Category: product endorsements

Posted on

thin jacket to climb Mt Everest

Would you wear this jacket to summit the world’s highest peak?

That’s what climber Jamie Clarke from my town, Calgary, Canada plans to do this Spring. He’s working with Champion Athletic Wear on a new technology that has “the potential to change the entire outdoor apparel industry.”

A big boast.

Jamie has tested the apparel and outerwear on Mount Pumori in Nepal.

This spring, Expedition Hanesbrands heads to Mount Everest. With good weather, hard climbing — and nanotechnology on their backs — Clarke and his crew are counting on the Supersuit to help them make it to the top.

Gear Junkie – Champion Supersuit Unveiled!

It’s super-insulating Zero-Loft Aerogel, more than 99 percent air, according to the company. The claim by Champion is that it’s four times as warm as goose down.

Details on Jamie’s Everest ascent is posted on ClimbeEverestWithUs – The Team

Posted on

hiking electronics

by site editor Rick McCharles

You may find it surprising how much electronic gear I hauled on my recent 17-day trek in the Everest region.

I carried two iPods. … Overkill?

My iPod shuffle plays for about 10hrs on a charge. The iPod touch perhaps 20hrs. Both filled with audio podcasts and books on MP3.

Click on any of the images below for a description.

Everest trek - 148

Everest trek - 151

Everest trek - 150

Everest trek - 149

Everest trek - 146

Everest trek - 147

Recharging batteries en route was not always easy.

Comments?

Posted on

are running shoes ruining your feet?

UPDATE: Tony Rix recommends Vibram’s latest model, the KSO Trek. (see the comments)

That’s one of the themes of a fantastic book I’ve just finished:

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

I’m convinced that author Christopher McDougall is on to something.

For specifics, check this article: The painful truth about trainers: Are running shoes a waste of money?

His theory is that we evolved running barefoot. And became the dominant species on the planet because of that advantage.

Running barefoot … an advantage?

It seems counter intuitive. Yet the case laid out in his book seems irrefutable.

Shoe companies, especially Nike, seeking mad profits, have convinced us to buy technology that changes our natural technique.

In recent years I’ve been hiking and trail running in one of the cheapest pairs of shoes made by New Balance. I bought them because of bunions. Perhaps, by luck, this soft, flat-soled shoe is what I need.

I’m tempted to try hiking in Vibram Fivefingers. That’s what the author is using now for distance running.

… That might be going too far.

Instead, I’ll pull out my old sandals. I’ve hiked in those before, very comfortably. Those feel like “bare feet”, but keep the pebbles and grit out.

Leave a comment if you’ve experimented with tossing your hiking boots in the closet. And getting back to something more natural.

Posted on

book review – Born to Run

On the insistence of my Adventure Racing buddy, Dave Adlard, I bought a book.

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

A fantastic read, even for non-runners. The author, Christopher McDougall, (video) is a master story teller. I was gripped by this true life story.

Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong. …

It’s available on Audible.com, as well as in a Kindle edition.

Get it!

Christopher Mcdougall reminds me of Jon Krakauer, another magazine scribe turned author.

Born to Run is as engaging as anything by Krakauer.

The culminating Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen is set in Mexico’s Copper Canyon. I visited as a tourist in 1999. Fantastic.

I’ve long planned to return for some serious hiking there. Unfortunately, as the book describes vividly, it’s very dangerous today as the Canyons are home to big marijuana plantations. You might get shot.

Posted on

beautiful British Columbia

With the Winter Olympics, this hiking destination is going to get some great publicity.

Ninety second video features British Columbians Michael J. Fox, Ryan Reynolds, Erick McCormack, Kim Cattrall, Steve Nash, and Sarah McLachlan.

HelloBC.com

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Posted on

2010 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour

The trailer for the current world tour has been posted. As always, it’s awesome.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Find out when this amazing event is playing close to where you live – International Schedule

I’m just booking tickets for myself:

Calgary, Canada – January 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Posted on

climber Greg Mortenson on PBS

Friday, January 15 on Bill Moyers Journal:

Author and humanitarian Greg Mortenson, whose best-selling books THREE CUPS OF TEA and STONES INTO SCHOOLS argue that education is the best way to peace in Afghanistan and across the Islamic world. Bill Moyers Journal airs Friday nights at 9 p.m. on PBS. Check your local listings.

Click PLAY or watch a preview on YouTube.

PBS.org – details

(via Trailspace)

Posted on

tweet, facebook from anywhere on Earth

Here’s a system I would use. Posting my geolocation along with text trip report updates.

Details on Gadling:

… allow adventurers to more effectively communicate from locations that are not covered by cell service.

