Like hiking, biking, bears, trees, deer, camping, rafting, hunting, skiing, climbing, running or fishing? If you answered yes to any of the above, then you should support the National Conservation Lands and all the local non-profits working to protect them.

Over the next few weeks, and in celebration of their campaign Season of Service, National Conservation Lands will be raffling off more than 100 prizes from companies including: Patagonia, Moosejaw, Keen, Osprey Packs and Venture Snowboards. That’s about one winner per day, so your odds of winning are better than Vegas — and you’ll be protecting America’s wild lands to boot! So keep checking back to see the most recent giveaways.

Pick your favorite project, donate and win!

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Thousands will trek to western North Carolina’s high country this week for the 3rd annual Music on the Mountaintop festival. The festival is all about sweet tunes, good folks and giving some love to mother nature — and Osprey will be on hand to be a part of it all! We’ll have lots of great gear, demos and swag… And local retailer, Footsloggers in Boone, is offering 20% off any Osprey pack in celebration of Music on the Mountaintop. Swing by our booth and give us a high-five!

More about the event from The Mountain Xpress:

The event bills itself as a “one of a kind, ecologically driven, large-scale music festival, offering first class entertainment, featuring several national acts, creating an eclectic blend of acoustic funk, folk, Americana and bluegrass, and most importantly, providing educational awareness on current environmental issues.”

Among this year’s headliners are local mainstays like Toubab Krewe, Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band and Snake Oil Medicine Show, in addition to national acts like Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, Keller Williams, Sam Bush and Acoustic Syndicate.

And while music is the driving force behind the festival, preserving the environment is a top priority of organizers. Alongside solar-powered stages, patrons will find the Green Village, where a variety of local non-profits — including N.C. Green Power, Appalachian Voices, ASU Energy Center, High Country Conservancy, Dogwood Alliance and Habitat for Humanity — will be on hand to provide information and educational materials. There will also be a river clean up, a food drive to benefit the Hunger Coalition, low-impact shuttles and a requirement that all vendors use only compostable materials. Additionally, a portion of proceeds will go to benefit Appalachian Voices, a Boone-based environmental non-profit.

Tickets and more information can be found at http://www.musiconthemountaintop.com

Events, Osprey Culture, causes appalachia, causes, Conservation, entertainment, Events, music, north carolina, travel

I’ve worked with Osprey’s Marketing Director Gareth Martins (above left and below right) for years, even traveled with him on an epic ski adventure to India, but I’ve never seen him play the sax until the Outdoor Retailer show. And he ROCKED it. Like I knew he would.

The All-Star Industry Jam was a benefit for three wonderful charities, including my own Save Our Snow Foundation. Folks that I’ve worked and played with for years, like Gareth, were suddenly transformed into new beings, shedding their outdoor personalities, morphing into a music stage presence that I only wish I could have. I would go into how I was embarrassed in choir and play tryouts, but we will skip that boring story.

Proceeds will go to our new school program — The Save Our Snow Foundation is partnering with Protect our Winters to bring entertaining presentations and workshops on money-saving solutions to climate change to schools around the US. Thanks Gareth and Osprey!

For more information, or to volunteer or help, check out The Save Our Snow Foundation or contact Alison.

Other notable performances were made by Berne Broudy of Backpacker, James Curleigh of KEEN footwear, and we danced our asses off to the band made up of the boys from Black Diamond.

Events, Osprey Athletes, causes Alison Gannett, causes, climate change, Conservation, music, Osprey, Outdoor Retailer, Save our snow, Snow, The Save Our Snow Foundation, www.saveoursnowfoundation.org

Does Bigfoot exist? And if he does exist, why do we never see signs of that big, hairy fella in the woods? Well, truth is: he’s a master at the Leave No Trace ethics.

So, when you’re out on the trail this summer, take a tip from Bigfoot…

Read more…

Conservation, Osprey Culture, causes bigfoot, camping, causes, Conservation, hiking, leave no trace, outdoors, wilderness

If you spend any time climbing in Minnesota, make sure to take a day this year to give a climbing crag some love. The good folks at Minnesota Climbers Association have a ton of great clean-ups happening this year. These are a great way for climbers to get involved in the community, and allows us to give back and help keep the areas we frequent clean and beautiful.

Visit the Minnesota Climbers events page for details… What are you waiting for? Mark your calendar and take part!

PHOTO courtesy Apex Adventure Alliance, LLC.

Events, Osprey Culture causes, clean up, Climbing, environment, giving back, minnesota, outdoors

Today is Endangered Species Day, and tomorrow is the International Day of Biodiversity, so do something to celebrate our incredible community of species. And while you’re at it, do something to protect it.

