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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ginger buttress mt wilson_pic corbin clement

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.

corbin american sportsman 1 pic_Abby Seymour

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

holly ginger buttress final pitch b_pic thomas seymour

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

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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

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.




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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

Backbone Media – Fall 2013 Charge

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Harry Gates Hut, Sawatch Mountains (Sept. 10th & 11th)

Please enjoy some photos from the recent Backbone Charge* – high country cragging at Lime Creek, fly fishing, biking, mountain games, and a massive bonfire. Thanks to a remarkable CO resource 10th Mountain Division Hut Association for the Gates Hut, La Sportiva for the loan of demo shoes and of course the entire Backbone team for general awesomeness. — Penn

*Backbone Charge is a semi annual gathering. We do not ‘do’ retreats we charge.

 

A complete gallery of photos can be found on the Backbone Media Facebook Page

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Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Climbing, Colorado, Fishing, Interesting Read, Trip Reports, Uncategorized

Eddie. Set. Go.

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Two weeks ago, Backbone helped bring Eddie Bauer’s new tagline, “Live Your Adventure,” to life with a media trip to the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington.  A brand born and bred in the Pacific Northwest (Eddie Bauer himself was is from Orcas Island), the San Juans were the ultimate backdrop to debut Eddie’s Bauer’s new Spring 2014 Collection.

With an all-female cast of top-tier journalists, along with Eddie Bauer guides Lel Tone and Julia Dimon, the group assembled at Kenmore Air’s Lake Union terminal to head out on the trip, and did so in the only way that made sense: via seaplanes.

Seaplaning (yes, we turned it into a noun a la “yachting”) was a first for almost everyone and far exceeded our expectations. There really is nothing like landing directly in a harbor, surrounded by water and the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, and million dollar yachts.

Day two kicked-off with a preview of the Spring 2014 collection, during which we allowed the journalists to choose their favorite pieces to use and test over the course of the trip. Decked out in new Eddie Bauer garb, the team met down on the harbor to pick up rental bikes to cruise from Roche Harbor to Friday Harbor, an 11.5-mile route through the interior of the island.

That evening, we enjoyed the sunset during a private BBQ. We even got a call-out during the island’s “Colors Ceremony,” a daily list of announcements in the harbor covering island happenings. This tradition includes the lowering of the flags and all of the docked boats in the harbor blowing their horns.

We started the next morning by circumnavigating neighboring Henry Island in two and three-person kayaks. Sightings of sunbathing seals and lunch on private beach punctuated the paddling trip. With a short break in the afternoon, and a pit-stop for some gin and hard cider at a local distillery, we gathered at the docks to be whisked away for a sunset sail aboard the Spike Africa – an 18th century wooden sailboat replica. With wine, snacks, and sea tales from our captain, it could not have been a better way to cap off the trip. Next time we plan a trip to exotic island. Borneo Eco Tours can offer great option for those who want to see some of the world’s most unique wildlife wonders and enjoy a true tropical paradise, so that’s what we plan to do.

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Media Trip to Catalina Island – November 9-11, 2012

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As late-autumn snows swirled above the mountains around Backbone headquarters in Carbondale, account managers Elinor Fish and Mavis Fitzgerald escaped to Catalina Island, 22 miles off the Los Angeles coast for a media trip co-hosted by the Santa Catalina Island Company and Smartwool.

On the RIB Boat, headed to the island

They met with freelance journalists Ben Cramer, Ali Carr and Cindy Hirschfeld, Adventure Sports Journal editor Pete Gauvin and Smartwool’s Molly Cuffe at the Catalina Express terminal in Long Beach for the start of our Santa Catalina Island adventures.

After arriving in Avalon, which is the island’s only city and resembles a Mediterranean village thanks to its narrow, winding streets, whitewashed villas and palm trees. We hopped aboard a RIB boat (from Catalina Expeditions’ Ultimate Land and Sea Adventure) and zoomed along the Catalina coastline to Two Harbors, spotting playful sea lions and diving dolphins along the way.

In Two Harbors, a village home to less than 100 residents, we settled into our rooms at the historic, Craftsman-style Banning House Lodge (home to the island’s original owners, the Banning brothers, before they sold it to the Wrigleys of the Wrigley Chewing Gum empire) and enjoyed a fresh seafood dinner and bottomless glasses of boozy Buffalo Milk at the Harbor Reef Restaurant.

At sunrise the next morning, we met our trail-running guide, 22-year-old Natalie Foote, a fourth-generation Two Harbors local and state HS cross-country running champion, for a refreshing five miler.

