Need a distraction for your Tuesday morning? Check out Halo Effect, Steve Fisher's new kayak film set in Iceland and Norway.
He may or may not be using NEMO tents in his expedition. What? Yes.
-Connie
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Signs of Spring
Besides all the snowmelt outside, it always feels like spring when Loaded releases a new video.
-Connie
-Connie
Monday, March 7, 2011
2011 Heart of Steel
Seems that Boston Rock Gym has stepped it up a notch for their annual bouldering comp, Heart of Steel (or Heart Ov Zteel if you're being exact).
They're releasing a couple more videos for the next few Tuesdays before game day.
Sign up, if you have the heart.
-Connie
They're releasing a couple more videos for the next few Tuesdays before game day.
HEART OV ZTEEL • Pt1: Missing from Louder Than 11 on Vimeo.
Sign up, if you have the heart.
-Connie
Long Treks on Skate Decks Episode 14: Canadian Friends and the Breakup
Welcome to Episode 14 of the Peru y Boliva long distance longboarding trip. A early dawn traffic-filled journey to La Paz culminates in 5 days of queso empanadas, roof climbing, and Canadian lady friends. Well rested and fat from all the food, the trio sets out for Oruro, Bolivia. A misunderstanding breaks up the longboarding crew. The team has split; will they ever see each other again? Donde es me amigo? Check out Episodes 1-13 in our archives.
-Adam
-Adam
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Joy Trip Project - Radio Interview with Alison Gannett
This week, NEMO Ambassador, Alison Gannett, was interviewed by James Mills over at The Joy Trip Project. The Joy Trip Project is a news gathering and reporting organization that covers outdoor recreation, environmental conservation, acts of charitable giving and practices of sustainable living. JTP produces a regular online podcast on topics related to the sustainable active lifestyle. Combining creative storytelling with music, photography and video, JTP is entertaining and inspiring while informative.
In his interview with Alison, James asks what personal steps she has taken towards living a more sustainable lifestyle and what she thinks are the most important things each of us can do to save money, energy and lessen our footprint. You may be surprised by her answers.
And while a few from the office are enjoying the sun and surf in Nicaragua this week, I'm heading to Alison's Rippin Chix Aspen clinic for some much-needed powder skiing. ~Kate
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
A Long Walk to Solid Rock
The latest trip report from Mark & Janelle Smiley on climbing the 50 Classic Climbs.
The morning after climbing Whitney, we drove up to Bishop, home of the Shat's Bakery, where they make the best bread I've ever tasted. We drifted down each isle ooggolling all the fat filled delights; danishes, huge gooey cinnamon rolls, sourdough bread, hard candies, doughnuts, and much more. $27.58 later we were on their front patio, filling our faces with several wonderful combinations of sugar, flour, yeast, and butter.
By 2:00PM we were still buzzing on the sugar high from breakfast. We went over to the Ranger Station to get the overnight permits and bear canisters needed for Kings Canyon NP. The disenchanted Ranger raised his eyebrow when I told him we were planning to hike the 13 miles to Charlotte Dome that afternoon. No matter, we still had half a dozen doughnuts, 5 hours of daylight, and motivation to get this route checked off the list.
13 miles is a long approach. Adding to the fun was our heavy overnight packs, and an 11,000 foot pass that we had to hike up and over. I think the trail could have been 7-8 miles, but the trail makers in California really like their switchbacks. The incline is kept at a mere 1% for the majority of the way. When we crested the pass, the sun was on the horizon, and we still had another 7-8 miles to the base of the route. It was a beautiful evening, so we didnt mind hiking until the stars came out. We found a nice place to camp by one of the many alpine lakes, made dinner, and went to sleep under the stars.
Leaving our overnight gear at our campsite, we moved quickly down the remaining 3-4 miles to the base of the route. The trail slowly deteriorated into nothing the closer we got to the dome. Often, we had to reroute to dodge the shrubby "ouchy plants" that grew everywhere (I'm a botanist if you couldn't tell). Charlotte Dome gets bigger and bigger the closer you get. It is really impressive. We scrambled across the 20-30 degree granite slabs at its base and made our way to the toe of the 1,300 foot South Face.
4th-classing up the first three pitches brought us to a small ledge where we roped up. The climbing on this Dome is really amazing. Not a loose rock on it, many different features to climb on, from finger cracks, to open chimneys, to rock horns that beg to grabbed, it has it all. And, keeping it at a 5.8 rating (old school 5.7), the pitches go by rather quickly.
Making it to the top in a few hours, we ate our summit sandwiches while we soaked up some warm Californian sun. The descent is a little tricky because you must walk down steep slabs. I can only imagine how high the pucker factor would be if it were wet, or even worse, icy! Thankfully, it was warm and dry as we padded our way down the slabs, back to our bigger packs. Now it was time for a long walk back to the van. When we stopped to pick up our bivy gear we treated our sore toes to a quick soak in the refreshing alpine lake. A billion low angled switchbacks later we were back to the van, and shortly thereafter, in bed. It had been a 17 mile, 1300 feet of climbing, heavy load carrying, 15 hour day.
Next on the list was the Traveler Buttress at Lover's Leap near South Lake Tahoe. This is one of my favorite locations to climb. The campsite is great, the approach is short, and the rock is fantastic.
