The North Face

Dec 21 | Mission Antarctic Dispatch 7 :: To Falklands with Love

By The North Face

Here I am sitting at this very brit looking like cafe place in Stanley Falklands just getting my head (and stomach) together after four days of delightful seasickness through the Drake Passage.

Coming back to the civilization, I'm getting all these flashbacks in my head.

The bays surrounding us, all the untouched faces, all the moments we shared with the crew through hell and heaven.

Beforehand I felt that this could be the trip of my life and I am certain now that it is indeed true.

I am so thankful to have had the chance to put the dream trip together and I can't wait to share it all with everyone.

There is a massive packing underway back at our boat the Golden Fleece. We are flying off tomorrow to hopefully make it on time for father Xmas.

We could feel all the way back on the peninsula all the stoke from our posts and it really helped us to carry on day after day with our exploration.

Thank you sooo much from the whole crew for all your cheers.

Stay tuned for more!

-Xavier

 

Dec 18 | Mission Antarctic Dispatch 6 :: An Excerpt from Lucas

By The North Face

Despite our intentions of riding the captain today, we all take notice of an ever-encroaching cloudbank headed straight our way.

With no chance of riding or filming the line in anything less than perfect light, we end up going for plan B which is a 55 plus degree slope that continues right into the ocean. It has a very aesthetic AK style spine that splits the majority of the face. Having spent a good amount of time in AK this brings a bit of relativity to my mind and with this comes comfort. I'm sure that this is going to have good snow. It looks like pow and is a similar aspect to the epicness of the day sessions the day before.

A quick ride on the zodiac right up to the start of the linen and we are on slope. Its pretty crazy climbing right out of the water, ice axes in hand, and immediately right into the business. Another new element for me is that I'm wearing a life jacket as well as a Patrol 24 ABS Pack and a transceiver. Seems like overkill, but I'm not willing to lose any of my three potential life saving devices.

 As we climb we notice that the snow is not quite the same as the day before, but as each footstep sinks in about a foot, I am sure it will still be quite ripable. As I'm slowly gaining confidence in these situations, I actually really enjoyed the exposed ascent of the face. With a quick little belay from our guide Tony, I am at the top of the face strapped in and ready to shred.

I ask Xavier if he prefers to ride with one or two axes in these sort of no fall situations and he says use two if it feels OK. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...dropping. I make a quick move onto the face on my toe side edge. Fuuuuuuck, its ice up here, and I quickly sink not one but two axes immediately into the face for security. Despite our feet and hands punching through the crust on the way up, our snowboards have too much surface area to do the same, and it feels like I'm dropping into the Breckenridge half pipe in mid December. Only this halfpipe wall is 60 degrees for 1000ft right into the damn ocean.

It takes me almost a full minute to traverse the face to the safety of the spine. After sinking an axe as an anchor and clipping in direct I say over the radio that first of all, this sucks, second, I think Xav should go first because if anyone can salvage a shot from this ice rink, its him. It might be extremely selfish and egotistical to say, but it was a bit of relief to see a very similar look of fear in his face as he dropped into the line a few minutes later. I've seen him ride some badass stuff in the past, and even he had quite a hell of a time making it down that 1000 ft to the "safety" of the oceanside. For me, all I could do was make a few nice turns above the steepness of the face before I diverted to the alternate route down to the ocean.

As much as I say I enjoy scaring the crap out of myself, there are some moments that might be a little too much for me. This was one of those situations where you question everything that you do in life. I know it seems dramatic, however at the time I was sure that if I didn't do everything exactly perfect with my topside edge and ice axes, I was going to be a goner.

As we made it back to the boat, the cloud bank that had persuaded us into plan B now receding back over the mountains across the bay. So with great light and no hesitation on Xavier's part, we were heading straight for the Captain. What the hell am I to do.