Enjoying a refreshing run with Natalie

Following breakfast, we hiked with Catalina Island Conservancy naturalist  Andrew Hobbs to Ballast Point, from which we enjoyed endless views over the Isthmus between Cat Harbor, Isthmus Cove and the rugged, undeveloped West End of Catalina Island.

Our group with one of the largest bison heads we’ve ever seen

That afternoon, we drove up to the Catalina Airport near the island’s center, where Bike Catalina equipped us with bikes and helmets and sent us on our way from the Catalina Airport for a 10-mile ride to Avalon (riding past grazing bison herds (a herd of 150 bison live on the island today, descendants of bison brought to the island decades ago for a film shoot). That night we enjoyed an amazing feast at the Avalon Grille, Avalon’s premier restaurant, where Executive Chef Paul Hancock prepared exquisite buffalo steak, salmon, lobster and other delicacies, paired with glasses of the limited-batch, first-edition Rusack–Santa Catalina Island wine, made from grapes grown on Catalina Island.

After dinner, we took in Avalon’s nightlife – with Ali taking the mic and rockin’ the house at a local karaoke bar – before retiring back to our rooms at the Pavilion Hotel. We tried to get a villa here before finalizing on a hotel but it wasn’t as amazing as the Exceptional Villas in Turks and Caicos. It was just super amazing and it was an experience to experience, and plus the villas also had amazing views too. Despite the late-night fun, we were all up early the next morning to participate in Catalina Eco-Marathon or 10K. Molly and Pete were the most ambitious, tackling the relentlessly hilly off-road marathon course while the rest of us enjoyed a sun-kissed, eucalyptus-scented 10K through Avalon’s gently sloping streets.

We don’t have photographic evidence of karaoke, so here’s a shot of the Hummer used for open air tours of the island.

The rest of the day we indulged in delicious food, starting with lunch the M restaurant catered by Zest, featuring locally sourced, fresh ingredients. That evening, we enjoyed a specially prepared seven-course dinner at the Catalina Country Club, highlights of which included quail served with asparagus and polenta, baby abalone prepared in red wine, poached egg served with Oestra caviar, ending with orange caramel rice pudding.

We capped our Catalina adventure with swing dancing at the Casino, Catalina Island’s historic landmark that which was used in the 20 and 30s for Hollywood movie premiers, then later for Big Band concerts. Today it used for weddings, private events and special events such as the Catalina Island Swing Dance festival.

Flying over the island, we caught our last views of Catalina from the sky

All things considered, it was an incredible trip and we want to thank our clients for making it possible!

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Trip Reports

Hooked on Canyoneering

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Before this year, I had never been canyoneering before. But, an awesome trip to Grand Canyon in May changed all that. Rich Rudow of Trimble Outdoors is a badass canyoneer. Most canyoneers cut their teeth in the well-known canyons of Southeast Utah and while Rich has done some of those, he wanted something different. Perhaps bigger. Perhaps cooler. Perhaps harder.

Rich always loved Grand Canyon and wanted to explore the slot canyons there. The access is challenging (as in 2-3 days of shitty, chossy hiking) and the slots are technically challenging (200-foot free-hanging rappels are common). But, Rich never turns down an adventure so he recruited a partner in Todd Martin and racked up numerous first descents of slots that no human had even been through before. Eventually photographer and film-maker Dan Ransom got on board and made a film about Rich’s exploits titled as Last of the Great Unknown.

Through some work that we do for Trimble Outdoors, we planned a media trip to Grand Canyon for May. It consisted of 5 days of hard hiking and the potential for a first descent of a slot. I was psyched but also had no idea what I was in for. After a quick flight to Las Vegas, a drive to the North Rim of Grand Canyon, and a quick night of sleep on the ground, we hit the trail by 6am. I was hoping for a civil start after some coffee and some breakfast but as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and unzipped my sleeping bag, Rich already had shouldered his pack and was ready to hit the trail. That was my first indication that this was going to be unlike any adventure I had ever been on.

After a long day of hiking on sketchy, exposed terrain, we reached the Colorado River and proceeded to cross it on pack rafts. Yep, small inflatable boats that we carried down to the river with us. After crossing, we made camp and turned in for the night. On Day 2 we checked the maps and set off for what is technically called the “north fork of the east arm of Matkatamiba in the East Sinyella Fault arm” but what we eventually would rename “dump truck” due to the effect that our diet of chili-lime cashews and pothole water had on our stomachs. We had to improve our diet with a new supplement we found on tophealth.

