Shelter for Haiti Tent Drive · 42 days ago by Kurt Peterson
Beginning January 27th, all Blue Ridge Mountain Sports locations began serving as drop-off points for the Shelter for Haiti tent drive. In an effort to provide critically needed shelter for victims of the January 12th earthquake that struck Haiti, Blue Ridge staff will be collecting tents in good working condition with all parts accounted for and any new tarps people are willing to donate.
All tents & tarps will be inspected and shipped to Convoy of Hope in Missouri, a 501©3 non-profit aid relief agency with staff working directly out of the Convoy of Hope warehouse outside of Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince. Since the earthquake, Convoy of Hope has shipped 12 shipping containers of badly needed food & supplies in addition to their staff providing medical aid to injured Haitians.
Following President Rene Preval’s request for 200,000 tents, Blue Ridge Mountain Sports contacted Convoy of Hope among other aid agencies searching for an outlet to ship donated tents.
“Competition for the canvas homes has boiled into arguments and machete fights, a sign of the desperation felt by the hundreds of thousands of people without homes struggling for shelter in this wrecked city. Haiti’s president has asked the world for 200,000 tents and says he will sleep in one himself.” 1
Next to food and medical supplies, shelter is the next primary concern as Haiti begins to see increased temperatures & rain moving into the spring months.
“Outside of the food area, the two prime worries are: one, medical services or medical equipment, and, two, shelter,” said Lewis Lucke, U.S. special coordinator for relief and reconstruction.” 1
As an additional incentive, Blue Ridge Mountain Sports is offering 20% off coupons for all tents & tarps with the donation of an old tent or new tarp for Haitian aid relief. To find the nearest Blue Ridge Mountain Sports store location, click here.
For more information about the Shelter for Haiti tent drive, contact Kurt Peterson at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, 866-905-2767×312 or kpeterson at brms.com.
1 Associated Press article, by Jonathan M. Katz and Ben Fox, 1/26/10
Say Hello to the Dirty Box · 49 days ago by Kurt Peterson
Keep an eye out for the infamous Dirty Box which could be packaging a web order coming to you soon! Though not actually “dirty,” we’re shipping (most) of our orders from brms.com in recycled boxes that come to us from the various vendors that we carry in an effort to reduce, reuse & recycle!
Stories of an Alpine Princess with Zoe Hart · 55 days ago by Kurt Peterson
Experience a lifetime of adventure through the eyes of professional climber and Patagonia ambassador, Zoe Hart. She will take us on a photographic odyssey across the globe going from one storied alpine climb to another, often in the harshest of conditions, through the most colorful of cultures and landscapes. Discover the inspiration and drive she channels to succeed at one of the more dangerous and difficult sports in the world.
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at the Blue Ridge Mountain Sports in Princeton 301 North Harrison Street, Princeton, NJ 08540
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at the Gravity Vault Climbing Gym in Chatham at 40 Watchung Avenue, Chatham, NJ 07928 *Both shows start at 7pm. Tickets for both shows are available at the door for $7.
Although she considers herself a “Jack of all trades,” alpine climbing is her passion. In 2004, Zoe climbed in the Ruth Gorge with fellow Mountain Guide, Isabelle Santoire. The pair climbed Ham and Eggs on the Mooses Tooth (just short of the summit to the notch due to spindrift), and Nettle-Quirk on Mont Huntington. In 2006, with the late Sue Nott, Zoe attempted Deprivation on the North Face of Mont Hunter but was turned around by the conditions. In 2007, after a 60-foot fall and a broken hand, Zoe got back on the horse to climb the Dru Couloir on the famed Dru, and Over Couloir on the Brenva Face of the Mont Blanc Range with Max Turgeon. In 2008, she and Max Turgeon attempted Deprivation on Mount Hunter a second time and succeeded. Zoe has also climbed Yosemite’s Northwest Face of Half Dome in a day.
