Why don't more Missourians paddle?

Until the Missouri Department of Tourism switched it's slogan over to "Close to home. Far from ordinary," the catchphrase on our license plates was "Where the rivers run." Our state is actually named after the river, not the other way around, and do you know what the river is named for? It's name comes the word "ouemessourita" which was the Illinois Indian tribe's name for the Siouan people. It translates to "those who have dugout canoes."

For a state who's past and present are so closely tied to rivers, why is it that we have so few true paddlers?

Don't get me wrong, I've been on the Meramec and Huzzah and other Ozark streams and rivers on a Saturday during the summer. I know people use the rivers and have a great time on them. And that's great. But there's a big difference between the "paddler" whose idea of "paddling" is seeing how far he can get down the river before he flips and loses all of his beer, and the paddler who is out on the water to simply enjoy the river, or to fish or to introduce his kids to the art of piloting a canoe.

I've loved paddling all of my life. I've gone from my first trips in an aluminum canoe on the Black to paddling a Kiwi Kopapa down the Russian River in California to an Inazone whitewater kayak to too many other whitewater boats to list here, and on to a Bell Northwind canoe that I take out with my family. I love to paddle, and I'll even deal with the crowds on the weekends just to be out on the water. But, for the life of me, I don't understand why this area - with so many year-long opportunities available to paddle - doesn't produce more world-class paddlers.

Things look like they may be beginning to change, though. The relatively recent addition of the Missouri River 340 to the paddle scene has dramatically affected how Missourians (and other Americans) are viewing our namesake waterway. More people than ever are viewing the Missouri and Mississippi as important recreational vehicles, instead of just things we have to cross over on bridges.

With the economy tanking on us over the past year and a half, many families decided to pick up kayaks and canoes as inexpensive modes of both entertainment and exercise for the whole family.

And organizations like the Missouri Whitewater Association and the St. Louis County Canoe & Kayak Club continue to produce some of the most skilled paddlers for miles around.

If you already are a paddler, I think you know what I'm talking about. If you're not, why not give it a try?

This weekend, Alpine Shop Kirkwood will host it's 10th Annual Great Canoe & Kayak Event. There will be hours and hours of clinics, programs, films and trip reports all designed to get more people a chance to get out on the water. There will also be some great deals across the paddle department on everything from the boat, the method of paddling and the way to get it to the river.

Best of all, nearly everything about the event is free. You've got nothing to lose for coming out and seeing what's out there for you to enjoy.

Jackson Kayak Demo Boats Arrive at Alpine Shop Kirkwood

Back in 2003, I was on pace to hit about 70 days on the river in a whitewater kayak. That June alone, I was planning on spending 17 of the 30 days of the month either creeking or in a playboat clinic.

A funny thing happened, though, on my way to the St. Francis River take out on Memorial Day that year. While playing in a pour-over not 200 yards from my car, I tore my rotator cuff. (Or, at least that's all I thought had happened.) After over six months of pain, three doctors, eventual surgery for impingement syndrome and then three months of recovery, I came out of my "non-boating" period in 2004 with a completely different life: went in single, came out married; had a different job with Alpine Shop, a new house and a completely different lifestyle. The closest I would get to 70 days on the river was a five day trip I took in October of 2004. Chalk it up to the rigors of family life - and the incredibly hard transition involved with caring for our disabled daughter who arrived in 2005.

So, why the long back story? Because 2010 is the year it looks like I'm getting back on the river. Alpine Shop just got in its first shipment of demo boats from Jackson Kayaks and we're getting everything together for our first demo days in February down on the St. Francis River.

Here's a few shots of the new 2010 boats:


2010 Jackson Fun (L: 6'5", W: 25.2625", weight range: 135-180 lbs.










Then there's the 2010 All-Star:
(L: 5'10", W: 25-3/4" weight range: 130-200 lbs.)









And here's a great shot of the length and volume differences between the 2010 Superstar (on top) and the '10 2 Fun on the bottom. The Superstar is for paddlers between 160 to 230 lbs and is a half inch shorter than the 2 Fun (below) which is for paddlers between 110 and 155 lbs.

Demo Days begin on Saturday, February 13. See you then!