From Mountainfilm:

What exactly is biodiversity? The International League of Conservation Photographers put together this great multimedia piece that showcases what biodiversity is and why it’s important. Watching it, you’ll quickly realize that biodiversity is something that affects all of us… and that’s why we have a duty to do something to ensure its protection.

5 Ways to Celebrate Endangered Species Day

1. TAKE ACTION – Tell the Secretary of the Interior to protect critical habitat for endangered polar bears and stop Shell Oil from off-shore drilling, or urge President Obama to save the West’s most iconic salmon species from extinction.
2. Update your Facebook profile pic – Show your support for endangered species with a photo of your favorite wildlife species. Both National Wildlife Federation and the Endangered Species Coalition have some species snaps to choose from. Let us know you did it by including @Endangered Species Coalition or @National Wildlife Federation in your status message.
3. Help spread the word via Twitter – Share an Endangered Species Day message or wildlife fact with your friends and family. Make sure to include #speciesday in your tweet.
4. Attend an Endangered Species Day event! Events are held across the country to highlight endangered species stories.
5. Get Outside! Take a hike on your favorite trail, climb your favorite pitch or shred up the last of that spring snow. What species live there? And what can you do to make sure that they will be there for future generations?

Happy Friday!

Conservation, Events, Osprey Culture action, biodiversity, causes, Conservation, endangered species, Events, outdoors, wildlife

The catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused late last month by the explosion of an offshore oil rig has put local economies, wildlife and the Gulf’s delicate coastal ecosystem at risk. And unfortunately oil is still spilling. This could easily be one of the worst environmental disasters in our nation’s history.

As part of the outdoor community, we understand firsthand how important it is to safeguard this country’s natural world. This country’s unparalleled wildlands and waters form the bedrock of our industry — they are the places that inspire us to manufacture the highest-quality products so that our customers can enjoy the best-possible outdoor experiences. These wild places — along with the plants, animals and ecosystems they support — are also an integral part of the outdoor spirit, and we take very seriously our industry’s responsibility to help protect them for generations to come.

So, take a moment today to do something to help the wildlife that’s hurting in the Gulf today. Here are some tips from the National Wildlife Federation:

1. Text “WILDLIFE” to 20222 to Donate $10 - You can help wildlife threatened by the oil spill by donating via your mobile phone. Your donation will help support National Wildlife Federation’s on-the-ground volunteer and restoration efforts.

2. Speak Up for Cleaner Energy Choices - Tell your senators that now more than ever we need to pass comprehensive legislation that provides America with cleaner and safer energy choices.

3. Help Spread Messages Online – There are tons of groups out there working hard on the ground. Give a follow Friday to these folks @NWF, @waterkeeper, @NRDC for updates about the BP Oil Spill and how people are taking action.

Conservation action, causes, Conservation, oil spill, outdoors, wildlife

Here at Osprey, we love rivers! And we’re sure you’ve got your favorite river; a pristine, wild waterway where you love to play and celebrate the outdoors. Maybe it’s right down the road from your house, or it’s on the other side of the world, a river where you experienced your most memorable travel moment. It might even be a river watershed that you spend time volunteering to protect.

Well, the folks at Save Our Wild Salmon and Mountain Khakis want to see your favorite river.

Save Our Wild Salmon and Mountain Khakis love free-flowing rivers. Rivers are the lifeblood that connect our nation — flowing from mountains to the sea and crossing state and country borders.

Our favorite? We love the rugged Snake River. Its headwaters begin in the wildlands of Wyoming, fed by meltwater from the Tetons, and its waters flow through the Rocky Mountains of Idaho and the Palouse prairies of Eastern Washington before feeding into the mighty Columbia River.

But what makes the Snake River even more impressive? It is home to the legendary Snake River sockeye. Snake River sockeye have the most epic migration path of any salmon on Earth — swimming more than 900 miles inland and climbing 7,000 feet in elevation to spawn in the rugged Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho.

To show you just how much we love the Snake River and its salmon, and celebrate all the beautiful rivers to be found around the world, we’re giving away some sweet gear from Mountain Khakis!

Between April 1 and April 30, send us a photo of your favorite river. As a little incentive we’ll be featuring a photo on our blog each week and we’ll be giving away some cool Mountain Khakis schwag throughout the month!

On April 30, we’ll give away our grand prize — a pair of MK Snake River pants!

Entering is easy! To submit, upload your photo(s) to the Save Our Wild Salmon We Love Rivers Flickr Pool. Make sure your photo has a title and a description of why it’s your favorite river. We look forward to seeing your work and the rivers that you love!

To win you must be a U.S. resident or have a U.S shipping address. Sorry!

PHOTO courtesy Save Our Wild Salmon © Matt Leidecker

Conservation causes, Conservation, contest, outdoors, photos, rivers, save our wild salmon