Outdoor Sports Blog

Osprey Packs, Inc., the well-known Cortez, CO based industry leading backpack manufacturer can be proud of its employees. During Colorado’s “Bike to Work Day” on June 27, 2007, 18 out of 23 people from Osprey Packs enthusiastic staff chose to travel to work by bike. That is a total commuting distance of 244 miles or 393 kilometers. Gareth Martins, Director of Marketing for Osprey said: “We're thrilled that nearly 100% of our staff biked to work today. It is our hope that Osprey can set an example for other local businesses as to how important and fun not driving your car to work can be”. Martins pointed out that more than 50% of Osprey Packs employees are using carpools throughout the year, walk or ride a bike to work. What does that mean for the environment? Osprey’s workforce prevented an estimated 12.2 gallons (approximately 46 liters) of gasoline from being burned, assuming a consumption of 1 gallon per 20 miles (11.9 liters per 100 kilometers) for an average car. They calcu

Who needs a hiking buddy? Speedwalking Robot is perfecting its hiking ability A German scientist from the University of Göttingen developed a walking robot that is able to adapt its gait to the slope of an incline. “RunBot”, so the name of the robot, simulates the neuronal principles which enable humans to adjust their gait when the terrain changes. According to the scientists, the walking robot uses reflexes driven by peripheral sensors to adjust its movement when the ground changes from flat to slightly uphill. In addition, RunBot features integral control circuits that make sure that the joints are not overstretched. They also guarantee that the next step is initiated not earlier but when the foot touches the ground. Now when a slope needs to be climbed - the hiking robot knows this by screening the surface with an infrared eye – the built-in circuits adapt to a simpler neural network by changing a couple of parameters. Florentin Wörgötter, a research scientist at the Bernst

Mad about Mountains "I think the key, at least in my life, is living the moment. It's like right now. And it's not 'I should have done this and I should have done that.' Because when you're dead, you're dead. Life is really for the living. You can't bring your life with you when you die. No matter how many medals you own and how many peaks you climb, it's not going to mean anything to you when you're six feet under. ..."If I die today, I don't think, 'Oh, I should have had 2.5 kids and the minivan.' I'm really content and happy with whom I am today." (Christine Feld-Boskoff when asked by a reporter “if there is anything you'd regret if you died climbing?”) Chris Boskoff was owner and CEO of Mountain Madness since 1997, the Seatlle-based adventure travel and mountain guiding service that made headlines in connection with Scott Fisher’s death on Mt Everest in 1996 (see Jon Krakauer’s book “Into Thin Air”). Chris, who

Discover the Backpacking Secrets of Colin Fletcher - The Father of Modern Backpacking Colin Fletcher, the California hiking and backpacking icon, has died. He was 85. Fletcher was known to many outdoor sports enthusiasts as the father of modern backpacking. He was also an effusive and prolific writer who published seven books over time. Some of them became bestsellers and drew quite some attention. This article will look at the life of Colin Fletcher, the books he wrote and their impact in the hiking and backpacking scene. Colin Fletcher was born in Wales on March 14, 1922, as the only child of Herbert and Margaret Williams Fletcher. During World War II he served in the British Royal Marines, spent years in Africa farming and worked as a prospector in Canada. In 1956, Colin moved to California. In 1958, Colin Fletcher was thinking about getting married. But he wasn't sure. So he decided to engage in "contemplative walks" to find out and hiked the whole length throu

An article in the journal “Science” reports that 83% of our planet's surface is domesticated. Only 17% remain untouched wilderness without human inhabitants, crops and infrastructure such as roads and night-time lights noticeable by satellites. Only 17%! These data are based on a report from 1995. Now the situation probably has worsened. Pretty scary! The report continues: Fifty percent of the earth’s surface is used for agriculture such as crops and grazing. More than half of all woodlands have been lost and converted to land. On a number of continents, the largest land mammals have been eradicated. The oceans are crisscrossed with shipping lanes and the Europeans obviously don’t like sand on the beach that much: 22,000 km (13,670 miles) of coastline in Europe have been paved. As if this is not enough the paper continues to report that once wild rivers are now tamed behind dams. Due to widespread damming almost six times as much water worldwide is held in non-natural storage