Rollin' for Charity! Alpine Shop Employees & Elite Cyclists Race 100 Miles Indoors for Charities

Two of St. Louis’s top cyclists will go head-to-head this weekend in an indoor race for charity. The inaugural Rollin’ for Charity Indoor 100 Bike Race will pit man versus woman and mountain bike versus road bike in a race to raise cash and ride 100 miles on bicycle rollers at Alpine Shop’s Kirkwood store.

Chris Ploch, the reigning and four-time Missouri State NORBA Mountain Bike Champion, and Carrie Cash, the current Missouri State Cyclocross Champion, will be competing for over four hours to raise funds for the ALS Association St. Louis Regional Chapter and the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer, respectively.

Alpine Shop, employer for both Ploch and Cash, has offered a $500 prize with $350 going to the charity of the first racer to complete the 100 mile race and $150 to the second-place racer’s charity.

The truly unique aspect of this race will be each participant’s bike. While both will ride on rollers - a type of treadmill for bikes known for its difficulty - Ploch will be racing on his Gary Fisher Superfly mountain bike and Cash will be on her Team Vera Bradley Foundation Specialized Amira road bike.

“100 miles on indoor rollers is going to be uncomfortable,” says Ploch. “But nowhere near what my grandmother went through with ALS.”

“Racing 100 miles - especially indoors - is like a puzzle,” says Cash. “You start with a lot of pieces. Eventually, the fewer pieces you have left, the better the picture looks.”

Both riders are aiming to raise $1500 for their respective charities through this competition. Anyone wishing to support Ploch and the ALS Association St. Louis Regional Chapter or to support Cash and the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer can visit alpineshop.com for links to the specific charities. Pledge amounts may be made in any amount. All supporters will be entered to win in various drawings throughout the day.

The race will begin at 11 am at Alpine Shop Kirkwood (440 N. Kirkwood Road, 63122) and will run for approximately four hours. To make this fun for both racers, as well as those who come out to support them, mini-competitions will be held each half-hour during the race with prizes given to the winning racers’ supporters.

The Rollin’ for Charity Race is part of the Outdoor Fitness Festival going on Saturday, January 9 at Alpine Shop Kirkwood. Various clinics will be held throughout the day giving tips on using the outdoors to accomplish your 2010 fitness goals.

About Carrie Cash

The current Missouri State Cyclocross Champion, Cash is the co-founder of Team Revolution – a cycling education and advocacy non-profit organization for women. Following three years of racing for her own organization, Cash is heading into her first year as a professional cyclist racing for Team Vera Bradley Foundation. In 2009, Cash had 14 top 20 finishes in major competitions including five top 10 placings.

About Chris Ploch

Chris Ploch is a four-time Missouri State NORBA Champion and currently races for both Team DRJ-Racing and the Gary Fisher 29er Crew Racing Team. He was also the 2009 champion of the Alpine Shop Short Track Dirt Crit Series and has made the move to the Semi-Pro status heading into 2010. Last year, he also participated in the Missouri River 340 River Race and competed with the Alpine Shop Adventure Racing Team at the Goomna 6 Hour Duathlon.

About The Alpine Shop

The Alpine Shop began life in 1973 as a small climbing shop. Today, through its three locations in Kirkwood, Chesterfield and Columbia, Mo., it serves almost every type of outdoor enthusiast—be they backpackers, campers, cyclists, hikers, paddlers, skiers, snowboarders or climbers—with a friendly and knowledgeable staff, cutting edge products and a wide variety of how-to clinics for all activity levels.

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Give Thanks. Then Give the Gift of Warmth.

Recently, I was thinking back to a winter paddle/camp trip I took down the Huzzah River. Yes, it was cold out–maybe above freezing during the day, but nowhere near the 50's if that helps narrow it down a bit–and yes, we were paddling on a spring-fed river so the water wasn't warm to say the slightest. But all of us on that trip were well prepared for the drizzly weather and the temperature. None of us were cold. All of us had a great time. (Well all of us except for the one person who woke up with a stye in her eye and could barely see; but that's a different story.)

For those of us who love skiing, snowboarding, camping, hiking, paddling or (enter your favorite winter sport here), we always tell those people who think we're nuts: "As long as you have the right gear, you're fine." And that's true.

