An Adventure with Backbone’s Newest Employee

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Red Rock Canyon National Park, Las Vegas, Nevada – 3.9.15-3.12.15
Words and Photography: Corbin Clement
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Entering the Park looking at the Ginger Buttress and Mt Wilson.

After finishing graduate school last Thanksgiving, I was fortunate enough to undertake a 6 week journey in Asia solely for pursuits of eating, climbing and surfing. For months after that, my time commitments were limited to three days a week at an SEO internship, working various events for Burton, and finding myself a job where I’d be happy enough to sit still.

Upon the realization my wondrously ample free time (and schedule flexible enough to break the back of your average Cirque Du Soleil contortionist) would be coming to an end, Holly Yeary, Thomas Seymour, Abby Seymour and I decided to take a mid-week trip to one of the Canadian circus’ permanent residences, Las Vegas. For me, this was a last hurrah before accepting a dream offer to be a part of the Backbone Media PR team. (Psyched to be here!) These days, a vacation from your vacation is the only way to stay sane.

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Thomas cleans his route. This afternoon, we had a huge zone all to ourselves.

As fun as fist-pumping up in da club with Paris Hilton may be, we happily planned to remain far from the central attractions of the city. As this was the first time I’d ever done fly-in camping, I had no idea what to pack. So, due to $400,000 bag check fees, I ended up bringing barely enough clothing to keep my fellow return flight passengers from having to accompany a character of questionable appearance. 

After arriving to the campsite in Red Rock many hours after the night had, we slept immediately.  No sense dragging ass in the morning due to lack of sleep. That’s what coffee shops are for. Barred from bringing camping fuel by TSA, each morning we opted for the 5-minute commute from our campsite to Dunkin or the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.  This was the soft man’s camping trip.

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Thomas leading Fear and Loathing while Holly and Abby watch. Taking this shot was very entertaining. I had to perch precariously on some very steep and crumbly sandstone. Scrambling the opposing face here was a perfect vantage point. I was able to stay level with and close to Thomas almost the entire route.

The first climb began on the alleged “classic” multi-pitch sport route, Unimpeachable Groping. After a hurried approach, we rounded the corner to the belay zone and Thomas’ fears of congregation were relieved. We embarked on an awesome 7 pitches of mellow crimping.  Not one other group arrived to follow after us. The next two days were filled with hot laps in more popular zones, all of which provided unbelievable climbs. I was lucky enough to be pushed by my monkey friends, as they showed no capacity for fatigue. Check out campingfunzone.com to check out ways to stay safe on the trail.

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Everyone cleared out a little bit before this, as it was looking like rain. The weather missed and I was able to get in this last route of the afternoon. The face shown here was amazing, sporting the most consistent crimps the entire way up. I pause on one of the few good rest zones. Photo: Abby Seymour

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Abby climbs to the pinnacle of the final pitch of Unimpeachable Groping. Aside from what’s shown here, the climb offered 6 stacked pitches of vertical awesomeness. Regretfully, my rope management skills were frequently sub-par. Photo: Thomas Seymour

holly fear and loathing 3_pic corbin clement

Holly topping out. The rock here is so red. Don’t be fooled by the grey light. It glows in sunlight. Maybe that’s why they call it Red Rock Canyon.

Our last night there, we booked a hotel room which was supposed to have a complimentary spa. Checking in after a long day of climbing, ready to indulge, we were informed everything in the hotel closed at 7:00pm (except the casino, of course). We made do.

spa day_pic Thomas Seymour

Photo: Tomas Seymour

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Climbing, Trip Reports

Backbone Media Returns to the Big Apple

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Twice a year, a critical mass of Backbone’s PR and media teams trade the Rocky Mountain corridor for skyscrapers, pavement pounding and a much wider array of cuisine. If you were in the NYC area last week and spotted a group of guys and gals rocking plaid, denim and athletic shoes, it was probably us – and no, we weren’t trying to pull off the Lumbersexual look.

Despite the rain mist, the event saw over 75 journalists, bloggers, photographers, stylists and publishers throughout the day. This showroom provided a platform for brands to reveal what is in the pipeline for fall and winter 2015. Fifteen brands were in attendance this year and covered a wide array of categories including fashion, active lifestyle, mountaineering gear, cycling, technology, deep-sea fishing apparel, and more.   Participants were Smartwool, Eddie Bauer, POC, Les 3 Valles, YETI Coolers, Polartec, Hoka One One, Vibram, American Pistachio Growers, Stio, Stower, Distiller’s List, Walls, Grundens and FluidStance.

