Last week, wildlife photographer Florian Schulz transported us to the Arctic through his collection of beautiful images. We didn’t even have to leave our seats at The Conservation Alliance breakfast at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market to catch the chill of polar wind, hear the cries of migrating birds and feel our hearts thump as we watched baby polar bears fleeing from danger.

via Chris Kassar and Elevation Outdoors:

Schulz is, John Sterling of the Conservation Alliance told us, “a truly gifted story teller who transports us to places we may never otherwise get to visit.”…

He didn’t just “wow” us with images or stories of braving harsh conditions (though he did tell some amazing ones about that). His message was simple, clear, and inspiring: “My connection to the environment is something very emotional; it comes from the heart for me especially now that I have become a dad,” said Schulz getting noticeably choked up when talking about the arrival of his son in December. “I hope we can keep this planet the way it is for a while longer…. Fighting for this is essential.”

On Schulz’s website, he says:

“For many years now there has been strong interest in expanding oil drilling in the Alaskan Arctic, both on land and offshore. Many have considered the Arctic landscape a barren wasteland or a flat, white nothingness.

I take these sentiments as a personal challenge to document an extremely remote and mostly unknown area of North America — for a public that otherwise might never see it. It’s true that at first glance some areas may seem desolate or barren. But those same areas may be teeming with life just days later, with tens of thousands of migrating caribou, or wolves or grizzlies.”

While many of us have never been to the Arctic, as these images show, it’s a special, wild place full of life — and worth protecting. Learn more about what you can do to help protect it by visiting alaskawild.org.

ALL PHOTOS © FLORIAN SCHULZ

Conservation, causes, photos, travel Alaska, alaska wilderness league, arctic, florian schulz, Outdoor Retailer, photos, the conservation alliance

Our Atmos Series for men provides ventilated custom fit for any backpacking endeavor. While friends and co-workers can be great at coordinating their day’s apparel, it may not be appropriate for the adventure at hand… like climbing to the top of a summit in Baja. Our Boys In Tutus are notorious for this. Luckily they chose the right packs, the Osprey Atmos Series.

The series that redefined expectations about weight, ventilation and comfort in backpacking just did it again. New in 2012, our radically updated AirSpeed™ suspension now provides customized fit, with fully adjustable torso length, interchangeable harnesses and adjustable hipbelt fit. It all adds up to an even better fit and greater comfort on the trail.

VIDEO via Red Reel

Outdoor Activities, travel, video Atmos Series, backpacking, Baja, Climbing, men, new for 2012

Yosemite. Just the name is enough to set an adventurer to day dreaming. It’s a place that stokes our inner fire, our wildness and gives us the escape we hunger for. For the climbers among us, Yosemite is our mecca. In last year’s story in National Geographic, photographer and climber Jimmy Chin said:

Visiting a Yosemite climbing camp today, you’re just as likely to meet a divorce attorney from Delaware as a wild-haired dirtbag. Walking through Camp 4 one morning, I hear a dozen languages-Czech, Chinese, Thai, Italian-and meet climbers from all walks of life. A young German engineer, grinning ear to ear, has just completed a five-day ascent of El Cap. A barefoot young woman from Denmark, with nose ring, dreads, a tattoo, walks a slackline-a tightrope strung three feet off the ground between trees. A mom and dad from Washington State teach their two kids how to climb. Rock climbing is no longer a fringe sport. It’s mainstream. And unlike the early years, there are nearly as many women as men on the rock…

Whether you’re a climber or not, it’s difficult to dream up a place more awe-inspiring than Yosemite National Park. In fact, it’s difficult to describe in words this special wild place. Yesterday our friends at prAna posted this incredible timelapse video on their Facebook wall. Do yourself a favor; grab your mug of coffee, sit back and watch…

Outdoor Activities, adventure, travel, video Climbing, timelapse, video, yosemite, yosemite national park

Alison at Silverton, CO - credit Sherri Harkin Photography

As a World Freeskiing Champion, the founder of the Save Our Snow Foundation, and award-winning global cooling consultant, I’m often asked about my viewpoints on climate change in regard to snow droughts, like we are experiencing this year.

I found that people couldn’t relate to “climate change” and that the term “global warming” left people confused, so I switched to “global weirding.” That term more accurately describes what is happening — while the planet is warming, the actual result is extreme weather. Global temperature increases result in really strange local weather — record low temperatures, record heat waves, more windy weather, record droughts, and yes, even record snowstorms. As the air warms, it can hold more moisture, so in the short-term we can have larger snowfalls. In the long term, more of those storms will fall as rain.