The new device pairs one of DeLorme’s GPS units with SPOT’s next generation Satellite Communicator, to send custom message from the backcountry. The Earthmate wil have all the regular features you’d expect from a GPS, including base maps, in this case covering the entire world, navigation, electronic compass, and so on. But it will also wirelessly pair with the Communicator, allowing the user to type text messages and send them to friends and family back home via satellite. …

It’s designed so you can call for help from anywhere, should an emergency develop.

… it also lets the user to share tracking information and custom messages that can easily be interfaced with Twitter, Facebook, Geocaching.com, and SPOT’s own SPOTadventures.com. …

Pricing not available until the Earthmate PN-60w is made available later this Spring.

If you are interested, click through to the article – New device will let you text, twitter from remote places

Posted on

Adventure Story of the Decade – Greg Mortenson

A dazed climber descending from a failed attempt on K2 got lost, stumbling into a remote village.

This week his story was named by the Outside Adventure Blog the Adventure Story of the Decade.

Kudos to Outside. That’s a gutsy and correct call. What Greg has done was the most inspirational story I’ve heard in recent years.

… Who is Greg Mortenson?

Greg Mortenson is the co-founder of nonprofit Central Asia Institute www.ikat.org , founder of Pennies For Peace www.penniesforpeace.org , and co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea www.threecupsoftea.com , and author of the bestsellerStones into Schools www.stonesintoschools.com.

In 2009, Mortenson received Pakistan’s highest civil award, Sitara-e-Pakistan (“Star of Pakistan”) for his dedicated and humanitarian effort to promote education and literacy in rural areas for fifteen years. …

About Greg Mortenson

This guy has done more by himself to help Pakistan than all the hundreds of millions spent by the U.S. government. I love the title of this article: He Fights Terror With Books

I highly recommend his first book. Greg Mortenson is my hero.

click for details on the book

Never has the failure to climb a mountain led to such success. After Greg Mortenson failed to climb K2 in 1993 to honor his dead sister, he picked a new mountain. He raised enough money so a small village in Pakistan could build their own school.

In 2006 he published Three Cups of Tea, a book chronicling his journey. By 2009 he had supported more than 131 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. At a time when U.S. foreign policy is governed by military might that includes Shock and Awe and a flock of high-altitude drones, Greg Mortenson took a simpler, gentler approach. He traveled on rugged roads to small villages—in the same remote regions where the United States dropped bombs from unseen and unheard planes high in the sky—to deliver cash so locals could build schools from stones and have basic learning supplies for their children. He took the war against violence out of the sky and put it in the hands of young girls on the ground.

Outside – The Top 10 Adventure Stories of the Decade

(via RickMcCharles.com)

Posted on

the sorry campgrounds of Hawaii

Over the past 3 years I’ve checked out or tented most of the official campgrounds on Kauai and Maui.

Despite being an outdoor tropical paradise, the campground situation on those 2 islands is a mess.

Your choices include National Campgrounds, State Campgrounds, County Campgrounds and a few private campgrounds.

Though inexpensive, the problem is actually getting a campsite permit for the State and County locations. You must find an administrative office and get there during office hours. You cannot simply show up at the campground at dusk.

Here are some signs I saw 2009 posted at the Waianapanapa State Park campground office on Maui.

no-permit-no-camping

notice

Looks like morale is low. Budget tight.

In fact, the County of Maui has closed campgrounds recently: Baldwin and Rainbow.

The cabins at Waianapanapa are oft called the the best lodging deal on Maui, but they get mixed reviews.

=== Best for tenting – Kauai or Maui?

Kuaia is generally better and more relaxed than Maui. When I camped without a permit in Kauai I was awoken by a friendly officer who informed me that I needed to go to an administrative office, … then charged me $5 cash instead of the usual $3 permit fee. I was very happy with that compromise.

But both islands could and should offer far better tenting than they do now.

=== Dislaimer:

Before you leave an angry comment, I did find a few good campgrounds. Mostly in the National Parks.

I stayed 2 nights free at the superb Kipahulu Campground on Maui. Loved it … despite the fact that drinking water is not available.

tent

Hosmer Grove I liked too. It’s also free. But why don’t they expand the tenting area?

The two wilderness campsites in the Halekala volcano are both great, especially Paluku.

tent-volcano

The Kokee State Park campground on Kauai is superb.

Kokee

I loved, too, the wilderness campground at the end of the Kalalau Trail on Kauai.

tent-on-beach

Most of the Kauai beach campgrounds, however, are filled with loud party animals. Locals use them as party sites 7 nights a week.

What Hawaii really needs is more private campgrounds. Camp Olowalu on Maui is the best private on the island. It would be great … except for the traffic roaring by all night long. And the big dogs running free that threatened while I was there.

=== Are things going to improve?

The Big Island finally has an online system for buying your Camping Permits. Nice.

Leave a comment if you have an opinion on Hawaiian campgrounds.