and so it goes…

Last week I had the opportunity to accompany a friend up to the OR show in Salt Lake City for an absolutely wonderful day of epic gear-filled distraction. Some of the booths were simply amazing. The Sherpa Adventure Gear booth was by far my favorite. Their booth fit their brand and company philosophy perfectly and was a great extension of what I hope becomes a strong and stable outdoor company.

I was a little disappointed by the folks at Arc’Teryx. They had a lovely booth, but you could tell they weren’t there to spend time with fans. I was turned away from the goodies because I didn’t have an appointment.

My feelings quickly rebounded though, as the Mammut and Petzl shops were close by, and both spots had very welcoming staff (not to mention lots of stickers!)

One of the most elaborate and WOW booths was that of outdoor market leader The North Face. From one side it looked like the kind of tent TNF would give to Nasa to employ on the moon. It was a gigantic space, and had very cool lighting.

It is no secret that I am a Patagonia junky, and their booth was more like a quaint series of stores and shops, filled with beautiful, wonderful Patagonia jackets, fleece and shoes.

I have to give mad props to the Sierra Design guys as well, especially for hooking me up with a pro-purchase membership… that will make upgrading the tent and the kids’ sleeping bags a lot easier on the pocket book this year.

I saw tons of gear, far too much to review or talk about here, but one of the coolest things I saw was from a Colorado company Green Guru Gear, who take old bicycle tubes and “up cycle” them into bags, wallets, computer sleeves, etc.