Osprey is proud to announce that we will be attending the action-packed Dominion Riverrock Festival in Richmond, Virginia during the upcoming weekend of May 17-19. We’re super excited to be a part of the only festival of its kind, one that combines the best of both the outdoor adventure and the music worlds. Throughout the Fest, there will be endless competitions in biking, hiking, running and climbing, as well as performances by top notch artists such as Toots and the Maytals and many more!

Not only will there be on-going comps, music and fun, we’ll be there hosting our own events. One such activity will be the infamous Osprey Packs bola ball toss, which you can play to win a pack! All proceeds will be donated to the Blue Sky Fund, which makes your chance to win a pack that much better. We’ll also be selling packs in alliance with Blue Ridge Mountains Sports at a killer 20 percent off, and our very own Osprey Athlete Ben Clark will be guiding hikes with Virginia Trail Blazers and signing free posters throughout the weekend.

If you’re in the area and looking for a mind-blowing good time with loads of things to do, stop by our booth to check out the packs, get a poster or try your chance at bola ball for a good cause! Connect with the Fest on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and share the #riverrockrva love!

Bike, Events, Music Festivals, Osprey Athletes, Osprey Culture, Outdoor Activities, Retail Promotions, contest, travel ben clark, biking, Climbing, Dominion Riverrock, festival, hiking, music, Osprey Packs, outdoors, running, Virginia

The original Colorado home for Osprey is the town of Dolores, Colorado located about 11 miles north of our headquarters in Cortez. It’s a quiet town of about 900 people with what nightlife there is, centered on the local brewpub. As a result, most Dolores residents are connected to the “day” life which primarily involves outdoor activities. I’ve lived here for 13 years and feel blessed that I can mountain bike or ski out my door depending on season, walk my dog next to the river or journey less than an hour for epic and wild desert or mountain adventures. Last summer my neighbors, Dave and Kelly Finlay informed me they were journeying a bit further for their summer adventure—a thru-hike of the Muir Trail. Dave and Kelly are serious backpackers, having hiked the Colorado Trail 4 years prior, so they spent some time with me lining out their Osprey packs to maximize fit and performance for their California adventure.

Upon their return, I enjoyed an incredible slideshow of their journey on the Muir Trail. They also told me that they had hiked most of the trail with a film crew that was making a movie about the trail. As it happened, just about everyone they ended up hiking with was wearing Osprey packs. This certainly got my attention. Here was a film dominated by our product with no intentional product placement and here was a film about an iconic Sierra trail—the mountain range where Ospreys first started hitting the trail in 1974. Now a year later and following countless hours of editing, the film is nearing its completion and in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign. I recently sat down with Dave and Kelly to chat about their thoughts on the adventure and the film.

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Events, Osprey Culture, Outdoor Activities, travel, video backpacking, California, Colorado, film production, hiking, Mile... Mile & A Half, The John Muir Trail, through-hiking

Nothing beats rising early, crunching along the trail, watching the sky get ligher with every step… and gazing at the stars atop a mountain is pretty fabulous as well. Jody Grigg posted this great shot on our Facebook wall earlier this week with the following caption:

Today’s office location took a little getting too… a wake up call of 1:20am on the trail by 1:40am, 5 miles of hiking with over 3,800ft+ of vertical gain, and after 2hr 45mins I had arrived. Nothing spectacular about the sunrise this morning not a cloud in the sky but watching the stars was pretty amazing from 13,281ft from the summit of Mount Lady Washington. Here’s a self portrait sporting my Osprey Pack Talon 44 about an hour after sunrise with Longs Peak 14,255ft as a backdrop.

Here’s to another day at the office. Happy Friday!

Friday Round-up, Outdoor Activities Colorado, hiking, Rocky Mountain National Park

We love this shot from Zarautz, Pais Vasco, Spain that Facebook user Lo Wren posted on our wall this week. Sun, wide open space and wandering on your own two feet. It just doesn’t get much better than that. Happy Friday!

