Where is the flag?

Karl Johnson, our local "Shoeman Project" coordinator and familiar face at Alpine Shop, saw firsthand how Shoeman benefits the world. The scope of their trip was to use deep well drilling to establish clean water sources for areas of Haiti that are limited in water and more importantly, clean water. Areas he visited included Port Au Prince, where they installed a well for an orphanage, another well was installed in the town of Gonaives near a school of 300 children, and fixed several previously installed wells that had been unusable for months. All in all, 4 new wells installed and several old ones fixed, offering the little things we take for granted here in our country. All of this could be carried out because people were kind enough to donate their shoes to the cause.

Where's the Flag?

In March of this year, several Alpine Shop staff were selected for a trip out west. Let's call it "product testing". Two of the activities included snowshoeing and backcountry skiing in Rocky Mountain National Park in the old Hidden Valley ski area. Holding the flag is pro athlete, Fabrizio Zangrilli, and Alpine Shop Columbia store manager, Brennan VanMatre . We snowshoed up from the main parking area 9,500 ft to around 11,000 ft ele., swapped snowshoes for skiis from our packs, and skiied back down. Getting down took no time at all compared to the hike up, of course.
The picture to the right displays our ice climbing experience on Hidden Falls. I would have to say the ice climbing was one of the coolest things I have done in my life. It definitely helped to have someone who knew what they are doing and guided my efforts.
This blog thread will kick off our posts called "Where's the Flag". The Alpine Shop flag will travel around the world with different people and the blogs will tell it's story. Stay tuned for more photos as the flag has a few more to tell already.

Gear Review: Jackson Villian

Hi everyone. We have had a long absence in our blogging (about a year and a half), but we are back at it. So stay tuned for trip reports and gear reviews worth reading.

Last week I had a chance to paddle the Jackson "Villian" for the first time. It is one of Jackson's whitewater boats for the 2011 season. I took it down the Saint Francis in southern Missouri. The saint is a class II-III run, and the level was about 9 inches.

I have been paddling the Jackson "Hero" and Pyranha "Burn" a lot lately and was excited to give the "Villian" a try. The first thing I noticed after putting in was how fast this boat is. It has a semi-displacement hull and at 8'8" it is extremely fast. I had just finished a run in the much slower "Hero" so in comparison, I felt like I was in a race car.

When you hear displacement hull people tend to think less stability, which is what i was expecting. The "Villian" was surprisingly stable. The boat flares out right behind the cockpit and the semi-displacement hull flattens out a bit right under the paddler, adding stability. I was expecting to feel tippy as compared to the "Hero" but there was negligible difference between the two.

The "Villian" also holds a line really well. Once you pick your ferry angle or your line through a rapid, it really locks on and keeps you on course. That being said, it was much harder to turn than the "Hero" but that is to be expected with a much longer boat that is designed to be a pure creek boat. The "Villian" felt at first to be a tough boat to peel in to smaller eddies, but with different technique and strokes it became much less noticeable by the end of the run.

Overall I was really pleased with my first trip in the Villan. I am excited to get to try it out on some steeper water to see how it handles for its designed purpose.

If you would like to try the "Villian" or any other Jackson boat, the Alpine Shop has the entire line of Jackson demo boats. Just come by or call to set up a session.

Finding a good Balance

Carson finds balance in her END shoes.

Carson Munroe came into the shop the other day with a dilemma. She was going on a float trip and wanted a shoe for the occasion. I helped her try on Chaco's, Keens, and finally the END (Envionmentally Neutral Design) "LOL" shoe. She liked the chaco's feel, but didn't see herself wearing them around town after her float trip. The keens were a bit much for her narrow foot. I had never sold a pair of the END "LOL's" with a float trip in mind. She loved the look of the shoes and how light they were. The drainage was perfect for her float trip. She promised she would let me know how they worked out, and a few days later she said they worked perfectly. They made a great balance between a tennis shoe and a water sandal. If you haven't seen the "LOL's" yet come in and check them out.

Customer Gear Review
"Adirondack" Canoe

Review by: Maggie Berglund

In June I bought Winonah Adirondack Canoe from the Alpine shop.
So far I have only been out on lakes although my real hope is to be out
on rivers. It is nice and light which means that with a little
planning I can load and unload it by myself and carry it around. I am
a relatively strong woman, but not a power lifter by any means.

On the lake I have paddled it by myself, which is a little tricky and
slow, but very doable. With two people, look out, we are cruising.

I can't think of any complaints. Maybe I will check back in after a
river trip next week.

In the meantime, you can tell from the picture that my dog approves of
the purchase as well. I should note that it is stable enough to stay
upright when he jumped out unexpectedly for a swim, but he also weighs
less than 20 lbs.

See you on the river,
Maggie

Trip to the southeast

Here are some pictures from my trip this past week. We got to paddle the upper and lower ocoee as well as the chattooga in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and North Carolina. It was a great trip with plenty of water.

Dick's Creek falls on section 3

Somewhere on the Chattooga

Second Ledge

Second Ledge

First Annual Alpine Shop Family Paddle Day

We had a great day on Sunday. Thanks to all who came out to the first ever Family Paddle Day with the Alpine Shop to benefit the Rainbow House. The event was a success with about 80 people getting out on the water. Thanks to all who helped with this event, we look forward to seeing you all in the store or at our next event. Here are some pictures from sunday thanks to Michael Hoffmann.

State rep. Chris Kelly, Rainbow House executive director Jan Stock, and Columbia Mayor Darwin Hindman.

The registration tent.

Mayor Hindman tries out the Wilderness Systems "Pungo 120"

Good food hot off the grill.

The Alpine Shop booth had some good examples of what we carry in our store   ( as long as we could keep our examples from blowing off the table).

The scene down at the shore-line.

Confluence Kurt helping out one of the boaters.

Some shots of paddlers out on the lake.