But what about those who don't have the right gear for the winter months but have to face the cold on a daily basis anyway? What about those who can't even afford a coat?

For them, winter is not a time to enjoy the great outdoors. For them, winter is about simply surviving. And that's why we're hoping you'll help us help them.

Alpine Shop has teamed up with One Warm Coat to hold a coat drive at all of our stores from November 30 through December 13. For every gently used coat or sweater you donate, we'll give you a coupon for 10% off of one item throughout our store. AND, if we reach our goal of 300 coats or sweaters in two weeks, we'll draw the names of five of our generous donors and present them with $100 gift certificates for our stores.

We've already been able to donate close to 300 coats over the past few months thanks to our "Cash for Clunkers" program and our Winter Swap. As we get into the true winter months, we're hoping you can help us give some more.

This Thanksgiving weekend, please take a couple of minutes to go through your closets and see if there is even one gently used coat that someone in need could wear this winter. And give thanks that you could provide that warmth to someone who needs it.

Thanks. And Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Alpine Shop.

Skiing Icon Helps Women Skiers Find Perfect Fit in St. Louis

Jeannie Thoren didn’t set out to revolutionize the skiing industry. She just wanted to ski better. Now, she has become the driving force behind women-specific models of skis and ski boots. On Friday, October 30, Thoren will visit Alpine Shop in Kirkwood to offer her expertise in fit and function to women skiers in the St. Louis area. For the rest of the weekend, she will sit down for private appointments with individuals to help them find the right fit for them.

Named “One of the 100 Most Influential Skiers of the Century” by SKI Magazine, Thoren spent over 30 years observing and analyzing the way women ski. The result of that research was “The Thoren Theory” - simple remedies that could radically improve women’s techniques.

“It seems so obvious now,” she says, “but when I started, biology wasn’t even in the equation. Now it rules because we’ve realized that women are built differently than men. They have a lower center of gravity and it’s harder for them to get enough weight forward onto the tips of their skis to turn efficiently. A little fine tuning can open up a whole new world of fun!”

Thoren will begin her weekend at Alpine Shop with a free presentation on Friday evening, Oct. 30, at 7 pm. As part of her “Get Winterized” Tour, she will explain The Thoren Theory and how she can help nearly every woman skier.

“Our Get Winterized seminars are all about fine-tuning your equipment,” says Thoren. “It doesn’t matter if you’re an occasional recreational skier, a weekend racer or an Olympic hopeful, your equipment can make or break your experience.”

Following the free presentation, women can sign up for free private consultations on either Saturday, Oct. 31 or Sun., November 1. During these personal appointments, Thoren individually analyzes each participant’s technique, pinpoints the problems and offers on-the-spot solutions. It may mean a minor adjustment to existing equipment or a complete replacement of outdated boots or skis; but the results are the same: ladies who join us for these appointments end up skiing in control and end up knowing every day on the slopes will be fabulous fun.

Jeannie Thoren’s Women’s Get Winterized Tour
What: Ski Icon Jeannie Thoren helps women skiers get a better fit from their equipment
Where: Alpine Shop Kirkwood, 440 North Kirkwood Rd.
When: Seminar and Reception on Friday, Oct. 30 from 7 pm – 9 pm
FREE Private Fit Appointments on Saturday, Oct. 31 and Sunday, November 1
Call to book appointments at 314-962-7715

For more information visit alpineshop.com or jeanniethoren.com.

About Jeannie Thoren
Named one of the “100 Most Influential Skiers of the Century” by SKI Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Most Influential Skiers of the Last 25 Years” Skiing Magazine, Jeannie Thoren is a crusader for women skiers everywhere. She is the recipient of the prestigious Carson White Golden Quill Award in 2003 for her “Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement of Snowsports.” Thoren’s research and experience on the slopes led to the development of women’s specific skis and boots from nearly every major manufacturer. She was named one of the top 100 Ski Instructors in the country for 2000, ‘01, and ‘02 by SKI Magazine and she is a Veteran Women’s Ski and Boot tester for SKI and Skiing magazines.