Today in Colorado, we are seeing record dust storms that are assisting in extremely early snowmelt — up to 40 days earlier than historic records. I don’t think anyone has to be a rocket scientist to see that the weather is a bit weirder than usual. The extremes are just so much more pronounced. It’s January, and I’m going for a bike ride. How strange is that? In Pakistan, I saw glaciers advancing in 2005 due to increased snowfall, and then watched them retreat up to 50 percent by 2007. On one ski expedition it was raining at 17,500 feet — something I have never seen in my lifetime. In Bolivia, I skied the highest ski area in the world at 18,000-plus feet, but that glacier disappeared forever in 2009.

Folks ask me about a critical tipping point.  In my opinion, we have already passed a critical point in the concentrations of carbon dioxide on our planet. But I’m an optimist and I believe we have the ability to change.

Read more…

Conservation, Osprey Athletes Alison Gannett, climate change, global weirding, Osprey, Save our Farm, Save our snow

Osprey athlete Kim Havell, sent us the link to her latest Salomon Freeski video this morning. We love getting new stuff from Kim, because it gives us a little mental health break in the day watching her carve into big, beautiful powder and also, it makes us jealous — giving us a kick in the pants to get into the mountains even more than we already do. Thanks Kim!

Deep in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia Chris Rubens, Elyse Saugstad and Kim Havell put the new Salomon Guardian binding to the test. Beautiful conditions, deep powder and good folks to tour with… just another day at the “office”.

Based in Salt Lake City, Kim Havell began her career in the mountains as an alpine ski coach. From there she gradually made the transition to climbing and ski mountaineering.  Kim has since been an instructor for the San Juan Outdoor School, CVA, and Babes in the Backcountry. She has also tail-guided for H2O Heli Guides, and been a twelve year member of the San Miguel County Search and Rescue Team, with medical and rescue certifications. Kim is the only woman (& one of less than 5 people) to ski the direct couloirs of the infamous Little Wasatch Ridge in Telluride, Colorado.

To follow Kim’s adventures please visit: HavellTravels-The Adventures of Kim Havell Professional Skier or follow Kim on Twitter.

Osprey Athletes, adventure, video backcountry, British Columbia, kim havell, selkirk mountains, ski, ski tour

It’s that time again… Outdoor Retailer Winter Market kicks off this Wednesday and we’ve got a great line-up of events and giveaways for you!

Save our Snow Foundation Trivia With Alison Gannett
When: 2 to 4pm, Wednesday, January 18, 2012 ~ All Mountain Demo
Where: Osprey Packs Booth ~ All Mountain Demo at Solitude Resort

Play climate change trivia with Osprey athlete Alison Gannett for a chance to win a Karve sidecountry pack.

Pack Sale for Paradox Sports and SOS Outreach
When: Thursday, January 19 through end of show, or until we sell out!
Where: Osprey Booth #5011

Pick up an Osprey Flap Jack, Flap Jill or Comet daypack for only $30 with $10 of each purchase will be donated to Paradox Sports and SOS Outreach.

Benefit for the Colorado Mountain Club at Brewvies featuring Sweetgrass Productions’ Solitaire
When: 7 to 10pm, Friday January 20
Where: Brewvies, 677 South 200 West Salt Lake City, sponsored by Osprey Packs

Check out Sweetgrass Productions’ Solitaire, enjoy great beer and food, and win a pack. $10 admission gets a beer and benefits the Colorado Mountain Club.

“What Are YOU Wearing Today?” Happy Hour
When: 4 to 6pm, Saturday January 21, 2012
Where: Osprey Booth #5011

Enjoy a White Russian and keep the glass. Meet the girls in white dresses, boys in tutus and environmental mascots. Donate to Leave No Trace, Alaska Wilderness League and Save our Wild Salmon and win great prize packages.

Conservation, Events, Product, Retail Promotions, causes, video donations, happy hours, or show, Outdoor Retailer, winter market

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated more than four decades ago, but his profound and passionate words still ring true today.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”… When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

— I Have a Dream Speech, Martin Luther King’s Address at March on Washington on August 28, 1963 in Washington, DC.

Thank you Dr. King and happy birthday.

Events, video martin luther king jr, national holidays

Wild & Scenic Headquarters

Driving into Nevada City, California, I was fascinated by the historic Broad Street buildings and visions of the surrounding hills during the 1849 gold rush.  I was there to represent Osprey Packs as a National Partner of the Wild & Scenic Film Festival.

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival is put on by the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) and celebrated its 10^th anniversary this year.  In a nutshell, the festival is a combination of films, activist workshops, speakers, art, music, food, drink and human energy, although it is hard to capture the essence of the experience in a sentence of words. One really must attend the festival and participate in all of its offerings to truly comprehend what is going on.

