Category Archives: Uncategorized

The common wisdom is you get what you give. Which is great and all. But in this day and age there needs to be new adage that allows you to get even a little time to give anything at all, especially when your voicemail is full and email overflowing.

Another favorite saying is if you want something done, give it to a busy person. True to some degree but what about all the slackers in the world?

The point to be made here is the admission that yes, things are as hectic as ever and yes, this is exactly the reason to get involved in causes that are foundational to your own personal or corporate culture (did I just really type the words corporate culture?). If the truth is that you have to be a crazy to make it on the news – then all us sane people need to voice the more common middle road or risk being forgotten.

Which brings us to Freshmullet and Chase Jarvis.

Stu Bowen is a surfer, activist and runs the blog freshmullet.com

He is also one of 1% For The Planet’s founding Ambassadors, along with Chase. Fresh Mullet is cool – from a cultural standpoint (ha, ha this time I was able to omit the evil corporate word). If you haven’t, check out the site.

Now Chase Jarvis is also cool. He is a photographer which means he can wear jeans and a plain white t-shirt. He too is a 1% Ambassador and wow, check out the planetary alignment here – he is on Freshmullet.com

Chase also is a big proponent of the best camera you have is the one you have with you – alluding to the fact that with phones we are all part of the ‘new’ media and that pictures are as much about the moment as they are about the composition, ISO and exposure.

So check it out, here are real people, who have real jobs and are really busy – yet they are giving back.

Point being, lead by example. If we want to make a difference we all have to get involved.

We are all busy. Ironically, too busy, in fact, to even ponder such heavy questions like “why are we in this business anyway?”

Luckily, rather than have to sit ponderously, I was reminded why by an email from Andrew Bisharat over at Rock & Ice. Andrew organized the Rifle RendezSPEW Clean Up, and his thank you to sponsors including Big Agnes, Black Diamond, Gregory, La Sportiva and Backbone serves as an excellent summation as to why the outdoor biz is unique.

Simply put it is great to work in an industry that embraces a lifestyle, cares for public land, and is a creative extension of both business and personal relationships. Thanks AB for the insight.

**Don’t quit reading early as a link to Andrew’s blog Evening Sends takes a hilarious look behind the scenes.
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Rifle RendezSPEW 2011

The Rifle RendezSPEW was an amazing success. An unprecedented amount of work was achieved, money raised, shwag raffled and fun had.

The Rifle RendezSPEW (formerly called the Rifle Clean Up) was part community service, part informal climbing competition, and it ended with a big barbeque, raffle and costume party where you had to dress up as a Rifle route. Over 150 climbers participated in the event on August 27.

At the registration area, there was a Five Ten shoe and Black Diamond harness demo. For a $10 registration fee, climbers got all the food and beer they could eat and drink, and they received a shwag bag with the new Rifle issue of Rock and Ice magazine, a CAMP Photon wire carabiner, a block of CAMP chalk, a Grivel 3F quickdraw sling, a Lapis boar’s hair brush, a Sterling Rope t-shirt or hat from Black Diamond or La Sportiva, a garbage bag for picking up trash and a Clif Bar. We had 100 shwag bags stuffed, and sold them all by noon.

This year, the event worked closely with the City of Rifle, and climbers were able to buy their season parking passes during the morning registration, which took place at the Feline parking lot. Communications between the City of Rifle and the Rifle Climbers Coalition (RCC) improved, and their concerns over climbers camping illegally and milling around in the road at the Project Wall were voiced and addressed.

Meanwhile, the RendezSPEW showcased what a good user group climbers are to the Park, first by helping the City clean ashes out all barbeque and campfire pits. Further, concerns over climbers standing in the road at the Project were addressed by a massive rebuilding of the retaining wall beneath the Project Wall warm-up routes, as well as clearing out a new picnic area across the river, which will eventually have a picnic table and bench for climbers to congregate (as opposed to in the middle of the road).

Other clean-up projects included removing aluminum quickdraws that have been left in place on many popular routes for years. About a hundred pounds of frighteningly bad gear was cleaned this year, and either left as is, or outfitted with steel perma-draws. Strange Ranger, Cryptic Egyptian, Huge, Bauhaus Proklamation, Simply Read, 7 P.M. Show, Zulu, Anti-Phil and others were cleaned of bad gear.