Earlier that morning I was so sure that I was ready to tackle this beast. Now, I was still recovering from the death ice of the first line. The captain was for sure steeper and more sustained. With only twenty minutes on the boat in between lines, I was just not ready to step back into what I knew was going to be an extremely heavy situation. So with regrets that are sure to follow me around for the rest of the season, I watch Xavier and Tony take off on the zodiac for the coast without me on board. The only thing I can do to feel useful at this point is grab an extra 5D with a 70-200mm lens, have Renan set up the correct F-stop, ISO, aperture, shutter speed or whatever, and sulk my way up to a good vantage point.

It's hard to explain how instantaneous the regret comes after backing off something like this. However as I watch Xavier climbing the last few hundred feet, I think about all of the gnarly shit he has done and how even though I'm not happy about my decision, deep down I know that it was the right call. Even though I've never filmed a line before, I figure I've seen enough shred flicks in my life to know how I want it to look. So with my ego stuffed into the snow I make sure that I film this line as best as it can be filmed.

It was pretty damn amazing to watch him descend the face. Even through the small screen on the back of the camera, it looked ridiculously steep. He absolutely nailed it. As he comes flying out of the bottom of the line, I can only imagine the excitement he must be experiencing at this moment. In the end, I really enjoyed the experience of watching someone who truly is pushing the limits of our sport, even if it was from the sidelines.

The next day was spent relaxing for the first time since we had arrived six days earlier. This was really cool, because it allowed us to be complete tourists for the first time of the trip. We were lucky enough on this day to spot some Minke whales, as well as one of the largest penguin colonies on the Antarctic Peninsula. This truly is a beautiful place, and despite my regrets from the previous day, I couldn't have been more stoked to be in this foreign land.

It was almost a full two days after The Captain before we were able to get back on slope. On the previous day we had seen a really cool spine face that got some epic evening light. The hardest part for me was having to wait around all day until it was finally ready to shred. I was a bit anxious to get back on some steep terrain and see if I could overcome the mental disaster of our last shred day. Despite my anxiety, before I knew it were skinning up to the base of the spine wall. I never can tell how my mental game is going to be until I'm fully immersed in the situation. On this occasion, I was feeling damn confident. Maybe it was due to my bailing out on The Captain, or maybe I was just more comfortable with the style of this line. Either way, I was fired up. I threw on my crampons, made a sketchy climbing move across the bergschrund, and fired the boot pack all the way to the top.

I had charged so hard up the face, that it wasn't until I though about getting my board on my feet that I realized how steep and exposed I really was. For some reason, which I will never understand, this was one of those scary situations that I completely had under control. The ten minutes that I spent on top of this line were quite enjoyable. It was 9 o'clock in the evening and the view was one for the record books. Not being scared shitless allowed me to really take it all in and appreciate how lucky I am to have these opportunities.

I had to use all of the techniques that Xav had taught me to switch out of climbing mode and get ready to drop in. I knew that the conditions would be less than perfect, but this time I was ready for it. After a deep breath and a final view of the beautiful Antarctic ocean environment, I dropped in. It wasn't quite the same style of riding I had enjoyed on our day of pow. Instead it was a very firm crust with only a few centimeters of soft snow that our edges were able to have purchase on. Either way I felt good about making a somewhat fluid descent of this steep spine wall. I had eyed up a nice schrund gap at the bottom, and nailed it perfectly as I exited the face onto the glacier.

As Xav dropped in I thought to myself how cool it was to be riding with one of the best in the game, and how much I personally had progressed even on this trip. He nailed his line, and once again we were sharing our stoke together as we rode down to the waters edge to await our zodiac ride back to the ship.