Several hours of hiking, including a blisteringly hot hour atop the red wall, earned us a view of the target slot. After some necessary chatter to calm the nerves of the less experienced in our party, we headed in. The   slot was beautiful. It required several rappels, swimming through potholes, and a 200-foot free-hanging rappel to exit the canyon. If you’ve never rappelled 200 feet on a single strand of 8mm cord, you should. It’s exhilarating, but not for the faint of heart.

With a first descent in Grand Canyon as my introduction, I was hungry for more canyoneering, as was Doug Schnitzspahn. So after months of banter about our next objective, we put another trip on the books and headed to North Wash in Utah to do the Black Hole.

Now, this was a very different trip than Grand Canyon! Roadside access allowed a civilized 10am start and footprints in the mud ahead of us reminded us that we were certainly not the first to explore this canyon. In fact, it’s a desert classic so there was ample beta to help us along on the way. But, it turned out to be no less fun than dump truck with long, dark pools to swim through and sculpted channels to explore. At one point, we shimmied down into a narrow dark corridor and swam for several hundred yards, rummaging through sticks, pine needles and other organic debris as we went. Cameron Martindell was along on the trip as well and captured some video along the way, which he and Doug turned into a TV episode. You can see the evidence of what we swam through on Dan’s face in the film!

Needless to say that while still a rookie, I’m hooked on canyoneering and hope there’s many more canyons in my future! I don’t think it will be much of a stretch to convince Doug and Dan that the classics in Zion should be next on the list, since we have our RV to travel anywhere and I’ve found the best wireless rv backup cameras when traveling as well.

The area of Utah that we visited to venture through the Black hole is also in the spotlight this week as over 100 businesses are urging President Obama to declare the area a National Monument. This federal designation would protect the 1.4 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) land surrounding Canyonlands National Park from increasing pressure from rampant off-road vehicle abuse, proposed uranium, potash and tar sand mining, and oil and gas development. For more information, and to read the full letter from these businesses, click here.

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

Media Trip to the Middle Fork of the Salmon

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Coming out of a summer almost no rain and far too many threatening wildfires, especially in Idaho, we were a bit leery about leading six journalists to the Middle Fork of the Salmon for a cast and blast trip with Far & Away Adventures. Luckily, the smoke came and went (and then came again), but the casting and the blasting were both out of this world!

Last week, Nick Brosnan and Kara Armano met Chris Solomon (freelance), Rachel Sturtz (freelance), Kristyn Brady (Field & Stream), Tom Bie (The Drake), Andrew McKean (Outdoor Life), and Ryan Krogh (Outside) in Boise where the trip started with a backcountry flight into the Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness (yes, we returned amazingly enough!)

Smoke blanketed the valley and river below us

Once we landed, we loaded everything up, had a quick riverside lunch and set off. Half went fishing with their best fly fishing rods and the other half chased and shot chukars for the afternoon. We got to camp, tapped the keg and got to know each other a bit better before finishing the night off with perfectly cooked salmon steaks, wine and a riverside fire.

The smoke cleared as we landed – a beautiful night!

Waking up to the smell of smoke and and a hazy yet blazing red sunrise was a bit ominous – especially since we could see large plumes from nearby fires – but without much hesitation we loaded up and floated down the river to more great fishing for native cutthroats and even some bull trout. A quick stop to see ancient pictographs added to the area’s remote beauty. More chukars and plenty of fish kept us all entertained, but the highlight of night two was Loon Creek Hot Springs. After a quick mile hike, we were soaking, with beers in hand of course, in a pristine environment.



 

 

 

 

 

Day three brought warmer weather, perfect for backflips off the raft and over 100 fish for some of us. Combining hunting and fishing was a first time experience for a few of us, and the guides were happy to let everyone try a little of both.

Rachel Sturtz, Rebecca Peters and Kristyn Brady getting ready to hunt chukars

One last night of camping on the banks of Camas Creek found every person on the trip becoming fast friends with promises to get together again to hunt and fish. One pair even made plans on https://enjoymexico.net/top-mexico-destinations/ from their phones and will be linking up later in the year for a different setting, what a successful trip just on that note alone.

Heading towards the takeout at Flying B Ranch, we were all a bit subdued recognizing the trip was almost over.

