Picture yourself: You are ripping it up on the ski slopes. The conditions are perfect, 10 inches of fresh powder, beautiful sunny day, no crowds and that cute guy or girl that smiled at you in the snack bar line-up keeps "running into you". Life could not be better, you are shedding the Gnar listening to your favorite tunes and thinking of how to turn the day's current flirting into something more romantic.

You find yourself with that same guy or girl that you have been trading googly eyes with on top of a nearby ridge when the Aurora Borealis starts it's magical light show. Your new found crush then leans in towards you and gently whispers "do you have a bottle opener?. They have a ice cold six pack of your favorite imported beer. Next thing both of you are trying your hardest to use whatever grade 11 physics left in your memory to pry, pop, heave, and dislodge a simple metal cap from a glass bottom.

If you don't want to be caught in this situation perhaps you need to swing by your local gear shop this fall and pick up a pair of Outdoor Research Blackpowder Gloves. These waxed goat leather gloves have a built-in bottle opener on the middle finger of the right glove. Now you can be the hero of the Apres Ski party with these fashionable, yet functional ski gloves.

At $75 these gloves can keep your hands warm during the day and assist in keeping your head a little fuzzy during the day.

Jeremy

Sit Skiing To The South Pole

“It's not about what I've done, it's about what I am going to do” - Grant Korgan

On January 17th, 2012 Grant Korgan reached the South pole after a 75 mile ski through some of Earth's harshest terrain and weather. What makes this trip incredible are the events leading up to the South Pole Push. Rewind to March 5th, 2010 Grant becomes paralyzed from the waist down after fracturing his L1 vertebrae performing a snowmobile jump for a video shoot. With a prognosis of never walking again Grant, with the help and support of his new wife Shawna, started a journey of rehabilitation that has been relentless and unwavering.

After the accident the couple quit their jobs, sold their cars and moved into a house that Shawna's parents owned. The new focus in their life wasn't kayaking, snowmobiling, skiing, or mountain biking all of which Grant was very accomplished at. No, their focus was getting Grant up on his feet and moving again. They came up with a plan using whatever resources they could find. Thankfully High Fives, "a Tahoe based non-profit organization that is dedicated to raising money and awareness for athletes who have suffered a life-altering injury while pursuing their dream in the winter action sports community", came along to give support.

Grant made his way across the harsh landscape of Antarctica using a custom made sit ski. The KBG Artik Crosscountry Sit Ski made it possible for Grant to become the first adaptive athlete to reach the South Pole.

 The designer of this sit ski is Kevin Bramble of Kevin Bramble Goodz(KBG). A three time Paralympic champion Kevin is the leading innovator when it comes to sit skis. This new design is different than most sit skis that only have one ski. The Actik has two articulating skis enabling the skier to handle more rough terrain and carve turns easier. Made from carbon fiber and aluminum this 8 lbs. Artic ski collapses up for easy travel.

After nearly two years of rehab, training, sacrifice, and doctors telling Grant he should focus on living in a wheelchair. With temperatures in the -30's and winds of 20 to 30 knots Antarctica is not a hospitable place. The team estimates it would take about 250,000 thrusts with this ski poles moving the sit ski along the rough snowy terrain. About 100 feet from the flags marking the South Pole, Grant stopped and with the help of his teammates Doug Stoup and Tal Fletcher he got to his feet. They each gave up a ski and pole and Grant made it, with tears in his eyes, standing on his two paralyzed feet to the South Pole of the world. Thanking his friends that helped him on this incredible journey that culminated in such a emotional triumph he says "I only wish my wife was here". Shawna, the one person that wouldn't let Grant give up, the friend and companion that stood by his side during endless appointments, pool sessions, and therapy. Out of the crowd of onlookers consisting of scientists working at the Amundsen-Scott research station Shawna suddenly appeared and as she removed her mask said "welcome to the south pole". As Steven Siig, the director of the film crew documenting the trip says "This is a historic day in the name of recovery, technology, adventure and the human potential.” What does Grant Korgan say "It's not about what I've done, it's about what I am going to do.” 

