Last weekend I, along with 50 other young leaders gathered to create programs that will reconnect youth with the outdoors. The event itself was a great success, but the best part was that we were in a setting where we camped, bouldered, and saw millions upon millions of fireflies. Did I mention that we were in New York City?

I never expected to camp within a football field of the ocean, but just a 30 minute subway ride from the skyscrapers of Times Square is a national park.  Certainly, I never expected to find some really good crack climbs in Central Park, but indeed, the northernmost side of the park has tons of them.

Having my eyes opened to such ‘outdoorsy’ experiences in such an urban setting makes me determined to spread the word. Outdoor experience can be found everywhere along with outdoor lifestyle. If you are outdoorsy in an area that usually isn’t, don’t hesitate to show a buddy your favorite spot. You might just help topple the ‘outdoors is inaccessible’ stigma.

Brand Team posts, Conservation, Events, Osprey Athletes, Outdoor Activities, adventure, causes, travel

It’s summer and if you’re anything like us you’re probably itching to get out on the trail this weekend. With backpacking season in full swing, we thought it would be good to post a little refresher from the Leave No Trace Principles. Because it’s up to us to make sure our wilderness stays wild, healthy and fun!

1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
3. Dispose of Waste Properly
4. Leave What You Find
5. Minimize Campfire Impacts
6. Respect Wildlife
7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors

Learn more about Leave No Trace and the principles here. And remember, if you have an Osprey Pack, these principles are printed right inside your pack!

Conservation, Osprey Culture, causes backpacking, camping, hiking, leave no trace, wilderness

Where’s your favorite hiking spot? BootsnAll rounded up their 10 Best Places to Hike in the U.S. You might just want to make it your summer hiking bucket list.

1. Zion National Park
2. Grand Canyon
3. Yosemite National Park
4. Columbia River Gorge
5. Denali National Park
6. Glacier National Park
7. Rocky Mountain National Park
8. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
9. Great Smoky Mountains
10. Appalachian Trail

They’ve got some great hikes rounded up on each so be sure to check out the complete list.

Image: BoostnAll

adventure, travel hiking, travel tuesday

Writer and photographer Aaron Teasdale recently took his Osprey pack out on an adventure in Glacier National Park, complete with cycling and skiing.

From Teasdale’s blog:

We didn’t know we’d encounter two bears in a matter of hours, but Greg Fortin and I knew we were in for an adventure when we started pedaling away from Glacier Park’s Avalanche Campground parking lot at 8:20 last Friday night. It was an absurdly late time to head into Glacier’s bear-riddled backcountry, but, as a smiling old man once said to me when he saw me bicycle touring in a rainstorm, “You go when you can.”

We only had 48 hours before backcountry permit officials, concerned we’d interfere with road crews plowing record snow off Going To The Sun Road, insisted we be back. The road crews might have been miserable, we weren’t going to let that magnificent, once in a lifetime June snowpack go to waste. We were going to ski. With tent, sleeping bags, skis, and food for two days in our bike trailers, we set off for the mountains.

Five minutes later an enormous, glistening scat pile appeared in the road. Seconds later came the bear. Neither of us noticed it until the moment we passed it, standing on its hind legs and staring at us intensely not 20 feet to my right.

“Whoah!” we said simultaneously, looking at each other with the universal “holy crap we just saw a bear!” expression of raised eyebrows, open mouths, and bug eyes. We laughed, but I saw bears everywhere after that. Trees, stumps, rocks, everything looked like a lurking bruin in the dimming light. Still, we pedaled higher and higher into the mountains until, just as the day’s last light ebbed from the sky, we reached the trail to Granite Park where we planned to camp for the next two nights.

Stashing the bikes, we strapped skis to our packs and started walking. We’d been fairly jovial while pedaling, but now that it was dark and we were making our way through an eery burned forest, our mood mellowed. Darkness does that. Especially darkness in wild places full of bears when you’re the only humans for many miles around.

Read the full post, complete with excellent photos.

adventure Aaron Teasdale, cycling, glacier, Glacier National Park, skiing

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 Friday. Every month, we’ll be choosing a theme that fits with the Osprey lifestyle. We couldn’t be happier that it’s finally June — which means we get to celebrate summer solstice — so this month we’re devoting it to all things summer related! Welcome to the Osprey Friday Round-Up!

Well it’s official: summer is upon us. Tuesday marked the summer solstice, which meant the longest day of the year and the official start to one of our favorite seasons. But we’re not the only ones to get excited about summer; there were solstice celebrations around the world.