About The Alpine Shop
The Alpine Shop began life in 1973 as a small climbing shop. Today, through its three locations in Kirkwood, Chesterfield and Columbia, Mo., it serves almost every type of outdoor enthusiast—be they backpackers, campers, cyclists, hikers, paddlers, skiers, snowboarders or climbers—with a friendly and knowledgeable staff, cutting edge products and a wide variety of how-to clinics for all activity levels. Alpine Shop is the only SKI Magazine Gold Medal Ski Shop in the state of Missouri and has earned that distinction each of the past three years. The Shop has also been named one of Outdoor Magazine’s Top 25 Independent Outdoor Specialty Retailers for the past two years. Alpine Shop is the only retailer in the country to earn both honors.

Alpine Shop Swap Festival Helps Customers and Charities

During the fall of 1992, Alpine Shop owner Russell Hollenbeck created an event to help area families sell the outdoor gear and clothing they no longer used. Sixteen years later, Alpine Shop’s Swap Festivals continue to give area families that same opportunity while also helping the store provide tens of thousands of dollars to worthwhile organizations.

The Winter Swap Festival is a consignment-based sale the Alpine Shop hosts each October. Anyone is invited to bring in used winter clothing, skis and snowboards to sell for two and a half days in a 10,000 square foot tent Alpine Shop pitches on the South parking lot of its Kirkwood location.

“Everyone is looking for the least expensive way to keep their families warm this winter. Especially for their kids,” says Hollenbeck. ”With as quickly as they grow out of everything, chances are the jacket they wore last year won’t fit them today. At least with the Swap, they can sell that old coat and find a different one for this year.”

Sixteen years ago, the first Swap was held in a 20’ by 20’ tent in the small parking lot of Alpine Shop’s old Webster Groves location. The tent has grown to more than five times that size now and the line has grown as long as up to 1000 people for the first Friday night of Swap.

The first night of the Swap festival is also the main fundraising effort of the weekend. Everyone 13 years or older pays $5 to get into the tent. Every penny of that money goes to a particular charity. This year that organization is the Gateway Disabled Ski Program – a not-for-profit recreational ski program for children and adults with disabilities. Not only do they work with the physically disabled, visually and hearing impaired, mentally challenged, developmentally disabled and behaviorally challenged athletes, they also work with such worthy programs as the Special Olympics and with wounded veterans and recovering active duty soldiers. Alpine Shop is proud to assist them in their efforts through the Swap.

Customers continue to bring in their used outdoor winter clothing and gear each year. Alpine Shop accepts an average of over 2,500 items into the Swap tent for each Winter Swap. It takes a full-time staff just to keep track of it all, especially making sure every item is correctly accounted for at the cash registers and then getting the consignment payment into the seller’s hands.

The items that find new homes during Swap are not only a few extra dollars for the seller, but also a few pounds of gear that are saved from filling up our junkyards. Even gear that doesn’t sell has a chance to make a difference instead of just being pitched. Participants can mark on their consignment contracts that they would like Alpine Shop to donate the gear to the charity of Alpine Shop’s choosing if the item doesn’t sell.

Alpine Shop’s 16th Annual Winter Swap begins Friday, October 23 at 7 pm at Alpine Shop’s Kirkwood location and continues through Sunday, October 25. Customers can begin bringing their used gear to sell on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at the Kirkwood Alpine Shop only.

For more information visit alpineshop.com/swap.htm.

Team Alpine Shop Wins St. Louis Urban Assault Ride

August 16th 2009

David Frei and I (Jeff Sona) – members of Team Alpine Shop - signed up for the New Belgium Brewing Urban Assault Ride a week before the race. This is a scavenger hunt bike race starting in Forest Park in St. Louis to checkpoints across the city with various challenges at each one.

Five checkpoints were given to us via the web prior to the event with one mystery checkpoint revealed via a word scramble clue 2 days before the race. That clue was: “antarctic granola limbo dens”. That turns out to be “Botanical Gardens Climatron”.

A trivia quiz promoting race sponsors and cycling was e-mailed out on the Wednesday before the race and based on the score on the quiz, teams started in three heats, two and a half minutes apart. Our trusty team secretary, aka my wife Carrie – also a member of Team Alpine Shop, scored a second wave start for our team, two and a half minutes back at the start.