While researching and writing this post I am humbled and inspired. It is so easy to say "I'll go hiking tomorrow" or "maybe we'll do that trip next year". The problem is if you keep saying those things eventually you end up old and unmotivated with many regrets and not many stories of adventures. The Korgan's story has taught me to take nothing for granted and really appreciate every opportunity that comes my way.

Thank you to the South Pole Push for their info and pictures. Please check out the High Fives organization to learn more about adaptive athletes and how you can help support their return to great adventures.


Jeremy

MyChacos: design your own sandals

Picture yourself: You are bushwhacking through the hot, humid jungles of central Bolivia in search for the endangered Bolivian Gray Titi Monkey. The Mosquitoes are thick and the Titi sightings are few. Walking through a shallow swamp the bottom mud has the consistency a mixture of baby food, both before and after digestion. Wearing your favorite sandals you go to take a step. Lifting your foot up out of the primordial ooze the strain of the gooey mud fights the pull from your weakened bug bitten legs. Your leg muscles fight the viscous nature of the mud. Then a unnerving feeling occurs when your foot suddenly is released from the clenches of the unsavoury darkness below. Then you realize what has happened. The strap on your favorite pair of sport sandals has detached from the sole. This unfortunate series of events has rendered your sandals as useful as that herbal bug repellent you doused yourself in before your departure.

I have had a similar experience with my sandals. Instead of the depths of a South American country it was retreating from a chilly lake in Northern Ontario after a post trail-sauna dip. Then I heard about this sandal that actually has the webbing run through the sole of the sandal and up and over your foot. Ingenious I thought, "what are these sandals called" I asked. Chacos was the answer.

Now Chacos has come up with MyChacos, a design your own sandal program. Now anyone can design their own custom pair of Chaco sandals.

You pick the style Z1, ZX1 Z2, ZX2. After that decide on your footbed, sole, and webbing colours. You can even make straps longer or shorter then depending on your preference. With 200 colours
of webbing you can feel confident you will be the only person rocking a Tidal blue webbing with a Vibram Unaweep sole under a brown footbed on a Z2 sandal.

Unaweep Vibram sole

Tidal Blue

What does Captain America wear on a casual Saturday hanging at the cottage?

Some of the webbing options

There are a seemingly endless assortment of different options available and for $125 US plus shipping, well worth the investment, in my opinion. Sorry to all my Canadian friends but to order these custom Chacos you must have a US credit card as well as a US shipping address. So call in a favour to your aunt Lucy who spends her winters down in Florida and get her to order you a pair.

A big thanks to Chacos for the use of their photos and some examples of sandals created using the MyChacos program.

And you thought I was being cheeky with the Bolivian Gray Titi Monkey

Jeremy

My summit attempt up K2, sorry I mean Mt. Bessey

It is February 1st and I think I am ready. I am set up at base camp packing my lunch for my second summit attempt up Mt. Bessey. We are checking our gear, and cross referencing different weather patterns that could affect our bid to make the summit. My team consists of Corey Brown whose enthusiasm makes up for his lack of experience. Our support crew that will be monitoring our progress consists of  Mason, Theron, and Tucker. I'm afraid they don't have the attention span to keep us out of trouble. It looks like we will be on our own, no oxygen, very little support and some serious vertical to overcome.

I'll post pictures of our hopefull successful summit, if we make it back. In the meantime check out this this video from Ursus films documenting the 2009 expedition to K2 by alpinist Fabrizio Zangrilli and his crew. They attempt to climb the famous mountain in Pakistan on the 100th anniversary of the Duke of Abruzzi's trip up K2.
One stat that that is frighting about this mountain; 1 in 4 climbers that attempt to summit K2 don't survive.

If you like what you see you can watch the second part on You Tube. If this type of video inspires you please go to Ursus Films and help support their venture of bringing these stories from the top of the world to you.

Wish me luck.

Update 1:20 pm: Unfortunately do to some above average temperatures, rain and a support team(my 3 cats) that all went for a nap our expedition up the hill in my backyard has been postponed until next week.
Remember no adventure is too small.


Jeremy