Snowing: time to ski

We just changed the header photo of the blog to reflect the upcoming season, but the snow is falling here in the Pacific Northwest so we'll have to ski! Tough life...

Have a great weekend whatever you do.

Exped Tent Pole Pouch: Details!

Exped is a detail company. We like to say that if you put any Exped product under the microscope, literally or figuratively, you can turn up the magnification and at every level you will see innovation and the highest quality. In short, we strive, with every piece of gear we make, to build the very best. The tent pole/stake/accessory bag is an example of the Exped team paying attention to things other brands don't consider important.

Exped Aries Mesh Tent

Exped SynMat insulation discussion

Kaj discusses a critical, but hidden, detail of the Exped SynMat sleeping mat - double bonding of the synthetic insulation. This construction technique is exclusive to Exped and allows SynMat to achieve a very high R-value which results in excellent sleeping warmth in the wilds.

Exped Dreamwalker - "Can your sleeping bag do this?"

The Exped Dreamwalker sleeping bag is one of our very favorite pieces of gear. For ski touring, backpacking, paddling, bike touring, mountaineering and sleeping out in the back yard, it's unique features have won us over. But how do we get others to understand how cool this thing is? A wacky video, that's how!

And here's another video to give you a feel for the details:

Here's the bottom line: you've carried your sleeping bag to camp - use it for more than just sleeping in! It's just sitting there in your tent while you cook dinner. Why not wear it and stop shivering?

Northern Forest Canoe Trail Auction

Exped was part of the NFCT auction a few months back and it looks like they raised nearly $30,000! Here's the recent press release from NFCT:

For Immediate Release
February 17, 2010

Contact: Kate Williams, Executive Director
Northern Forest Canoe Trail
802-496-2285 or kate@northernforestcanoetrail.org

WAITSFIELD, Vt. - The 5th annual winter online auction for the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) ended recently with a record $29,801 raised for programs along the four-state waterway.

More than 300 people placed 2,600 bids on 496 auction items during the month-long event to help NFCT beat its revenue goal of $25,000. One hundred and twenty businesses, organizations and individuals donated a range of outdoor gear, clothing, vacations, books, boats and paddles to the auction.

"The generosity of our donors led to our largest auction catalog ever, and visitors to the auction site responded by bidding enthusiastically," said NFCT Executive Director Kate Williams.

Top bidding items included a Lincoln Chebeague Kayak, Wenonah Champlain canoe with the NFCT logo on the front end tank, DeLorme Earthmate PN-40 GPS receiver, NRS River Wing shelter, Malone MicroSport Trailer, a two-day Maine sea kayak adventure, and a northern Vermont dogsledding trip.

All auction proceeds go directly to NFCT's mission programs, which include trail development and waterway stewardship, sustainable tourism development, recreation and heritage, and a youth paddling program.

The 740-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail opened to the public in 2006 and follows traditional Native American travel routes over rivers, streams, lakes, ponds and portage trails between Old Forge, N.Y., and Fort Kent, Maine. The non-profit organization that manages the trail is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2010.

To learn more about anniversary events and activities, or paddling the NFCT, visit http://www.northernforestcanoetrail.org call 802-496-2285.

-END-

About the Northern Forest Canoe Trail: The Northern Forest Canoe Trail is a 740-mile inland paddling trail tracing historic travel routes across New York, Vermont, Quebec, New Hampshire, and Maine. NFCT, Inc. is internationally regarded as the preeminent water trail organization in North America, and connects people to the Trail's natural environment, human heritage, and contemporary communities by stewarding, promoting, and providing access to canoe and kayak experiences along this route.

Adventure is alive and well in Naperville, Illinois

We just received a great email from Doug, an Exped fan in Naperville, Illinois, with photos of his "junk skis" (a snowboard cut in half) attached. Here's what he said about them:

"My junk boards are 150 cm (140/120/140). They kick and glide

wonderfully and turn like butta. The hill (in Naperville, IL) is about 3 stories tall, no more. But because the boards plane early, you can turn from the get-go."

As we've mentioned before, here at Exped LLC we have a simple definition for adventure:

Adventure = Outcome Unknown

Doug, your junk skiing definitely qualifies as an adventure in our book and we salute your adventurous spirit! Ski it as it lies, eh?

Exped History: Andy & Heidi, Canada, 1981

Part 2 of our ongoing project of posting photos from the adventure that sparked the idea for Exped. Andy and Heidi Brun, the founders of Exped, disappeared into the northern Canadian wilderness in 1981 and lived off the land for a while. We'll post more again soon.

