Arc’teryx Birds Nest Project

, February 17, 2012

As Canada’s third largest city, Vancouver has a problem that often goes unreported – homelessness. At the end of January, I made a pilgrimage to the headquarters of Arc’teryx in the city … Read more

Sheffield Adventure Film Festival, U.K.

, February 13, 2012

If you’re one of those video addicts who spends hours wandering through YouTube and Vimeo looking for adventure films, momentous soundtracks, the 2012 Sheffield Adventure Film Festival is your fix.

Polarmax PMX Hoodie

, February 10, 2012

Last season we reviewed Sweet Protection’s unique, full-body Saviour Suit, setting a high standard for our future baselayer evaluations. At the beginning of this season I started doing some research to find other baselayers that made similar claims of performance excellence, deciding upon US-based Polarmax, an environmentally conscious brand with some neat threads to match.

Orage Baselayers

, January 30, 2012

Perhaps my second testing of Orage’s products was more conventional. After a handful of nights in my comfy cacoon, I took the baselayers to Whistler, B.C. to take them through a more rigorous testing over glaciers, through trees and comfy pillows of more powdered constitution. The conditions in Whistler during my visit were mixed. While rain fell hard on the lower slopes, howling winds on the Blackcomb Glacier dragged the wind chill well down below -5° Celsius.

1% for the Planet

, January 6, 2012

1% for the planet takes one percent of sales from its member companies and distributes this in the form of grants to environmental groups.

Polartec Challenge Grants 2012

, October 24, 2011

Polartec, known for its outdoor gear designed for extreme conditions, has for the past twenty years supported hundreds of adventurous outdoor expeditions. This they have done by providing grants through their international programme, Polartec® Challenge. Applications for these prestigious grants are now open for 2012.

Trek & Raft South Sudan

, October 18, 2011

Secret Compass are a young tour operator that pioneer expeditionary trips around the world. With 2012 departure dates set for trips to Mexico, South Sudan, Afganistan, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, founders Levison Wood and Tom Bodkin are working on new itineraries in Madagascar, the Congo, Argentina, Iraq and Brazil. As such as young company, Secret Compass are in a great position to refresh adventure touring and create demanding adventures with team action. One of Secret Compass’ focuses is to find trips that have a historical relevance, particularly within exploratory myths. Their tour in South Sudan follows the footsteps of one famous explorer, Samuel Baker.

Summer 2011 Whitewater Edits

, October 17, 2011

Here are some edits from this summer’s whitewater exploits – enjoy. 2011 Whitewater Grand Prix by Tribe Rider MF Nooksack Canyon by The Bomb Flow Riders of the Year  II … Read more

Road Cycling Napa, California

, October 8, 2011

In August, I linked up with a group of Clif Bar employees on a fundraising ride for their Climate Ride California. After meeting at the Clif-owned Velo Vino tasting room in St. … Read more

Review of All.I.Can Ski Film

, October 7, 2011

Thursday night saw the London premiere of All.I.Can, a film by Sherpas Cinema and sponsored by numerous adventure brands including Arc’teryx and The North Face. The film has been two years in the making … Read more

Great Scottish Swim

, October 3, 2011

The final Great Swim Series event of the year took place on a beautifully sunny September day in Strathclyde National Park. Scotland’s usual cold weather kindly abated for the weekend, making for a spectacular swim and an enjoyable day for the nearly 2,000 participants and their supporters.

Introducing Movescount: Training Software from Suunto

, August 26, 2011

As technology takes a greater hold on the way we run our lives, it’s no surprise that adventure brands are jumping on the digital band wagon to enhance user experience. To bring their adventure software in line with established platforms from other watch manufacturers, Suunto released Movescount, their version of performance tracking. As well as updating training data features, Suunto introduced a neat social networking element to enhance the Movescount product. Here I’ll outline some of the key features, and guide you through the process of setting up an account.

Columbia Travel Gear

, July 21, 2011

Aware of the similarities between adventure apparel and functional travel gear, many brands have begun to develop products that represent this crossover within the leisure sector. Columbia Sportswear offer a particularly extensive range of travel-suited adventure gear and with some exciting new products on the shelves this season, I’ll run through some flavoursome products from their summer alpine range.

Columbia Trail Pro Crew

, July 18, 2011

As a key product in Columbia’s trail running armoury, the Trail Pro Freezer Crew reflects the brand’s efforts to innovate and design for an emerging adventure activity. While many apparel and footwear brands jostle for recognition in trail running, Columbia have developed the Trail Pro to create a unique product with a simple effectiveness, mirrored by similar inroads on the backpack scene with the now legendary Mobex. Though more minamalist and sport-specific, the the Trail Pro garners similar support.