After the word scramble, the known checkpoints going into the race were the Botanical Gardens Climatron, Tower Grove Park (Gus Fogt Picnic Area), BicycleWORKS, City Museum, Big Shark and Mesa Cycles. We would collect a bead to put on a chain at each checkpoint. Our route had us going to the Botanical Gardens first and then continuing on to the others with the plan to go to a second mystery checkpoint whenever it made the most sense with our planned route.

175 teams lined up at the start for a 200 yard run to the bikes. 150 seconds after the first heat took off, we ran to our bikes. We were pushing hard to make up the time and starting passing teams; so much so in fact, that we arrived at the Botanical Gardens in first place. Unfortunately, no one at the Gardens had any clue what to do with this until a lady finally came out and had us go around to the side just as other teams were getting there. Once directed, we ran around the side to the Climatron. There we were shown the picture below as Mystery Checkpoint 2:

David said “I know exactly where that is. “ Back on the bikes for a quick trip to Tower Grove. We were the first team to Tower Grove Park in South St. Louis where we faced our first challenge. We both put one foot in a pair of shoes with left and right reversed with a Frisbee attaching them at the top holding 3 tennis balls. We had to walk about 50 feet to a series of cones while balancing the balls. We dropped them a couple times.

As we were heading out other teams showed up. Off to BicycleWORKS for the best challenge of the day: adult Big Wheels on a serpentine course. We probably lost a little time spinning out around the tight corners but what a hoot! Instead of putting the beads on the necklace, David was putting them in a pack and kept saying, “I hope this doesn’t have a hole in it!”

A long ride to City Museum followed with us pushing hard with a little tailwind, mostly green lights and light traffic. At the City Museum, other teams were already in the midst of the challenge: climb 10 flights of stairs to the roof, up three more flights to a tower with a ramp encircling it to the tip top of the tower. The view from the top was absolutely beautiful. Another bead and a slide ride down to the rooftop and then 10 flights back down. From David’s Wild Onion Adventure Racing days he can fly down the steps and beat me down. He ran out, got his bike and had my bike up and ready to go.

From there on to Big Shark. Because teams had their choice of route it was hard to know where we were in the pack. At Big Shark the challenge was for both of us to get on a skateboard together with a plunger and use the plunger as an oar while picking up cans of 3 different colors from buckets at the end of the parking lot. There were five buckets set up and you could only get a single can from each bucket. David was in the front with the plunger and I was getting cans. Got a red one first and rolled past the second bucket and grabbed a blue one; but I overturned the bucket and had to stop on a downhill and pick everything up. We then had to go back uphill and I took the plunger to the back and pushed us up. Another bead and on to Mesa.

At Mesa we did the wet sponge toss to a laundry basket on David’s head. We had to catch three. We got three in a row but they didn’t see the “swoosh” laid down on shot number 2 so we did one more. One more bead and to the last checkpoint which was Roxy Paine's 56-foot-tall stainless steel tree outside the St. Louis Art Museum. When we got there we were the first team there and we realized it looked like we would win because it was our last checkpoint. We picked up our seventh and final bead, placed it with the rest that were luckily all in the pack, strung them and had a short trip back to the finish.

We came in to the parking lot where Carrie was cheering and happy to see us in first place. We pulled our bikes into the field, took off our bike shoes and went through the blow up obstacle course. Taking the the kids to Bounce U had me done before David and we handed them our beads with a winning time of 1:23 and went to check out our new cruiser bikes!

Excellent after party. Many teams had great costumes and there was a bike limbo and other games and frivolity. Do this race next year! You won’t regret it.

Link to results and photos

http://www.urbanassaultride.com/inside.php?page=resultsandphotos&s=

Other photos:

Riverfront Times

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/slideshow/view/28201156

STL today

http://stltoday.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=25123867&event=816779&CategoryID=17311&picnum=31&move=F#Image

Team Alpine Shop Takes Dusk to Dawn Adventure Racing Title

On the evening of July 25 into the morning of July 26, Team Alpine Shop was hard at work in the Bonk Hard Racing Dusk To Dawn Adventure Race. Nine hours after their start, our team consisting of Carrie and Jeff Sona, David Frei and Doug Nishimura, have another win in the books.

