As a locally owned and operated store, Patagonia Burlington is fortunate enough to collaborate with local action-oriented organizations. Through Patagonia’s environmental grant program, we partnered with Burlington’s Intervale Center and the Intervale Conservation Nursery to create a grant proposal. Over the last 2 years, the Intervale Conservation Nursery has been awarded $25,000 to raise awareness within our community about the importance of riparian buffers for the health of our waterways and to continue to grow the conservation nursery itself.

Last April, my family and I decided to embark on our dream adventure vacation to Japan. The traditional tour of Japan, in many readers minds’, may include visiting the numerous temples with extraordinary architecture, savoring the view from the top of the Tokyo tower, and admiring the beauty of Mount Fuji.

While we certainly did enjoy the unique beauty of Japan and even some “tourist traps,” the main purpose of our trip was to experience, first hand, the highly acclaimed JaPOW. Our dear friends of Arctic Heli Skiing, a ski touring and heli skiing company based out of Iceland, have worked with a local guiding company, Alpine Guide GAO, in Japan for several years. During this trip, we too would be able to connect with with local guide for a small and intimate tour of family, as well as old friends and new friends.

Join us for Treeline, a film celebrating the forests on which our species has always depended, and around which some skiers and snowboarders have based their entire lives.

Follow a group of snow-seekers, scientists and healers as they explore the birch forests of Japan, the red cedars of British Columbia and the bristlecone pines of Nevada, delving deeper into the rich environments they call home.

Is it time to change your underwear?

It is hard for me to justify spending any money on underwear. They are a piece of clothing I put on and forget about. Whether their performance is good or bad, I just sort of live with whatever I get. When something is reversible, or dubbed as multi-purpose, it makes it easier for me to prove that purchasing the item is worth it.

Patagonia’s new Capilene Air has fulfilled my proof of multi-functional underwear. This new baselayer blends recycled polyester with recycled wool in a woven fabric that does an incredible job of keeping you warm and dry, yet looking like you didn’t just come from the mountain or trail.

On Thursday, August 23rd Patagonia Burlington’s partner store, Vermont Trailwear will be hosting an in-store screening of the Orianne Society film, The Great Northern Turtle. This short documentary is about Wood Turtle conservation in the working landscapes of Vermont.

My dream of exploring South America became a reality this summer when seven other students and I packed up and headed to Peru with a few instructors. The trip is the foundation of what I now know of mountaineering in high altitude environments, which is vastly different in all the best ways from what I had imagined.

I am what some may consider a Vermonter; I was born and grew up playing in the Green Mountains. Many of my roots are embedded in enjoying what you can find in the outdoor community, especially on a local level. The hiking trails are no exception. I hiked Mt.Mansfield at the ripe young age of five, and grew up regularly hiking Camel’s Hump and Mt. Abraham. Throughout my childhood, my parents would place M&Ms on the trail, that I would “stumble upon” to motivate me to get to the top. Today I don’t need them to leave M&Ms for me to get out and push myself. Instead I fill a bag with 3,000+ calories per day and go out on my own.

The Long Trail is a 272 mile trail along the spine of Vermont’s mountains. Two years ago, I packed up and headed out to complete it. I did 126 miles in a week. Due to subpar weather and a tight schedule I stopped. Not completing what I set out to do was difficult for me, but looking back with the perspective I have now, I know I made the right choice.

Mountain bikers love to talk about dirt. When someone asks me how the trails are, the first thing I usually respond with is the quality and the state of the soil.

“It’s pretty dusty right now.”
“The clay is gripping well.”
“Man, it’s all loam out there… it’s perfect.”

We even pay pretty close attention to the things living in the soil as they pass underneath our tires.

“The roots are really showing, and they’re pretty slick!”

Dirt is on the forefront of our minds because it is our primary connection to the earth, and the very thing which makes mountain biking different from road or track cycling, or even possible in the first place. And the majority of the time, a successful ride means you come back wearing or having consumed a bit of it.

One could say that my love for trees, or anything outdoors started from a young age. Whether I was climbing trees, making elaborate forts high up, hanging upside down from low branches or simply hiding from my brothers in a game of hide-and-seek, my appreciation for what grows outside has always been there.

This love translated into my later years when I took a job at a local farm in Maryland, where I tended to all of the plants in the nursery and all of the gardens on the property. Whether it was garden maintenance, planting new flowers, watering the annuals and perennials, or simply thinning the peach trees to foster new growth, I loved being in the sun and watching all of these things take root.

When kids grow up in an active home, they become active adults. When their parents embrace the outdoors, they will as well. Taken to extremes, the kids turn into fun-hogs. They live to play outdoors in many different ways. They plan their time around the need to “get after it”.

I have had the pleasure of watching our three children turn into such creatures. They all embraced skiing at an early age, with the youngest, Molly, on skis at 18 months old. All three learned the basics. They took lessons, then progressed to racing. The oldest, RJ, found the woods, park and pipe more to his liking. The girls raced through high school and beyond. All three eventually became instructors or coaches as young adults. As a coach and instructor for over 25 years, I was glad to see that some things resonated with them.