Episode 38 -- Eric Blehm

Eric Blehm (Class of 1994) is a two-time New York Times best-selling author who just released his fifth book, "The Darkest White: A Mountain Legend and the Avalanche That Took Him."A self-admitted snowboarding bum while at SDSU with dreams of becoming a professional snowboarder, two conversations on ski lifts changed Blehm's life: the first was when a travel reporter peppered him with questions and he realized that he could be paid to write about outdoor lifestyles; the second is when a younger snowboarder saw a "Craig Kelly is my co-pilot" sticker on his board and asked, "who is Craig Kelly?" That conversation led to his latest book.Blehm also shares stories of being embedded on training missions with Army Rangers Special Ops, interviewing Hamid Karzai before he became the President of Afghanistan, the patience required to spend five years working on a book, and more practical advice for aspiring book authors."Where Ya At?" is a podcast focused on the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University. Each week, during the Fall and Spring semesters, host Josh Suchon (Class of 1996) interviews alumni to learn about their experiences as college students, entering the workforce, key steps in their professional development, advice they'd give to current students, and details about how they covered a specific story.