The North Face Cares

Pine Mountain, GA. This weekend over 1200 runners challenged their strength and endurance at The North Face Endurance Challenge outside of Atlanta, GA. The FD Roosevelt State Park trail system provided a technical course for the athletes that competed in either the 5k, 10k, Half Marathon, Marathon, 50k, or the 50 mile race. Once again, these athletes showed an unbelievable amount of determination and physical toughness as each person crossed the finish line.

Kids of all ages took part in the Karno Kids Race

There were many children in attendance that took part in the Karno Kids Race, including one of Leave No Trace's biggest kid at heart- Bigfoot!  A local middle school brought 53 students to the 5k portion of the Endurance Challenge as part of the Fit Club at their school. We even watched as an eight year old boy completed his first 5k race on Sunday. Way to go!

The North Face takes many steps to minimize the impact placed on the event locations.  In addition to encouraging all of the athletes to practice Leave No Trace during the race by packing out all trash, including goo packets, and staying on the established trail, they give each athlete a reusable water bottle and have staff scouring the grounds for microtrash.  They even used clothes pins to hang up the trail markers along the route, instead of nailing them into the trees!  We appreciate all of the proactive efforts The North Face takes to protect and enjoy the outdoors.

Trail Marker along the 50 mile race route

Be on the look out for Team West, Jason and Agata, at the final stop of the 2011 Endurance Challenge Series in San Francisco on December 3-4.

Explore Responsibly...Kate and Tracy

Clean out your used gear and help Leave No Trace

The change of seasons for me means bringing out blankets out of the closet, exchanging sandals for boots and swapping paddleboard for snowboard. It also means I take inventory of what wasn't used. Do you have stuff in your garage like me that won't be used again?

Here is a great opportunity to clear out your space and help a great cause at the same time.

Sell your used gear and donate the proceeds to Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. I challenge you to help us raise funds to support our education efforts. List your used gear on Ebay's Giving Works and select Leave No Trace as your cause.

Its easy and fun to do!
Step 1 - Clean out your closet and find all of your old gear
Step 2 - Sell it on Ebay through the giving works program
Step 3 - Donate the all or a portion of the proceeds to Leave No Trace

Just think -- your old snowboard could teach a classroom of children about Leave No Trace. Or the tent that used to house your whole family could mean that a new family would pledge to Leave No Trace on their family adventures. Each item you list with donations to Leave No Trace means that more people will know how to protect the place we all love.

You can sell your gear at any time. Visit the Ebay giving works for more information or list an item.

If you have any questions or to let us know about your listing email Dean at Dean@LNT.org.

Picture(s) of the Week 10/14/11

Sometimes one picture of the week just isn't enough...

Leaf Peeping In West Virginia

Up Close and Personal With the Beautiful Fall Colors

Happy Fall Adventuring...Kate and Tracy

Of Raptors and Rapture - Barn Again

Dateline: Lyons, CO

The Colorado Tour

The harbingers of winter (read: Snow and Ice!) are making us keenly aware that our Colorado sojourn as Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers is drawing to a close, and that it's time to head for the barn once more. We reflected on this year's Colorado Tour as we hiked local landmark, Rabbit Mountain, a critical raptor nesting ground and cultural crossroads near Lyons, Colorado. We can't help but feel fortunate for the opportunity to experience the rich diversity of people and places we've encountered along the way. For the past six weeks, we've lived a nomadic life, sleeping in our tent by night and delivering Leave No Trace workshops and outreach by day. Throughout our 36 events and nearly four thousand-mile perambulation of the great state of Colorado, we've been enraptured by the state's wide variety of natural and cultural resource treasures, and equally impressed by the love and appreciation that Coloradans hold for this precious heritage.

Rabbit Mountain - enraptured beneath the raptors!

As we lead our trusty Colorado Tour Subaru into the barn for the winter, we're hoping that this is but another episode in our Leave No Trace travels, and that we will meet you yet down our nomadic trail, perhaps in another clime and another season, seeking to Leave No Trace as the story continues...

Special thanks go to Xcel Energy for supporting the 2011 Colorado Tour, and additionally to Coleman, Inc. and Subaru of America who continue to be dedicated champions for the Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainer Program and the Center for Outdoor Ethics. Of course, incalculable thanks go to our Traveling Team colleagues and the extraordinary folks at the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics for their dedication, support, and joie de vivre.

...along the Colorado Trail,

Peggy and Barrett

Ingrid Backstrom Speaks Tonight in Seattle

Seattle, WA - Ingrid Backstrom, extreme skier and The North Face athlete, will be speaking tonight at the REI Flagship store at 7 PM as part of The North Face Speaker Series, which showcases the world's top outdoor athletes.

Ingrid has starred in ski films like the acclaimed 2007 film Steep, and was the sole female on Powder Magazine's list of Future Big Mountain Heroes. Her quest to ski has taken her around the globe, and she's tried adventure sports from climbing to BASE jumping. Tonight she will present "Whimsical Dreams: The Skiing Life."

General admission is free, so come out tonight to see Ingrid's presentation and to visit with Team West.

Where: REI Seattle Flagship, 222 Yale Ave N., Seattle, WA 98109

When: October 13, 2011, 7 PM

More information: here

All the best,

Agata and Jason

The Time is NOW to Request The Traveling Trainers for 2012!

We have started to schedule the 2012 Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainer Teams and they want to come to YOUR town!

The Traveling Trainers are teams of elite traveling educators, who are on the road 11 months out of the year, traveling the country and educating folks along the way about the importance of practicing Leave No Trace.

The Teams facilitate experiential-based programs, providing the necessary tools to enjoy the outdoors responsibly while leaving less of an impact.

The Traveling Trainers have conducted these types of workshops for educators, children, college students, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, outdoor professionals, trail crews, hiking club members, retail store employees, and others interested in Leave No trace skills and ethics.
NOW is the time to invite the Traveling Trainers to join you in 2012. ALL REQUESTS FOR JANUARY-JUNE 2012 MUST BE SUBMITTED ONLINE BY DECEMBER 1ST.

World Famous Mountains Conference

Portland, OR - This week in Portland, resource and recreation managers of mountains from all over the world are getting together to share ideas at the third annual World Famous Mountains Conference.

The World Famous Mountains Association is a non profit organization made up of policy makers, government officials and representatives of organizations that manage the world's most famous mountains. The Association was formed in China in 2009 and now represents 25 mountains from Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, the Philippines, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Tanzania, and the United States of America.

This year's conference is being held in the United States for the first time thanks to the generous support of the US Forest Service. The conference, which was held in China the first two years, is focused on natural resource protection, sustainable tourism, environmental education, and the conservation of our world's cultural legacies.



Team West was thrilled to have the opportunity to give a short presentation on Leave No Trace to the international audience present at the conference. It was also a pleasure to listen to Monday's keynote speaker, Stacy Allison, the first American woman to summit Mt. Everest. Stacy's dynamic presentation focused on the importance of partnerships when managing the world's most famous mountains.

All the best,

Agata and Jason