The story of one couple’s ultimate journey—five weeks exploring the wild and rugged landscape of Chile and Patagonia. We caught this little gem on the big screen at 5Point Film Festival last weekend. It’s sure to stoke your inner wanderlust this Tuesday morning.

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 on Friday to inspire weekend adventures. We call it the Osprey Round Up.

It’s Friday and the sun is shining in Colorado. Our friends up at 5Point Film Festival took a few hours off to raft on the Crystal River near Carbondale with local guides from Elk Mountain Expeditions. “We’re pumped to be stoked,” Sarah Kuck told us. We hope you all are too.

Happy Friday!

Osprey athlete Kim Havell sent this video to us this morning and it’s a perfect mental health break to kickstart your day. This beautiful short from Fisher Creative captures the beauty and the reality of ski attempts in the high Himalaya — in this case on the 14th highest peak in the world — without the use of any oxygen and with no one else on the mountain with them at the end.

Kim, and the rest of the team, was attempting to complete a first descent on the mountain, but not the first descent. The peak has been skied before… they were just hoping to ski a new route from the top. The crew turned around just shy of the final summit push because of a sick teammate and other factors. Take a few minutes, grab your cup and enjoy.

Blake Herrington has a passion for discovering new climbs. With new routes from Patagonia to Alaska, Herrington, who is based in Washington, has established over two-dozen alpine climbs, all done in a traditional style, ground up, without a single bolt. Below is his account of a day in Red Rocks, Nevada, where he and his [...]

How many times have you been emotionally affected by a tragedy, but felt helpless to do anything? For the vast majority of us, it’s fair to say that we would like to help, but the the commitments of life too often get in the way. In 2004, when Wayne Elsey witnessed footage of the South Asian tsunami and the devastation it created, he knew something had to be done.

How many times have you been emotionally affected by a tragedy, but felt helpless to do anything? For the vast majority of us, it’s fair to say that we would like to help, but the the commitments of life too often get in the way. In 2004, when Wayne Elsey witnessed footage of the South Asian tsunami and the devastation it created, he knew something had to be done.

Mark Mathews is one of the brains behind SCARPA’s award winning trail runner, the Spark, which won ‘Best Debut’ from Runner’s World this spring. He’s a lifelong runner who values the balance of design, functionality and reality. Working in the outdoor industry for much of his career, Mathews has come to know what works and why when it comes to trail running shoes. We were able to pick his brain about what strides are necessary to make state-of-the-art trail shoes.

Loving this video from our Bike Blog. Now if this doesn’t make you want to explore the world by bike, I don’t know what will…

via Reveal the Path:

A visually stunning adventure by bike: Reveal the Path explores the world’s playgrounds in Europe’s snow capped mountains, Scotland’s lush valleys, Alaska’s rugged coastal beaches and Morocco’s high desert landscapes. Ride along and get lost in the wonders of the world… Enjoy the authentic locals living modest yet seemingly fulfilling lives, leading us to question what it means to live an inspired life – however humble or extravagant. Filmed across four continents and featuring Tour Divide race legends, Matthew Lee & Kurt Refsnider, this immersive film is sure to ignite the dream in you.

Last fall I sat on my deck with a world map searching for a new mountain range to ski. I settled on the Caucus Mountains in The Republic of Georgia.

The exciting part of planning ski trips to a place like Georgia is that you feel like a pioneer exploring a place that is fresh, new and unknown. However, the unknown while exciting, can quickly morph into anxiety when there is less than copious data on the places I was interested in going. Even the internet left me wanting more information on skiing in Georgia.

After hours of combing over bits and pieces of info via Google, I decided that I would stake my claim in Guduari. I knew that Gudauri had some infrastructure and was just 2 hours from the capital city of Tbilisi which had daily flights from Munich. Photographer Scott DW Smith and I put together a plan of attack, dropped some cash for plane tickets and headed east.

We arrived in Tbilisi at 4am and were picked up promptly by our. I can tell you first hand that finding a driver holding a simple sign with your name on it is a huge relief when arriving in a very foreign country with a formidable language barrier.

