I’m one of the newest additions to the Osprey team in Cortez, Colorado, and I absolutely love working here! I just returned from an 8-day backpacking trip, where I hiked 85 miles of the Continental Divide Trail with my friends, Jessie Davis and Melanie Gross.

We hiked from Stony Pass to Wolf Creek Pass through the Weminuche Wilderness. We all grew up in Durango, Colorado, so we found it particularly impressive and interesting to connect several remote, familiar places in a single trip. The views and scenery are stunning, and we had surprisingly fair weather and good timing most days…

Though one afternoon, after 14 miles of hiking, we were caught in a terrifying hail and lightning storm while coming down from a ridge. We had to run downhill and crouch under a beetle-killed tree for about an hour. When the lightning finally subsided, we dashed to pitch our tent in the rain on a sloping hillside. We settled down for the night, filled our cook pot with buggy water, and boiled it to make hot chocolate with dead bugs, all the while being soaking wet and freezing cold – we still enjoyed ourselves.

That afternoon we sarcastically proclaimed, “Backpacking sucks!” and listed all of the reasons that we could think of – laughing the whole time. Of course, backpacking consists of some hard work, which at times can challenge one’s positive attitude, yet the difficulty makes the trip feel that much more rewarding. We kept our cool and had a great, unforgettable trip!

Osprey Culture, Outdoor Activities, Southwest Colorado, adventure adventure, backpacking, camping, Colorado, hiking, mountains, outdoors, women

Ben Clark and Jon Miller are on a ski expedition to return to 23,390′ Baruntse, their second attempt.

Ski The Himalayas Season 2, Episode 4 leads viewers on the Mera La trail to Baruntse. Miller and Clark share the adventure as the pair view the expedition footage often sharing a story “not for air”. In this episode the trail winds through high mountain passes and into remote villages.

Osprey Athletes, adventure adventure, mountaineering, mountains, nepal, outdoors, ski the himalayas, skiing, travel, video

Let me tell you more about myself.  My name is Sam Nayet and I’m one of the lucky few who were chosen to participate in the Osprey Hydraulics, Mountain bike team.

I’m 40 years old, father of a two, Caleb who is four and Sophie, two.

I‘ve always enjoyed riding but I’ve really embraced this passion over the last four years, as I was introduced to mountain bike racing. I race not only for the competitive aspect but also that it motivates me to stay in shape.  I bike to work every day.  Probably very ordinary to most of you, but biking year round through the Saskatchewan winters where temperatures plummet in -30 degrees Celsius… Not so ordinary. You might say I’m a little nuts but that’s okay — it beats buying a second vehicle!

This weekend my local mountain bike club, Off-road Syndicate (ORS), held its annual race, The Wascana Challenge, at the scenic and popular Wascana trails. This race is part of the Saskatchewan inter-provincial race series.

Saskatchewan is located pretty much in the middle of Canada, right in the middle of the Canadian Prairies. One might think what’s the challenge, when you’re riding on flat prairie landscape. Although the Prairies are flat, erosion by rivers, or maybe even glaciers melting, created a series of valleys which provide us with some interesting trails, perfect for endurance cross racing.  Wascana trails offer some steep climbs and technical descents in treed areas and also some nice flats to catch your breath in between.

Our summer here in Saskatchewan has been particular wet this year, as we usually enjoy a semi-arid climate. Heavy rain fall two days prior to the race, made the trails very slippery and made some areas even more challenging to ride. As most of the trails are hard pack, traction was minimal. Heat was also a concern for most of us who are not use to riding in hot and humid conditions. So needless to say the race was pretty demanding.

The first lap was a little frustrating as I caught up with some slower riders and had to wait until after the first climb to be able to pass. Once that was done I was pretty much on my own for the last two laps.

The last lap was, and always is the most demanding as fatigue and pain sets in. I had plenty of water for the entire race and never felt the effects of dehydration. (Hydraulic packs are nice. A hydraulic pack used to be a six pack, stuffed in my back-pack on my way home from work on a Friday!)

I manage to finish forth in my wave, with a time of 1 hour, 44 minutes — 2^nd in my category — pretty good considering the conditions. Well that’s it for me this time around, so keep riding and have fun!

Osprey Culture, adventure adventure, Canada, hydration, Hydraulics, mountain biking, outdoors, trail

Photo by Mark Jobman

My wife and I recently took an adventure to Europe. This little trip had been on the calendar for about 2.5 years; a way to celebrate a career accomplishment that my wife was working towards. We planned it to be a backpacking trip through Europe hitting all the major destinations: England, France, Monaco, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Denmark. Our adventure was going to be traveling town to town, country to country sleeping in hostels, and on trains to experience Europe. But a few months before our departure we were dealt one of life’s many unremarkable rewards that would change our plans completely: yep, Jr. Jobman was on the way.

Overly happy and ecstatic about the future we decided that the last thing that we should do was put an overstuffed backpack on my pregnant wife’s back. She would be 15 weeks along when we would depart for Europe, a critical time for mom and baby. So, our plans changed from a multi-week backpacking adventure, roughing it where needed, to a southern European cruise trip, hitting up some of the most beautiful coast line cities in the Mediterranean. Not quite the adventure that either of us had envisioned but it turned out to be a great decision for Jr., Mom, and Dad.

Our trip started in Barcelona, traveling from there to Villa-France, Monaco, Pisa & Florence, Rome, Naples, Santorine and Athens, Greece, and Kusadashi, Turkey. More than enough places for us to fill our two weeks with culture, adventure, and, of course, more ruins then we ever could have imaged.