Exped Venus II tent: set-up and features

Set-up and features walk-through for the Exped Venus II tent. Is that a quick set-up or what?

UKClimbing.com discusses the Drypack Pro 15 & 25

The UK website UKClimbing.com recently highlighted the versatile and lightweight Drypack Pro 15 and 25. These are essentially stuff sacks with shoulder straps. Perfect for traveling and as summit packs in all sorts of situation. Keep a sleeping bag in one for the trip to high camp and then use it for heading higher

Exped Multimat

Kaj runs us through a few of the uses for the Multimat. There are many, many more:

• Canoe liner
• Tent liner
• Back-up sleeping mat
• Vestibule liner
• Picnic mat
• Small tarp
• Can cooler
• Wine tote
• Sun shade
• ...

Exped Chair Kit

Ted gives us a look at the details of the Exped Chair Kit, which fits all Exped sleeping mats as well as nearly every other mat brand on the market. Super comfortable and easy to use!

Exped Dreamwalker 450 & 650 down sleeping bags

Kaj gives us a walking tour (literally) of the Dreamwalker 450 and 650 sleeping bags.

These two bags are identical except for the amount of down fill and their corresponding temperature ratings. There are two other

bags in the Dreamwalker series to consider as well - Dreamwalker 250 and Dreamwalker Syn 133.

Can your sleeping bag do this?

Backpacker Magazine - Exped Trekking Poles

In the March 2010 issue Berne Broudy reviews the Exped Explorer Poles.

Team building exercise

Long meetings take a toll on some of us...

Ted.

Sometimes...

...you just have to ignore the new snow and look at the numbers.

Exped Trekking Poles in Korea

Here's a very detailed explanation of the Exped Explorer SA from Korea. Excellent photos and the Google translation is pretty fun.

Fun video from a Facebook fan - Venus III and making coffee

Check out this video from an Exped fan on Facebook. Makes us want to go winter camping right now!

Exped catalog lectures youth on virtues of early bedtime

Once again, the Exped catalog cracks down on kids who stay up too late.

Backpacker Magazine - video of Exped Trekking Poles

Here's a video from Backpacker Magazine about Exped Trekking poles. Check it out - they even went to Switzerland to shoot it!

BlogPackingLight says "the exped downmat7 is the mutts "

Blogpackinglight is a backpacking blog and they have a discussion going about Exped DownMats. Our favorite comment from this one is:

"the exped downmat7 is the mutts "

That's one we haven't heard before, but it's pretty accurate. People say stuff like that after their first night's sleep on an Exped mat. I can't remember what I said after my first night, but it was something along those lines.

Ted gets a little loopy after a long week...

Here's Uncle Ted on a Friday afternoon after a long week.

Andy and Heidi in Vietnam

Andy and Heidi (founders of Exped) have been in Asia for quite a while now - working in the factories and dialing in the details of Exped products that will be on store shelves and with you on your adventures this year. Right now they are in Vietnam taking a bit of a break. Andy says he gets a little bit of kite boarding time when he's not working on the new website and catalog...

And sure enough, it looks like he does indeed get some air time.

BUT WHAT'S THIS? It's Heidi slaving away at the computer and doing laundry!?

OK. So he is working...but I'll bet the wind died down...

Exped Polaris on Swiss TV

Exped Polaris on Swiss TV. We think it's just as comfortable as the campers in the parking lot!

Happy New Year!

Thanks to Kurt, our co-worker in Zurich, for this extremely accurate interpretation Exped LLC's New Year circumstances.

Exped Synmat discussed on www.whiteblaze.net

The Exped SynMat is being discussed on www.whiteblaze.net. This is a "community of Appalachian Trail enthusiasts."

Minneapolis Examiner reviews the Exped DownMat

The Minneapolis Examiner reviewed the DownMat and summed it up simply:

"Switzerland rules!"

Chocolate, mountains, fondue, and blissful sleeping. Good stuff!

Exped on Northwest Wildcountry Radio with Joel Shangle

Exped was a gear sponsor of Joel's annual Christmas Crash radio show here in the Pacific Northwest. For the past five years Northwest Wildcountry Radio has done a 3 hour gear give-away show and this year Exped was part of it. Kaj was on the air with Joel and the guys for a few minutes tonight talking about the Exped Synmat 7 Pump - Joel is a big fan of Exped comfort!

Hey Joel - the next show needs to be from the bow of one of our canoes!

Exped Shrink Bag WB 5L tested by KayakGearReviews.org

KayakGearReviews.org just finished their testing of the Exped Shrink Bag WB 5 liter. Check out the reviews here.

