Expedition Impossible

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Love him or hate him, there’s little doubt television producer Mark Burnett has the golden touch when it comes to hit TV shows. On a personal note, I can say that Burnett has a significant influence over my life as well. As a teenager, my wife Sari was mesmerized by Burnett’s annual Eco Challenge, a televised race that helped popularize both adventure racing and reality TV. Glued to the series every week, Sari idolized adventure racers like Ian Adamson and Mike Kloser, who she ended up racing with years later as part of Team Nike. Indirectly, you could say Mark Burnett single-handedly got my wife into endurance racing, and she in turn got me into suffering for long periods of time on my bike (for which I’m not sure if should I thank him or curse him).

But I digress.

About six months ago we were contacted by a producer at Expedition Impossible, Mark Burnett’s latest foray into TV after successful hits like Survivor, The Apprentice and The Voice. The producer was looking for gear for the show, which aims to be a cross between Eco Challenge, The Amazing Race and Survivor. Given Burnett’s resume (and my personal connection) we were happy to oblige.

So far there have been two episodes and we’ve been pleased to see lots of great shots of competitors wearing SmartWool and Teva. If you haven’t seen the show yet, check it out. We’re rooting for our friends from Boulder, Team No Limits, with blind climber and all-around nice guy Erik Weihenmayer, to win.

Competitors' SmartWool PhD Outdoor socks drying out after a tough day of racing

Team "Mom's Army" wearing SmartWool baselayers

Team Fisherman finishes a stage wearing the Teva Gnarkosi

Team Grandpa's Warrior's finishes wearing the Teva Forge Pro

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Eddie Bauer in Effect

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Last week, we hosted media events in Boulder and Aspen to preview the new Eddie Bauer First Ascent Fall 2011 line. It may have been the bright new colors, the innovative technical designs, the 5-star food and drinks or just the sparkling conversation, but both events were packed and we were thrilled with the response to the new collection. Check out some of our photos below.


Boulder’s Frasca Food and Wine packed with some of our favorite familiar faces.

First Ascent Guide Peter Whittaker and the newest member of the First Ascent Ski family, Lexi Dupont.

New editor-in-chief at Women’s Adventure, Rebecca Heaton, Jayme Moye and new mom Jenn Weede

Brian Metzler, Adam Chase, Ian Anderson and Jayme Moye.

Special thanks to Steve Zdawczynski for sharing his awesome photos from the event. Check out his site here.

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2 of the 40 under 40

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Here at Backbone we’re excited that not one, but two of our clients were honored with the annual SGB 40 Under 40 Award this year. The annual award was was created to “…honor the best and brightest future leaders of the sporting goods industry.”

Though I don’t think Joel Heath, the senior global marketing director at Teva and Steve Cuthbert, the VP of sales at Polartec, have met before, it looks like they spent some quality time together at the SGB awards gala in Chicago this past weekend. It’s a little odd to see these two wearing suits, and we can only guess what kind of trouble they got into after this photo was taken.

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Shake your Bootie

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This video about Teva saving a Santa Barbara Zoo penguin’s booty with a bootie, is a great feel good story (read more here).

But, you know you’ve hit YouTube gold when your video gets remixed. It’s no Double Rainbow but be forewarned, “Penguin With a Funky Shoe” is pretty damn catchy.

Posted in: Client News, Videos

Backbone China, NYC and Boston

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Here are a few quick travel updates from Backbone as we prep for:

(a) Riding our bikes
(b) Entering sales meeting season
(c) Patiently awaiting the corn harvest
(d) All of the above

If you answered (d) – all of the above – great job and hope you are well rested after various Backbone staff toured China, NYC and Boston.

Head of China's EPA speaks at the Everest North Side Basecamp Clean Up

The Great Wall

Nate is recently back from a tour in Korea and China representing Polartec which sponsored a clean up of the North Side of Everest Basecamp.