This year we were lucky to have a hosted happy hour featuring fresh fish hor d’oeuvres from Grundens and premier cocktails from Distiller’s List.

For Eddie Bauer, last week in NYC was a double-header!  Following the Backbone Showroom, the brand held a launch reception for the new Eddie Bauer Limited Edition Collection by Ilaria Urbinati at Freemans Restaurant. A menswear line aimed at combining the heritage and original aesthetics of the brand with modern silhouettes and styling, the event targeted the who’s who of men’s design, fashion and style.

Attendees from GQ, Men’s Journal, Details, Conde Nast Traveler, Esquire, WSJ’s Off Duty, WWD, and many others made efforts to see the new collection. The notable celebrity stylist who has built her career ensuring the men of Hollywood are dressing the part, Urbinati’s long-time friend and client James Marsden stopped by to show his support of her line.

All in all, it was a busy week for Backbone in the city, and it never ceases to amaze us  with how tired you can get from walking around zero-pitch landscapes all day!

Until next time NYC,

Alison Nestel-Patt & Katie Wolitarsky

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Posted in: Backbone Adventures, New York Event, Outdoor Industry News

The Best Part of Work 1 of 2

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With 2014 coming to a close, we took some time to compile a “Best of” list for Backbone.

Screen Shot 2014-12-23 at 11.17.24 AMOnce again this year, our accomplishments are the result of hard work, creativity and  partnerships with strong brands and great people.

Screen Shot 2014-12-23 at 11.04.15 AMWhether helping to launch a brand via Kickstarter, winning stacks of editorial awards from both endemic and broad based media alike, or working with our partners to create best in class native advertising, here’s a quick look at some of Backbone’s best accomplishments in 2014.

Screen Shot 2014-12-23 at 11.04.38 AMHired 13 people

Won 13 new accounts

Tracked over 18.5 billion editorial media impressions (that’s with no multiplier applied)

Successfully launched a new digital programmatic platform – FastG8

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Built out content creation solutions for multiple brands

Redesigned (and majorly improved) our logo and corporate ID

Created a new business process, strengthened our values and mission

Completed our best New York media events to date, including a very successful pop up in Midtown

Finalized a new website (look for it soon!)

Opened a new office in Denver in a stunning space and relocated our Jackson office

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Updated our wellness stipend to better reflect diverse interests and needs

Added more structure, titles and support to the organization to create growth opportunities

Increased structure and support in Jackson and Denver offices

Created the DCM monster that is now Lindsay Logan. Hired Colin Cares to support digital effort

Worked on some groundbreaking campaigns for our clients like The Human Factor for BD, Best Towns for Toad & Co., content creation for Opedix and Revo, and many more

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Finished a remodel in our Carbondale office

Paid for the remodel mentioned above

Bought stand-up desks for  everyone so we live longer

Shifted our file management and phone system to the cloud

Bought a new large coffee maker and got it running

Installed a water filtration system

Spent 2000 nights on the road and called 174 ski days legitimate work (*estimated)

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Consumed 140 pounds of coffee – but only 8 kegs (weak sauce on the keg work)

Launched the YETI Hopper, ABOM goggles on Kickstarter, AvaTech, expanded business in active lifestyle, hook and bullet and destination markets

Devoted time, energy and effort to non-profits – Protect Our Winters, Big City Mountaineers, First Descents, Thompson Divide Coalition, Spring Gulch Nordic Center, Roaring Fork Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Red Hill trail system (you should support one too!)

Ran media trips stand up paddling on the Hudson, heli hiking in Squamish, multi-day rafing on the Green River, fly fishing in Patagonia, heli skiing in British Columbia, road riding with the US Pro Challenge, backpacking in the Uintas

Raised money and summited Mount Shasta for BCM’s Summit for Someone program

Named one of Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work for third year in a row

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Posted in: Backbone Adventures

New York, New York : Backbone Media 2014 Fall Showroom

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With 15 different adventure and outdoor lifestyle brands, 18 mountain people Backbone employees, over 80 NYC media and a California brewery, Backbone Media took the outdoors to the big city last week in NYC.

Backbone travels east to host our bi-annual showroom every spring and fall to stay connected with the fast-paced and ever-changing media landscape in NYC .

For a city often referred to as the “concrete jungle,” NYC is home to a surprisingly large number of active lifestyle and outdoor publishing houses; Outside TV, Men’s Journal, Men’s Health, Gear Patrol, Fitness, Shape, Self, Women’s Health, just to name a few.