New steel anchors were placed on all the aforementioned routes, in addition to Easy Skankin’, Spurt-atron, I am Not a Philistine, Sometimes Always, Apocalypse 05, Present Tense, PMS and others.

Glue-ins were added on the seasonally seeping, but excellent routes Le Specimen and Hand Me the Canteen Boy.

Belay and trail improvements were made to the newly popular Sanctuary wall, and fallen trees were chopped and removed from the Arsenal and elsewhere. Dog droppings and garbage were cleaned up throughout the Park.

In addition to the clean up, the Game of SPEW (Send Points for Elitist Wankers) was held. Climbers were given a booklet/scorecard that explained the rules of the game, where climbers earned points for climbing routes and doing clean up projects, as well as other fun extra-credit points such as “Calling The Redpoint” (+750 SPEW points) or doing pull-ups at the anchors (50 pts/pull-up). You could also lose points for various penalties—Top Roping (-300), “Calling The Redpoint Fail” (-750). The winner, Keller Rinaudo, racked up an extra 3,000 points for climbing Rumor Has It in his birthday suit (Lynn Hill belayed), earning him a commemorative sweatshirt that says “I’m the Best Climber in Rifle.” Edgardo Baca came in with the lowest score, which earned him the “I’m the Worst Climber in Rifle” sweatshirt.

This year, one of the main goals of the RendezSPEW was to raise funds to cover the costs of a bird study that the Rifle Climbers Coalition (RCC) commissioned earlier this summer. The bird study was to determine if and exactly where golden eagles are nesting in the front half of Box Canyon, which resides on public lands that are managed by the Department of Wildlife (DOW) and are currently closed to climbing due to protect the eagle nests. The RCC, with the guidance and help of the Access Fund, is putting together a comprehensive proposal for how climbing can co-exist with the eagles to be presented to the DOW this November. The RCC recognizes the front half of the Canyon as an amazing climbing resource with potential for numerous moderate and futuristic lines; it is our long-term goal to open climbing access here, and this bird study was one step in this process. The RendezSPEW not only succeeded in raising the $800 balance we needed to cover the bird study, but with a total of $3,000 raised, there are now extra funds that will be used for future updates to the canyon, including hardware upgrades for routes and picnic benches for climbers.

The after party will go down as one of the most memorable, as dozens of climbers showed up dressed as Rifle routes (earning everyone an extra 10,000 SPEW points). The Beast, Glue Fairy, Le Specimen, Merry Maids, Living in Fear, Brown Chicken, Quasimodo, King Fisher, I am not a Philistine, FireArms, Purple and Green, Tijuana Crack Whore(s), Gay Science, Pinch Fest and several versions of Euro-Trash all made memorable appearances.

A massive raffle and a DJ dance party finished off the event.

This event could not have happened without the incredible support of the climbing industry.

Special thanks to CAMP, ClimbTech, Liberty Mountain, and the American Safe Climbing Association for their donations of steel hardware that is being used to keep Rifle safe and user friendly.

Thanks to Avery Brewing and the Lander Brewing Co for supplying the beer.

Thanks to the Access Fund, Big Agnes, Black Diamond, Backbone Media, CAMP, ClimbTech, Cypher, Deuter, Edelweiss, Five Ten, Grivel, La Sportiva, Liberty Mountain, Prana, Patagonia, Rab, Rock and Ice magazine, Singing Rock, Sterling Rope, Summit Canyon Mountaineering and Wolverine Publishing for the amazing support!!!

—Andrew Bisharat, on behalf of the Rifle Climbers Coalition (rifleclimbers.org).

**Check out the extra curricular adventures of DirtBAG, Jtron and the Prince of Unnecessary Darkness here

Over the past month a number of Backbone clients have been a part of Fast Company’s 30 Second MBA online program.

If you are looking insight and advice from industry leaders ranging from Mark Zuckerberg, Tony Hsieh and Conan O’Brien on topics such as Innovation, Faith in Business and Creative Management check it out.

View the videos from Travis Campbell from Far Bank, Peter Metcalf from Black Diamond, Steve Jones from TGR and Penn Newhard from Backbone and we look forward to future videos from other Backbone clients.

 

A recent trip to the Dolomites in Italy lent some insight to the mature and varied European outdoor market.

