Mission Project

By Tony Farley

My mission, if I should choose to accept it, climb the second highest peak in Yosemite National Park, 13,061 ft Mt. Dana. Videotape the climb, in all its sweaty glory, and bring back the best 360 degree view of Mono Lake and the granite peaks of Yosemite. I have fulfilled my mission and you can see the results in HD here:

Click here to see Beautiful Places In HD

Click here to see Beautiful Places (iPod Sized)

Website for direct download: http://www.beautifulplaces.tv

Beautiful Places is now the #1 downloaded Outdoor podcast on iTunes!!!

Click here to see more photos of the climb

By Christopher Sypniewski

My mission began with the unfortunate passing of a loved one. My grandmother had succumbed to cancer quickly and without warning. The disease proved to me first hand just how fragile life is. The days spent after her death left me with an indescribable feeling. I wanted to do something. Both to honor my grandmother and to help those patients struggling through their fight with cancer. This is when I stumbled upon The Climb For Cancer Foundation. I exchanged emails with a wonderful couple Ron and Dianne Farb, and they gave me some options of what I could do to help. A friend and I decided we would participate in the Foundations second annual "50-50-1" event. In which the foundation planned to put a team on the highest peak in each of the 50 states in a single day. We began our fund raising and planned our climb. We had chosen Mount Rainier. This would be our first climb of a glaciated peak.

We began with a flight from New York to Seattle on June 19th. 6 hours later we would catch our first glimpse of the mountain from the window of a 757 cruising at 30K as we approached Seattle. At dusk the mountain looks ominous, dangerous, and downright terrifying. Leaving a lasting first impression I will never forget.

By Scott Slone

Alaska Podshow produces a "Hike of the Week" segment, which takes viewers on regular weekly hikes throughout Alaska. Mountain Hardwear provides us a sense of security in knowing we'll remain warm, and their packs give us confidence in knowing our camera gear will make it to the top safely. As the producer of the show and a fifth generation Alaskan, I know what Alaska weather and elements are capable — Mountain Hardwear is one of those unique companies that really understand the needs of anyone in the outdoors.

You can find Alaska Podshow by visiting iTunes where the show is featured in the top 15 shows at Places & Travel category.

Become an Alaska Insider™ at AlaskaPodshow.com
Download our recent "Hike of the Week - Summit Lake"
Subscribe at iTunes or at PodShow

Thanks Mountain Hardwear!
- Alaska Podshow Crew

By Edward Fehlig

I have had the goal to get to the point where I am competent in three outdoor sports to the point where I can red point something significant in each sport. Red pointing in climbing refers to climbing a route without taking any falls or without taking any belay breaks. I use this term broadly to refer to any outdoor sport. If you can make it down a burly river in a whitewater kayak with out having to roll, you have red pointed the river. If you can ride your mountain bike on a tough trail without having to set a foot down, you have red pointed the trail. If you can make it down a steep ski slope without taking a fall... I have red pointed various climbing routes in Southern Illinois, made it through my favorite mountain biking trail (Counsel Bluffs) without taking a rest (holding on to a tree with your feet on the peddle counts) and have whitewater kayaked the pigeon river at twice its normal level without flipping my kayak. I have made it down a black diamond without crashing. When ever I red point something new, I feel empowered and confident. While my redpoint successes are nothing to make outdoor magazine news and I don't redpoint as often as I would like, I can thank Mountain Hardwear for keeping me warm, dry, comfortable and thus happy wherever I go.

By Tony Farley
The goal was to create a regular podcast where I go out on backpacking trips to the most beautiful places on earth and show the beautiful places to the world in high definition. I just finished my third episode, where I hiked up Redwood Creek in Redwood National Park to the Tall Trees Grove. I saw a beautiful river, fern lined trails, the tallest trees in the world, and camped on the river bank. It was a magical trip. Upon posting the episode, the Beautiful Places In HD podcast shot up to #30 on the iTunes Top 100 and has been permanently planted at #1 in the Outdoors category!

Click here to check out the latest episode in HD.

And for quicker iPod sized download, click here.

If you don't have iTunes, you can go to http://www.beautifulplaces.tv to download the episodes directly. I also post my images of the trip.

You can also view these videos on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/tonyfarley

Thanks to Mountain Hardwear, my favorite gear company, for supporting my podcast and encouraging me to go to further and to more remote places. You will see the Super Wicked Shirt I wear, the Manticore Soft Shell, and always packed away and waiting for cold weather is the Sub Zero Parka.

By David Guenther
All I could do was shake my head in frustration and trudge on. I was prepared for the cold weather. That didn't mean I liked it. On the contrary, I had specifically tried to avoid it. But here I was, my first day out, hiking through snow flurries, the sub-freezing temperatures and even colder wind chill forcing me to keep walking to stay warm. I paused only infrequently and briefly to eat and rest, taking my breaks when and where I could find shelter from the freshening breeze and bask in one of the shafts of sunlight that occasionally broke through the cloud cover.

It was April 7, 2007, the day before Easter Sunday. I was picking up a section of the Appalachian Trail in northern Pennsylvania that I had skipped last year.

One of my goals when I retired was to hike the 2,175 mile length of the Appalachian Trail. My original intent was to do a thru-hike im 2006. But circumstances and experience changed my mind. Not about hiking the whole trail; just my approach. This was my fourth time back on the trail in less than a year. So far I had completed both ends and part of the middle for a total of approximately 1,000 miles.

By Eric Steele
To get the Space Station into Town Park for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

While this seems simple enough, it involved night strategy sessions and a blind run with six tarps to stake the spot for the Space Station. Having never set up the Space Station, I'm a little scared. Buckminster Fuller was a bright guy, but I'd never put together a Bucky-Ball before. Thankfully my wife was there or I would have floundered for hours trying to figure out the roles that each set of poles play in the structure. Because of Kim, we had the Space Station up in just over an hour and had soon made peace with our neighbors.

Bryon Crow writes: A Mission project that betters everyone, not just my ego, seldom do people realize that Mountain Hardware equipment is used for more than supporting powder dreams. Please read the following. A lot of technical work, as well as Mountain Hardware equipment (tents, clothing, ect.) went into this research project. This is my mission

By Michael Jamison
Peregrine cam gives scientists a clue what goes on in falcons' nests By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian Photographed by TOM BAUER of the Missoulian

BIGFORK - The nighttime janitor moved quickly through the dark, cleaning the floor of bright bones and bits of meat, sweeping clear the feathers, cagey, careful, always wary. His clients, he knew, were hungry, not to be trusted. So he scurried faster, packing out the trash beneath those hard, sharp eyes.

Yet they did not eat him.