The showroom showcased current and new for spring 2015 products from Eddie Bauer, YETI coolers, Chaco, Stio, Polartec, Gregory, Thule, Gerber Gear, Maven, HOKA One One, REVO, Opedix, Pat’s Backcountry Beverages, Poron XRD and non-profit First Descents. We were also thrilled to have our friends from Firestone Walker there to do a beer tasting during happy hour.

A few of our favorite images from the event are highlighted below. Thank you NYC for having us, and we are already planning our return in April so be on the lookout for details!

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Posted in: Backbone Adventures, New York Event

Backbone POV and Points Unknown

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When a great group of creative people end up all together in the same cool place, we like to get them together for a little POV.

Steve's Guitars provided the setting

Steve’s Guitars provided the setting

Mike Douglas, Mavis Fitzgerald, Sarah Hubbard and Nate Simmons

Ian Anderson, Mary Anne Potts, Mike Douglas, Mavis Fitzgerald, Sarah Hubbard and Nate Simmons

Seven years ago, the Backbone POV series was conceived by former Powder magazine editor/Aspen Snowmass/K2 Snowboarding/Backbone Media and now SmartWool marketing maestro, Steve Metcalf.

Steve Metcalf, earlier this spring under the bright lights of Outside TV in NYC

Steve Metcalf, earlier this spring under the bright lights of Outside TV in NYC

This year during the 5 Point Film Festival we organized a group of influencers, athletes, brand managers, artists, writers and filmmakers. The lively discussion was centered around Inspiration, Creativity and Cause—pretty big topics to cover, but a room full of smart people to tackle them.

Auden Schendler always has insight buried in humor

Auden Schendler always has insight buried in humor

Special thanks to the panel of Niko Jager from the European Outdoor Film Festival, Brian Emerson from Outside Television, Alexandra Fuller creative director from Struck, and Travis Rummel of Felt Soul Media and director of 5 Point award winning film Damnation. Also thanks to those attending including marketing teams from Aspen Snowmass, Ski.com, Black Diamond, Salomon, First Descents, Outdoor Research, Big Agnes, and influencers Brendan Leonard, Fitz Cahall, Anson Fogel, Skip Armstrong, Mary Anne Potts, Lou Dawson, Michael Kennedy, Beda Calhoun, James Mills, Mike Douglas, among others.

Panelists Niko, Brian, Alex and Travis

Panelists Niko, Brian, Alex and Travis

In addtion to 5Point, Backbone recently traveled to the left coast for the Sea Otter Classic. Sea Otter marks the official start of the spring cycling season with POC on site to debut their new Octal helmet and the AVIP road cycling apparel line. ICEdot also had a busy festival as their emergency notification system continues to make inroads in the cycling world.

POC @ Sea Otter

POC and ICEdot @ Sea Otter

A few weeks ago on the other coast, Backbone was in NYC for our bi-annual showroom where we showcased new products from Eddie Bauer, SmartWool, Polartec, La Sportiva, Horny Toad, Trimble Outdoors, Stio, Oliberte´, Thule, First Descents, and Chaco.IMG_0333 IMG_0316 IMG_0339

April was a busy month, but to boil it down: the best recipe is great brands, with innovative stories and products with the right people in the room.

Onward!

Posted in: Backbone Adventures

Springtime in the Rockies

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Springtime in the Rockies.

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Snowfall and sticky single track.

Sandstone in Escalante and Moab.

Spring ski touring.

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Sunlight after work.

Mother’s day hatch on the horizon.

Spring is also full bore at Backbone. Today, April 2, Backbone adds two new team members, former Patagonia CEO Casey Sheahan and media planner Melissa Atwood.

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Casey joins Backbone in a new role as senior advisor, focusing on client strategy and new business as well as our agency growth, efficiency and structure. Casey stepped down as the CEO of Patagonia in February. Under his leadership the company tripled its profits and experienced significant growth. Prior to Patagonia, Casey served as president of Kelty, Inc. In addition to his management roles, Sheahan has extensive experience in marketing, sales and publishing. He worked as the vice president of marketing at Merrell Footwear, category marketing manager at Nike ACG and the editor/publisher at POWDER Magazine.

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Melissa is a Mainer who recently relocated to Carbondale with strong experience in traditional media channels: broadcast, cable, newsprint, and magazine, as well as digital media: display, re-marketing, SEM, mobile, social and video. Her past experience includes working with national and regional clients such as DeLorme, SYLVANIA, the University of Maine and more.  Prior work includes time at Time Warner Cable and more recently on the agency planning side at Garrand in Portland.

Spring has sprung and Backbone continues to thrive. We’re stoked to have both Melissa and Casey on board.