Follow Mission Antarctic from November 21st to December 21st at www.thenorthface.com/missionantarctic or on Instagram at #missionantarctic

Dec 17 | Mission Antarctic Dispatch 5 :: Behind the Scenes with Muppets & Monkeys

By The North Face

Xavier is poised at the lip ready to drop “The Captain," one of the steepest lines of his career. I’m a part of the camera crew in position below. Unfortunately, we are all staring blankly at each other, dazed and confused…

It’s an honor to be here. Although I’m a not a rider, I was lucky enough to be able to puke my brains on the Drake passage and contribute to the team as a The North Face climber and Camp 4 Collective filmmaker. I’m a Yosemite climber ‘monkey’ at heart and am a bit of a fish out of water this mission.

Did I mention that last time I filmed with Xav in Jackson, WY I almost died with skull and vertebrae fractures? Yup, that makes this all a bit more exiting.

At any rate, it’s been amazing to be here collaborating with Xav’s Timeline creative team of storytelling ‘Muppets’ consisting of Tero Repo and Guido Perrini. Tero is a Finnish photographer with a lifetime of experience shooting on snow. Guido is a Brittish filmmaker who is also a veteran shooting in the cold and has shot/edited all the Timeline movies to date. I’m not sure why Xav calls them the ‘Muppets’ but I think it might be because they are so chill and have a great sense of humor. A few times so far they have surprised us with their full body Penguin outfits they have stashed somewhere. They have been a great tool for breaking the tension when documenting stressful and dangerous lines but it's not working right now.

“OK if you guys can’t decide I’m going to hold this little piece of paper behind my back in one hand and whoever guesses it is the lucky winner.” Tero crumples the paper and puts it behind his back. Between Guido and Myself the lucky winner gets to fly tandem in a Paragliding system to get aerial shots of Xav dropping in. Since helicopters are not allowed down here this was a major part of Xav’s dream for this expedition: To show the beauty of Antarctica from the air with aerial riding shots on par with big productions….but in a low impact lightweight ‘expedition’ style.

I guess Xav and his Muppets have been testing and learning about flying a bunch this last year, but the story’s are less than inspiring. Tero said when he tried it back in Europe he crashed multiple times before successfully taking off and then when Guido tried he lost a shoe it was a catastrophe. Then when I talked to Conrad Anker, my climbing partner who has spent a lot of time in Antarctica he was also really sketched out “The one guy I knew, he was one of the most experienced paraglider pilots on the planet and died down there doing that, the winds are fickle…”

So with all that in mind I picked Tero’s right hand and of course from it emerged the winning piece of paper. Meanwhile, Xav is shitting himself at the top of ‘the gnar’ waiting for us, so I got ready to fly as fast as I could.

Despite the fears, It’s certainly some relief to be flying with Christophe Blanc-Gras a pilot that has 25 years of experience and seems to be quite safe. Its also comforting that with Xav on top of the line is legendary climber/guide Tony Lamiche who is reporting to us about wind conditions up high and in general staying acutely aware of everyone’s safety while on the snow during the expedition. All in all it’s a pretty motley crew of Monkeys and Muppets but also an amazing team working together behind the scenes and firing on all cylinders when time is right. (I won’t even mention captain/crew of our ship in this dispatch, they need a whole post to do them justice!).

Click, click, click….all the little clips to the paraglider rig are in place. I have empty 128GB card, a full battery, a GoPro shooting BTS on my helmet, a lifejacket and an emergency dry bag to stuff the camera into in case we crash into the sea.

Christophe initiates the launch sequence and we ski off and into the cold aerial world. The massive icebergs quickly become tiny white puzzle pieces surrounded by mesmerizing emerald green rings interlocking along the coastlines. The camera strap is cutting painfully into my neck, my balls are being crushed by the awkward position I’m in and I feel a bit airsick from looking at the camera monitor and not the horizon….quite the gripping first paraglider experience.

All of that is quickly blocked out as we approach “The Captain”, the king line of the expedition. I hit the radio one last time, “20 secs Xav. Nice Christophe perfect altitude. Tony, you do the final count. Tero, Guido 10 seconds...” Tony picks up where I left off “3,2,1 dropping…”

Well you know the rest, hopefully you will see the results of all the teamwork and vision if we manage to make it home safe back across the Drake Passage.

