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Owen Wilson once said, you have to find your inner “ness” which basically just means adding “ness” to your name. And once you find that inner “ness” you can start to throw your 7 Different Kinds of Smoke. Well I don’t know if I have 7, Owen is a tough man to compete with and I’m still young, but I do throw a few kinds of Smoke. I practiced a few on the Teton Crest Trail this weekend with my bro, and and a few friends. The Trail was a little bit like the route they take in Lord of the Rings, except with less sword fights and unfortunately no elves.
SPEED HIKING- Although my friends didn’t like it when I was throwing this one out, especially uphill, it felt good.
Oh and the pack on my back is holding a small gnome.
GEAR SELECTION- Check out my new Big Agnes tent (on the left), this thing was like a palace, I could have run hot laps around it.
CAMPSITE SELECTION- This was the view from my tent. I know.. its pretty rad.
HIGH-ALTITUDE NAPPING- This type of skill comes in handy when you arrive at 10,000ft to a ridiculous alpine lake, and 5 hours of downtime. I read Harry Potter, while my partner in crime swam for 30 minutes, which led to mild hypothermia. (notice the down coat).
CHRISTMAS CARD WORTHY PICTURE TAKING- Mom’s gonna love this one. And check out those Cloudveil jackets.
Here we are all throwing our favorite kind of smoke.
Trip rundown:
Wildlife spotted: Black bear, porcupine, deer, marmots lots of marmots, eagles, and crazy Jackson ultra runners.
Menu included specialties like: Mac and cheese, GORP, an Italian pasta and garlic bread feast, Snickers bars, gourmet coffee, and my favorite… poppyseed mini muffins.
Miles traveled: approx 30.
Fights between my brother and I: ZERO
Yes, it is August. School has not even started and the Denver Broncos have played only one meaningless pre-season game. But with the first crisp morning already come and gone and some fall foliage spotted yesterday on a mountain bike ride – ski season is officially here.
Thomas Hodel ripping the BC near Davos
Need more proof? Bears are wreaking havoc foraging for what promises to be a HUGE winter and all the snow mags are on the newsstand.
Houdini, the Aspen local bear 8/19
And best of all, for kicking your dreams into powder filled visions are films like this one from the POWDERWHORES, titles Flakes.
One of the tenets of our business is that you have to believe in the products you represent.
Summit of Windom
So, with new pack technology, single-wall tents and trekking poles coming down the pike – we took off high into the Needle Mountains to test some products and bag some 14ers with our kids.
Girls reading b4 bed
Like many things the plan was more complex than it first appeared. Grab a train in Silverton. Hop off in Needleton along the Animas River, hike 8 miles into the wilderness and then climb 3 14ers over 2 days.
Testing trekking poles
How’d it go? Great.
Can you spot the climber on the ridge of Sunlight?
The new larger BD packs carry like a dream. The new Nanoshield fabric on the superlight tents were breathable and the kids’ loved their trekking poles.
Keep your friends close and the coffee closer
See you out there!
Summit of Sunlight
Floated the Roaring Fork on Friday afternoon with Nick Armano (Kara’s husband and former fishing guide) and Pete McBride who was taking photos for an upcoming book on the Colorado River. Pete’s holding the best shots close to his vest for future use, but here are a couple snapshots…
Nice bow just below Carbondale on the Roaring Fork.
Nick holding a fat rainbow - Aspen Glen area on the Roaring Fork.
Your hard earned tax dollars are being spent to install cameras in the woods, so we can see what bears do when no one is watching.
Like pole dancing.
Our friend Nick Waggoner from Sweetgrass Productions spent the past year in Japan with his crew filming their new movie, Signatures, a “board, no board, ski and drop-knee” film featuring locals of Hokkaido as well as our local boys, Nick DeVore and Will Cardamone. The Roaring Fork Valley got a taste of Sweetgrass’s amazing and soulful filming during the 5Point Film Festival when we got a sneak peak. Now, the official trailer is out, and we’re pumped to share it. If Signatures is showing in your area this fall, make sure to check it out. World Premiere is at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen on September 19th.