Based in Chamonix, France, Zoe Hart takes advantage of conditions as they present themselves – ski mountaineering, alpine climbing, or rock climbing – when she’s not working as a mountain guide. Zoe is labeled as a perpetual transient – she hasn’t lived in the same place for more than three months over the past eight years – finding the call to travel and explore the mountains of the world too alluring to stand still. Hart is also the fourth American woman to earn her IFMGA, or International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations, status. This is the highest level of credential available to a professional mountain guide anywhere in the world and is recognized in over 20 IFMGA member countries.
Read more about one of Zoe Hart’s more recent ascents of Mount Hunter in Alaska.
Read a personal interview with one of her sponsors, Black Diamond Equipment.
Banff Mountain Film Festival Tour 2010 · 63 days ago by Kurt Peterson
2010 promises to be a memorable year for the Banff Mountain Film Festival. This year’s lineup of films is very exciting, and according to our Charlottesville store manager, “it will be very difficult to select which films to screen because they’re all good!” And be sure to catch the preview below…
Mark your calendars! Here are this year’s run of Blue Ridge hosted screenings:
March 12th & 13th at 6:30pm both nights: Richmond, VA, hosted by Chesterfield County Parks & Recreation at James River High School. Sponsored by Blue Ridge Mountain Sports. Free admission!
March 14th at 4pm & 15th at 7pm: downtown Charlottesville, VA at the Paramount Theatre. Tickets on sale at the Charlottesville Blue Ridge: $13 in advance, $15 at the door. Proceeds benefit the Rivanna Trails Foundation.
March 17th at 7pm: Blacksburg, VA at the Lyric Theatre. Tickets on sale January 25th at the Blacksburg Blue Ridge or at the door. $8 w/ student ID, $10 otherwise. Proceeds benefit the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
March 29th at 7pm: Maryville, TN at the Clayton Center for the Arts at Maryville College. Tickets on sale February 5th at the Farragut and Bearden Blue Ridge locations and online at the Clayton Center website. $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Proceeds benefit the Friends of the Smokies.
April 23rd at 7pm: Princeton, NJ at McCosh 10 Hall at Princeton University. $10 w/ student ID, $15 otherwise. Tickets on sale soon. Proceeds benefit the D & R Greenway Land Trust.
Climb On! in Richmond, VA 11/7! · 133 days ago by Kurt Peterson
Blue Ridge Mountain Sports in conjunction with Peak Experiences climbing center is proud to present the 2nd annual Climb On festival in Richmond, VA Saturday, November 7th. Sponsored by The North Face, this is an excellent way to learn all about the sport of rock climbing in a fun, exciting and safe environment.
For more information, contact the Richmond, VA or Glen Allen, VA stores or stop by Peak Experiences. We look forward to seeing you there!
Light my Fire: the bright, shiny new Tikka XP2 · 167 days ago by Kurt Peterson
I remember my first LED headlamp, a shiny new blue and grey Tikka I bought in Bend, OR way back in ‘01. It was a miracle of smallness, and I was giddy that those three little LEDs would take me so much further and lighter than the gosh awful heavy and bulky Duo headlamp that had been plucked with the rest of my gear and belongings from my pickup truck earlier that month. Insurance money in hand, I was on a gear replacement shopping frenzy, and believe it or not, that little battery-sipping gem was the one item I was most excited about.
8 years later and some three thousand trail miles later, that Tikka sits in a place of honor on top of my fridge, my go-to headlamp for any crawlspace or under-the-sink emergency. So when I heard that Petzl was unveiling a third re-designed generation to their tried and true Tikka series, I was as giddy as I was that day long ago in Bend.
Apples to apples, the Tikka XP 2 is almost as small and certainly more reminiscent of my aged Tikka, with the tilt mount adding a bit more girth. The strap is pretty much identical save for the new grey and orange design that comes on the graphite model. But this is where the similarities end.
