It’s that time again… Outdoor Retailer Summer Market kicks off this Wednesday and we’ve got a great line-up of events and giveaways for you! Here’s our down and dirty list of events…
Bike, Conservation, Events, Osprey Culture, Retail Promotions, causes
The upstairs of Alpenglow Adventure Sports - so many things to play with!
My spring has been filled with travel around the country to visit shops, stores and climbing gyms. It’s been a great way to get out and see all the different climbing communities across the country, but I am looking forward to six uninterrupted weeks at home.
On a recent trip to Maine, I was able to visit with the good people of Alpenglow Adventure Sports. They own a small outdoor store in northern Maine, which reminded me of the outdoor stores that I grew up with: quirky shops with every bit of space filled to the brim.
I grew up with Alpine West. It was a small outdoor store located in a corner spot of a long, skinny, brown building in downtown Davis, California. Bordering the train tracks, it was filled wall to wall with all sorts of outdoor goodies. From sleeping bags to climbing gear, ski boots to water filters. Not an inch of the store was empty. My dad is an avid outdoor enthusiast, and while his interests have changed over the years from skiing, to climbing, and now to kayaking, I associate the outdoor stores with childhood memories.
Our Llewellin Setter, Maggie, on a frigid day during in the Driftless Wisconsin winter. Photo courtesy Annika Swenson.
Dogs have a way of snuggling, running and playing their way into our lives. Heck, my dog is lying on top of my feet as I write this! After 2 weeks and dozens of wonderful photos from our Facebook fans we’ve chosen three final winners… congratulations to Clint Huffman, PK Kopischke and Annika Swenson! And an honorable mention to Mandy Creighton. We loved your shot of Lucky leaping in Australia, but unfortunately winners are restricted to the US only.
Thanks to all who participated and who give your dogs a warm and kind home this winter. We’ll leave you with the caption from one of our winners, PK Kopischke, that seems to capture this wonderful relationship we have with our canine companions:
You came to me at 2:30 in the afternoon on this day back in 1996. A little wet ball of peanut butter fur. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I was smitten. For the next 13+ years, we travelled thousands of miles over earth, snow and water. You never complained and always had a smile & wet kiss at the end of the day’s journey. We saw more of the Rockies than most ever will. Finally, the day came that your body could no longer keep up with your insatiable Love for the outdoors. You chose the time to join all the others in a place I shall someday see. For all the years of ‘unconditional’ Love that you shared with everyone you met, I speak for all… We Love & Miss You. Happy Birthday! Zuke
Happy Friday.
Here we go… it’s Outdoor Retailer time again! Lots of great events and promotions lined up at OR Show this year. Hope to see you soon!
Want to look as cool as Shannon and Timmy here? Now you can! We’ve got an awesome array of Really Good Stuff items which you can now purchase directly from Osprey online.
Whether you’re looking for a hot trucker hat, a sweet Innate Doppio for your afternoon brew or some lip balm to keep your lips kissable this summer, just boogie on over to our Really Good Stuff site and pick yourself out something nice today! Added bonus: shipping is always free!
Welcome to the shop!
The 25th anniversary celebration of Appalachian Trail Days is now complete and what a celebration it was as Osprey had the best and busiest Trail Days ever! Over a three-day period we repaired almost 60 packs and sent thru-hikers far and wide on their merry way to Mount Katahdin for an October rendezvous. We provided multiple free pack sizings and fittings as well as a wealth of information on pack options new and existing to get any thru-hiker comfortably down the trail.
Each year hikers, former hikers and aspiring hikers of the Appalachian Trail converge in Damascus, Virginia to celebrate at Trail Days. Osprey will be on hand once again to welcome hikers and provide free gear repairs and free pack fittings.
If you’re planning on going, here’s what we’ll be offering up for AT folks:
If you haven’t been on the AT, check out this short video to see why it’s so special…
http://www.vimeo.com/20218520
Steps halfway on the AT, courtesy Robert Nicholas
It took me nearly 40 years to reach these steps. These steps lead to a trail of a life of dreams unfullfilled, heartache, blood, sweat, tears, joy, War, Marriage, and the birth of my children. These steps are the result of trials and tribulations of a life lived and dreaming of a day I’d be able to walk down these steps. The sights and sounds that led to these steps will never be forgotten. And the first time I stood and listened to what was at the bottom of these steps made me realize how amazing this planet is and how lucky I was at that moment to be standing in that spot to hear those sounds. The day I walked back up these steps and back to my life was a sad day and happy day. I don’t know when I’ll see these steps again but I will keep walking and living until I can walk back down these steps again someday and back to the Appalachian Trail.
Robert Nicholas lives in Olathe, Kansas. He grew up hiking in Missouri. Rob hiked this section of the AT near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia on April 9, 2011 while out east on a business trip, and plans to chip away at the 40-mile long Maryland Trail each year until it’s completed. His favorite weekend activity is hiking with his wife and two daughters.
Ready to post your own love letter? Here’s how you enter…
Courtesy Becca Cahall
Do you have your own love letter? Have you ever visited a place that changed your life? Have you found a secret climbing crag where you seek refuge from the daily grind, or a surf break on a secluded beach that only you can find? Do you have a stretch of trail that brings you back in tune with nature, or maybe even your own urban sanctuary in the midst of a whirring city? We want to see and hear about the places that make you whole, that fill your heart with solitude and wildness — the places that have the power to restore the human spirit.
Ready to post your own love letter? Here’s how you enter…
Despite April’s slogan, April showers bring May flowers, it’s a month of increasing sun and warmth for most of us. It’s a playful month, one that beckons spring while flirting with winter. And, as last year’s April Friday Photo contest reminded is, “April itself welcomes growth, and the opening of an entirely new season in which to play in the great outdoors, among the glory of the world’s forests, jungles and overwhelming landscape of trees galore.” So, this year, this April, we happily play homage to one of the most enjoyable ways a human can enjoy the wooded landscape, through April’s Friday Photo Theme: Trail Running.
Maybe you never hit the trails without a partner or your favorite podcast. Maybe you do it for absolute solitude. Maybe you run because your cardiologist says it’s good for you. Maybe you blow snot rockets with pride and trip over unassuming tree roots with relish. How ever, why ever you trail run, we’d like to see it.
Show us your favorite or most hated trail run. Show us the muddiest, the muckiest of all trails or the most magnificen
t dusty path you’ve ever pounded your two feet on. We want to see photographs that demonstrate trail running in all its grit and (or) glory.
Send us your shots! And our winners will win an entirely re-vamped trail running wardrobe, including a pair of men’s or women’s Saucony ProGrid Pwomen’s Saucony ProGrid Peregrine trail blazing shoes, a Saucony men’s (or women’s) Transition Sport Top II, as well as a men’s or women’s Boston pant.
In addition, winners will get the perfect companion for a long trail runt an ultra comfortable, gender-specific hydration pack from Osprey. Gents, you’ll receive a Viper 10 pack; ladies will receive the Verve 10 pack.
Want your own chance at winning? Submitting is easy! Just fill out this submission form and make sure to include a description of the photo you submit and the address of where you want your gear sent in the body of the message. Good luck!
You can submit photos from anywhere in the world, but we will only ship prizes to addresses within the continental UnitedStates.
Feel free to submit as often as you’d like. We’ll choose a winner every Friday. And help us spread the word. We have a new theme (and a new set of prizes) every month.
[Photo Via: publicenergy]