Scott and I drifted in and out of sleep as we bounced up the winding road from Tbilisi to Gudauri. As we gained elevation the snowpack grew deeper, the mountains bigger and terrain more rugged. We snaked up the valley and were deposited on the doorstep of our hotel at 7 a.m. A departing storm has left a foot of new snow and the dissipating clouds signal the start to what may be an epic week.

Gudauri is by definition a village, but in reality it is simply a collection of a half dozen hotels spread out across a vast hillside. Upon our arrival, the first thing I noticed was the complete lack of vegetation. Gudauri sits well above treeline and the mountains are a rolling sea of white, punctuated on rare occasion by rugged cliffs and rock towers. I got the sense that this place had a lifetime worth of skiable lines and not a single person competing for turns.

We spent a few days skiing the resort of Gudauri. The lift system was state-of-the-art with high speed lifts and a new gondola which officially opened coincidentally on the day of our arrival. The lift accessible terrain was vast and untracked snow blanketed terrain loaded with huge bowls.

After a winter in Colorado mostly void of powder days, we were ready to lap some untracked snow. On a powder day by 11 a.m., the ski area had a crowd of maybe 50 people. Scott and I were shocked that we each had a couple thousand acres of untracked snow to ourselves. Given that the temps were near zero, the snow stayed perfect all day even in blazing sunshine. We spent 2 days shooting around the ski area and doing short hike-to lines above the lifts.

Over the weekend the crowds picked up, but the mountain never looked busier than an off-peak weekday at a mom and pop resort back home. On day three, we started to get comfortable with the snow conditions and headed out for some touring outside the resort. There was nothing resembling a boundary, just a point when we realized that going a certain direction probably eliminated our chance of a lift ride back up. The days were long and we took full advantage, shooting late into the evening each day.

One thing I knew from my research was that Gudauri had a heli ski company called Heliksir in their sophomore year. We thought it worthwhile to see what heli skiing in the Caucus Mountains was all about. Our guides were confident they could get us to some of the massive peaks a few valleys over and our plans were put in motion. Our pilot Guy and guide Archil delivered us to a perfect LZ above an area called Chaukhi. This zone was lined with huge spires that dropped into a huge amphitheater of spines, bowls and gullies. We pillaged the zone all day trying to capture in digital glory the scale and magnitude of the region.

After spending some time with the heli guides we found out it was possible to climb the mountain above the highest lift and drop off the backside to numerous huge valleys that drop to a road connecting Russia and Georgia. This road, going over Cross Pass, is amazingly open all winter and one can hitchhike back to Gudauri or plan ahead and arrange a pick-up. I gamble in Vegas, not Georgia, so we opted to book a pre-arranged ride to improve our odds of getting home in time for dinner.

Our run from the summit of Sadzelle to the Cross Pass road was epic and reminiscent of Alps-style runs, where you take a lift, hike an hour and drop 4,000+ vertical feet into a neighboring valley to be whisked back to the village where your day began.
We were truly alone in the midst of very large and very incredible terrain. We stopped briefly to admire the peak of Kazbek, at just under 17,000 feet, looming above us on the Russian border. We hit every possible feature as we dropped to the road. We hit the road speechless as we were spent from the day and it was one of those times when words would ruin the moment. We both knew what we had just experienced and in our own ways, we were saying some silent thank you for our fortunes that had brought us to such an incredible place such as this.

After a Georgian Feast and nap at the Hotel Truso, we sauntered next door to the Hotel Gudarui Hut and celebrated the trip with some homemade Georgian Chacha. Although the drink may be the first cousin of moonshine, it didn’t cause us to go blind which was a plus as we still had a couple thousand photos to edit on the flight home.

If Georgia isn’t on your radar now, add it to your wish list as it delivers the goods. Incredible skiing combined with unreal culture makes this a must do that should be added to any serious skiers bucket list.

Sven Brunso is the typical ski story. Kid grows up in Huntington Beach, California as a beach bum, goes to college at The University of Arizona and goes on to a career as a prolific freeskier. Okay, so his story is atypical but true. Sven is a husband and father and a forever a ski bum willing to chase after the endless winter.

We’ve been hearing a little bit of feedback from customers about tight fitting straps on the new 2012 flips, so we wanted to remind everyone about the key points of breaking in a new pair of SOLE sandals.