A larger, glove-friendly, water-resistant push button switch dominates the top of the lamp. It controls 2 light levels of the main focused high output LED and the ubiquitous, though blink-ier strobe. I was pleased to see Petzl had removed the never-used third middle brightness level of previous XP models. And with its 60 blinding lumens at high power, the lamp will run a whopping 80 hours or 160 hours on the economical setting—which is surprising given the Tikka Plus 2, the step down from the XP 2, burns 50 lumens for 55/140 hours. As for throw, it projects 60 meters or just shy of 200 feet for us Americans on its high setting. I’ve yet to test any of these specs, however. But it should give you plenty of time to see the charging bear before he eats you.
Its best new feature: by holding the switch down, it ignites a tiny ultra-efficient red LED (with its own strobe setting) to the right of the main bulb that’s perfect when you don’t need your night vision destroyed, and even better, it turns off and back on again with whichever light you’ve chosen.
To the left of the main lamp is a small battery level indicator. And a sliding refractor disperses the main lamp when you need a wider angle light.
The lamp body is much smaller and a bit lighter than the previous XP model. It also sports clear ports into its guts including a strange window into the battery compartment lest you forget whether your preference is Duracell or Energizer. One fine change is the entire Tikka 2 series now safely accepts lithium batteries which sports longer, more static power output and cold-weather operating performance—a big boon for us winter hikers. And another nice upgrade, the battery compartment is hinged for easier access. Rumor has it that it also comes with a whistle (why not?), but my prototype was lacking.
!/blogs/community/images/158.jpg (The re-designed (finally!) hinged battery compartment on Petzl’s Tikka XP 2 that also accepts lithium batteries.)!
Any disappointments? Well, Petzl has eliminated the boost button that was available on the previous XP model. It gave you about 30 seconds of extra candlepower and really did light things up if you needed as much power as you could muster. Aside from this one little shortcoming, I think they’ve done a wonderful job on this new design.
All things considered, I’m eager to get my hands on one for longer than just a few days, (ahem—Brad?) so I can thoroughly abuse it. Given my long affair with my trusty Tikka 1.0, I doubt I’ll be disappointed. Until then, a good long night hike to some wayward southern Appalachian locale will be in my future. I promise to report back…
Banff Radical Reels Tour in Knoxville! · 170 days ago by Kurt Peterson
Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is rolling out their Fall Radical Reels Tour this Friday, September 25th just outside of Knoxville, TN at Maryville College’s Alumni Gym at 7:30pm. If you dig big air, nasty climbing whippers & some of the most amazing BASE jumping action sequences, then Radical Reels is for you! Be sure to catch the youtube clip. You won’t regret it!
Tickets are just $5 at the door!
Backpacking 101 going on now! · 170 days ago by Kurt Peterson
Our favorite series of educational classes begins Tuesday, September 8th! Once again, Mountain Hardwear is sponsoring the class series with a grand prize package giveaway just like Chris Soukup won this past spring. Come by if you’d like to learn more about hiking & backpacking, but don’t know where to begin.
Visit any of our stores to sign up. Each class begins at 7pm Tuesday nights…hope to see you there!
Backpacking 101
Kayaking Charlottesville · 199 days ago by Kurt Peterson
Find some relief from summer’s heat at one of Charlottesville’s upcoming boat demos beginning with this Thursday, August 27th at Walnut Creek from 3-6pm. With three demos left this summer for the Charlottesville area, now is the time to try out our selection of kayaks & canoes. The staff will be available to answer your questions and guide you in choosing the best boat, paddle, and PFD. Call the Charlottesville store for details.
Test out a wide variety of Wilderness Systems, Perception and Mad River boats. RAIN CANCELS – so call the store to verify if the weather is questionable—434-977-4400.
Demo a Kayak or Canoe · 202 days ago by Kurt Peterson
If you’re in the Knoxville, TN area this Saturday, August 22nd, be sure to come out and take one of our kayaks or canoes for a test spin. The staff will be available to answer your questions and guide you in choosing the best boat, paddle, and PFD choices. Call either Knoxville store for details.
In addition, the Virginia Beach, VA store will be offering beginner Quick Start your Kayak classes this Saturday, August 22nd. Contact the store for details.