Nau Lets You Test Apparel Before You Pay Full Price
We're huge fans of Nau, the apparel company who dared to break the mold by creating high-performance apparel from recycled materials, which boast all the expected backcountry and travel-friendly tech features without the hardcore, logo-centric look that often plagues other outdoor gear companies. They've already successfully initiated a donation program (wherein 2 percent of all purchases go to one of five social/environmental organizations), and recently they've stumbled on another innovation.
Dubbed the Changing Room, the customer can choose from a selection of Nau's line, pay only half price, and receive the product to try on and test over a 30-day period. Fall in love with what you've bought, and you pay the remainder of the price. Decide you can live without it? Send it back and receive a refund on the first payment. They even offer free UPS shipping—both ways.
It's one of the more innovative approaches we've seen in getting people in touch with some of the best products on the market, so give it a go. Our picks from what's currently in the Changing Room? For men, the three-layer Assylum Jacket ($450 regular price), perfect for any and all winter sports and après action. For the ladies? The water- and wind-resistant Shroud of Purin Hoody ($290 regular price), a great all-poly soft shell with hardcore performance and the right measure of aesthetic savvy.
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November 05, 2009
Notes from the Field: Top Trips from Around the World
This month we're debuting Notes from the Field, a new column profiling the world's best adventures and outfitted tours. Sometimes we just need a little inspiration—not to mention, professional expertise—to get us on the road, so we've pinged our extensive network of operators, outfitters, guides, and writers out in the field to get their take on the best new trips, experiences, and up-and-coming destinations. First up, a video profile of a new 2010 bicycling itinerary along Croatia's Dalmatian Coast from DuVine Adventures. DuVine was recently nominated by National Geographic Adventure as one of the Best Outfitters on Earth for 2009.
Got an amazing trip you want to share? Contact us via the Email Us link above!
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October 30, 2009
Adventures of a Lifetime: Sky2Sea International
We're excited to welcome Sky2Sea International (S2Si) as the newest provider on GORPtravel.com, an Away.com sister site that provides comprehensive listings for the world's best active vacations and adventure-travel trips. With over two decades of bespoke expedition-planning experience, S2Si runs wilderness trips through landscapes as diverse as the pristine rainforest in Guyana to an amazing one-week multisport expedition through Chilean Patagonia. Check out the video below for a glimpse of what to expect! This film shows the first 24-hour crossing of Patagonia by river, which was completed by a team of paddlers including S2Si guide Jon Clark.
Visit GORPtravel.com to discover thousands more adventures of a lifetime, from rafting the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River to hut-to-hut trekking in the Alps.
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October 28, 2009
Getting Out There With Afar Magazine
Traveling home from a conference in Québec last week, I picked up a copy of the premier edition of Afar, the newest travel magazine to grace an already crowded category on airport newsstands. An hour later after a thoroughly absorbing in-flight read, I can report that I was impressed. The magazine is "for readers who are curious about everything the planet and its people have to offer," according to founder and editorial director Greg Sullivan. In this day and age, when magazines seek to impress with the most luxurious travel experiences imaginable or cater to a budget-minded, close-to-home crowd, Afar bites off the essence of experiential travel with an honest, open, and upbeat appraisal of the world we explore. A bimonthly publication to start, each issue of Afar will be organized under the typical See, Connect, and Go sections; its first edition profiled everything from Japan's costume-play fetish to a local's guide to East London to the world's best treetop lodging. As someone who reads a pile of travel magazines each month for work, I'm happy to say that this is one travel magazine that will open your eyes, mind, and heart—not just your wallet!
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October 15, 2009
Sites We Like: EveryTrail.com
Mt Tamalpais at EveryTrail: Share and Plan your Trips
While researching the latest on Google Maps' rollout of its StreetView functionality to a limited number of hiking and biking trails this summer, I stumbled across a cool website called EveryTrail. This comprehensive hiking, trekking, and biking resource allows you to view tens of thousands of user-submitted trail guides that plot point-to-point information on an interactive map, along with user photos and other related information about the trail. Need details about climbing Yellowstone's popular Mount Washburn? Click here. Dreaming of ticking the Grand Canyon's Bright Angel Trail off your list? Click here. Membership is free, plus you can export raw data into GPX or KML format for use in mobile maps or in Google Earth. Features in the pipeline will also include iPhone and GPS device downloads, making it even easier to hit the trail!
Love to hike? Then you'll love the revamped Trail Finder tool on Away.com's sister site, GORP.com. Browse thousands of hiking trails around North America, plus easily edit and add details through its new user wiki.
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October 09, 2009
National Parks Photo Contest: And the Winner Is...
Mesquite Flats, Death Valley National Park (Erik Dresser)
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! Erik Dresser's photograph of the Mesquite Flat sand dunes in Death Valley National Park (pictured above) has been selected as the winner in our National Parks Photo Contest. Taken on a late September afternoon, here's how Erik got the shot:
"My girlfriend and I were in Las Vegas for a mini vacation (and to get engaged) last month and on our last day, we decided to take a day trip to Death Valley, which is about a two-hour drive away. I had seen photos of the dunes and knew that they would be at their most photogenic in the late afternoon, so I planned our trip so that we would reach them at around 6 p.m. It was very hot and windy that day so I went to a spot where the blowing wind would be back-lit by the sun. Despite shooting into the sun, the dunes still have a golden glow due the sunlight reflecting off the sand. This shot is at 200mm. I got some good close-up shots at 400mm, but I chose this one because it includes the ridgeline in the background to provide some scale to the scene."