 

 

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Client News \ Tagged: ,

The Forecast Calls for Pain

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photo: Jeremy Swanson

photo: Jeremy Swanson

Media FAM checklist

  • 17 miles of ski touring and descending
  • 8,000 feet of vertical gain
  • Top elevation 12,392 feet
  • 70+ mph wind gusts
  • Zero visibility
  • Waist deep powder
  • 160 cm skis
  • 2 buckle boots
  • 6+ hours of racing

Press trips or media “FAMS” are a tried and true PR tactic. The concept is pretty simple: invite journalists to experience your hotel/restaurant/product first-hand so they can write about it. Generally speaking, journalists are pretty pampered on FAM trips, enjoying extravagant meals, five-star accommodations and more. At Backbone, we host well over a dozen FAM trips every year, often travelling to exotic locations to go skiing in Iceland, canyoneering in the Grand Canyon, kayaking in the San Juans, rafting the Middle Fork, or surfing in Costa Rica. In fact, right now, we’re hosting a trip in Patagonia with Eddie Bauer.

But this past weekend we tried a different FAM trip concept: make them suffer.

As you may have heard, ski mountaineering, or SkiMo is exploding in popularity.  Our client La Sportiva is one of the brands helping to drive the sport, sponsoring some of the world’s top skimo racers and races. They make some of the lightest, most innovative skimo gear on the market, including the nearly $3,000 carbon fiber Stratos Cube boot.

To showcase La Sportiva’s skimo line, we decided to invite a small group of journalists to try the gear in the environment for which it’s intended—a race. It just so happens that we have one of the country’s biggest and best skimo races right here in our backyard, the Audi Power of Four.

We tricked coerced lied to persuaded journalists from Outside, Skiing, Gear Patrol and Gear Junkie to come up and stay at the new Wildwood Snowmass on Thursday, take a day to shake down their gear on Friday, and then enter the race on Saturday.

The conditions on race morning were epic. It had snowed most of the night, it continued to dump snow all day and the wind on top of Highlands Bowl was howling with gusts over 70 mph (or was it 90? The number gets bigger every time I hear another racer talk about the race).

Anyway, I’ll let the pro storytellers share their own race day tales, but I can tell you this was the most memorable FAM trip most of our group had ever experienced.

Read Gear Junkie Sean McCoy’s account here.  And the boys from Skiing shared their thoughts on the race here with a photo gallery here.

As for me, I was happy to run support for the race, grabbing videos of the media teams where I could and having my little 7-year-old friend Ella push whiskey on the unsuspecting racers.




Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Trip Reports \ Tagged: , , , , , , ,

The Time is Now

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A few years ago I made a personal pledge to myself to get more involved in something. I wasn’t sure what it should be. But I wanted to give back.

Sure, I realize that sounds lame and super vague, but over multiple dialogs with people like Terry Kellogg from 1% For The Planet and Peter Metcalf from Black Diamond I was inspired. They did not shy away from big, audacious undertakings and were unintimidated by the scale or seeming futility of setting out and breaking a lonely trail uphill. I was also haunted by my personal concerns over climate change and the fact that one day one of my kids would ask me why we as a society didn’t do something about it when we knew what was happening.

DSC_0114 3Soon enough an opportunity came forward when Auden Schendler and Chris Davenport asked that I join the Board for Protect Our Winters (POW), a non-profit started by snowboarder Jeremy Jones focused on climate.

Here was the opportunity to work with a great group of people and try to move the needle on a big issue. Sure, I was inwardly skeptical if we could move public awareness or truly affect change. Yet I was also inspired by the mentality that people like Jeremy and Dav have whether planning to ski and ride huge intimidating faces, or in taking a public stance around education, activism and climate change.

DSC_0613Since joining POW, in various conversations with friends the most pressing question has been, “you don’t actually think you can make any headway, do you?” After a lobbying trip to DC last fall that fell during the government shut down, the skepticism seemed even more acutely counterbalanced against the vision. Skepticism. Futility. It’s easier to not not even try because the system is jacked, right?
DSC_0015Yet the groundswell continues. Porter Fox’s op-ed landed on the cover of the NY Times Sunday Travel Section. The POW Rider’s Alliance spawns an Olympic group of 105 international athletes focused on climate. The collective efforts of POW colleagues Chris Steinkamp, Matt McClain, Naomi Oreskes, Anne Nolin, Joni Lynch, Conrad Anker, Gretchen Bleiler, Winston Binch and Ryan Gellert continues to build the message forward.