I used to be a kayaker.
These days days I’m considering shaving my legs because of all the spandex I wear.
I never thought I’d give up paddling in cool water in favor of pedaling on dusty dirt…it just happened. Back in the day, I kayaked over 100 days a year, starting with an annual New Year’s Day float down Shoshone on the Colorado. I was a certified kayak instructor, a raft guide and a pretty solid Class V boater. I bought a new playboat every year and a new creek boat every other. My garage wafted wet neoprene all summer.
Now I train on my road bike to go faster on my mountain bike. I spend countless hours cleaning and wrenching (poorly) on my bikes to keep them running smoothly. I know gear ratios and count the grams of carbon components .
What the hell happened?
Maybe it was a move to a new town where the whitewater is less accessible and the familiar paddling posse is far away. Maybe it was starting a family. Maybe I just needed a new fix.
Apparently, I’m not alone. Grayson Schaeffer has a terrific piece in this month’s Outside about the rapid decline of whitewater kayaking in the US. Check it out here.
Recently I’ve been considering two alternatives to resuscitate my whitewater addiction. Fire up the bandwagon, but Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) does look pretty rad. Especially when you navigate one down a class IV stretch like the Numbers on the Arkansas. My buddy Hobie makes it look easy.
Apparently Hobie took his SUP down Class V Gore Canyon earlier this week. I can’t wait to see that vid.
On the other side of the spectrum is a variety of kayaking that’s so old it’s coming back around to retro-cool status. I haven’t been squirt boating since my college days on the New River in West by God Virginia, but I’m tempted to try and hunt down a used one now. Especially after I watch video of Skiing Magazine editor Sam Bass spinning Mystery Moves so deep and long he needs SCUBA gear. If you don’t know what a Mystery Move is, it’s the holy grail of squirt boating – and Sam is well on his way to finding it – on the bottom of the Arkansas river.
You would never know it talking to him because he’s ridiculously modest, but Len Zanni is kind of a big deal.
In addition to helping run the show at sister companies Big Agnes and Honey Stinger, Len is a bit of a local celebrity on his bike. This year Len has been crushing the competition at pretty much every Wednesday night local race. He currently sits in third place in the overall points series of the Mountain States Cup. He finished 17th at the National Mountain Bike XC Championships at Sol Vista last month and he won the Leadville Silver Rush 50 a couple weeks ago.
But this weekend featured what might have been one of Zanni’s biggest races yet. Len certainly had some homefield advantage at the Blast the Mass race in Snowmass this past Saturday, but he also faced some of the toughest mountain bike competition on American soil. It just so happens that part-time Aspen local and 7-time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong, decided he wanted to join the fray at the Snowmass race. Lance’s appearance definitely added some excitement and brouhaha to what is typically a fairly insular regional mountain bike race scene.
Lenny leading a 7-time TdF winner and the other pro men up the starting hill.
Despite the spectator donnybrook surrounding Lance, Len kept his eyes on the prize and raced his own race. Lance shot out to three minute lead over perennial Mountain States winner and full-time pro rider Jay Henry, with Len holding onto third place in a field stacked with strong regional pros. In the end Lance proved he can ride a bike off road as well as on, and won with a three-minute margin. Jay stayed in second and Len finished in third – his best Mountain States Cup finish all season.
Jay Henry, Lance and Len.
It’s not every day you get to share a podium with Lance. Not bad for a guy pushing 40 with two kids and a full-time job. Nice work Len, we’re proud of you.
One could say that good PR is all about great clients, speedy and concise communication, and long lasting media relationships. I would say good PR is all about Post-Its. They are all over my desk, odds are your name might be on one right now…they keep things easy, brightly colored and make sure I don’t leave the office and miss a deadline. So instead of thanking me the next time you get that jacket to review just in time for the big ski trip, you should thank Post-Its.
And when you write the article about that jacket and give it a great review, this is how I usually celebrate.
