Who scheduled an 8AM Sunday Morning at DIA?

\ Leave a Comment \ by

medicinally Kinda kidding but not really. En route home from a recent trip to the Selkirks, I was able to schedule an 8AM meeting last Sunday @ DIA with none other than my esteemed business partner Nate Simmons.

http://cyberblogue.com/themes.php Travel Selkirks Style

Nate was on his way to Seoul and then Bejing for work with Polartec. The timing was fortunate for us both to catch up for 30 minutes as previous weeks had been balancing work, spring Media FAMs and conference calls.

Simultaneously, Mike Mac was returning home from a swing by the National Broadcast Show in Vegas and the Sea Otter Classic. In between, Mike squeezed into a seat for a panel discussion on Social Media Tactics at the Bicycle Leadership Conference. This coming on the heels of a conference regarding Land Conservation Conference in Jackson Hole.

In our home state, Ian was bouncing between meetings with the Vail Valley Foundation and Teva Mountain Games and trying to keep up with his wife Sari – who was just named one of the fittest normal (?) humans in America by Outside Magazine. Greg was in the Front Range with SmartWool convening on their new Brand Campaign and Mavis, Justin and Kara are all riding bikes in the final phase of their knee recoveries.

See ya out there!

Posted in: Uncategorized

Reports from the Field

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Reports from the Scufoneda Festival in Moena Italy include new snow yet warm temps. Nate and Fielding are over there hosting media as Polartec sponsors the event.

Old School or New School?

Reports from AK are that it has been a tough winter, yet recent snow has been improving conditions. We are headed there Sunday for a Black Diamond event along with 5 snowsports media to test skis, tour on Thompson Pass and fly with Alaska Backcountry Adventures.

DP all amped up

A bit more locally reports from Sun Valley over St. Patty’s boast new snow as another Backbone group heads to Baldy for the Ski Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony while staying at the famed Sun Valley Lodge.Word is there will be a reunion of the K2 Performers and dignitaries will range from inductees Daron Rahlves and Glen Plake to Wayne Wong and Zach and Reggie Crist.

Powder plus Corn equals ski porn

Backbone also hosted Drew Pogge from Backcountry Magazine for 2 days of touring in the Elks. Pretty sure he liked the new AMPerage and Megawatts.

Additional upcoming events span from WESC/Tailgate Alaska to a NYC showroom.

See you out there!

Posted in: Uncategorized

Tired, Fortunate and Somewhat Amazed

\ 1 Comment \ by

After two weeks on the road for the OR Show, SIA, X Games and On Snow in Winter Park I feel tired, fortunate, and somewhat amazed.

2 Dawn Patrols in 2 days in Mill D with the Sweetgrass crew, Adam from BD, Jon from Backcountry, Bryan from CLIF, Charlie and Dan from OR, Sun Valley rippers Jeannie and Mike H, Forrest, Mark and Amy from Winter Wildlands and JLD from Backbone

Tired because in between dinners with awesome clients, dawn patrols with friends and near constant meetings with media – we also hosted a killer party in Aspen during X Games with PLUM TV.

Sage Cattabriga-Alosa and the Producer of G.N.A.R. - Dr. Robb Gaffney!

Tess Weaver, Ingrid Backstrom and surf industry deal-broker, James Lynch.

Did somebody say flannel? Ian McIntosh and Eddie Bauer/First Ascent athlete, Zach Crist

Fortunate because Backbone has a growing and super solid roster of clients with ongoing dialog and big goals for 2011. Good thing we have the most capable in-house team we’ve ever assembled.

Hiking for turns on Jones Pass with Powder Addiction Cat Tours

Somewhat amazed and humbled by the working relationships that continue to deepen and push us to improve our agency. Whether focusing on strategic social goals, digital plans or straight up PR, the dynamics of media continue to evolve. Being challenged on a daily basis in the work environment is exciting, even better is when you share the experiences with close friends and colleagues who happen to be business partners.

BD's Craig Hatton and Thomas Laakso

Blevins and Peruzzi

Dav and Sigi from Kastle

Posted in: Client News, Skiing, Uncategorized

Racking up the Miles

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Fall season is here and it is go time to make it happen for Winter 2010 and Spring 2011.

Sari Anderson flying the Stinger flag at 24 Hours of Moab

Looking at the recent travel log (for work and fun) from Backbone it is something like this:

Expo East in Boston, 4 Pass Loop, Ventura, Seattle X2, NYC X2, OIA in Asheville, the Gunks, Santa Barbara, Cabela’s in Grand Junction, Jackson crew visits Carbondale, Kauai (okay that was a honeymoon), Alterian SM conference in Chicago, 24 Hours of Moab (2 podiums!), Telluride (Via ferrata!), Interbike in Vegas, Boulder, Indian Creek, Squamish, IFTD in Denver, Steamboat, Bellingham, Breckenrdige, Folly Beach, Bainbridge Island, OBX, DC, Fruita, Crested Butte and SLC.

