Welcome to the Born Out There Blog. Check back often or subscribe to the RSS feed to get the latest First Ascent announcements, expedition dispatches, downloads and more.
Want to try out the gear the guides are wearing on Everest? FIRSTASCENT.COM
The spirit of adventure was alive and well in Telluride, Colorado over Memorial Day weekend. The Mountainfilm documentary film festival brought together a couple thousand people to watch films, discuss causes, and enjoy some amazing spring weather in a spectacular setting. The Eddie Bauer/First Ascent Airstream was a tremendous draw as it greeted people in the middle of the action on Main Street. The First Ascent adventurers and expedition kayakers also experienced an enthusiastic response at the premiere of their new movie, Hotel Charley V.5: First Descent, as a standing-room-only crowd assembled to watch it at the Elks Lodge in Telluride.
Stay tuned to Born Out There and our First Ascent Facebook page and Twitter as we make our way to Vail, Colorado, for the Teva Mountain Games this coming weekend!
It was quite a year for First Ascent ski guides Reggie and Zach Crist, Lel Tone, Tom Wayes, Erik Leidecker and Kent McBride, as they set out to design the 2010 ski collection. They packed up the First Ascent Airstream back in December in Sun Valley, Idaho and made their way through California, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Washington before catching the ferry to the big mountains of Alaska. Using the Airstream as base camp, the guides designed, tested, redesigned, and retested gear until they finally ended the season with a fifth prototype that will be the basis for final product this fall. We hope you enjoyed the journey as much as we did, and we can’t wait for you to see the gear in time for the 2010 ski season.
First Ascent junior ski team member, Lexi DuPont, joined the rest of the team in Haines, Alaska for a couple bluebird days of spine skiing. Check out her run down Light Meter “the sickest, most epic run of my entire life” says Dupont.
The weather finally presents ideal snow conditions, allowing Reggie Crist and the rest of the First Ascent ski guides to log some heli time on the peaks near Haines. Transitioning from ski guide to freeskiing athlete for the day, Reggie descends spines he’s been eyeing for more than a decade.
Alaska backcountry pilot, Drake Olson, waits for a lull in the wind and then guns the throttle. His plane, a highly modified Cessna 180 equipped with skis for snow landings, lifts off circles around and heads back towards the tiny airport in Haines, AK Read More…
Following eight days and more than 10 feet of new snow, the skies finally parted for our first “blue bird” day in Haines. The early morning pink light instantly generates enough ambient heat to evaporate the remaining layer of low-lying clouds. Rainbow Peak stands proud above town as we begin our 7:00 a.m. daily guide’s meeting, fueled by copious amounts of caffeine. The dialog is cautiously optimistic as weather observation and snow pack analysis are discussed Read More…
Although we’ve had a few great days of skiing in the last week, we haven’t had much in the way of sunshine to document the magic of Haines the way it deserves. With more than 10 feet of new snow in the high country and a strong likelihood of widespread blower conditions, it was time for a sacrifice – someone to willingly go against all rational thinking by packing his bags and leaving the team in Alaska Read More…
Last week Neil Fiske, Eddie Bauer CEO, flew up to Alaska to check in with First Ascent ski guides Reggie and Zach Crist, hard at work finalizing the new FA ski gear. Haines offers some of the most epic backcountry ascents and heli-skiing in the world and is the perfect location for the final round of field-testing gear before it’s available in-store this fall.
The Crist brothers are in Haines, Alaska in pursuit of big mountain skiing, and to welcome Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures, or SEABA, to the First Ascent family. Putting the guide built philosophy to work, First Ascent has outfitted the entire SEABA heli and cat-skiing guide team in our new ski gear (due in stores this fall). SEABA guides will continue testing the gear day in and day out, providing critical feedback from some of the most demanding terrain in the world.
No ski season would be complete for First Ascent guides and brothers, Reggie and Zach Crist, without a trip up north to Alaska. Follow the Born Out There Blog over the coming weeks as the Crists and the rest of the First Ascent crew share what it’s like to test gear in some of the world’s most epic conditions.
And so begins the annual pilgrimage to Alaska. The coastal mountains of our northernmost state have become holy ground amongst those who love to ski – especially for those who appreciate lying tracks in wild and scenic places Read More…
Subscribe