SYRCL’s stated mission for the Wild & Scenic Film Festival is “to inspire people and unite communities to heal the earth”.  Admittedly, this sounded a little “hippy-dippy” at first appearance and I wasn’t sure what to expect. After spending a jam-packed weekend partaking in all that is the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, I walked away with a renewed sense of what an awesome planet we live on and the tremendous adventure opportunities that exist in our own backyards as well as across the oceans in faraway lands. I also have more knowledge of the threats and challenges that our planet is facing and increased resolve to make a difference in maintaining and improving these adventurous opportunities forever. Film topics varied, ranging from the story of conflict resolved between the US Forest Service and mountain bikers building illegal trails in Washington as documented in Pedal-Driven: a bikeumentary to Animal Beatbox, a 2-minute animated film with music that you can’t get out of your head.

Watching the stories of how bicycles changed the lives of five individuals in different parts of the world in With My Own Two Wheels made me feel a touch of guilt as I reflected upon a conversation I had with my wife the previous evening regarding which new road bike I wanted to purchase. The problem is I already have a shed with 14 bikes hanging in it. Seeing the difference that one bike could make to someone that really needed it but could not afford it, changed the way that I think. From now on, each new bike for me will be complemented by a new bike for someone else through a program like 88Bikes or World Bicycle Relief.

This is exactly the type of difference that most of the film makers were hoping to achieve when embarking on the sometimes monumental task of creating a documentary film. There were films about cycling, paddling, climbing, world travels, environmental issues, human interest stories, wildlife and just about every other topic. No matter what your interests, there was a film at the festival for you. Wild & Scenic now embarks on a nationwide traveling tour. It is definitely worthwhile to check the schedule and set aside some time to see when it comes to an area near you. For dates and more information check the Wild & Scenic Film Festival website.

Events, causes, film festivals animal beatbox, nevada city, Osprey, pedal driven, wild & scenic film festival, with my own 2 wheels

Unless you’ve been living in a deep, dark cave… You may have noticed that there is a lot of cool stuff going on out there. So, we thought it was high-time we started rounding up some of our faves each week. We call it the Osprey Round-Up… Happy Friday!

We love riding. We really, really love riding. As our tires hit the pavement this new year, we’ve been thinking about all of the incredible rides we have to look forward to and a few in our office have even started making it official, scheduling races and writing down their bucket list of singletrack and road rides they hope to tackle in 2012. But part of what makes our future rides so exciting is the memories of adventures last year: the taste of dirt from screaming down singletrack, the nip of crisp fall air and the feeling of our breath and heart beating as we ride to work each day. That’s why we’re digging this compilation of stories from our friends at Artcrank. Just reading through these got us even more excited to keep pedaling!

via Artcrank:

For four years as a graduate student in Milwaukee, Wisconsin my bike was, in many ways, a necessary evil. It was cheap transportation, it was a set of wheels that didn’t need to be visited every hour to plug a meter, and it took me where I wanted to go on my clock. While 2011 found me stepping away from higher education and a bike-friendly commute, the past year gave me the opportunity to see my bicycle from a different perspective. Instead of being a tool of frugality and pure utility, it became a gateway to the finer things in life.

In 2011, my bike exposed me to overly ambitious single-track, the wonders of a quality chamois, an appreciation of PBR tallboys, all-weather neighborhood rides, a leaner build, and number of friendships that have made my return to the Twin Cities a ton of fun.

So here’s to more of the same in 2012.

These stories are seriously awesome, so make sure to click on over to Artcrank’s blog for the rest of them here and here.

PHOTO via Bjorn Christianson/Artcrank

Bike, Friday Round-up 2012, bicycles, Bike, biking, stories, writing

Nervous excitement escalated to shear fear as I hung on as tight as I could to my ice axes.  All of sudden I did not like my position on the side of the frozen canyon wall and I was ready to come down…now! This was my first time ice climbing and my second time climbing ever.  I was confident in the venue at the Ouray Ice Fest and with my instructor, Osprey Athlete, Ben Clark.  What I wasn’t prepared for were the chunks of ice that kept breaking off and the distance I was from the ground.   What happened up there?  I forgot to relax.  That’s all Ben told us to do was to relax and have fun.  Before the clinic was over, I did try it again.  I still didn’t make it to the top, but I was relaxed, and was definitely having fun.  It was a great experience, I will do it again.  Now, it’s your turn.

Written by Katie K.

Osprey Customer Service

Uncategorized