Technical specifications:
Camera - Canon 1D Mark III
Lens - EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS
Exposure - 200mm, 1/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200
We were thrilled to receive over 200 entries for the contest, showcasing an amazing array of landscapes in 66 different parks and public lands across North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the national parks claiming the highest representation of entries were Yellowstone National Park (31 entries), Glacier National Park (17 entries), Grand Canyon National Park (17 entries), Grand Teton National Park (15 entries), and Yosemite National Park (12 entries). Browse all of the entries here. Continue reading below the jump to view our five runners-up.
Thank you again, everyone, for taking part, plus a big thanks to Karine Aigner for joining us this week to judge our finalists. Karine is a senior photo editor with National Geographic Kids magazine. Here are her thoughts on the winning entry:
"For me, the winning image stood out because it was a different way capturing the Death Valley dunes, which are so often seen front-lit. After several rounds of judging we kept coming back to this image. It captures the the natural world's powerful, yet subtle beauty as well as spirit, and has wonderful layers of various textures from front to back—making the simple composition work. The back-lit sand creates a mood of anticipation. In all, the image beautifully captures a small moment, those that we often miss in our haste to take in and see as much as possible."
Continue reading "National Parks Photo Contest: And the Winner Is..." »
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Mountain Hardwear Unveils an Electrically Heated Jacket and Charger
Endlessly reliable gear and apparel manufacturer Mountain Hardwear has partnered with Ardica Moshi Power System to introduce the first jacket to offer electrically-powered heating on demand that's also prewired to power and recharge all variety of handheld electronics, from GPS devices, cell and smart phones, mp3 players, and digital cameras.
Available as of October 8, the jacket comes in men's and women's models (Refugium and Radiance, respectively) and retails for $240. The design includes a bevy of MH-approved tech features like a quilted body with ultra-thin insulation, fleece-lined hand pockets, laminated cuff tabs with Velcro closure, and a micro-chamois-lined chin guard in a refreshingly fashion-forward design. Moshi's standalone power system sells for $145, along with a $50 tech connector kit.
Depending on your tolerance for cold and your love of pocket electronics, this new product will either be the holy grail of snow-sports apparel or... just odd. But I suspect backcountry skiers and 'boarders, heli-skiers, and Gen Next resort-goers will eagerly embrace this latest advance.
Check back soon—we'll test it and give our input.
What do you think? Too much? Not enough?
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October 07, 2009
"K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain" by Ed Viesturs On Sale Next Week
K2, originally uploaded by toufeeque (Flickr.com)
Mount Everest may be the mountain of all mountains, but Pakistan’s 28,250-foot K2, the world’s second-tallest peak, is considered by many professional climbers to be the world’s ultimate mountaineering challenge. It’s also the world’s most dangerous summit, claiming the lives of 77 climbers since 1954, including 11 who died in a 36-hour period in August 2008. Ed Viesturs, America’s most prolific high-altitude climber, chronicles this and five other of the most dramatic campaigns on K2 in his new book, K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain, on sale October 13. Set in northern Pakistan’s Karakoram Range, K2 tops a snow-capped forest of black-rock peaks that includes five more of the world’s 17 highest mountains. As Viesturs notes in his new book, “K2 still has not developed anything like the guided-client scene on Everest. The world’s second-highest mountain is simply too difficult for beginners.”
Want to know more about Ed Viesturs? Then read GORP.com’s 2003 Expeditionary Forces profile, which unpacks Viesturs' most celebrated climbs, the gear that goes into his backpack, and what keeps this high-altitude dynamo going when the chips are down.
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October 05, 2009
Western Australia Launches New Trails Resource
Western Australia's The Kimberleys (courtesy, ATC)
Western Australia—home of the Coral Coast and some of the country's most far-flung cities and pristine landscapes—launched a great new travel resource last month. TopTrailsWA provides a fun, info-filled resource on over 50 of trails within the region, from an hour-long mountain bike jaunt to days-long treks, along with packing lists, tips on "leave no trace" low-impact hiking, and dates to key events.
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Photo of the Day: World's Highest Via Ferrata, Mount Kinabalu
Mountain Torq's via ferrata on the upper slopes of Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia (courtesy, Tourism Malaysia)
Malaysia's 13,435-foot Mount Kinabalu is a hulking granite massif located on the north end of the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. The main summit, Low's Peak, is a popular route for even non-climbers in good physical condition, many of whom get up in the early-morning hours to catch sunrise at the top. Those interested in taking a less-trammeled route to the top should consider Mountain Torq's via ferrata, which opened in December 2007 and is certified by Guinness World Records as the world's highest via ferrata. "Via ferrata" is an Italian phrase meaning "iron road" and offers a fixed climbing route up steep cliffsides and mountain faces, which are otherwise off-limits to those without technical climbing and mountaineering skills. The original via ferratas were deployed in the Italian Dolomites during World War I to aid the movement of mountain infantry. Today, these popular routes offer access to recreational mountaineering in the European Alps, Québec's Laurentian Mountains, and countries such as Malaysia and Singapore. Mount Kinabalu is located in UNESCO World Heritage-listed Kinabalu National Park, home to four distinct climate zones and a rich array of flora and fauna. Other popular attractions on the Malaysian-administered side of the Borneo landmass include the bustling town of Kuching and the longhouses, rainforest, and indigenous tribespeople in the state of Sarawak.
Browse more cool photos, plus contribute your own favorites, at Away.com's Photostream on Flickr.com!
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