Share the warmth with Polartec, help give blankets to the homeless

SharetheWarmth

With your help, Polartec® is donating 1,000 fleece blankets to the homeless this holiday season.

For every 10 new fans added to our Facebook Fan Page, Polartec® will donate one fleece blanket to a homeless shelter. We will donate 100 blankets to shelters in the top ten US cities where our fans live, so encourage your friends to become a fan of Polartec® and help someone less fortunate in your hometown.

Blanket, greenThe blankets we are donating are made from Polartec® Thermal Pro® fabric so they are incredibly warm, soft and durable.

The promotion will start on December 22, 2009 and end at midnight EST on January 4, 2010. Become a fan here. Please pass this along!

Thanks, and Happy Holidays from your friends at Polartec!

1% for the Planet: The Music Vol. 1

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Backbone client 1% for the planet has released an all-digital music compilation that includes rare and exclusive tracks donated by 40 different artists. It will be available exclusively through the holidays via eco download card in Patagonia retail stores, and on iTunes and in other retail locations starting January 5th.

Artists include among others: Jack Johnson, Jackson Browne, Josh Ritter, Mason Jennings, and my personal favorite, Grace Potter.

1% member organizations also have the option of including a widget on their website that allows visitors to preview the tracks and download directly.

Retail price for all 40 tracks is 9.98: good deal, great cause! All proceeds go to 1%-selected non-profits.

Jamaica’s One-Man Ski Team

Spyder gets behind Errol Kerr, the sole member of the Jamaican Ski Team. Born to a Jamaican father and an American mother, he grew up training around the Tahoe area. His desire to represent Jamaica at the 2010 games was not just to get a free ride to the games—he is a legitimate medal contender and most likely would have made the U.S. Skiercross team had he wanted to.

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Cloudveil and Black Diamond Win Outside’s 2010 Gear of the Year Award

We are thrilled to announce that Cloudveil and Black Diamond both garnered the coveted Gear of the Year awards this year in Outside magazine’s winter gear guide. Both clients have been with Backbone for over ten years and continue to produce incredibly progressive product collections on the cutting edge of outdoor industry technology, as proven by this great award.

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115009 Justice Lava 2The Black Diamond Justice won the award for Best Backcountry Ski- Testers said “For such a light ski, the wood-core Justice has remarkable pop, guts, plus any of the dozen or so other words testers used to describe how lively and unflappable it performed in leftover snow. You can see how it saves weight: BD simple machines away core material where its not needed, which is why the topsheet looks like a contour map.”
Dimensions: (140/115/125, 9.2 lbs), $729

6012_820littleThe Cloudveil FirsTurn Soft Shell took the award for Best Backcountry All Purpose Jacket. Testers said “One of the most versatile soft shells we’ve ever seen, the FirsTurn easily beat back steady 20-mph winds and driving snow…and also kept us comfortable on a sunny 40-degree day of backcountry laps. Ski, skate, run-the FirsTurn even held up on a cold and rainy bike commute. It was harder than giving up my woobie,” said the tester who was reluctant to give it back.

Congrats to both companies!

Cloudveil Multi Media Campaign Makes and Breaks Promises in NY Times

Everyone is talking about it.

How does one make an awesome bowl of multi-media soup? That is the question and  yes, we are talking about feeding consumers, publishers, bloggers, dealers and even sales reps.

Skip work for a Powder Day? Send flowers...

Skip work for a Powder Day? Send flowers...

The ingredients you get to use? How about advertising, marketing, PR, and social media. Maybe, throw in a dash of mountain town attitude and some humor.

That is what Cloudveil has done with help from Boulder based, TDA their creative agency. Is it good? Well the NY Times thinks so.

Strangely, I have yet to receive a single mug like this in over 12 years

Strangely, I have yet to receive a single mug like this in over 12 years

The concept is that Cloudveil consumers “abuse etiquette in pursuit of recreation,” as explained by Jonathan Schoenberg from TDA.

What’s next? Look for additional upcoming viral plays that focus on mountain culture.

