Archive for the 'Athletes' Category

Blind Adventurer aims to complete the Pacific Crest Trail

The majority of the things we take for granted are the ones, that if taken away, we would miss the most. And for those who enjoy the outdoors, losing the ability to see would be one one of those things.

At 35, Trevor Thomas went blind. For 30+ years, Trevor had been an avid outdoorsman, whose passions included skiing, running, and mountain biking. But after losing his sight to a rare eye disease, these pursuits no longer seemed possible.

However, after attending a motivational speech by Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to summit Everest, Trevor resolved that the activities he could do, he would do extremely well. And in just five years, he’s accomplished just that. Trevor has become the first blind person to successfully complete an unassisted thru-hike of the 2,1755 mile Appalachian Trail- all with the help of his Gregory Z55. He’s also managed to summit, Mt. Mitchell, the tallest peak on the East Coast, as well as Mt. Evans and Longs Peak in Colorado.

Recently, Trevor has joined forces with Team Farsight in hopes of completing the 2800 mile Pacific Crest Trail, which stretches from Mexico to Canada. Their attempt in 2010 will mark the first time a handicapped person will lead their team along the 2800 mile journey. Trevor will also be the first blind person to complete the journey beginning to end. To aid Trevor, Gregory will be sending him a Z65 built with Gregory’s new 2010 redesign of the JetStream LTS suspension system.

Beyond his accomplishments, Trevor fills his time with rock climbing, long distance hiking, and adventure racing. See an interview with him on Blue Ridge Outdoors’ website.

Published
by
Lauren
 on November 10, 2009
 in Adventure travel, Athletes, Hiking and backpacking and Sponsorships
. 0 Comments

Team nunn-FeedTheMachine to compete in Adventure Racing World Championships

Now that World Series has ended in a Yankees win, it’s time to watch Gregory’s co-sponsored team nuun-FeedTheMachine compete in the the World Series of Adventure Racing (yep, sans pinstripes).

The Adventure Racing World Championships in Portugal is set to begin this Sunday, the 8th and end the following Saturday, the 13th. The race consists of The world’s best adventure racing teams, including team nuun-FeedTheMachine, making the continuous trek across 800 km of Portugal’s diverse and rugged terrain.

If you’re wondering what sort of gear is needed to complete the grueling course, take a look here. Gregory’s Active Trail packs will be helping them make the 5 day, approximately 120 hour journey.

Team nuun-FeedTheMachine finished 6th last year and hopes to improve their standings this year, but given the nature of the sport, any number of things could could happen- so send them some good vibes!

Published
by
Lauren
 on November 6, 2009
 in Athletes and Sponsorships
. 0 Comments

Putting Active Trail through the paces

From adventure racing Team nuun-FeedTheMachine’s blog, some thoughts from Team Captain Cyril Jay-Rayon (in action in photo) after using Gregory’s new Active Trail line of backpacks this season: 

Five years ago, I was looking for a backpack sponsor for our team. After a lot of research and testing, we concluded that Gregory not only made superb packs but also was committed to innovating in the lightweight and fast moving pack category.  Luckily for us, Gregory agreed to support us through our good friend David Egan, owner of Egan & Associates LLC , who distributes Gregory products in the Northwest and Alaska (David also distributes product from 3 other amazing sponsors: Teko, Ibex, and Atlas). Sponsoring a team like ours should only be undertaking by the most confident of companies because we don’t treat our gear well when we take it through extreme conditions for days on end, So their commitment to innovation is expressed not only through their sponsorship of a team like ours (where we provide a constant feedback loop), but also through the actions they take every year when coming out with new designs. Some offer improvements on existing proven designs while others are quantum leaps in innovation. 2009 is one of those quantum leap year with the introduction of the Active Trail line. Continue reading >>

Published
by
Dave
 on October 20, 2009
 in Athletes and Backpack tech
. 0 Comments

Primal Quest - and things to remember on several fronts …

It’s roundup Tuesday from GregoryGoesThere …

Over in the Badlands, Gregory-sponsored adventure-racing team NUUN-FeedTheMachine keeps hammering away in North America’s biggest adventure race, Primal Quest. Currently they’re in fifth place out of 32 teams.

