokane area, and he’s active on the board of the California-based Yosemite Climbing Association.

The Journal last reported on Fish in early 2020 as he was closing down Mountain Gear’s retail and online operations, citing competition from other online retailers.

At the time, the 37-year-old company operated a retail store at 2002 N. Division and a 112,000-square-foot distribution center and corporate headquarters at 6021 E. Mansfield, in Spokane Valley.

Fish first brought the film festival to Spokane about 35 years ago as an event for Mountain Gear customers.

“I realized how much people loved it and found a way to do it in nine cities,” he says. “I have rights to produce the show. I rent the theater, sell the tickets, and pay Banff royalties. It’s part marketing and part my desire to stay in touch with the outdoor community.”

Now, the main goal of Live to Play is to raise money for environmental and recreational nonprofits at each tour stop, he says.

“It’s not a nonprofit, but it works with nonprofits,” Fish says. “They help me promote the show, and I write them a check afterward.”

This year’s tour had stops in Washington cities of Spokane, Everett, Bremerton, North Bend, and Vancouver. It also had stops in Corvalis, Oregon; Tempe, Arizona; San Luis Obispo, California; and Cleveland.

The 2025 Spokane stop of the tour is scheduled for Jan. 10-12 at the Fox Theater, downtown.

“We do a big show in Spokane.” Fish says, adding it will have different films each day.

The Spokane tour stop will raise funds here for 10 nonprofits.

“It’s a way for me to give back to the community that helped me build my company and was so good to me,” he says.

 In addition to his business pursuits, Fish remains active in outdoor adventures.

“I just got back from a week on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River,” he says, referring to a whitewater rafting trip in the famed Idaho river.

Next, he’s planning to go rock climbing at the City of Rocks National Reserve in south-central Idaho with a group of friends from throughout the West.

He counts whitewater trips on the Salmon River and on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon as among his favorite adventures in the last few years.

“They’re among the top five rivers to raft in the U.S.,” he says.

He also spent some time cycling in Italy and learned how to paraglide in the Steptoe Butte area south of Spokane and in the Santa Barbara, California, area.

If he’s slowing down, he’s not enjoying life any less.

“Life is dynamic. I don’t hike or bike as fast, but I do it to the full extent of my abilities, and I love it just as much.”

He also says he still has some goals he’d like to achieve.

“I would like to do one more significant mountain climb somewhere in the world,” he says. “I want to go to two continents I haven’t been to yet: Africa and Antarctica.”

He adds that he also wants to spend more time with good friends and family.

He contends that the absence of Mountain Gear has left an enduring void in the outdoor technical gear market here.

“I can’t get anything I need in town,” he says. “If I have a regret, I wish I’d been able to figure out a way to get someone else to keep the store going.”

Fish, however, doesn’t envision starting up any new business enterprises that would compare to Mountain Gear.

“I love what I’m doing, being involved in mentoring other businesses and the board I’m on,” he says. “With the film festival and working with nonprofits, I have plenty to keep me busy and let me do the things I want.”