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

Who scheduled an 8AM Sunday Morning at DIA?

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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.

Travel Selkirks Style

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!

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First Ascent Vinson Massif shot by Kent Harvey

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We are pretty fortunate in this industry to work with a lot of very passionate and talented folks that continue to push the envelope in their respective fields.  There’s been more than one occasion that I’ll be going over athlete reports or expedition updates and have to sit back and just enjoy the amazing shots and video that are captured and appreciate the hard work and risk that went into accomplishing these feats.  This understanding takes on a different aspect when it’s your spouse that is putting himself or herself in harm’s way.  This happens to be the case with our own Amy Harvey.  Check out the latest expedition her husband Kent Harvey just completed with the First Ascent guide team in Antarctica…


Kent Harvey, director/cinematographer http://khfilms.com

Posted in: Climbing, Trip Reports, Videos \ Tagged: , ,

Reports from the Field

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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.

Old School or New School?

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.

DP all amped up

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.

Powder plus Corn equals ski porn

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!

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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