With my family, we traversed the Brenta Range staying in rifugios and hiking, climbing and doing via ferratas point-to-point. We then cruised around Cortina for a few more days near Cinque Torri. If you like long days in the mountains, great coffee, wine, beer and pasta (with an occasional wiener schnitzel) this is great country. Here are some observations from the Sud Tirol.

Trekking Poles: No surprise here. Everyone uses trekking poles. Old, young, alpinists and trekkers. Trust me, your knees will thank you. I’m no Nordic walker but for mountain travel, snow and long scree descents, t-poles are the way to go. Warning – be careful of the Euro vibe as the manpri/trekking pole combo could be fateful to core status…

WTF is VF? Via Ferrata is a semi-foreign concept in North America. The “iron way” was initially used to move troops safely through the mountains during WWI when the Austrians and Italians battled to control the high mountain passes of the Dolomites. Today via ferratas make access easy to super rad terrain. In this sense the Europeans have it figured out. Make the mountains easy and enjoyable and you’ll get more people out there.

Boots: When you arrive at any hut common courtesy is to remove your boots and rucksack. As we stashed our footwear in the entry cubbies, we were consistently the only shoes on any shelf. Leather boots were the norm. Heavier, more durable, clunky. Steeped in tradition, not so sure the Euros have it right here. Sticky rubber and pair of Exums seemed to handle it all pretty darn well.

Packs: With multi-generations out there hiking you see a lot of varied packs. Most are smaller ~30L sizes, some tightly packed others loaded with ropes, crampons, ice tools and baguettes. We saw everything from old school neon Millet packs to new, sleek adventure racing models. Here’s a decidedly Deutsch review recently from ALPIN magazine where the Gregory Z-40 scores an Editor’s Pick.

Rifugios: We call them huts. In America they are fairly rustic mountain accommodations where you do you own cooking and supply your own sleeping bag. In the Dolomites, they are family run affairs that offer hand cut minestrone and pasta, beer, house wine, homemade grappa and espresso. Bring a travel sheet and your Visa. See you out there!

Last week I was fortunate to come along on the Black Diamond Equipment S12 Access Series Pack Press Trip, where our group of 20 spent two days in the backcountry of Aspen Snowmass hiking through some of Colorado’s most scenic terrain. Our contingent consisted of four members of the Backbone crew (Penn, JLD, Justin and myself), nine journalists from a broad variety of outlets, along with Colleen Nipkow and Nathan Kuder who hold positions as the Marketing Manager and Softgoods Category Director at Black Diamond Equipment.

For those who are unfamiliar with the idea of a press trip—and I was the same way about a week ago—here’s the gist: Black Diamond’s new line of packs, the Access series, is slated to become available in Spring 2012. Since the forthcoming line has a slew of new features, Backbone and BD put together an event designed to give the press an early look at what’s new and improved. Since reviews and Editor’s Choice awards are often the most highly regarded sources of information for a consumer in the market for a pack—or anything for that matter—it serves everyone’s best interest to give journalists a chance get to know the goods inside and out.

We were lucky enough to have a great group of journalists along; Christian Levesque from Espaces.com, Gwen Cameron from Alpinist, Justin Nyberg from GearInstitute.com, Jill Missal from GearGals.net, Genevieve Hathaway from AlpineAthena.com, Will Rietveld from BackpackingLight.com and David Clucas from SNEWS, plus Nancy Prichard-Bouchard and Berne Broudy who write/shoot for a variety of outlets. All of the journalist’s travel was arranged with the help and support of Ski.com.

The first evening we rallied in Carbondale for a group dinner. JLD and I had spent the day setting up the house, so each journalist, upon arrival was lead to their room with a Christmas morning-esque pile of goodies from our formidable list of sponsors. Black Diamond, the host and title sponsor was eminently generous; in addition to the awesome packs that we all carried in to the field, we all had trekking poles, an ice axe, a lantern and a headlamp.  But that was far from all. Big Agnes kept us warm and snug with a bag and pad, Honey Stinger contributed waffles and energy chews, Klean Kanteen helped out with water bottles, SmartWool pitched some awesome microweight baselayers, Polartec passed along some ultra-breathable tops, Eddie Bauer hooked up a sweet outerwear layer, Sole provided moldable footbeds and socks, and Gerber contributed a sleek multi-tool for everyone. To top it off, we all were sporting fresh La Sportiva Pamir boots, which kept us amazingly blister free, though they were fresh out of the box for the most part. After our pack presentation and a delicious tapas dinner prepared for us by Pan & Fork Supper Club, we heard about one of Colorado’s most beautiful landscapes, the Hidden Gems, from Allyn Harvey of the Wilderness Workshop. After kicking back a few more bottles of brew, compliments of New Belgium, we all hit the sack for an early start.