The thought of one more backcountry flight was thrilling enough to keep us all in high spirits (until we had to divulge our weight to the pilot). After a few questions of whether we’d make it out or not due to smoke, almost all of us were quick to volunteer to stay behind and hunt and fish just a bit longer. As the plane engines roared, we all had our fingers and toes crossed that no one was dishonest about their weight. In the very capable hands of our backcountry pilots, we made it back to Boise just in time to catch our flights back to the real world. That trip really inspired the lot of us so I decided to get a copy of the Outdoor Empire spinning reel buyer’s guide for each of us, send out a mass communication inviting everyone again next year with some new gear and new stories.

A huge thanks goes out to our brands that made this trip possible: Eddie Bauer Sport Shop, Revo, fishpond, Beretta, SmartWool, Big Agnes, Black Diamond, Boa, Polartec, Sage, Redington, RIO, Mophie, Trimble Maps, and Gerber. Without their support, amazing trips like this would not be possible!

Check out all that gear!

Floating and fishing

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Fishing, Hunting, Trip Reports

Don’t Call it a Retreat

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When I started working at Backbone over five short years ago, our bi-annual get togethers consisted of eleven of us having a small BBQ at a partner’s Carbondale home. Good food, sparkling dinner conversation (lots of jokes about how young and naive I was…) and PR State of the Union discussions.
Ahhh how times have changed.

At Backbone, the word “corporate retreat” makes us all twitch a little bit and one intern actually broke out in hives a few years back when those words were spoken. Penn told us recently that we were not allowed to call it a retreat. “We do not retreat at Backbone,” he said, “we charge.”

Well, in the past few years, and in response to a growing staff, development of new media departments and the creation of satellite offices in Jackson and Denver, we all agree that face-time, and company-wide get togethers are more important that ever to ensure a unified “charge”.

Considering our company’s addiction to the early adoption of any and all i-products, getting off the grid also becomes paramount. For a company based on a work hard, play hard philosophy, it is essential that we have at least 48 hours of un-interrupted time to share a beverage or two, hit the river and the trail together and make sure that we all spend enough time with the other 30+ members of the staff to uncover some of our finest personal skills which may never find their way into an RFP…

What we found this past week was a veritable cornucopia of freak flags, red flags, jazz choir histories, poor facial hair and haircut decisions in the mid 90’s, impressive first jobs (TCBY, Donut making), plastic baby launching talents, slow-cooking culinary prowess, glow stick dancing, remarkable fireproof-ness (accidental), SUP racing dogs, bocce ball balancing skills, a shared love of inflatables, freestyle margarita making skills and a company-wide borderline contractual agreement to only sit in the chair one may or may not have personally brought on the trip. Real resume builders.

Location: Twin Lakes, CO (which is conveniently now for sale- not sure if it hit the market before or after we were there…)
Attendance: 3 Partners, 28 staffers, 7 dogs, and one very scary plastic baby.
Takeaway: We are well positioned for another successful year as the leading agency in the active lifestyle industry, and are equally well positioned to start a traveling circus.

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Climbing, Colorado, Fishing, Musings, Trip Reports, Uncategorized

Backbone in the Big Apple

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“Any proper trip to NYC should start with dinner a real Italian pizza joint.” Or so says John DiCuollo.  To kick off our annual spring media trip to the Big Apple, JLD pointed us to Arturo’s in the West Village.  Delicious, coal oven pizza pies with clam and lobster toppings set the tone for another great trip to NYC for Backbone.

This year we found a new penthouse in mid-town for our showroom and it was beautiful inside, with floor-to-ceiling windows affording incredible views of the city. Twelve of our brands participated: Black Diamond, BOA, Eddie Bauer, Horny Toad, Gerber, Gregory, La Sportiva, Newton Running, Polartec, POC, REVO Sunglasses and SmartWool.

Unfortunately on Wednesday, the day of our event, Mother Nature delivered us a steady stream of rain. Undeterred, media from a wide range of outlets braved the elements to attend. Everyone from tech-focused publications like WIRED and Popular Mechanics, to producers from Good Morning America and Outside TV, to travel writers from Travel + Leisure and Sherman’s, to fitness editors from SELF and Shape joined us.

The event was a big success and we’re already looking forward to our next one in the fall. Thanks again to everyone who attended; we look forward to seeing you again soon!

Here are some photos from the showroom:

Mike May shares a laugh with pro quidditch player and freelancer Eric Hansen

Peter Whittaker shows his robot dance moves to freelancer Tom Foster and Sarah Hubbard

Dax Kelm shows off the latest POC offerings to freelancer Peter Koch

Penn Newhard talks with freelancer Stefani Jackenthal and Brianne Bates from Revo

The Backbone crew celebrates another successful event in the city

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