Outdoor: Did you hear?…

>> “Farther Than the Eye Can See,” the documentary portraying Erik Weihenmayer’s historic and record-breaking climb of Mount Everest, will make its West Coast premier at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre on Oct. 2 at 8 p.m. Hosted by Mountain Hardwear, Outside Magazine and Merrill Lynch, Weihenmayer will be in attendance at this event to share his personal account of being the first blind person to climb Everest. All proceeds from this event are to benefit Big City Mountaineers, a program that provides wilderness mentoring trips for urban teens. Tickets to this lecture and documentary are $15, and are available by going to: www.cityboxoffice.com. For more information on this event or Big City Mountaineers, contact Mark Godley at 510-909-2830 or mark@bigcitymountaineers.org.

>> Rumor Busting Alert: Contrary to rumors circulating of late, The North Face is not developing a brand of clothing for private label distribution at Kohl’s. Todd Yates has confirmed with SNEWS that in reality he is heading up a team that is creating a line of apparel that will carry the JanSport brand name with an emphasis on outdoor lifestyle targeted at the active, younger consumer. Why is Yates involved, since he works at TNF? Call this a VF Outdoor Coalition project, with VF sourcing being leveraged, TNF R&D talent being utilized, and JanSport marketing expertise being tapped. SNEWS View: While a JanSport apparel line has been tried before, back in 1994 we believe it was, the line stumbled and fumbled its way to quick oblivion. Why? Timing perhaps. Lack of a target market perhaps? Or, if you look at the old catalogs, lack of an identity that the consumer could relate to is more like it. We have no doubt that with Yates and team heading the charge, the new line will be more youthful, energetic, colorful and, certainly, offered with a clear identity tag.

>> Tubbs Snowshoes is expanding its “Romp to Stomp Out Breast Cancer” Winter Walk Series to five markets and expects to attract 3,500 to 4,000 attendees to the events. With a goal to raise $100,000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the series features a 3K and 5K walk and a 3K fun run for all ages and abilities. New activities for 2004 are kick-off breakfasts featuring keynote speakers, clinics on getting started in snowshoeing, and sponsor/partner displays. All participants who collect $100 or more in pre-event pledges will be entered into drawings for outdoor gear and prizes donated by Tubbs and its partners. As part of the event series, Tubbs will also host pre-event “Snowshoeing as Part of a Healthy Lifestyle” clinics at outdoor specialty stores in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and in early November to promote snowshoeing and the event. Hosting venues include Stratton Mountain Nordic Center, Stratton, Vt., and the Frisco Nordic Center, Frisco, Colo., which both hosted events last winter, and the Three Rivers Park District in Minneapolis, the White River Sno-Park at Mt. Hood, Ore., and the Mountain Dell Golf Course in Salt Lake City, Utah. Last year’s inaugural event raised $36,000 in pledges and events proceeds, with Tubbs donating another $8,600 from the sales of women’s-specific snowshoes models in 2002/2003.

>> For the third year in a row, Deuter has produced a specially crafted medical backpack to help the volunteer and staff doctors associated with the Meditibet program. Deuter representatives have told SNEWS the company strongly supports this program’s mission and the people behind it. Meditibet is a registered association located in Munich, Germany. It was founded in 2000 and as a NGO (Non Government Organization) with the aim to provide basic medical care in regions with Tibetan culture. For more information, go to www.meditibet.de

>> Petzl America will host its second annual North American “Roc Trip” event as part of the Petzl World Tour at the Shawangunks (Gunks) — New Paltz, N.Y., Oct. 3-5. Roc Trip is founded upon a new format for climbing events which brings together some of the world’s best climbers, onlookers and interested participants. Events will include an ascent-based fund-raiser putting professional and recreational climbers to work climbing and bouldering, a Preserve requested chalk cleanup program, a bouldering film, and a party. Cosponsoring the event are Rock and Ice Magazine and Rock and Snow, New Paltz’s climber’s shop. The event will benefit the Access Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping climbing areas open and conserving the climbing environment, as well as the Mohonk Preserve. Climbers on the U.S. team include Chris Sharma, Beth Rodden, Dave Graham, Jason Kehl, Joe Kinder, Luke Parady, Lisa Rands and Tori Allen. They will take on the European team including world-class athletes like Liv Sansoz, Alex Huber, Klem Loskot, Anthony Lamiche, Jerome Meyer, Pedro Pons and Daniel Dulac.

>> Continuing its tradition of environmental protection, Royal Robbins is partnering with the American Hiking Society in a special hangtag promotion for spring 2003. Starting in January, one million Royal Robbins garments will feature hangtags that offer consumers a $10 discount on an annual membership to AHS. Their first hangtag partnership in 1999 resulted in 1,000 new memberships and is still considered the most effective corporate membership promotion in AHS history. “We have a strong tradition of protecting the outdoors and truly believe in the great work that AHS does to create and protect trails across the nation,” said Francisco Morales, president of Royal Robbins. “This promotion will enable our retail partners to be part of this important initiative and introduce more consumers to both Royal Robbins and the American Hiking Society, an organization that shares our values.” The company will also be a national sponsor of the 2004 National Trails Day and supply retailers with point-of-sales materials to promote the event.

>> Life-Link/Dynafit is ramping up for its 2004 Randonnee Rally ski mountaineering race series, adding Tahoe’s Alpine Meadows to its list of venues. The first event is in Whistler Blackcomb on Jan. 10 and is part of its weeklong Big Mountain Experience Festival. The race series moves on to Alpine Meadows, Calif., Jan. 24; Crested Butte, Colo., Feb. 14; Alpental, Wash., March 6; ending in Jackson Hole, Wyo., at the North American Championships on March 28. The race series benefits the local avalanche forecasting center or the search and rescue organization where the individual races are held. Sponsors include: Marmot, Cloudveil, Petzl, Mountain Hardwear, Couloir magazine, Off-Piste magazine, Croakies, Breckenridge Brewery, Daggers Sunglasses, Clif Bar, Arc’Teryx, Suunto, Adventure Medical Kits, Crazy Creek, Honey Stinger, Teton Brewery, and the American Alpine Club.

>> If you happen to be in the Portland, Ore., neighborhood on Oct. 25, head over to Life is Good’s Pumpkin Festival to help break the record for the most lit jack o’ lanterns. Life is Good is trying to surpass the Guinness World Record for the most lit pumpkins — 25,000! — to help raise money for Camp Sunshine, a camp for critically ill kids and their families. During the day, there’ll be music, entertainment and tons of pumpkin carving to meet their goal, capped off at 9 p.m. with the lighting of the pumpkins and fireworks. The event is free and open to the public.

>> Plenty of folks keep asking us what SNEWS founder Bob Woodward is up to these days (as you might recall, he sold SNEWS to Michael Hodgson and Therese Iknoian on Jan. 1, 2002). We can assure you he is doing just fine and has most recently been traveling the state of Oregon shooting photos for the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial in Oregon (LCBO). To see his work, go to www.lcbo.net/photos.html.

>> Sugoi is teaming up with the folks of the Grouse Grind Mountain Run as the official apparel sponsor. Known as Mother Nature’s Stairmaster, the race covers 1.8 miles (2.9K) and gains 2,800 feet in elevation on the southwest side of Grouse Mountain in Vancouver.

>> Eagle Creek donated 1,000 backpacks to the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation, a community organization that gives aid and support to San Diego’s abused, neglected and at-risk kids. The donation of Eagle Creek and Clive brand packs is for the foundation’s “Backpacks for School Days” initiative, which strives to provide foster kids with tools for learning.