The mobile office...

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Free Ski Safety Classes

If you ski in the Cascades, you should consider attending one of the FREE safety classes described below. Just got this email from The David Pettigrew Memorial Foundation - check it out:

I want to let you know about 14 classes the foundation is offering this year. We are able to do this through the support you have given us. Without your support these classes and our foundation could not exist. Please take a look and see if you or anyone you know would like to attend. All information on the classes, a brochure and sign-ups can be found at our website: www.thedavidpettigrewmemorialfoundation.com Please pass it around to your company, friends and family. Here is a posting I put on Turns-all-year.com detailing the events:


Thank you for taking the time to read this. As you may know from my previous posts, we run a non-profit memorial foundation in memory of my brother David Pettigrew who passed away up at Alpental in 2005. We are excited to announce 14 Free safety classes this year, up from 2 last year. They are:



* Proper Beacon, Probe and Shovel Usage

Hosted by John Stimberis at Alpental

(see calendar on our website for all the dates)



* Intermediate Mountain Safety: Avalanche Awareness

At Alpental and Stevens Pass

(see calendar on our website for all the dates)



* Introductory Class: Basic Mountain Safety

At Alpental, Stevens and Mission Ridge

(see calendar on our website for all the dates)



As I say, these are completely FREE to the public (If you want to donate, please feel free, anything is greatly appreciated). Our foundation is supported by donations mainly generated from our golf tournament in August.



All information on the classes, the Foundation, and sign-up can be found at our website: www.thedavidpettigrewmemorialfoundation.com

You can also find a copy of our brochure on the website. If you have any questions, please contact me....



As you can see, we are growing and expanding our offering, so please stay tuned for more advanced classes in the future. We always appreciate your input and support. So please spread the word to anyone you know that might benefit from attending our classes or participating in our foundation.



Special thanks to Kevin Marston, Corey Rubinfeld, Ryan Forbes, Brad Whiting and Rob Gibson for their part in creating, hosting and all around assistance. Without these unbelievable experts, we could not do what we do.

Thank you,
Kevin Pettigrew

Happy Holidays from the team at Exped LLC

Exped Air Pillow = can of Tab (but much lighter!)

Everybody's favorite supermodel and Italian cycling hero, Mr. Dave Perella himself (aka Superella), shows us just how small the Exped Air Pillow really is...

Banff Mountain Film Festival, North Bend

First time in North Bend!

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Team Exped LLC

As we've mentioned before, it's all about teamwork. Oh, and sillyness...

Dave Perella joins Exped LLC

December 7, 2009

Seattle, WA

Exped LLC, the North American subsidiary of Exped AG of Switzerland, announces today the hiring of industry veteran Dave Perella as Director of Customer Service and Logistics.

“Adding Dave to our team is really great for Exped, but the biggest winners here are our customers ” said Josh Espinosa, Director of Operations for Exped LLC. “Dave’s spent the past 10 years working closely with retailers and consumers every day and has built a reputation for being one of the very best in the industry. He’s got a work ethic that just doesn’t quit and he’s truly committed to the very best service.”
“All of us here at Exped LLC began our industry careers on the service side of the business,” adds Ted Steudel, Director of Sales, “but DP is exactly who we need to set the pace for us. Our customers will also benefit greatly from Dave’s know-how on the logistics side. And he’s good to draft behind on a bike!”

Perella officially began work at Exped LLC on December 1st and can be reached at dave@exped.com and 866.326.4586, x13.

About Exped:

Since 1997, the Exped team has designed and built the highest quality specialized gear for the active outdoor enthusiast. This equipment is designed to appeal to everyone from the casual hiker of the Appalachian Trail to the technical climber in the Himalayas. Exped means expedition equipment, and through ingenious simplicity and innovation Exped delivers the maximum outdoor experience with minimal means. Exped is based in Zurich, Switzerland and Seattle, Washington and maintains uncommonly close relationships with their business partners around the world.

www.exped.com
www.expedlife.com

Exped Drypack Pro 15 video tour

Ted and Dave give us a walk-through of the Drypack Pro 15, a lightweight roll-top stuff sack with shoulder straps and waist belt.

It's all about teamwork around here...

Exped Trekking Poles video introduction

Kaj gives us a tour of the features of Exped Trekking Poles. These poles have been available outside of North America in 2009 and are coming to the USA and Canada in February of 2010. There are many reasons to get excited about these poles, but the big three are:

1. Super Light Weight

2. Extremely Compact

3. "Green Anodizing"

Check out the video for the full explanation.