Thanks for following,

Renan Ozturk

Thanks to Camp 4 Collective and Tero Repo for the exceptional photographs.

Follow Mission Antarctic from November 21st to December 21st at www.thenorthface.com/missionantarctic or on Instagram at #missionantarctic

 

Dec 14 | Infographic: Te Araroa Expedition

By The North Face

Dec 13 | Facing the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy

By The North Face

Over the past few weeks we’ve received a number of requests for donations to help those affected by the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy. As soon as the storm hit, we looked for ways to help those worst affected by the storm prepare for the cold winter ahead so they could focus on rebuilding their lives. For those of you who wrote in or are interested, we wanted to provide an update on our contributions to date:

Clothes4Souls

In early November we delivered more than 2,500 coats and jackets to a New York distribution site through our partnership with Clothes4Souls. Clothes4Souls, a division of Soles4Souls, works with retailers and manufacturers to organize donations of new or gently worn clothing to get them directly  to people who are most in need.

In addition to the jackets donated directly to victims of Sandy, The North Face is continuing to partner with Clothes4Souls through a coat drive. You can donate your gently used coats and clothing in our in-store donation bins through December 24 and help protect people from the cold. Check out our website for more information. 

CAN-DO

The North Face donated an additional 1,522 pieces of winter apparel to Compassion into Action Network – Direct Outcome Organization (CAN-DO), a global organization that collaborates with local organizations speed up the process of aid distribution to communities. CAN-DO is working with local volunteers out of the Garrison Beach Community Center to distribute products and resources door-to-door in some of the areas hardest hit by Sandy.

We know there is still more to do to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy. If you’d like to contribute to relief efforts, we encourage everyone who can, to donate $10 to American Red Cross by texting REDCROSS to 90999. You can also make a donation at the Red Cross website here. Our thoughts continue to go to those affected by the storm.

Dec 13 | EXPEDITION SUSTAINABILITY- 2011 UPDATE

By The North Face

Today we issued an update to Expedition Sustainability, our sustainability report published in 2011. In that report we shared our experience embedding environmentally and socially responsible practices across our business. This report provides an update on our progress in 2011 and a first look at our global data on greenhouse gas emissions. 

During the 2011 holiday season we launched the ‘Shop-By’ eco-preferred materials section for both bluesign® and recycled content on TheNorthFace.com. This helped connect our customers to find products that have a high percentage of recycled or bluesign® approved content. Our partnership with bluesign® technologies is a cornerstone of our product sustainability program and we continue to work towards our goal of 65% bluesign® approved fabrics in our apparel lines by 2015.

Our work with bluesign® is also translating into savings for our suppliers through reductions in energy, water and chemical use at the factory level.

Though our savings to date are important, there is still room for improvement as we continue to work with more of our suppliers to adopt the bluesign® system.   

Beyond our efforts to make products as sustainable as possible, we also engage with people broadly through our Outdoor Exploration program. Our belief in the benefits of outdoor exploration is built into our philosophy that introducing people to outdoor adventure encourages them to love the outdoors and in turn to care about protecting the natural world. We expanded The Explore Fund grant program into Europe and Canada, helping to connect children to the outdoors internationally. We broadened our U.S. programs as well, taking Explore Your Parks to seven cities and Outdoor Nation to four additional cities in 2011. These programs, our Endurance Challenges races and The North Face Speaker Series events all support our goal of inspiring a new generation of explorers and conservationists.

For the first time we were able to provide visibility into our impact at a global scale through our interactive global greenhouse gas emissions map.

Learn more at expediationsustainability.com

We led a search, evaluation and selection process for a software tool to aggregate and track sustainability metrics such as energy, emissions, waste and water across all of our facilities. By increasing the amount and detail of our data, we will develop a brand baseline for our global impacts and continue work to reduce our footprint. This tool will be rolled out to all of the brands under our parent company, VF Corp, in 2013 and will provide us with the ability to examine energy, emissions and water data across the globe.