Teaching mountain biking skills seems so straightforward… I’ve been teaching women during my Rippin Chix Camps with Osprey Packs since 2003. Watching the confidence build and the fears fade changes women’s lives, and not only in skiing, biking and surfing. It permeates into family, jobs and dealing with whatever life throws your way. At Red Rocks Rendezvous, Jeff Fox, the bike marketing manager for Osprey, and myself were in charge of teaching men’s and women’s mountain bike camps. Most of these participants are climbers, looking to do something in addition to all the amazing rock climbing camps at the event.

This year I had tons of women’s only camps, which is what I have dreamed and hoped for. I founded my camps because I was frustrated with how differently guys learned than gals. The only advice I learned when I first started mountain biking was chain ring ratios, “just go for it” and “if you don’t come back bloody, it wasn’t a good ride”. It didn’t work for me. I had to name certain moves, figure out where my pedals had to be just perfectly over logs, where my chin needed to be pointing and every little detail of my ride. Slowly, by teaching myself this way, I really learned to ride, and then was able to figure out the exact meaning of “just go for it”.

So my skills stations were born. I mostly taught in the parking lot and not on trails because it was less intimidating for beginners. Switchbacks, log piles, bridges, teeter-toters and ramps all to be mastered without dirt, sweat and tears.

Its weird that I didn’t notice, but maybe I just don’t teach guys very often. At our clinic last month, men were bored in 5 minutes, but the gals could have spent all day learning baby steps. The dudes just wanted to be out of the trails doing their version of a Nissan truck commercial — looking to get as rad as possible regardless of skill.

While I may be generalizing, I have to say, I miss teaching guys. Oftentimes it includes more riding and less talking. Guys are so simple sometimes. But the real take away here is to celebrate our differences. Sometimes we need to study something, break it down into baby steps and master it piece by piece. But other times we just need to throw all that out the door, grab our Osprey Pack and kick some ass.

Alison Gannett is a World Champion Extreme Freeskier, founder of The Save Our Snow Foundation and an award-winning global cooling consultant who has spent her life dedicated to solutions for climate change.

Backpackers at Sand Point at Olympic National Park. Photo: Bryan Bell

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 on Friday to inspire weekend adventures. We call it the Osprey Round Up.

We are big advocates of visiting National Parks all the time, but even more so when it’s free. National Parks Week is April 21 to April 29 and admission to all parks is free, so take this opportunity to get outside.

Happy Friday!

Most folks familiar with Ueli Steck’s achievements think of him as one of the world’s most accomplished alpinists. And that’s certainly accurate. But staying in shape for the world’s most visionary climbs involves a lot of training of the more everyday sort – running.

We waste a lot of batteries. But, there are some small ways through which we can cumulatively make a positive change. It can be as simple as switching one habit in our household as often as possible. With the present evils of global climate change, oil and gas dependency, plastic waste issues, the water and sanitation crises, and more it is good when we are handed simple solutions to immediate problems.

Our energy sources are being tapped. Enter companies that are making a difference:

Solio is the leading developer of hand-held solar chargers. Their newest device, the CLIP-MINI, is a simple and efficient rechargeable lighting product. With the CLIP-MINI, outdoor travelers have an easy and non-toxic power supply. The CLIP-MINI utilizes the clean energy of the sun, or optionally the wall, charging via solar power or alternatively by plugging into the wall via the included USB charging cable. It eliminates the use and waste of single-use batteries. And, it costs nothing to operate via solar power.

The CLIP-MINI also has incredible power storage. With an internal Lithium-Polymer battery that stores charge for up to an entire year, and a high-efficiency solar panel to charge off the sun, the piece is reliable for most charging applications. All Solio products are compatible with a wide range of devices from GPS units to MP3 players to smart-phones and cameras. If a device is USB compatible then it can most likely be powered via a Solio product.

There is a diffuser mode that alters the lighting color, a bike-safety mode, and an integrated carabiner that easily clips to objects for the solar charge process. Weighing only 3.6 ounces and encased in a durable shell, the CLIP-MINI withstands daily use while offering energy sustainability.

SOLIO also walks its talk. An Oakland, CA-based, 10-year-old company, Solio provides rural communities in Kenya with home solar lease options, providing access to affordable clean energy and lighting systems. And, through its support and partnership of KIVA, an entity that provides microfinance loans and assistance to solar energy entrepreneurs, Solio helps individuals start green energy businesses of their own.