Korea is not afraid of color

Backbone landed in NYC for a F’11 showroom with our clients Newton Running, Eddie Bauer/First Ascent, Polartec, Black Diamond, Club Ride, Gregory Mountain Products, La Sportiva, POC, Bamboo Bottle Company, Teva, Gerber Blades, SmartWool, Redington, Boa and Revo. The showroom was covered by Outside Television and also profiled select brand innovators and athletes such as Newton Founder Danny Abshire, mountaineer Peter Whittaker, adventure racer Sari Anderson and street rider Jeff Lenosky.

Concurrent to the showroom, Backbone met with Fast Company and toured Ground Zero on a historic Monday in America, met with Rodale, Bonnier, Men’s Journal, Rolling Stone and lifted a few cold ones with Outside TV and New Belgium. We also attended the Wired Disruptive Conference where speakers included Bill Gates, Martha Stewart and Chris Anderson. Disruptive showcased some freakin’ cool robots and predicted the end of DVDs in the future.

Ground Zero Monday, May 2, 2011 from below

and above

Getting disruptive...Is Mark from SmartWool actually wearing a blue blazer? Nice shades Mel!

 

From NYC, Nate, Sarah, Ian and Fielding headed to Boston for the Polartec Apex Awards. Unsure who will win the most innovative designs for 2011  – but am sure we will keep you posted.

Nate under the watchful eyes of Polartec Apex Jurors

Onward!

 

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Client News, Technology, Trip Reports

Backbone Goes Glam and Green

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Thanks to one of my newest clients, Revo, I was given the opportunity to attend the Global Green Pre-Oscar party in Hollywood last Wednesday. Global Green is the American arm of Green Cross International, and this event, now in its 8th year, was founded by polar explorer and global warming advocate, Sebastian Copeland. Sebastian is also the newest addition to Revo’s ambassador team, which led to the brand sponsorship of the event, and my opportunity to ditch the wyoming snow boots and down jacket for a week in sunny Hollywood.

Now I’m a midwestern gal, so when the event PR team told me that the event attire was “clubby chic”, I didn’t have the slightest clue how to make that happen. Thankfully, I wasn’t alone-Julie Schaffner and Brianne Bates from Revo were on the hook to make sure I didn’t embarrass myself. I was also able to bring some incredible journalists to to the event: Steve Casimiro from the Adventure Journal, Roberta Cruger from Treehugger (click to view her story), Kaitlin Keleher from Outside, and Tommi Tilden from TheDailyGreen.com.

More than 1400 people attended the event featuring musical performances by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Best Coast, and Portugal- The Man. “Greener Cities for a Cooler Planet” was the theme of the evening which benefited Global Green’s initiatives to promote smart solutions to climate change by creating healthy, green communities.

Global Green also unveiled their Model Carbon City Index tool, a first of its kind Web tool designed to benchmark cities efforts to reduce carbon emissions and motivate citizens to advocate for smart climate policies at the local level.

All in all a very successful event for Global Green, raising over $400,000 for the organization. The event was a perfect setting for the Revo brand, due to their sustainable manufacturing technology as well as sponsorship of some of the world’s top environmental advocates like Alexandra Cousteau and Sebastian Copeland. Besides chairing this event, Sebastian is also working on the DVD release of his documentary film that chronicles his solo walk to the North Pole. Check out the trailer at Intothecold.org. and check out some more LA shots below.



I’m glad the W Hotel in Hollywood acknowledges the high-brow tastes of us ski town locals, but $4? Be serious.

Posted in: Client News, Environment, Trip Reports \ Tagged: , ,

Tired, Fortunate and Somewhat Amazed

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After two weeks on the road for the OR Show, SIA, X Games and On Snow in Winter Park I feel tired, fortunate, and somewhat amazed.

2 Dawn Patrols in 2 days in Mill D with the Sweetgrass crew, Adam from BD, Jon from Backcountry, Bryan from CLIF, Charlie and Dan from OR, Sun Valley rippers Jeannie and Mike H, Forrest, Mark and Amy from Winter Wildlands and JLD from Backbone

Tired because in between dinners with awesome clients, dawn patrols with friends and near constant meetings with media – we also hosted a killer party in Aspen during X Games with PLUM TV.