This morning friends from the NRDC sent over a great email highlighting major coverage on climate impact covered by the AP, ABC, The Today Show, USA Today, Huffington Post, Boston Globe, Washington Post and more. Skepticism. Futility. Or maybe not?

This blog is not about POW. It is bigger than that. It is about the impacts of climate change on water supply, agriculture, forest and air quality. The wonkiness of radical climate change is everywhere and increasingly hard to ignore – massive flooding in England, expected increase in produce prices due to the ongoing drought in California and glaciers in Greenland shifting up to 150 feet per day. Yet to affect change takes activism, which means individuals getting involved even if you doubt you can make a difference. Activism is the enemy of apathy.

So, the question is are you apathetic or active?

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Environment \ Tagged: , , ,

Between the Lines

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Backbone is proud to list some of the best brands in the outdoor and active lifestyle space in our client portfolio. But, this past year we’ve also been excited to work behind the scenes on a host of other projects. Here’s a quick summary of recent work that has Backbone’s fingerprints on it.

Building a Facebook page and an app for longtime friend Kevin Fedarko’s awesome new book “The Emerald Mile.”

We’re doing similar work for Poter Fox’s book Deep.

(Both books make excellent Christmas presents by the way.)

It’s in our backyard, so of course we participated in The Meeting.

And then there’s the work we do with NGO’s. From Big City Mountaineers, to First Descents, the Thompson Divide Coalition, Protect Our Winters and 5 Point Film Festival, we’re deeply rooted in our community and the non-profits that are fighting to make our world a better place.

For Backbone, one of the gels between our personal fulfillment and a work/life balance is community. All day, everyday, for both the profit and non-profit sectors, we engage brand communities and  interact within the media realm of editors, freelancers and sales. We see that people are a reflection of their community; to many it defines them. For us, work, when it melds with your personal life, and integrates your community, doesn’t feel much like work.

Make no mistake. We work hard for our clients. But it is a lot easier to crank through your inbox after midnight if the separation of what you do and who you are, is not so separate.

Posted in: Backbone Adventures

DC, NYC and Boulder

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Fall represents a lot of things around the Backbone offices.

It means grabbing those Hot Europe Travel Deals for sales meetings with clients, budgeting and planning for the coming year, and of course the Q4 push as we head to the holidays!

This fall we’ve hit the great states of California, Utah, New York, Minnesota, Tennessee, Michigan, Oregon, Wyoming, Pennsylvania. We’ve run half marathons (for work), attended more than a dozen sales meetings, been a part of many, many client strategy sessions, promoted and attended film premiers. Oh, and there were two engagements, one wedding and a Backbone baby born!

DC for the Shut Down

The first of the three main events this autumn was joining a delegation that traveled to DC to lobby on behalf of Protect Our Winters (POW). The group was a mix of athletes, advocates, Olympians and business owners. With the help of the National Defense Resource Council (NRDC), the POW delegation was slated to meet at the White House, the EPA and the Senate. It all came to screeching halt as our arrival preceded the government shutdown by a few hours.

DSC_0015A rare sighting of Penn (back row, 2nd from left) and a lot of other ski bums wearing a suits and ties

Despite the gridlock, POW met with a dozen senators and their staff to push for climate awareness, legislation and action. Thanks to all attending including POW ED, Chris Steinkamp, Aspen Skiing Company’s Auden Schendler, Olympic snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler, Burton CEO Donna Carpenter, athletes Conrad Anker, Forrest Shearer, Meg Olenick, Jack Johnson, Angel Collinson, Danny Davis, Callan Sifsof, Chris Davenport, SIA’s David Ingemie, Ryan Gellert from Black Diamond, Matt O’Laughlin from K2, Tyler LaMotte from Patagonia and Burton’s Bryan Knox.

 NYC Showroom

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Backbone’s bi-annual showroom in New York showcase our clients best-in-class products to a broad audience of writers, editors, freelancers, producers, stylists and bloggers. This fall was no exception with the added highlight of guests such as 5-time Everest summiter Melissa Arnot, Jimmy Chin, biomechanical expert Dr. Michael Decker, Chris Davenport and author of Deep, Porter Fox.

BackboneNYC-58Dav and Jimmy Chin in NYC

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Backbone takes AIM on Boulder

The third stop on our fall tour was Boulder, Colorado,where Backbone presented to Active Interest Media staff from SNEWS, the OR and SIA Dailies, Climbing, Backpacker, SKI, Skiing and Yoga Journal.

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The  AIM trip underscores how important core titles are to our brands and it was great to preview future product and discuss partnership opportunities. Now, as the snow starts to fill in the resorts we’ll see you up on the hill!

 

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Trip Reports