So, buy beer and not batteries. Everyone will happier in the long and the short run.

Kim Havell is one of the world’s premier female ski mountaineers. Her career began as a ski coach in the Telluride valley before transitioning to climbing and ski mountaineering in the San Juan Mountains. Before leaving Telluride, Kim went on to claim first female descents on several classic lines. She is one of only a handful of females to have major ski descents on all seven continents, including first descents on four of them. Kim has been featured in several ski films over the years, and when not skiing, keeps herself busy by writing for Outside Magazine, Powder, ESPN, National Geographic and more.

2012 5Point Film Festival from 5Point Film Festival on Vimeo.

Since the 5Point Film Festival launched five years ago, the event has welcomed and honored many of the world’s most celebrated adventurers. Founded as a community that aims to stoke the passion for adventure through film, art and live performances, the festival has become a place to gather around the proverbial fire and tell stories of journeys past and those on the horizon.

“The depth of storytelling at this year’s festival is phenomenal — the audience is in for quite a ride,” Justin Clifton, 5Point executive director, said. “From the desert floor of the Grand Canyon to the heights of Saser Kangri II to the remote waters in the heart of Africa to the untold stories of human passion, 5Point is offering up an amazing collection of films in 2012.”

We’re excited to be a sponsor of this incredible festival, and even more psyched to head up to Carbondale next week. Here’s a few films we can’t wait to see on the big screen…

30 Days 22 Slots – A Preview from Dan Ransom on Vimeo.

WILD LOVE with Timmy O’Neill Trailer from Jenny Nichols on Vimeo.

OF SOULS + WATER: THE TEASER from NRS Films on Vimeo.

The Osprey Packs Intro Rock Climbing Course at the Red Rock Rendezvous

It’s always hard to write about rock climbing when you are ripping powder in a new bowl, or to write about skiing when you are latticing hand jams up granite. This year, I put myself on spring break to do both activities, type about neither, and then come home to the poodle and the computer.

I’ve spent countless season shifts in Red Rocks. For the past fifteen years it’s been the place to either jump-start or wrap up the year’s era of rock climbing. Spring has always been my favorite time. It’s when the green grass pokes through the sandy soil and softens the desert for the moment before you step on a barrel cactus. Spring is when the edges hurt your fingers because you’ve let them grow soft in your ice climbing gloves, when last year’s warm up is the biggest send of the current day, and when the sun feels exactly like thing you’ve been pining for all winter long.

My Red Rocks dose this year was miniscule and magnificent. Day 1: climb with one of the best climbing partners I have—Kate Rutherford. Day 2: teach an introduction to rock climbing clinic at the Red Rock Rendezvous. Over exactly 30 hours I had the honor of teaching someone how to trust themselves enough to move off the ground to swapping leads six pitches up a blanched white and sanguine red Red Rocks classic. It was hard to beat. It was worth the trek from New Hamsphire to Nevada. Even for those two days.

I’m in the middle of learning about how to live east and climb west, east, north and south. This time, I did it with two pairs of skis in tow. My brief Red Rock window made me want more. It always has.

The ski stories are coming. I promise. But first I have to go make up with the poodle for being gone.

Trail running is experiencing a renaissance. And it’s showing us that less is more, as in lower to the ground, less cushioned, less material, and more minimal. The theory being that the more efficient and lower impact running style is to strike the ground with the midfoot/forefoot, not the heel. This allows the dynamic structure of the foot to absorb most of the impact, so the shoe needs to absorb only a small amount of impact. SCARPA saw the intelligence in the minimal style, and the Spark was made.

Spring is here and it’s not only time for a fresh product line, but a refreshed SOLE website. It’s been a little over 2 years since we’ve had a significant change to the design of our website, so we thought we’d shuffle things up for a number of reasons.

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 on Friday to inspire weekend adventures. We call it the Osprey Round Up.

Ken Lucas posted this great shot of him tearing it up with his Kode in some fresh, spring powder. He captured the photo at Tailgate Alaska, a winter sport festival at Thompson Pass in Valdez, Alaska.

For those of you who still have it, enjoy that spring snow. Happy Friday!