If you’re not familiar with SNEWS, it’s one of the leading voices in outdoor retail … basically where a lot of outdoor retailers and others in the outdoor industry get their news. In addition to reporting the news within the industry, they also periodically review products that catch their eye. Today, they gave a pack from Gregory’s new Active Trail line, the women’s Maya, a 4 out of 5 review, praising the line’s Bio-Sync suspension. Apparently we lost some points for having a women’s pack in ‘Barbie Pink.’ We take issue, though. That color is Amethyst, thank you very much.

A site we like to read,  SectionHiker, has a thoughtful post on things to make sure you do when you get home from a backpacking trip, in preparation for the next one - and to take care of your gear.

And via Backcountry.com’s fun blog, the Goat, comes a story of a ‘naked alpine walker’ and ‘another reminder that snow and alcohol don’t mix.’

Published
by
Dave
 on August 18, 2009
 in Athletes, Backpack tech and Hiking resources
. 0 Comments

5 Hours into Primal Quest and Nuun-FeedTheMachine is in 1st

A few weeks ago, we blogged about Gregory’s adventure racing team, Nuun-FeedTheMachine, and their winning start to the season. 

5 hours ago the team of 4 began Primal Quest, arguably the most challenging endurance race out there, and they’re  in the lead. Teams will run, bike, paddle, and navigate their way across 600 miles of South Dakota’s Badlands over the span of 6-10 days.

Last year, the team finished 4th in the Montana race and they’re hoping to improve their standing this year- looks like they’re off to a great start!

You can follow their progress HERE. Or read their team profile on the Primal Quest website.

Published
by
Lauren
 on August 14, 2009
 in Athletes
. 0 Comments

Running on marmite sandwiches and custard

About a month ago, one of our sponsored athletes, Ben Saunders, entered the Thames Ring 250, the UK’s longest non-stop running race.

To put the mileage into perspective, the race is comparable to running a little more than 10 marathons continuously. Not to mention, it’s capped at 100 hours meaning you’d have to finish in a little over 4 days. Words like insanity and ‘that’s bloody crazy’ come to mind? Ya, me too.

The best part about it? Ben reported that the race served rice pudding, marmite sandwiches, crisps, and custard at the checkpoints. I guess endurance like foods quinoa and GU energy shots haven’t caught on across the pond yet.

Ben made it to mile 82.25 with the help of his Rufous pack when his right ankle gave. Despite not finishing the race (along with two thirds of the Thames Ring 250 competitors), his accomplishment was really inspiring given his ankle injury and the fact that Ben had never run that distance in one sitting before.

He’s well known for his North Pole expeditions and breaking long-distance skiing records. Since 2001, he has skied more than 1,500 miles in the high Arctic and currently holds the record for longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton. He’s gearing up for three groundbreaking expeditions within the next few years. Stay tuned for updates.

Read his whole story on his blog.

Published
by
Lauren
 on July 29, 2009
 in Adventure travel, Athletes and Hiking and backpacking
. 0 Comments

A winning season for Gregory’s adventure racing team

Adventure racing season is well underway and Gregory sponsored DART: Team nuun-FeedTheMachine is on a winning streak.

On June 3rd, the team won the Michigan Expedition Adventure Race, one of the nation’s top 3 expedition races. After more than three days of continuous racing, the team completed 100 miles by canoe, 80 miles on foot, and 165 miles on bike. Oh, no biggie. That’s just 345 miles in 77 hours!

Following that win, team members, Cyril Jay-Rayon (the captian of the team) and Jen Seeger took first in a 24 hour mountain bike race in Laguna Seca, part of the world renowned 24 hours of Adrenalin series. Cyril finished the 23 laps in 23:20 with a total of some 240 miles and 38,000 of climbing.

And to top of the winning month, another teammate, Mari Chandler, decided to enter the U.S. Long Course Duathlon National Championships only a week before the start date. A week later she broke the course record. The course began with a 3k run, followed by a 56 mile bike, and then finished with a half marathon.