A man celebrates summer solstice at the marker for the summer solstice at the Kokino megalithic observatory June 21, 2011. The 3,800-year-old observatory was discovered in 2001 in the northwestern town of Kumanovo, 70 km (43 miles) north from Skopje, and is ranked as the fourth oldest observatory in the world, according to NASA.

So what exactly makes it solstice?

From National Geographic:

The summer solstice is a result of the Earth’s north-south axis being tilted 23.4 degrees relative to the sun. The tilt causes different amounts of sunlight to reach different regions of the planet.

Today the North Pole is tipped more toward the sun than on any other day of 2011. The opposite holds true for the Southern Hemisphere, where today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.

As a result, at high noon on the first day of summer, the sun appears at its highest point in the sky—its most directly overhead position—in the Northern Hemisphere.

Read more…

Friday Round-up solstice, summer, summer solstice

The Breast Cancer Fund’s Climb Against the Odds, an extraordinary mountain expedition and journey for breast cancer prevention, has finally arrived!

After months of training and fundraising, 34 women and men, survivors and those touched by the disease, are finally ready to challenge the 14,179-foot Mt. Shasta. One of our own, Rocky Mountain sales rep, Leta Sharpe is part of the team climbing this week. Please cheer her and the other members of the group on throughout the week!

Join the expedition June 19-25 on our blog, Inside Prevention.

Interested in joining next year’s climb? Contact the Breast Cancer Fund here.

Events, Osprey Culture Breast Cancer Fund, Climb Against The Odds, fitness, health, women

A few months ago, we challenged our Facebook fans to convey what they do for their daily commute “Instead of Driving…” This video portrays some of best responses we received. Set in beautiful Portland, Oregon this will inspire you to leave your car at home and find a more aesthetic mode of travel. Enjoy!

Video via Red Reel

Bike, Osprey Culture Bike, transportation, video

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 Friday. Every month, we’ll be choosing a theme that fits with the Osprey lifestyle. We couldn’t be happier that it’s finally June — which means we get to celebrate summer solstice — so this month we’re devoting it to all things summer related! Welcome to the Osprey Friday Round-Up!

Cold Splinters gave us a good summer mantra this week:

“Sit as little as possible; give no credence to any thought that was not born outdoors while one moved about freely—in which the muscles are not celebrating a feast, too.”

While you’re busy sitting as little as possible, you just might be taking some photos, and if you’re snapping some summery shots, then this photo contest is for you.

Nothing says summer like a good ole road trip, and if you like reading about the trials and tribulations of slowly making your way across the country, you should check out Gadling’s Traveling the American Road series.

And finally, just in time for the summer months, Outside has a brand spanking new look on their site. Cruise on over to check out the new design and plenty of summery articles and adventure inspiration, including tips on hot spots for fly fishing, more reasons for why we have to spend time outdoors and new mountain bike trails to explore.

Image: Cold Splinters,

Friday Round-up adventure, Cold Splinters, outside, summer

You will find us here

The gates open today at 10:00 a.m. for the 38^th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival and Osprey is excited to be a part of the action over the next four days! The weather is Colorado bluebird, the backdrop stunning mountain peaks and the music non-stop. Who could really ask for more!?

If you get a chance between sets be sure to carve out a moment to swing by Osprey festival headquarters to check out all that is new for summer 2011.We’ll also have some fantastically great deals on a full array of technical daypacks, couriers and hydration packs perfect for any festival and far beyond. This is the perfect time to set yourself up not only for the festival, but also for the active, outdoor summer and fall beyond. In addition to onsite deals, we will be providing free pack sizings and fittings throughout the festival.

We are a friendly bunch here for the same reasons you are: to have fun and enjoy live music and the outdoors, in a spectacularly beautiful setting! Please stop in and give us a holler while you enjoy the long weekend!

Here’s some good tunes to get you going…

Events, Music Festivals, Southwest Colorado Colorado, Events, music, telluride, telluride bluegrass festival

Joel Sternfeld: A Railroad Artifact, 30th Street, May 2000. Southern section of NYC High Line

It’s official: the northern half of New York City’s High Line Park is officially complete, and that means a double the length of a park that gives a little taste of the outdoors smack dab in the middle of the urban landscape.

From Jaunted:

Built in the 1930s to transport freight through the warehouses of the west side of Manhattan, the High Line is an elevated rail track that stretches from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District up to West 34th Street. The last train traveled its scenic route in 1980, and since then proposals for its future have included everything from completely disassembling it to turning it into a mile-long lap pool.

Can’t check it out for yourself? Here are some photos from opening day that are sure to entice any urban adventurer:

Photo via Jaunted

Read more…

travel New York, New York City, NYC, travel tuesday