Perils of Adventure

There's been lots of talk in the last week about risk taking and what kind of role it should play in adventures. Check out this piece in the NYTimes, followed by Steve Casimiro's response in Adventure Journal.

Steve's message is hits the bullseye. If you can't bear to read anything more than a paragraph, here's the takeaway:

I don’t know if this is maturity or prudence or simply experience. All of the above, maybe. The big difference between the me on Whitney Gilman and the me today is that I’ve learned that risk can be managed. Not all of it, or it wouldn’t be an adventure. But it’s also not as black and white as the Times or others suggest, where you’re either likely to die doing something you love or you simply don’t do that thing you love. That big grey area in the middle is where you find adventure, where you find risk, and where, to me, the best of life begins.

Thoughts on Sandbagging

Adventure Journal's words on sandbagging  This is spot on. Type #1 and #3 are especially pernicious.

Lost

Good Pens / Bad Pens

We don't cross-post often here, but I really liked this post from across the pond (howies) regarding buying things you love, that are made to last.

-Connie

With a Little Help...

With help from some of our industry partners, NEMO has made a financial donation to 5 nonprofit organizations this spring. Surfrider Foundation, International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA), The Humane Society of America, Wounded Warrior Project and The Youth Outdoors Legacy Fund have all been chosen as beneficiaries.

Last year, we invited our industry friends to join us in utilizing our Pro Purchase Program to donate $2 in lieu of a handling fee, to one of five non-profit organizations. We pledged to match the donation at the end of the year. The five organizations were chosen by NEMO employees based on personal connections to the cause and a shared opinion of the organizations’ global value. Below are links and descriptions of each of the five organizations. We understand the value of supporting organizations that protect the people and places that make adventure both possible and deeply rewarding and we encourage you to get involved with an organization you share common goals with.


Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches. Founded in 1984 by a handful of visionary surfers in Malibu, CA, the Surfrider Foundation maintains over 50,000 members and 90 chapters worldwide. (A timely donation in the wake of the BP oil spill.)


IMBA was founded in 1988 by a group of California mountain bike clubs concerned about the closure of trails to cyclists. It believed that mountain biker education programs and innovative trail management solutions should be developed and promoted. Its mission is to protect, create, and enhance quality trail experiences for mountain bikers worldwide. In addition, it actively promotes responsible mountain biking, supports volunteer trail work, assists land managers with trail management issues, and works to improve relations among trail user groups.


The Humane Society of America, established in 1954, seeks a humane and sustainable world for all animals. It works to reduce suffering and to create meaningful social change for animals by advocating for sensible public policies, investigating cruelty and working to enforce existing laws, educating the public about animal issues, joining with corporations on behalf of animal-friendly policies, and conducting hands-on programs that make ours a more humane world. It is the lead disaster relief agency for animals, and provides direct care for thousands at its sanctuaries, rescue facilities, wildlife rehabilitation centers, and mobile veterinary clinics. (Also a timely donation with the BP oil spill).


Wounded Warrior Project’s mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors. It aims to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women; help severely injured service members aid and assist each other; and provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of severely injured service members.


Youth Outdoors Legacy Fund was established in 2005 when several leaders in the Outdoor Community came together to pool resources for the purpose of providing assistance to non-profit organizations that were reaching out to urban kids to get them involved in outdoor activities. It believes that with a long term investment in community, ten to twenty years from now we will have fostered passionate stewards to continue the great work that has been going on in the conservation community

~Kate

Listen Up! Will Gadd on Grades/Ratings

There's a great op/ed piece in this May's issue of explore (Canadian outdoor mag) by Will Gadd about why grades don't matter in outdoor sports.

This may seem counter intuitive from a guy who just proposed a grade of WI10 for a new ice climb Spray On, but listen to his reasoning:

By rating something so difficult, I made all the other ice climbs in the world sound relatively simple, and therefore took bragging and posing rights away form those doing the climbs. Which is pretty much exactly what I meant to do. (We named the route Spray On not only because it was created by spray from a waterfall , but also because in climbing, "spraying" refers to bragging about a route.

He makes a good point about ratings systems as a whole:

For years now, outdoor athletes (especially men) have been applying grades to their most difficult accomplishments. The purpose of these ratings, of course, is to show how badass we are based on what we've done. The problem is that at the top levels, these outdoor grades are starting to fail us; the comparison system is breaking down.

Let's take kayaking as an example. The whitewater class used to go from class I (gently moving water) to class VI (assured death), but many of the rapids that were previously rated class VI are now run daily by second-year boaters. Meanwhile, in the last 20 years, high-end kayakers have taken the standards of whitewater and punted them through the stratosphere. A kid just ran a 198-foot waterfall. How do you grade that?

The kayaking solution has been to simply ignore the upper grades. I haven't read a rating on a high-end paddling run in years; it's assumed to be class rad. What really matters is how cool the story, the photos and the video are. Now, this hasn't stopped the dick-measuring contests about which run is the sickest, but it has put the emphasis more on the experience than the grade. A multi-day first descent of a remote river with numerous aesthetic waterfalls is cooler than a single-day run down a river with one nice waterfall, even though both may be more or less equal technically. The experience trumps the measurable.

As Will also mentions, surfers operate on this principle of experience trumping grade. Wave size isn't irrelevant, but it's what you do on the wave that matters. And as surfers of all levels have heard time and time again, the best surfer in the water is the one having the most fun.

We have tremendous respect for Will Gadd, his climbing and paragliding abilities, the spirit/humor with which he does it all, and his innovative style of adventure. It will takes athletes like him, who are at the top of their sport, to change the general testosterone attitude of adreneline sports. And we wish him good luck!

-Connie