Friday Round-up, travel hiking, photo, spain, summer, travel

Appalachian Trail Days 2012 kicks off tomorrow in Damascus, VA and Osprey is ready to once again take care of thru hikers and their packs with care. There is something for everyone going on this weekend in the one town where main street and the Appalachian Trail (AT) are one in the same and a veritable slice of Americana can be tasted by all in this annual celebration of the AT.

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Events, Product, travel appalachian trail, Appalachian Trail Days, hiking, pack repairs

Earlier this month, the 54th bi-annual Outdoor Adventure Expo hosted by Midwest Mountaineering, kicked off in Minneapolis, Minn. Osprey Packs has been a proud sponsor of this event in the past and again this spring.

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Conservation, Events, causes, travel Ames Adventure Outfitters, fundraising, hiking, Midwest Mountaineering, Minneapolis, minnesota, Minnesota Parks and Trails Association, Outdoor Adventure Expo, pack fitting, spring 2012

We see a lot of great photos throughout the week. So, we thought it was high-time we started rounding up some of our faves each week and highlighting one each Friday on our blog to inspire our weekend adventures. We call it the Osprey Round Up.

Do you remember your first backpacking trip? Whether you were 2 years old or 20, I’m betting it had a lasting impression—it definitely did for us. We believe that the more people, especially children, that we can get outside, the more people we will have protecting our remaining wild places. That’s why we love seeing families out on the trail. And if they happen to be wearing all Osprey Packs, well that’s an added bonus.

Loving this shot from Jason Boblitt on Facebook:

Osprey Packs Evolution. Summer backpack trip in Utah. The All Powerful Silhouette on the left.

Here’s to hitting the trail with your family and friends this weekend. Happy Friday!

Friday Round-up, Outdoor Activities, photos backpacking, canyons, family, hiking, Utah

I recently returned from my first trip to Kauai, which also happened to be my first non-climbing vacation ever as an adult. For those of you who have not been, it’s breathtaking. The landscape is straight out of Jurassic Park, literally, and the topography provides for some of the best hiking I have ever experienced. I broke my ankle this past fall and the hiking on Kauai more than made up for the break I had to take over the winter.

Waimea Canyon is home to my favorite hike I did on the island. It lives up it’s name as the “Grand Canyon” of the Pacific. The hike weaves around huge canyons with near vertical walls. Coming from the mountains of Yosemite, I am not used to the lush plant life that grows on the sides of the steep walls. But just like the Valley, waterfalls jettisoned out from the walls, making for some of the most spectacular views I’ve seen.

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Osprey Athletes, travel Hawaii, hiking, Kauai, Talon 11

After a solid weekend I came home to Durango and got in a couple great mountain bike rides taking advantage of the tacky singletrack and sunny days. On Wednesday the weather turned and Indian Summer gave way to winter overnight. By Thursday it was dumping and heavy snow was accumulating in the mountains. By Friday, Wolf Creek announced they would be opening Saturday the 8th of October — their earliest ever. Other resorts around the country had yet to fire up the snow guns and Wolf Creek was going to open with 44″ of goodness. John Trousdale and I rallied early and made it to the hill before the contingent of front rangers. Another 8″ of blower snow Friday night teed up truly epic conditions for any month, but off the chart conditions given the date. In the parking lot it was blustery as I pulled on the puffy and inhaled my first crisp air of the season.

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Bike, Osprey Athletes, Southwest Colorado backcountry, Colorado, hiking, mountain biking, skiing

Thanks Osprey blog readers for your helpful comments on my Tear Down the Cairn post. I realize it was written with some arrogance, but sometimes it has to be done to get a reaction. Below is a second go at cairns — this time, I kept it to Alaska. Keep sending your opinionated, but civilized comments so I can keep working on this project. Cheers!

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Osprey Athletes, adventure Alaska, Climbing, hiking, Joe Stock, leave no trace, wilderness