Happy Monday Morning

A good way to start off the week.

Classic Climbing in Canada

We all have daily, weekly—sometimes even life—checklists (paying the electric bill, changing oil, hitting the gym). But checklists start taking epic proportions when your goal is to climb all the routes made famous in Fifty Classic Climbs of North America.

We heard from Mark and Janelle Smiley earlier in the week, where they've been climbing out their brain in Canada over the past month, checking these three killer climbs off their list:

Mt Waddington, via the Wiessner-House Route, BC (35 hours to climb camp to camp)
Mt Alberta, via the Japanese Route, AB (15 hrs 15 mins hut to hut)
Mt Robson, via the Wishbone Arete, BC (29 hrs hut to hut).

Oh, and then they also climbed a little mountain called Denali via the Cassin Ridge.

Most laypeople have a very surface understanding of the hauling of supplies, acclimatizing, and general waiting that happens when you climb something of this scale. On the Smiley's summit of Denali, they hauled 300 lbs of equipment from Kahiltna basecamp to Camp One (5.5 miles away at 7,800 feet). Then they carried half their kit up to 11K camp to bury for retrieval later: 5 hours of work up, 10 minute ski down to 7,800' camp. Two days later, the stashed gear needed to be schlepped from 11K' camp to Windy Corner. Two feet of fresh snow had made hauling a sled impossible, so Mark & Janelle ditched the sleds and skinned to the top of this part of the mountain carrying only packs with supplies... 4 times. On the fifth day, they arrived at 14 Camp (14,200 feet) and then spent days and days acclimatizing up and down; up and down; up and down the mountain.

On summit day, they skinned from 15K' to 16'K, strapped on crampons to 17K', and reached the summit about 7 hours after leaving 14 Camp.

And the best part of ski mountaineering? The descent.

Clairvoyance? I think yes.

NEMO Favorite Trails, Rides, Breaks, and Crags: Part 2, Index WA

This mini series was originally titled NEMO Favorite Trails and Rides, but clearly, that leaves out some of our favorites places to play outdoors.

On the tail end of a trip out to Seattle to support some of our Washington State based retailers, we got the chance to hang out with Roger Strong, certified badass, and part of the NEMO family via our Pac-NW rep group.

We had a half day to have some fun, so Roger took us to one of his favorite local climbing areas in Index, WA for a morning of fun climbing. To our south, Mount Index gave some scenic views from the top of the pitch.

Before the heat set in, we got in Princely Ambitions, hopped over to Roger's Corner, and then finished up with Breakfast of Champions.

We managed to sneak this self taken shot at the Princely Ambitions belay ledge just as the sun started going full throttle on the wall.

The Cotton Factory

When NEMO moved last fall from Nashua, NH to Dover, NH, we wanted to make sure the building we moved into had as much charm and New England character as our last place, minus the cramped space and lack of climate control.

We were lucky to find the Cocheco Falls Millsworks, which anchors the town center of Dover. This building once housed the Dover Cotton Factory from 1812-1821, and there are still remnants of the prior building occupants artfully scattered around. According to the wonderful powers of the Internets, the waterfalls at the head of the Cochecho River helped power the mills in Dover. In 1829, the Dover Manufacturing Company purchased the Dover Cotton Factory, and the mills continued spinning and weaving textiles until the Great Depression.

You never know where parts of this amazing mill building might show up. Artist Jason Polan included an old wooden vice from the old cotton factory in his Sunday NYTimes series, "Things I Saw".

Brazil 9000: A Journey Across Brazil

In early September 2012 Gareth Jones & Aaron Chervenak will begin a world-first, ‘human powered’ voyage from north to south across Brazil, covering a distance of over 9000km (5500miles) by foot, paddle and pedal over an estimated 15 months.

The expedition will begin in the remote Amazon jungles in Mount Caburai, where Brazil borders Guyana, and end down to the coast town of Chui, on the border with Uruguay.

Gareth and Aaron aim to become the first people in history to complete this voyage, as well as to create an unprecedented portrait of Brazil through photography, film and story.

We've set them up with some Obi Elite 1P tents and Zor sleeping pads for their trips. Join us in following them on their adventures through facebook and twitter.

Fish, Parasites and Mud

We cannot get enough of the guys over at MotivFishing. We first met at the Overland Expo in 2010. They saw Cam’s (first) truck and knew NEMO was the tent company they needed to partner with on their next film. Since then, our tents and pads have accompanied them down the Pacific Coast, through the wilds of Mexico and into Belize. Whether you fish or not, MotivFishing’s Geofish movies entertain beyond your classic casting film. From being robbed at knife point (we had to send replacement tents and pads after that one), to getting the (veggie oil-powered) truck stuck in mud pits for days, to flesh-eating parasites, this foursome will make you laugh and wish you too could travel the remote areas of the world searching for steelhead, tilapia, and whatever else is on the menu.

The film can be seen on the Fly Fishing Film Tour this fall. 

~Kate

From UBDT to CBDR

Our offroading friends Touratech are heading out this week on the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route, beginning in Southwest Colorado.

This summer's trip is a follow-up to the Utah Backcountry Discovery Tour last year—covered in this month's Motorcycle Escape magazine.

Keep track of Touratech on their Facebook page.

Classic New England Cycling

We love Rapha's video of the North-East Gentleman's race, which just utterly captures the camaraderie and spirit of riding up in these parts.

2012 Rapha NE Gentlemen's Race from RAPHA on Vimeo.

Summer Corn

Summer corn is in season in the Northeast, and it is sweet and delicious. But out West, summer corn is an entirely different thing.

Packing layers is key as you start the hike wearing this:

And then add a few layers like this:

By the time you set up base camp, you're back to your winter gear.