Mel from New Belgium via feratta Telluride style!

Backbone has recently been fortunate to add new clients for media planning, PR and increased social media services as well as staff in our Jackson and Carbondale offices.

How does this happen? Well, best we can tell, it boils down to commitment. Commitment to lifestyle and brands we believe in. You can’t fake authenticity and as the media world changes the approach we take to work is similar to that of climbing, biking or skiing. It is an ongoing apprenticeship, where you can continue to learn, evolve, explore and share experiences with colleagues everyday.With challenge comes opportunity.

See ya out there!

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Musings, Uncategorized

Not bad for a Joker like me

\ Leave a Comment \ by

When you get an email titled ‘Not bad for a Joker like me’ you open it before the others. Sure, it may not be the most pressing email in your inbox but certainly there is promise for some amusement.

Extreme Skiing, Ice Cream, Workspace and Dogfood - which would you choose?

In this case, the email was from Dan Abrams, one of the co-founders of Flylow along with Greg Steen with an attached PDF of the cover of Inc. Magazine and an article featuring their entrepreneurial rise.

Cover of Inc. is a wow moment for a brand that is best known among core mountain town folks. Flylow’s product is king. Their pants durability legendary and their work gloves – well that’s another story.

Check ou tthe Flylow blog – The WinterLife.com or go to their site. Congrats Dan and Greg. Now back to work.

Posted in: Uncategorized

Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America

\ Leave a Comment \ by

A few years back, Backbone was promoting Ski the 14ers book, by Chris Davenport and Art Burrows.

Ski the 14ers was the culmination of Dav’s epic goal of skiing all 54 of Colorado’s 14,000′ peaks in a year. For you ski historians out there Lou Dawson was the first person to complete this task, in 1991 over the course of many years. By achieving this goal in just twelve months, Chris mixed tenacity, a high acumen of planning and route selection and displayed his voracious appetite for skiing.

This fall 2010, Backbone is again promoting another title with Dav – Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America. Co-authored with Art Burrows and Penn Newhard (yep, that is me), the book is a tribute to fifty of the greatest off piste descents in our continent.

Rather than just sit down over beers and decide what we thought was best, Chris, Art and I reached out to friends and skiers all over to get their opinion. By doing so, Fifty Classic Skis of North America becomes more than just a coffee table book of pretty pictures but combines the perspectives of our contributors becoming a snapshot of ski alpinism in 2010.

The contributor list ranges from iconic ski mountaineers like Lou Dawson, Chic Scott and Lowell Skoog to steep aficionados Andrew, McLean, Kris Erickson and Ptor Spricenieks and leading skiers including Glen Plake, Eric Pehota and Hilaree O’Neill. The book covers all types of peaks and exposures ranging from done-in-a-day classics like Tuckerman Ravine to expedition goals like the Messner on Denali. The contributing photographer list is strong with Christain Pondella, Scott Markewitz, Jordan Manley and Brad Washburn to name a few.

Fifty Classic Skis will be available through Wolverine Publishing in November 2010. Pre-orders are being offered at a slight discount. You can leanr more on Facebook. Check it out.

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Gratuitous Client Plug

Boulder Fire – Donations

\ Leave a Comment \ by

This is somewhat of a PSA, posted following an email from friend, rep extraordinaire and all-around good guy Ian Reid.

We all know people in Boulder. We all know about the Boulder fire. We all know how the outdoor industry is built upon strong realtionships.

Just today people are being allowed back into Four mile Canyon – so as the newsflash urgency of the fire begins to fade – the reconstruction of lives of those impacted is just beginning.

Please, take some time and donate whatever you can to support those who have lost valuables in the recent fires. Thanks!

—

We have secured a non-profit partner in the United Way. The United Way is on the ground and also has the manpower to assist us in getting relief to those in true need. Be assured that all product will go to that relief. What are greatly needed are socks, shoes, toiletries, fleece blankets, jackets, insulation, etc.

The United Way has just secured a warehouse in South Boulder. The address for Shipping is below.

Please label donations to Fourmile Canyon Relief Donations..

If your company would like a receipt of goods donated, you can send a request to Barbara Pingery at the local United Way. Please include the types of items and value in your request.

Fourmile Canyon Victims Relief

767 East South Boulder Road

Louisville, CO 80027

The United Way can facilitate a 501c3 certificate for your efforts, if needed. You must send an email to

Barbera Pingery at

bpingrey@unitedwayfoothills.org

Boulder is a hub in the United States for outdoor activity and we who work and live here in the industry consider the residents and families affected as extended family. All you can do is greatly appreciated.