Sage Cattabriga-Alosa and the Producer of G.N.A.R. - Dr. Robb Gaffney!

Tess Weaver, Ingrid Backstrom and surf industry deal-broker, James Lynch.

Did somebody say flannel? Ian McIntosh and Eddie Bauer/First Ascent athlete, Zach Crist

Fortunate because Backbone has a growing and super solid roster of clients with ongoing dialog and big goals for 2011. Good thing we have the most capable in-house team we’ve ever assembled.

Hiking for turns on Jones Pass with Powder Addiction Cat Tours

Somewhat amazed and humbled by the working relationships that continue to deepen and push us to improve our agency. Whether focusing on strategic social goals, digital plans or straight up PR, the dynamics of media continue to evolve. Being challenged on a daily basis in the work environment is exciting, even better is when you share the experiences with close friends and colleagues who happen to be business partners.

BD's Craig Hatton and Thomas Laakso

Blevins and Peruzzi

Dav and Sigi from Kastle

Posted in: Client News, Skiing, Uncategorized

Contour is Cranking

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Our friends over at Contour have so much cool stuff going on these days it’s hard to keep up. First of all, they introduced the first camera to integrate HD video with GPS tracking. Now you can watch your video while tracking location, speed and altitude – cool! Just a few scant weeks later, Contour announced there was a hidden Bluetooth chip in their GPS camera that connects wirelessly to your iphone or other mobile device to create a live viewfinder for the camera. No more missed shots! This announcement garnered Contour tons of accolades at the annual Consumer Electronics Show including a CES Innovations award, a Best of CES award from CNET and a 2011 CES Hot Stuff Award from Stuff Magazine.

Along the way, Contour has also caught the attention of some big time players in the entertainment industry….like the NFL. Check out the below video of Michael Vick wearing a Contour camera during recent practice for the Pro Bowl.

But at the end of the day, what’s best about Contour cameras is their ability to capture those epic moments in your life. Even (or especially) if it’s an epic FAIL. Thanks to Holly’s bf Ryan for this little gem.

I’m glad to report that Ryan’s Contour camera survived this crash without a scratch, and Ryan’s back is feeling ok – with the help of lots of aspirin.

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

Notes from the Field

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There is commentary in the media that points to an acceleration of business and life in general.

Crowd-sourced sharing of content and ideas manifested in socially driven community based applications…oh, goodness, is that comprehensible, let alone true?

While there is plenty of evidence that points to this general ‘hastening’ of business; we find that a blend of staying focused on fundamental blocking and tackling, and maintaining personal relationships is equally important as a counterbalance to these new school dynamics. This strategy has helped us recently launch the Bamboo Bottle Company, which has already seen online traction on Gizmodo, Uncrate, and tweeted about by Biz Stone.

MP tests Quadrants and Drifts in Iceland

MP testing Quadrants and Drifts in Iceland

Another new client, Contour was just named to the Inc. 500, a list of the fastest growing business’ in the country. Black Diamond skis and boots have won over 13 top-tier awards from Powder, Skiing and Backcountry magazines. Gerber’s launch of the Bear Grylls knives collection has spiked web traffic with a mix of online and traditional placements. Media is moving rapidly, and so is Backbone – with Mike McCormack running the Breck Epic mountain bike stage race last week and moving to Carbondale over the weekend, Dax re-locating to Folly Beach, South Carolina,and Nick Brosnan joining our Jackson Hole office.

Welcome Flylow!

Flylow and Backbone start  a new social media partnership today – which is the result of just too many good conversations while sharing turns on most excellent powder days to not happen. Backbone also will be pushing out Chris Davenport and Jim Surette’s excellent film Australis in the coming months.

Chris, Andrea and Stian on a first descent in Antarctica

Media is not shrinking. It is exploding. And even better, it is doing so in a decentralized manner, where ideas and energy trump entrenched formulas. Open your eyes, take a deep breath and head on out there. Chances are you’ll have some fun along the way.

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