We invite you to explore our 2011 sustainability update further at http://expeditionsustainability.com/ and encourage and welcome all feedback in the comments below or by emailing us at expeditionsustainability@vfc.com.

Dec 12 | Jez Bragg Embarks on the run of a Lifetime on New Zealand's Te Araroa Trail

By The North Face

Renowned British ultra runner and The North Face athlete Jez Bragg began an expedition that will take all of his mental and physical energy for the next 50 days: a nearly 2,000-mile run the length of New Zealand’s Te Araroa Trail.

The Te Araroa Trail (1898 miles/3054km) opened in December 2011 and runs the full length of New Zealand from the top of the North Island in Cape Reinga to the bottom of the South Island in Bluff. It rivals some of the world’s greatest long distance trails such as the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail in the US. The majority of the route is off-road, through challenging and remote terrain presenting all sorts of different challenges. There are also some short road sections and several estuary crossings as well as a long down-stream paddle on the Whanganui River. 

Jez will, for the majority of the expedition, run solo with a ‘fast and light’ strategy. Since he is used to running ultra-races such as the 104 miles/168km The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc®, he plans to complete the route north-to-south in a period of less than 50 days, averaging between 37-50 miles (60-80km) per day for the full duration. Supported by a support crew of two, medic Dr Mark Taylor and expedition coordinator James Ashwell, the team will follow him in a motor home providing logistical support where possible. Jez expects to encounter long stretches of trail where support won’t be possible, and during those periods he will carry a fast-pack setup to provide complete self-sufficiency. On the South Island, where the terrain is particularly challenging and accumulative fatigue becomes more of a factor, Jez will be joined for intermittent running support from his US teammate, Mike Wolfe. 

Jez will wear products from the Spring '13 collection including the Better Than Naked short sleve, short and jacket; the Stormy Trail jacket and Hyper-Track Guide shoes, along with customized products provided by the product department to his exact specifications. 

Before heading out, Jez said: “Running this trail has been a dream of mine for several years and I have followed its progress with great interest. For me, ultra running is all about this type of adventure; the opportunity to explore remote and challenging landscapes in a very raw and pure way. There is no better way to explore a country like New Zealand with such outstanding natural beauty than to do it by foot. The work that has gone into getting this trail together to its eventual opening is simply mind-boggling. It will be a great honor to be one of the first to run it and hopefully showcase everything the country and the trail, has to offer. It will truly be an adventure of a lifetime.” 

Get up-to-the-minute updates on the Te Araroa Expedition on thenorthfacejournal.com  or follow Jez on Twitter @JezBragg

Dec 12 | The North Face awards $140,000 in Explore Fund grants

By The North Face

Explore Fund 2012 Cycle 1 grantee Voyageur Outward Bound

The North Face today has awarded the second round of Explore Fund grants for 2012, more than $140,000 in grants to 58 projects that will impact more than 80,000 youth across the nation. As part of its mission to start a global movement of Outdoor Exploration, The North Face introduced the Explore Fund (www.explorefund.org) in 2010 and the program has since provided more than $1 Million in grants globally to organizations committed to inspiring the next generation of outdoor explorers and conservationists. Since launching in 2010, The North Face has donated more than $765,000 to over 300 nonprofit organizations in the U.S.

Explore Fund grantee, Athletes for Cancer based in Colorado, is dedicated to enriching lives impacted by cancer through nature and the outdoors. The North Face Explore Fund grant will help support Camp Koru, a 6-day outdoor adventure camp that gives young survivors an opportunity to tackle outdoor challenges, build self-confidence and learn skills to thrive in life.

