A major conservation effort in South Africa is underway with the construction of a 650km trail set to open in October 2010. What does this mean for you? You have one more hike to add to your life list.This trail constitutes the first true, long distance, hike on the continent of Africa. You may be well aware of The Appalachian trail, The Continental Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail, but what about the trails beyond U.S. boarders? Here’s a quick run down…
- Camino de Santiago, Spain - 500km
- Sendero de Chile, Chile - 9700km (not yet completed)
- And now, Rim of Africa, South Africa - 650km
The new Rim of Africa trail will follow a natural route that stretches from the West Coast of the country to the Outeniqua Mountains. The trail routes through both nature preserves and private lands seldom visited by outsiders. The full trail will take roughly 48 days to complete, but you will be able to access the the trail in four different stages. Continue reading >>
In an effort to provide information about the Gregory brand consolidated in one place on the web, Gregory is adding individual sites off its home page at Gregorypacks.com that cater to individual world markets, in their languages.
We’ve long had a Japanese site. Now, it’s located off the Gregory home page. This past week, we added a portal off the home page to a site in French, what with sales on the rise in France, one of the homelands of Alpinism. (We also have the French to thank for the term we all hope to be doing a lot of the winter season, ‘Apres-ski.’)
Next up, look for sites dedicated to the German speaking markets (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), China and the UK.
And, true to this blog’s name, ‘Gregory goes there’, we’ll continue to include regions beyond North America.
Gregory recently held its annual sales meeting about an hour or so from the home office at a small 
resort on the California Coast that’s a great spot to combine work and the outdoors. Reps from around the world converged for a couple of days to talk business, see preliminary designs for next season, and of course hike, mountain bike, surf and sea kayak.
Really, business did get done …
Some of the reps from farther afield often take the opportunity of being in California to make a more full trip of it. Harry Kondo, the company’s Asia Pacific sales and marketing manager, based in Japan, headed south after the meeting to
surf.
Being an avid climber, Thomas Strobl, from Invia, Gregory’s distributor in Germay, Austria and Switzerland, often takes advantage of trips to Gregory HQ by building in a few extra days and making the pilgrimage a few hours south and east to one of the meccas of the climbing world, Yosemite Park.
On this trip, before headed to the park’s granite walls, Thomas in the name of product testing stole (OK he did actually ask and got the green light with the condition that he report back with his feedback) a Serrac 35 sample from Gregory’s forthcoming Fusion LTS pack line for 2010.
Here’s a couple shots of Thomas sorting gear and eyeing a certain iconic rock route.
Here’s a few images our friends have uploaded to Gregory’s Flickr page, showing where in the world they’ve gone with their Gregory packs.
Mount Shasta …
… Holland …
… and the Philippines.
Keep ‘em coming!
There’s a lot of concern out there about the way the earth’s climate is changing, rapidly melting the world’s high-mountain glaciers and remote ice caps, and what that means for people and the natural world. And there’s been a lot of talk out there about a recent Nova documentary called Extreme Ice, about photographer James Balog’s attempt to document the rate glaciers are receding in Alaska, Greenland and elsewhere. Balog and his counterparts on the scientific side of things are setting up cameras on some of these glaciers, including the massive Columbia in Alaska and the Jakobshavn in Greenland, to capture images every hour over three years, giving a more visual side to the rate of climate change.
Several folks affiliated with Gregory caught the Nova documentary on PBS recently and noticed that Balog was using a Denali Pro, one of Gregory’s big-load haulers. A classic Gregory pack, and visually hard to miss for those who’ve spent time in big mountains. No doubt he’s hauling some big loads full of camera gear around, along with ropes, ice tools and other requisite gear for glacier travel and exploration.
Given the state of the situation, it’s not quite accurate to say we’re pleased to see our packs used by the Extreme Ice expedition, but it’s rewarding nonetheless to see folks like these who rely on their gear in some of the most extreme places in the world choosing to use a Gregory.
Here’s to folks like Balog and team out there working to put it into terms that clearly illustrate just how quickly the natural world is changing. The kind of work they’re doing is pretty key in terms of building public awareness, which, the hope is, will help foster the more widespread political will required to do something about the situation.
We love this social media stuff. It gives us great feedback about who’s using our packs, where they’re using them, and how they’re using them. Even when it does
n’t give us specific feedback, it’s great to see people who’ve bought Gregory packs out there doing what we designed them for.
In that vein, Gregory now has a Flickr page, same name as our blog: GregoryGoesThere.
If you’re already on Flickr to post and share your photos with friends, share ‘em with us too. Like this photo that GregoryGoesThere Flickr page member TilNextYear shared with us.
And be sure to do the coolest step (at least we think so): Tell us where in the world it was taken by putting it on the Gregory map. After you’ve added a photo to the group, hit the ‘add to map’ link under tags and drop it on in. We know Gregory packs are well traveled. You can help us understand just how well traveled.
We love hearing what our customers are doing with our packs, whether it’s hiking their favorite hometown trail or hoofing it up to the earth’s highest point. In the latter category, we got this note from Carol Masheter, who considers herself an ‘ordinary’ 61-year-old, and who summited of Everest this past May, but not without a few trials on the way down. Here’s her story. Thanks for sharing, Ca
rol.
Time stood still. After eleven hours of climbing from Camp 4 at the South Col, I stood on the summit of Mount Everest, May 24, 2008, about 7 a.m. local time. Unlike the documentaries I had seen, no cast of thousands crowded the summit. Two Sherpas, Tendi and Nima with Adventure Consultants, and I had the summit to ourselves. What an unexpected gift! I thought I would burst with joy. I threw back my head and howled my summit howl, “AAAHHHOOOO!!!” The Sherpas howled back. We collapsed into a three-way hug, a comical, bumbling mess with our huge puffy parkas, pants, oxygen masks and packs. I, an ordinary woman, age 61.5 years, was standing on the Top of the World!
Tendi Sherpa led me to a natural bench of snow at the highest point, and said, “Carol Didi (older sister), sit here. Don’t lean back or you fall into Tibet.” Most of the world’s highest mountains poked through a sea of fluffy clouds in a stunning panorama. They all looked so much lower than where I was sitting. The world truly was at my feet. Continue reading >>
stopped by the Gregory headquarters in Sacramento to meet the crew and thank them for their help. During his visit he met with John Sears, Director of R&D and Nick Kelso, Sample Maker who beefed up his pack by replacing worn out and dirty parts on his pack as well as reinforcing seams. Here’s what he had to say about his visit:
e Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute-Montagne (PGHM) of Chamonix, the group responsible for mountain search and rescue operations in that area, also supported by the famous Compagnie des Guides (
- so close to Vegas that the all-you-can-eat buffets and evening blackjack are still within easy reach. The festival is March 20-22, Friday through Sunday, this year.
