Soon Kashmiri skiers will be getting a little help from another mountain tribe, one that knows the beauty of descent and the boon of a ski industry as well as any other people on earth: ski bum Coloradoans. [Read More]
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Adam and Jason rack up at the bottom of "Hangover" – Hyalite Canyon The Bozeman Ice Festival was last weekend. The festival – like its counterparts in Ouray, Cody, Valdez, et al – is organized to celebrate the local ice climbing culture, bring climbers together, and introduce new people to the sport. On the schedule for the weekend were two competitions (a pro invitational on Thursday and an open on Saturday), several clinics, slideshows, movie premieres, gear expos, and, of course, beer specials. On Thursday, the day of the pro comp, I drove into the canyon with Jason and his friend, Adam, to get in a few pitches before the weekend rush. The recent frigid temps left the ice hard and dry, and we wore ourselves out on four- and five-swing pick placements on brittle flows. The tough ice conditions and near-zero temperatures chased us after just a few hours, and we were hiking out with plenty of time to clean up and change for the movie later that night. When we got back to the parking lot, though, we were met with a troubling scene. Several somber-looking climbers were milling about, surrounded by trucks and snowmobiles emblazoned [Read More] I can get on-board with free money. Especially when it comes with complimentary wine and cheese and the chance to win free gear. If you’re into these things, you should join us at our Old Town Fort Collins location tonight 6-8pm for our Customer Appreciation Night. Stuff your stockings or your ski rack tonight – we’ll have a storewide 15% off sale. We recently unveiled a new customer rewards program as well. You may have a $25 store credit waiting for you. That’s free money and it’s waiting for you to claim it. Get the details on our events page. Outdoor Hero – Warren Doyle All this hoopla with Tiger Woods over the past two weeks has made me appreciate being an outdoor athlete. It also begs the question, do giants in the sporting world have an obligation to their fans to be not just great at their sport, but a great person as well? I say no, Tiger Woods does not owe me anything. I do not look to Tiger for any advice or examples of how to live my personal life. But Tiger does have an obligation to Nike, EA Sports, Gillette and countless other sponsors to either be an upstanding guy or not get caught, because the truth is, I no longer want to own anything with Tiger’s image, likeness or signature on it. (Okay, I admit, there is one exception. I will still use Gillette razors because that’s what Roger Federer uses, and I want to use whatever the Fed uses.) But in general, when a person signs on to sell a product we need to be able to trust that person, and I no longer trust Tiger Woods. Outdoor Hero – Scott Williamson My current distrust of Tiger led me to [Read More] Kitchen night life at twenty below. Winter camping. It’s cold, but at least it’s dark. The wind’s blowing, but at least it’s snowing. Everything’s harder, but at least we have numb hands to do it with. This is positive pessimism. It has gotten climbers through the mighty slog up Aconcagua. It has buoyed spirits on the 15th tent-bound day in Patagonia. And it is a potent remedy against winter nights in the backcountry. That and 11 hours of sleep in a warm sleeping bag, plus as much butter, bacon, Spam, gravy and biscuits as a human digestive tract can handle. Last week ten friends and I participated in Outward Bound’s Rocky Mountain Region Winter Skills Training. On Friday morning, after a day of classroom “sit and get,” we loaded 4 pulks and enough gear to siege Denali into a Ford F-150 and headed out for a frigid night under the stars. As we pulled pack after pack and sled after sled out of the truck, I could hardly believe we were only spending one night two miles in. Fact: winter camping requires about the same amount of clothes, gadgets and general stuff as flying to the moon.
Brown just dropped off a new round of 2009-10 Spark R&D splitboard bindings! We’ll have the new stock of Fuses and Ignitions online pronto, as soon as we figure out which bindings are spoken for on pre-order. If you’d like to get the jump on placing your order, give us a ring at 970-493-5720 and say, “Hey, I have to get my hand on those Sparks.” |
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