Voyaguer Outward Bound

We are very pleased and grateful to receive support from The North Face Explore Fund,” said Tonia Farman, executive director of Athletes 4 Cancer. “We truly believe in the physical, emotional and social benefits of connecting kids with the outdoors, and this funding will help us continue to provide that experience to young cancer survivors.”

The National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) in Colorado is a therapeutic snowboard program designed to get youth outdoors during the winter season, regardless of any type of physical, cognitive, emotional or behavioral disability. Led by qualified instructors and local rehabilitation centers, NSCD is focused on using the outdoor experience to work on goal setting and build self-esteem. The Explore Fund grant will help provide for training, equipment and lift tickets throughout the season. 

Fall/Winter funds were granted to organizations across the country that break down barriers to getting outdoors, with a focus on:

 $ 61,000 - Access to front and back country recreation

$ 48,000 - Education for personal and environmental health

$ 31,000 - Creating a connection to nature 

With this second round of micro-grant, a total of $265,000 will be awarded to nonprofits in the U.S. through the 2012 Explore Fund by the end of the year. 

The Explore Fund spring grant cycle will be announced in early 2013. For more information on this cycle's grantees, please visit www.explorefund.org.

Voyaguer Outward Bound

Dec 12 | Mission Antarctic Video Dispatch 2

By The North Face

Xavier and Lucas are high high up in Antarctica and getting ready to drop into some sick lines.  In their second video dispatch we see the work necessary to both get up the mountain and back down.

 

Follow Mission Antarctic from November 21st to December 21st at www.thenorthface.com/missionantarctic or on Instagram at #missionantarctic

 

Dec 11 | High School Student Embarks on Expedition to Support Outdoor Nation

By The North Face

Mike Foote (Left) and Adam Peterman (Right) training for their expedition by climbing Stuart Peak in Montana

Next week, high school senior Adam Peterman of Missoula, Mont. will attempt to bike, hike and scramble his way from the lowest point in the contigious US to the highest in an effort to inspire more youth to get outside. As part of his senior project, Adam will travel from Badwater in Death Valley, Calif., to the 14,505-foot summit of Mount Whitney beginning December 20 and attempt to reach California’s highest peak in less than 48 hours entirely under his own steam.

Our very own Mike Foote, who won The North Face Endurance Challenge Chile in October and came in third overall at the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc earlier this year, is Adam's cross-country coach and project mentor and will act as the support crew during the expedition.

The goal of the expedition is to raise money and awareness to benefit Outdoor Nation, which is dedicated to reconnecting millennials with the outdoors. Outdoor Nation host summits around the country, awards grants for outstanding project ideas, leads outdoor activities and works with youth in an effort to mobilize a movement to get the next generation of outdoor leaders. Peterman’s goal is to raise $5,000 through his Outdoor Nation Crowdrise page.

The inspiring and active Adam wanted this senior project to combine his passion for exploration, while also helping other kids his age connect with nature – particularly those who don’t have easy access to front-country recreation. 

Adam and Mike setting up the Mountain 25, which they'll use when camping at Whitney Portal

“Living in a city as accessible to the outdoors as Missoula, Montana makes it easy to forget how fortunate I am to live in a place as so connected to wilderness,” says Peterman, “this is a very rare opportunity to have, and above all other factors in my life, I feel like developing a passion for the outdoors has benefited me the most.  I would like other people my age to be able to experience the same, and the nonprofit Outdoor Nation does just that.” 

The attempt will be split into two days, the first day consisting of the 135-mile biking section, made famous by the Badwater Ultra Marathon, and the second spent hiking the 22-mile round trip to Mount Whitney’s summit. Peterman hopes to accomplish this 135-mile ride in 15 hours, where he will finish at the trailhead to Mount Whitney and make ascent to the mountain’s peak.

Donations to Peterman’s expedition to support the next generation of outdoor leaders can be made through Crowdrise for a chance to win gear from The North Face. Follow Peterman’s expedition on Facebook, the expedition official website and The North Face Never Stop Exploring Blog.