The next morning dawned clear and crisp. Yawning in the parking lot at 6:30 a.m. all twenty of us packed, adjusted, fiddled, unpacked, repacked, clipped and tightened. We were greeted by five guides from Aspen Alpine Guides, who offered immeasurable support throughout the trip. With a long day ahead, and fairly heavy loads, we took several extra minutes to make sure that fits were dialed and loads were balanced. It was in this moment that Nathan’s expertise really shined. As one of the primary designers for the pack line, he knew just about everything there was to know about his babies, and was instrumental in getting everyone as comfortable as possible.

In Colorado, everyone has his or her outdoor vice, and mine is most definitely climbing. This predicted my relative inexperience with all things pack related. Usually I’ll hurl most of my climbing belongings into a top loader and set off on a short approach, unmanaged buckles snagging on every passing tree. On a trip planned for the purpose of showcasing the Access Series pack’s broad range of customization options, this was not going to fly. Thankfully, a few of the more pack-savvy trip members paused to reconfigure my rig, which, I will readily admit staved off any discomfort on the long road ahead.

Under azure skies the group hiked the first few miles of the Four Pass Loop trail, and undulating 26-mile circuit that features—you guessed it—four passes. The first of these was Buckskin, which at 12,500 was the highest I’d ever been. The crossing required half mile’s walk up a moderately steep snow slope. A small cornice crowned the bowl. Trekking poles were exchanged for ice axes as the pitch steepened, and after a bit of groveling over the cornice the group found itself at the top of the pass, drinking in the full panorama of the Snowmass wilderness.

Pack straps were loosened, Stinger waffles were devoured and overly optimistic estimates of the time remaining until camp were batted around. Our final destination, Snowmass Lake glimmered below in the distance, and seemed like it couldn’t be more than an hour’s walk away, could it?

For the next three hours, we learned just how optimistic we had been. As we descended from the day’s highpoint of 12,500 feet, the snow softened. At unpredictable intervals, each of us would find one or both legs entombed in a deep posthole.  After a masterwork of route-finding on the part of our guides, we arrived at our destination around mid-afternoon. Sweaty and muddy, we arranged tents and sleeping bags, but not before a small but foolish contingent decided that it would be a wise idea to jump into partially thawed lake.

As it was JLD’s 42^nd birthday, Justin and I demanded satisfaction, and before long “Pretty Boy Johnny” was swimming in the ice bath like a champ. Justin and I rolled out the rest of his birthday gifts: a half-melted bag of Lindt truffles, Caprese salad with the finest prosciutto that money can by (at City Market), and of course, a helping of overpriced scotch. Just as the  revelries were really getting underway, the skies enforced an early bedtime with strong gales and rain.

The next morning was another alpine start for the group. Most of the crew was psyched to attempt Snowmass peak, the aesthetic that stares down at the Lake from 14,092 feet. An incipient knee problem kept me back at camp, and from a flat rock by the lakeside I watched the group meander its way up the steep snow fields the flank the peak. Reclining, I felt the warm alpine sun creep through the campsite on its morning tour. I refilled my coffee cup for the third time, and cooked up yet another plate of hash browns. Gosh, I thought to myself. Everyone must be very cold and tired. Feeling strained on behalf of the rest of the group, I returned to the tent for a long nap.

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It wasn’t long after my groggy reawakening that the rest of the group returned to camp, soggy but happy. After a quick camp breakdown, we started the long but mercifully downhill 8-mile trek to the car. As a PR intern, I’m all for plugging product, but I can genuinely say that the BD trekking poles I used saved me quite a lot of discomfort. After several hours we arrived at the lot to find a waiting stash of New Belgium beer. After a long day in the alpine zone, everyone was only too eager to dig in. And, after a long day in the alpine zone, it certainly didn’t take long to sink in.