Traveler Buttress is the name of the classic climb. It shares its start and finish with Corrugation Corner....we did not know this. So we proceeded to climb Corrugation Corner, think it was Traveler! Oops. It wasnt until the top that we looked at our topo a little harder and discovered our mistake. I knew the 5.9 off-width crux felt a little soft...that is because it was a 5.7!
So we went back to the base, ate some lunch at the van, and then went back up to do the actual Traveler Buttress. It too, is a great route. You just cant go wrong at Lovers Leap, even if your not on the route you think you're on!
~Mark Smiley via Kate
The morning after climbing Whitney, we drove up to Bishop, home of the Shat's Bakery, where they make the best bread I've ever tasted. We drifted down each isle ooggolling all the fat filled delights; danishes, huge gooey cinnamon rolls, sourdough bread, hard candies, doughnuts, and much more. $27.58 later we were on their front patio, filling our faces with several wonderful combinations of sugar, flour, yeast, and butter.
By 2:00PM we were still buzzing on the sugar high from breakfast. We went over to the Ranger Station to get the overnight permits and bear canisters needed for Kings Canyon NP. The disenchanted Ranger raised his eyebrow when I told him we were planning to hike the 13 miles to Charlotte Dome that afternoon. No matter, we still had half a dozen doughnuts, 5 hours of daylight, and motivation to get this route checked off the list.
13 miles is a long approach. Adding to the fun was our heavy overnight packs, and an 11,000 foot pass that we had to hike up and over. I think the trail could have been 7-8 miles, but the trail makers in California really like their switchbacks. The incline is kept at a mere 1% for the majority of the way. When we crested the pass, the sun was on the horizon, and we still had another 7-8 miles to the base of the route. It was a beautiful evening, so we didnt mind hiking until the stars came out. We found a nice place to camp by one of the many alpine lakes, made dinner, and went to sleep under the stars.
Leaving our overnight gear at our campsite, we moved quickly down the remaining 3-4 miles to the base of the route. The trail slowly deteriorated into nothing the closer we got to the dome. Often, we had to reroute to dodge the shrubby "ouchy plants" that grew everywhere (I'm a botanist if you couldn't tell). Charlotte Dome gets bigger and bigger the closer you get. It is really impressive. We scrambled across the 20-30 degree granite slabs at its base and made our way to the toe of the 1,300 foot South Face.
4th-classing up the first three pitches brought us to a small ledge where we roped up. The climbing on this Dome is really amazing. Not a loose rock on it, many different features to climb on, from finger cracks, to open chimneys, to rock horns that beg to grabbed, it has it all. And, keeping it at a 5.8 rating (old school 5.7), the pitches go by rather quickly.
Making it to the top in a few hours, we ate our summit sandwiches while we soaked up some warm Californian sun. The descent is a little tricky because you must walk down steep slabs. I can only imagine how high the pucker factor would be if it were wet, or even worse, icy! Thankfully, it was warm and dry as we padded our way down the slabs, back to our bigger packs. Now it was time for a long walk back to the van. When we stopped to pick up our bivy gear we treated our sore toes to a quick soak in the refreshing alpine lake. A billion low angled switchbacks later we were back to the van, and shortly thereafter, in bed. It had been a 17 mile, 1300 feet of climbing, heavy load carrying, 15 hour day.
Next on the list was the Traveler Buttress at Lover's Leap near South Lake Tahoe. This is one of my favorite locations to climb. The campsite is great, the approach is short, and the rock is fantastic.
Traveler Buttress is the name of the classic climb. It shares its start and finish with Corrugation Corner....we did not know this. So we proceeded to climb Corrugation Corner, think it was Traveler! Oops. It wasnt until the top that we looked at our topo a little harder and discovered our mistake. I knew the 5.9 off-width crux felt a little soft...that is because it was a 5.7!
So we went back to the base, ate some lunch at the van, and then went back up to do the actual Traveler Buttress. It too, is a great route. You just cant go wrong at Lovers Leap, even if your not on the route you think you're on!
A Long Walk To Solid Rock from Mark Smiley on Vimeo.
~Mark Smiley via Kate
Friday, February 25, 2011
Breaking our Backs to Close the Loop
Our Garage Sale and yearly donations have rid the office of usable samples, and all that remained was a sad pile of beautiful tents that were unusable in one way or another. Combine that with our Ditto Tote inventory being empty, and you know its time for a tent cutting party.
Through the cutting help of nearly all NEMO employees, Connie and I were able to travel down the road to our local sewer (the kind with sewing machines, not a stinky pipe system) with a car completely full of fabric tent panels.
Next step, making tent panels into bag pieces. Here's a photo essay. It involves a lot of binder clip and a super sharp fabric saw:
Through the cutting help of nearly all NEMO employees, Connie and I were able to travel down the road to our local sewer (the kind with sewing machines, not a stinky pipe system) with a car completely full of fabric tent panels.
Next step, making tent panels into bag pieces. Here's a photo essay. It involves a lot of binder clip and a super sharp fabric saw:
After 10 straight hours of standing over a cutting table on concrete floors, my back was nearly broken and I had a new appreciation for all of our manufacturing partners. My back pain has since diminished and I'm left with just being truly psyched that we were able to save so much waste from the landfill and give beautiful fabric a second chance.
Keep your eyes out. Ditto Totes, back in stock soon.
-Suzanne
Keep your eyes out. Ditto Totes, back in stock soon.
-Suzanne
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