They’re now gearing up for arguably the world’s toughest endurance race, Primal Quest, which lasts 6-10 days at the beginning of August. Be sure to follow their progress here.

You can still sign up for one of their clinics that they’ve done in the past. If you live in or plan on visiting Seattle (their hometown) or Los Angeles, they host mountain bike clinics about night riding in those areas. Anyone interested should contact cyril (dot) jayrayon (at) gmail (dot) com for L.A. night rides, and Ryan VanGorder at r (underscore) vangorder (at) hotmail (dot) com for Seattle rides.

Published
by
Lauren
 on July 17, 2009
 in Athletes and Sponsorships
. 0 Comments

Ishikawa returns to the Western States 100

After last year’s wildfires canceled the race, the Western States 100 is back, and so is Hiroki Ishikawa, a Gregory ambassador and one the inspirations behind this year’s Active Trail pack line, especially the race-ready Rufous. The 100-mile race starts tomorrow, June 27th, in Squaw Valley, CA. with a grueling 2,550 vertical foot climb in the first four-and-a-half miles. The race ends in Auburn, CA.

Hiroki, along with all 2008 competitors, will be returning this year for what’s likely to be the most competitive WS 100 to date.  In order to earn a spot at this year’s event, you had to be one of the top three finalists of a 08-09 Ultra Cup qualifying race. So expect to see to best of the best wrangle trail passes, rugged territory, and relentless terrain.

The top ranking male and female will win the Ultra Cup Championship trophy and walk away with $2,500. This race is not for the ill-prepared. No, it’s for super-human athletes like our friend Hiroki.

Good luck Hiroki!

Published
by
Lauren
 on June 26, 2009
 in Athletes and Sponsorships
. 0 Comments

WHOOOOAAAHH!!!!

img_1190.jpg Hey everyone….Coming at ya for another blog installment and a WHUDDUP with me!  I am here in Southern Utah right now, loving life and climbing like mad.  There is constant sunshine here and LOTS of rock to overwhelm a climber like me.  We have actually had a few days of snow too, which is pretty odd for the desert.  But, in all the snow days and few days we’ve stayed in, it only gets you more PSYCHED to get out and get at it!!! img_0379.jpg Colette and I will be here for the next few months climbing, developing cliffs and having a great time in the desert south west. Continue reading >>

Published
by
JoeKindKid
 on February 18, 2009
 in Athletes, Gregory world and Joe's World
. 0 Comments

Ishikawa goes the distance in New Zealand, Hawaii - with a little recreation thrown in

Here’s the latest report from Gregory athlete and ultrarunner Hiroki Ishikawa,  who was one of the driving forces behind the new Active Trail line that’s hitting stores in January. Gregory’s design team worked closely with Hiroki in designing the Rufous, the 8-liter ultra pack in the line.

It’s tough to keep up with Hiroki. In the last month, he not only spent three days running a 71-k route, the Queen Charlotte Track, elsewhere in New Zealand,  he then ran the 60 K Kepler Challenge Mountain Run 60KM, where he finished fifth, then headed right on over to Hawaii for the Honolulu Marathon.

Kepler Track is one of the nine trails (there people call trail a track) called Great Walks in New Zealand, where the scenery is awesome. This trail runs through a national park, going for 60 kilometers in one big loop, and the race has 21 year of history. I got there 3 days before the race for my physical conditioning. As having the race in 3 days time, I was feeling a little too dull from just finishing the Queen Charlotte Track, so I focused on stretching mainly and some jogging.

The day before the race, the racers have the equipment checked and receive their race number (mine was 172, just as my height…). Since there could be some dangerous points during the course depending on the weather, you had to take a rain jacket and pants, two long sleeve tops, tights, glove, beanie, and survival blanket – these were the prerequisites that you had to either take or wear. All of the participants were checked during the race.
 Continue reading >>

Published
by
Dave
 on January 2, 2009
 in Athletes and Sponsorships
. 0 Comments