The final stop of our trip was the Woody Creek tavern, a popular local watering hole near aspen, and the storied bar of choice for the notorious binger Hunter S. Thompson. With a history like this, it was no surprise that things got a little weird. After a few rounds of margaritas, someone came across the tavern’s stash of—shall we say—outlandish haberdashery. We’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

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For me, the trip was an absolute highlight of my internship so far. The hiking and scenery were highlights, of course, but meeting the broad variety of happy, interesting and likeminded people that I did made the greatest impression. There are few people in the world privileged enough to be able to call two nights of tramping, laughing, drinking and playing their “work.” But I came away understanding that earning such a privilege requires great sacrifice. Many of the journalists whom I had the pleasure of speaking with went through many difficult years—years of unintentional dirtbagging where queries went unanswered, necessary car repairs were forgone and luxuries were out of the question. Ultimately what drove everyone on the trip, from the guides to the PR professionals to the journalists to BD representatives, to their current position was a true passion for playing in the woods, and a will to bring that passion to other people, be that with new product or with blog posts.

As an undergrad, I’m at a point where questions of my professional development and focus loom on the horizon, yet will not be answered for some time to come. As such, it was an honor to be able to meet a variety of industry figures, and to simply listen to their stories, to ask, “How did you get here?” Of the outdoor industry, I learned about one very important trade-off: you may not be raking in what a Madison Avenue partner makes, but at the end of the day, you just might get to sit at the edge of Snowmass Lake, with the setting sun casting a warm glow on the surrounding peaks, and say, “All in a day’s work.”

 

Kinda kidding but not really. En route home from a recent trip to the Selkirks, I was able to schedule an 8AM meeting last Sunday @ DIA with none other than my esteemed business partner Nate Simmons.

Nate was on his way to Seoul and then Bejing for work with Polartec. The timing was fortunate for us both to catch up for 30 minutes as previous weeks had been balancing work, spring Media FAMs and conference calls.

Simultaneously, Mike Mac was returning home from a swing by the National Broadcast Show in Vegas and the Sea Otter Classic. In between, Mike squeezed into a seat for a panel discussion on Social Media Tactics at the Bicycle Leadership Conference. This coming on the heels of a conference regarding Land Conservation Conference in Jackson Hole.

In our home state, Ian was bouncing between meetings with the Vail Valley Foundation and Teva Mountain Games and trying to keep up with his wife Sari – who was just named one of the fittest normal (?) humans in America by Outside Magazine. Greg was in the Front Range with SmartWool convening on their new Brand Campaign and Mavis, Justin and Kara are all riding bikes in the final phase of their knee recoveries.

See ya out there!

Reports from the Scufoneda Festival in Moena Italy include new snow yet warm temps. Nate and Fielding are over there hosting media as Polartec sponsors the event.

Reports from AK are that it has been a tough winter, yet recent snow has been improving conditions. We are headed there Sunday for a Black Diamond event along with 5 snowsports media to test skis, tour on Thompson Pass and fly with Alaska Backcountry Adventures.

A bit more locally reports from Sun Valley over St. Patty’s boast new snow as another Backbone group heads to Baldy for the Ski Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony while staying at the famed Sun Valley Lodge.Word is there will be a reunion of the K2 Performers and dignitaries will range from inductees Daron Rahlves and Glen Plake to Wayne Wong and Zach and Reggie Crist.

Backbone also hosted Drew Pogge from Backcountry Magazine for 2 days of touring in the Elks. Pretty sure he liked the new AMPerage and Megawatts.

Additional upcoming events span from WESC/Tailgate Alaska to a NYC showroom.

See you out there!

Yesterday we announced I am joining Nate and Penn as a Partner at Backbone. This is rewarding for me in many ways as I have been with the agency since 2005 and plan to be here for many years to come, I love Carbondale and hope to never leave.  When I started at Backbone there were very few of us offering a one dimensional service, today there are 23 of us servicing clients on many fronts.  I commonly marvel at what goes on in a typical day at Backbone from client presentations, NYC show rooms, client entertainment on the slopes, to optimizing our latest digital campaign.   I started in the outdoor industry in 1993, wow, is that now almost 20 years and look forward to seeing friends at Outdoor Retailer this week.

What makes me most excited is the team here at Backbone and the awesome clients we represent.  Our team just got stronger this week, with the addition of Elinor Fish. Elinor is the former managing editor at Trail Runner who we’ve worked with for years. She’s a talented writer, a bad-ass runner and an all around nice person (aren’t all Canadians?). She also has serious PR chops – prior to Trail Runner she worked in tourism PR for Alberta and Banff. It’s a real coup for Backbone to have her on board.