Advertising Dead? Think Again…

Lots of talk these days about print advertising being dead and how much people hate banner ads online.

Here at Backbone, we see this common wisdom as having some truth but more so mixed with a healthy dose of opportunity.

What do I mean by that? Well, print advertising IS changing, but there is still great value in leveraging campaigns across multiple media platforms. Rather than drone on about theory here  – let’s use some examples.

First example is Black Diamond helping every surfer who is numb to banner ads and skyscrapers with their new creatives. Confronted with how to draw attention to their efforts online BD simply looked at who they are and what they do best – which is climb and ski. (Okay, they design and build some cool stuff too).

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If you find yourself hitting the refresh button to watch this guy whip or wanting to draw landscapes of a crag like Renan O. then yes, BD wins.

Cloudveil is running a new print campaign for F09. Cleverly designed by tda in Boulder, the print ads tie into online promos and leverage social media to not  just sell product but the mountain culture Cloudveil is all about.

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Add partnerships with 1-800-flowers, Zazzle and Kool Dog Cafe and what was dead is now very much alive and kicking.

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Man, those guys at tda are smart – though they can be a bit edgy.

LZ the Local Legend

You would never know it talking to him because he’s ridiculously modest, but Len Zanni is kind of a big deal.

In addition to helping run the show at sister companies Big Agnes and Honey Stinger, Len is a bit of a local celebrity on his bike. This year Len has been crushing the competition at pretty much every Wednesday night local race. He currently sits in third place in the overall points series of the Mountain States Cup. He finished 17th at the National Mountain Bike XC Championships at Sol Vista last month and he won the Leadville Silver Rush 50 a couple weeks ago.

But this weekend featured what might have been one of Zanni’s biggest races yet. Len certainly had some homefield advantage at the Blast the Mass race in Snowmass this past Saturday, but he also faced some of the toughest mountain bike competition on American soil. It just so happens that part-time Aspen local and 7-time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong, decided he wanted to join the fray at the Snowmass race. Lance’s appearance definitely added some excitement and brouhaha to what is typically a fairly insular regional mountain bike race scene.

Lenny leading Lance and other pro men up the starting hill. It's not everyday you can race ahead of a 7-time TdF winner.

Lenny leading a 7-time TdF winner and the other pro men up the starting hill.

Despite the spectator donnybrook surrounding Lance, Len kept his eyes on the prize and raced his own race. Lance shot out to three minute lead over perennial Mountain States winner and full-time pro rider Jay Henry, with Len holding onto third place in a field stacked with strong regional pros. In the end Lance proved he can ride a bike off road as well as on, and won with a three-minute margin. Jay stayed in second and Len finished in third – his best Mountain States Cup finish all season.

Jay Henry, Lance and Len

Jay Henry, Lance and Len.

It’s not every day you get to share a podium with Lance. Not bad for a guy pushing 40 with two kids and a full-time job. Nice work Len, we’re proud of you.

Bill’s Phone

Bill Crouse works for Black Diamond doing international sales.

Bill spends a lot of time in the thin air – on planes and with his climbing as well.

Crouse guiding Everest 5th Summit

Crouse guiding Everest 5th Summit

Bill rarely knows what time zone he is in – but still manages to sneak in quick mountain missions in between trips to Asia, Russia, Oz and locally.

Last summer I saw Bill in Switzerland, Germany, SLC and then at the Lower Saddle on the Grand Teton all in the span of 3 weeks.

Bill on Elbrus - his 7th Summit last week

Bill on Elbrus - his 6th Summit last week

In the last three days, I’ve gotten a couple of pics from Bill’s phone. Summit of Elbrus with BD’s CEO Peter Metcalf, Kolin Powlick, Ryan Gellert and BD’s Russian distributor Oleg Banar and at the Freidrichshafen OutDoor Show checking in on the new Award Winning Contact crampon.

Friedrichshafen today - BD Contact crampon wins OutDoor Gold Award

Friedrichshafen today - BD Contact crampon wins OutDoor Gold Award

Life is tough for Bill’s phone.