Read more…

Osprey Adventure Envoys, adventure backpacking, Beaches, Cafe, culture, Europe, france, Greece, inspiration, Italy, outdoors, travel, Turkey

I’ve been wanting to do one of the National Ultra Endurance (NUE) MTB100 marathon races for a few years, and although the Wilderness 101 didn’t fit great into my racing season with Untamed New England (a 3-day, non-stop adventure race) a few weeks away, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do this killer course. A course considered by many to be the toughest technically and physically on the NUE circuit.

The Wilderness 101 takes place outside State College (home of Penn State) in Rothrock State Park and surrounding state lands. The 160 km course is mountainous and extremely rocky. There would not be fast flowy single-track here like we are accustomed to in Ontario; instead it would be a maze of gnarly rocky single-track interconnected by old coal mine trails, fire roads and the occasional paved state park road.

Read more…

Osprey Culture, adventure adventure, biking, endurance, Events, hydration, mountain biking, outdoors, racing

Up at 3:30 a.m and out the door in an hour, I was excited for a big day out in Pemberton, B.C. to climb and ski the Aussie Couloir. Two minutes into my drive I got a speeding ticket going down the Mt Seymour Parkway in North Vancouver. As a kid in the 80’s I think we were clocked at higher speeds on our skateboards… But once through the formalities of the speeding ticket, I picked up my friend Sky and brother Andy. They quickly persuaded me into going to the Garibaldi area. And knowing these guys — we were in for an epic.

After 11,000 feet of climbing and almost 50 kilometers in 18 hours, we had climbed and skied the East Face of Mt. Carr, the West Ridge of Mt. Davidson and East Face of Castle Towers. Check out photos of our mini epic below!

Written by Mike Traslin. Photos and ski team: Andy Traslin, Sky Sjue and Mike Traslin.

Osprey Athletes, Osprey Culture, Outdoor Activities, adventure adventure, backcountry, Canada, epic, mountains, outdoors, skiing, Variant 37

From Majka’s new Additive Adventure Blog on OutsideTV.com.

I have no idea who the people are who will change my life in the next two years. I had no idea, two years ago, that a woman making a spontaneous stop in a Patagonia store in California would change mine now. Susanne Conrad caught a glimpse of a tall hardbound book called Vertical Ethiopia. I’d written it, but that didn’t matter to her, then. Ethiopia mattered.

A few months later, a random email appeared in my inbox. Sapna Dayal introduced herself and suggested that we might have much in common. She was the executive director of imagine1day, a non-profit dedicated to changing the world’s future via building schools in Ethiopia. We spent following winter months talking. I’d come home from ice climbing in New Hampshire and watch it get dark and cold in New England as Sapna would pause her afternoon in a rainy Vancouver for us to brainstorm about how to work together in the high desert in the Horn of Africa.

This September 23^rd marks the start of our answer. Sapna, Susanne and I, along with Shannon Wilson, are leading a group on a three-week journey of adventure, global stewardship, and scared connection.  Together, we’re raising enough money to build a new school—imagine1day’s 7^th primary school in Ethiopia. We’re going rock climbing, visiting ancient churches, hiking to schools imagine1day built where the wells that broke ground were often the first ever in a three-mile radius, and more.

Remember when you were a kid and you’d connect the dots on cheap piece of paper to make the Little Engine that Could or Strawberry Shortcake? Remember when you were young enough to not know what you were connecting until it was done? I have no idea what we are all drawing together. I am just one of the dots. I’m a leader dot– the Ethiopia and adventure expert on the trip, but I still have no idea what our picture will look like.

Today I’m kicking off a pre-trip series of etchings via blogs. Come back. Every other week I’ll tell you more about what we’re doing. I’ll post up an audio clip of 1984 ballad about Ethiopia—that I wrote, when I was eight. It’s bad. It’s a ballad. (It was the 80’s).

Learn more, get involved, become a dot:

Imagine Ethiopia 2010 the Trip

Who’s Coming With Us

How Ethiopia Started

majkaburhardt.com

Photos by rogelphoto.com

*Additive Adventure, A Blog on OutsideTV.com

What is additive adventure? Majka Burhardt made it up. But she’s betting you might live your life in a quest for the same–when adventure goes beyond exploration and toward cultural and environmental connection. “Additive Adventure” tracks Majka’s forays into the greater world while she asks for the linkages between…everything. Read Majka’s stories of the far afield and track how she brings them close to home every other Friday.

Osprey Athletes, adventure, causes adventure, Ethiopia, giving back, Majka Burhardt, outdoors, travel

Mt. Harvey, one of the highest peaks in the North Shore mountains of British Columbia, is distinctive with its steep-sided summit stretching up so near the sea and 360 views looking out over Howe Sound, the Lions, Mt. Brunswick and various other mountains and lakes. It’s just a 20-minute drive from North Vancouver, so last winter, I put together a little video with my new helmet camera.

It’s mostly hiking to get there — with just enough snow pre-Olympics in December. It’s incredible to ski right above the ocean, on a snow slope around treeline above Lions Bay. Check it out…

Skiers: Andy Traslin, Mike Traslin. Filmed by Andy Traslin

Osprey Athletes, Osprey Culture, Outdoor Activities, adventure adventure, backcountry, outdoors, skiing

Here at Osprey we spend a lot of time outside, and when we do, we make sure to live by the ethic: Leave No Trace. We’re so committed, we print the Leave No Trace Principles right in our packs…

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Conservation, Osprey Culture, causes camping, Conservation, hiking, leave no trace, mountain biking, nature, outdoors, wilderness

Anchorage is a mountain runners dream. From the edge of town, the tundra and rock continue unlimited with zero crowds. Six years ago, I spent the summer running the 35 named summits in the Chugach Front Range — those peaks that rise above Anchorage and are divided from the rest of the Chugach by Ship and Indian Creeks.

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Osprey Athletes adventure, Alaska, Chugach Mountains, Joe Stock, Mountain Running, outdoors, running