Stephen Regenold is the founder of GearJunkie, which he launched as a newspaper column at age 25 in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Regenold cut his teeth producing a quarterly ‘zine at the University of Minnesota’s Journalism School and then as a reporter for a business magazine.
Regenold launched GearJunkie.com in 2006, and for years, he covered the outdoors and adventure space, including as a correspondent for the New York Times. With the NYT, Regenold published more than 50 articles, writing first-person accounts from remote geographies spanning from northern Ontario to the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave in Belize.
Stephen is also a proud adventure racer. His semi-pro team then won the U.S. Adventure Racing Championship in 2012. Regenold has trekked to Mount Everest and climbed the highest volcano in Iceland. He staked first-ascent climbs in Canada and also (hilariously) won the 2013 Brompton U.S. Championships on a tiny, fold-up British bike.
GearJunkie was eventually acquired by AllGear Digital in 2020, and Stephen remains on as VP of Strategy. Beyond work and the outdoors, Regenold is the father of five kids and serves as a coach on their school’s NICA mountain bike team. He and his wife, Tara, live in Minneapolis.
The Minnesota River Valley has long been a favorite escape and an equipment-testing ground for the staff at GearJunkie. We explored the river busting its…