Posted in: Uncategorized

Notes from the Field

\ Leave a Comment \ by

There is commentary in the media that points to an acceleration of business and life in general.

Crowd-sourced sharing of content and ideas manifested in socially driven community based applications…oh, goodness, is that comprehensible, let alone true?

While there is plenty of evidence that points to this general ‘hastening’ of business; we find that a blend of staying focused on fundamental blocking and tackling, and maintaining personal relationships is equally important as a counterbalance to these new school dynamics. This strategy has helped us recently launch the Bamboo Bottle Company, which has already seen online traction on Gizmodo, Uncrate, and tweeted about by Biz Stone.

MP tests Quadrants and Drifts in Iceland

MP testing Quadrants and Drifts in Iceland

Another new client, Contour was just named to the Inc. 500, a list of the fastest growing business’ in the country. Black Diamond skis and boots have won over 13 top-tier awards from Powder, Skiing and Backcountry magazines. Gerber’s launch of the Bear Grylls knives collection has spiked web traffic with a mix of online and traditional placements. Media is moving rapidly, and so is Backbone – with Mike McCormack running the Breck Epic mountain bike stage race last week and moving to Carbondale over the weekend, Dax re-locating to Folly Beach, South Carolina,and Nick Brosnan joining our Jackson Hole office.

Welcome Flylow!

Flylow and Backbone start  a new social media partnership today – which is the result of just too many good conversations while sharing turns on most excellent powder days to not happen. Backbone also will be pushing out Chris Davenport and Jim Surette’s excellent film Australis in the coming months.

Chris, Andrea and Stian on a first descent in Antarctica

Media is not shrinking. It is exploding. And even better, it is doing so in a decentralized manner, where ideas and energy trump entrenched formulas. Open your eyes, take a deep breath and head on out there. Chances are you’ll have some fun along the way.

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Client News \ Tagged: , , , , ,

Lucky 13

\ Leave a Comment \ by

As Backbone nears its 13th Anniversary – we took some time out for our mid year reviews and gathered the crew for a few days of fun, sun, bike rides and rivers here in Carbondale.

Team Backbone

Open table discussions, ping pong, New Belgium beer and evening bike rides kicked things off, followed by a run down Shoshone rapids in Glenwood Canyon. We only had one swimmer – the result of Maneater Rapid chewing on a ducky – while we rafted, kayaked and SUP’ed.

Dax, Fielding and Megan getting primed

Fielding, Keaton the GIE aka "Greatest Intern Ever", the always smiling Mike May and Jonathan

Margaritas and BBQ capped it off, now Mavis is off to ride with the SmartWool crew from Steamboat to SLC, Nate is turning 40 and Backbone welcomes Amy Harvey as our new Office Manager replacing Megan Perkins. We wish Megan well as she heads off to her new teaching job and thank her for adding so much light and energy to our office.

Brett & Laura, Hillary and LB

Onward!

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Colorado, Trip Reports

Backbone Summer

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Rumors of Carbondale, CO becoming the newly appointed center of the outdoor Universe are yet to be confirmed but recent activity in the surrounding satellite towns of Aspen, Vail and Keystone points to growing harmonic convergence.

Belcourt approaching Aspen

In Aspen, the Polartec Athlete Advisory Board convened with members Bill Belcourt, Janet Bergman, Michael Sillitch, Sari Anderson, Mike Kloser, Kelly Cordes, Nick Devore, Antoine Barthelemy, and Gord Betenia. Activities included climbing, paragliding, fly fishing, hiking and cycling.

Polartec Athlete Advisory Board

In Vail, the annual Teva Mountain Games hosted top athletes, media and a record crowd of outdoor enthusiasts in the paddling, running, cycling and climbing world. The TMG blends art, music, and mountains like no other venue nationally along with a healthy dose of family fun. Take your pick with a World Cup Bouldering event, Stand Up Paddling or the Teva MXT Mud Run.

Is that TMG founder Joel Heath?

Backpacking first family the Lewons image courtesy of Ben Fullerton

In Keystone, Boa Lacing Technology hosted an A Tier of media in a Colorado style spring-free-for-all; meaning skiing, snowboarding, cycling, running and golf in their new products for 2010. Beyond Colorado our very own Kara Armano landed her first permit on a fly in Mexico at Pescamaya Resort last week while fishing with Ross Purnell of Fly Fisherman magazine. Way to go Kara!

Kara on the job for Sage, Redington and Rio

In case any of you think Carbondale actually stands a chance at supplanting real self-appointed beautiful people hang-outs insert-your-town-name-here, just give us a month or so. The jury is out until after the DreamTime Festival in Paonia and of course the all-time classic Carbondale Mountain Fair.

See you out there!

Posted in: Uncategorized