And make note that Kaj's skis are wider than he is!

Backcountry Film Festival in Wenatchee

Exped LLC is supporting this showing of the Winter Wildlands Alliance Film Festival. If you are in the Wenatchee area don't miss it!

Exped Polaris tent: set-up and walking tour videos

Ted walks us through the Exped Polaris tent. This tent has been used by many adventurers around the world in the most severe conditions. It's designed for alpine and expedition mountaineering and sets up in 3 minutes. A great bomb shelter when the going gets rough.

Martin Volken comments on the Exped Polaris tent

Martin Volken is a many-faceted mountain professional. He's an author (see book cover photo), international mountain guide, certifier of mountain guides, server of stout shots of espresso, mountain shop owner, philosopher, and absolute straight shooter. Martin has been using an Exped Polaris tent for a number of years now and he just sent us this observation:

"The Polaris tent is by far the most breathable 4 season – single wall tent I have ever used. It also features color coded tent poles which makes the set up even easier. The vestibule is very useful. All in all, a great single wall tent, even in the grimm climate of the North Cascades."

Check out what Martin is up to at http://www.proguiding.com. You can't go wrong...

Exped LLC joins Washington Water Trails Association: Press Release

November 23, 2009

Seattle, WA

Exped LLC, the North American subsidiary of Exped AG of Switzerland, recently joined Washington Water Trails Association as a corporate sponsor.

Washington Water Trails Association (WWTA) is a non-profit organization whose members love to travel and enjoy the world by small boats. The Association incorporated in 1990, after realizing that urbanization and privatization of Washington's shorelines are limiting access to and rapidly changing the pristine nature of Washington's waterways. WWTA provides a clear voice for small boater's rights and a helping hand to preserve access to Washington's waters for future generations.

“Exped LLC is based in the Seattle area and we paddle our local water trails year round – and so do our customers,” said Kaj Bune, Director of Marketing for Exped LLC. “A partnership with WWTA is a great way for us to help preserve the human powered boating experience in our own back yard. Every year we kick off the paddling season in the spring with a multi-family, multi-generational paddling trip and we stay at WWTA camp sites. We’re really excited to play a part in the future of this important local cause. ”
WWTA is the steward of five water trails in Washington: The 140 mile long Cascadia Marine Trail stretches from Olympia, Washington to the Canadian border with campsites along the way. The Lakes-To-Locks Water Trail connects the urban waterways of Seattle with the salt water of Puget Sound. Willapa Bay Trail along the SW Washington coast provides spectacular views of sandy beaches, dune grasslands and coastal pine forests. The Lower Columbia River Water Trail extends146 miles from Bonneville Dam to the Pacific Ocean. The Northwest Discovery Trail follows 367 miles of the Clearwater, Snake and Columbia Rivers. The next great Washington water trail being planned is the Greater Columbia Water Trail, a 500+ mile water trail network in the Columbia River watershed from the Canadian border through the Hanford Reach on the Similkameen, Okanogan, and Columbia Rivers.
Please visit the WWTA website at www.wwta.org .

About Exped:
Since 1997, the Exped team has designed and built the highest quality specialized gear for the active outdoor enthusiast. This equipment is designed to appeal to everyone from the casual hiker of the Appalachian Trail to the technical climber in the Himalayas. Exped means expedition equipment, and through ingenious simplicity and innovation Exped delivers the maximum outdoor experience with minimal means. Exped is based in Zurich, Switzerland and Seattle, Washington and maintains uncommonly close relationships with their business partners around the world.

www.exped.com
www.expedlife.com

Exped Air Pillow

Kaj discusses the new Exped Air Pillow, which is now available at your favorite specialty outdoor retailers. Air Pillow is light and compact enough to go with you anywhere!

Exped Trekking Poles

Don't be fooled by the name - Exped Trekking Poles are also excellent ski poles! And with the amazing start to our season here in the Pacific Northwest (Whistler just broke their all-time November snowfall record) we're getting many opportunities to use them for playing in the snow. Today, Kaj and Dave took a moment between turns to discuss the basics of the poles.

More soon...

Images of Exped gear in use from photographer Norbert Blank

All Photos Copyright: Norbert Blank

We received some great photos from photographer Norbert Blank and thought we'd share a few here on the blog. Great stuff. The tents shown are Andromeda II, Venus II and Venus III and the mats are SIM Light and ComfortFoam Mats. And that's the Drypack WB 30 in the canyoneering photo - looks like fun!