Here's Carrie's account:
Doug, Jeff, David and myself headed to Lake Perry for D2D. We have done this race all 4 years and love the format. Race mantra- “Start at dusk and finish at dawn- racin’ in the cool of the night”.

The pre-race meeting was at 7:30 pm and we got the maps. With all of us relegated to reading glasses except our youngster Doug, at 40, we were happy to see that all the controls were marked and we didn’t have to plot. The race start was moved up to 8:30. We went back to the TA and got busy route planning. We would start on foot and then we would come back to the TA once early and then not til the finish. The start was moved to 8:45 and we lined up. Jason held up the flag, played the national anthem and then shouted go. Fast and furious start as usual. About a mile road run to 3 controls in the woods that could be obtained in any order. Mass crowd to CP 1 and 2 and then on the way to 3 some teams cut off at a pond that didn’t seem far enough to David so we kept going. We were in and out of 3 at the front and headed back to the TA. We were happy that the 3^rd control was a little challenging to separate the field. Total mileage of the first O section was at 4 miles. A couple of solo racers got back ahead of us by a couple of minutes. Next up was heading out on bike and then to a bike drop. Exciting event for 1^st section- Doug lost his shoe in thick mud twice.

A few miles ride to get out of the park to a bikewhack to the road. We saw Phil (soloist) taking the hill to the left of where we went up. We got up the road farther and saw a 2 guy team ahead and passed them. Then we saw Eric (soloist) and were feeling good as we were in the lead with them. Phil and Eric stuck with us until we got to the paddle. Few uneventful controls on the bike before the bike drop. 22.5 miles to the bike drop followed by the second trek section that looked like straight forward follow the trail type stuff to the paddle put in. We were disappointed that the nav was easy but it turned out to be more challenging than we thought. Staying on the trail was difficult. David didn’t want to give up on it and just head south as finding it again when it petered out could prove tough. He was right so we pace-counted and stayed focused to keep track of where we were on the map closely. With his careful nav we went right to everything and got to the canoe. Second trek ~ 4 miles. Gear check with some nice identical twin sisters at the canoe and then we started paddling. Exciting event for section 2- I went down hard on my left hip on the gravel skidding to a stop at one of the controls. I have a big bruise there now as a result.

At the paddle, Eric and Phil got to paddle their kayaks while we had lovely aluminum canoes. We chose to take only 1 kayak paddle (for me) but the paddle was twice as long as we thought as we didn’t realize we were going to paddle to our bikes and then put them in the canoes with us and take them to the paddle take out. The paddle was beautiful with a crescent moon and perfect temperature. We paddled to the bike drop to load up our 50 + pounds of expensive weight and secured them in the boats and headed out. The soloists had their bikes moved for them as they were in kayaks so they got to keep moving and we got behind them and never could catch them again. Bushwackers was the closest team to us and we knew they took kayak paddles so were worried. We saw the Bushwackers glow sticks as we headed out of the CP. Jeff was bumming he didn’t have a kayak paddle and was moving his little canoe paddle like crazy. We paddled to the take out and kept looking back but we never saw Bushwackers. Paddle 9.2 miles. Exciting event- lake so shallow in the middle of the lake that Jeff got out and pushed at one point.

At the boat take out we unloaded our bikes and had a 3 point O section. As we headed out we saw Eric finishing the O. We had a little problem with one on the shoreline that took a few minutes but no major deal. When we got back to head out for the last bike section we saw Bushwackers coming in from the paddle. O section 3 miles.

Last bike was ~ 20 miles with 6-7 of it a rocky, single track section. First section of single track was fun but by the end I was losing my sense of humor with the rocks and ready to get to the finish! There was a night trail run on the same trail that night and there were pink ribbons and glow sticks adorning our route but the prettiest sight were the jugs and igloo coolers full of water at the CP in the middle of the single track. We were all at the end of our water so we guzzled, filled up some bottles and headed for the finish. Crossed the line just before 6 am. Exciting event- 1^st place finish!

Results/splits http://www.bonkhardracing.com/races/dusk_2_dawn/results.asp. Good race all the way around. Well organized, fun format, CP’s spot on. Sadly, Jason says this is the last year for D2D at Lake Perry but we’re hoping he finds another spot for this great race. Thanks to Jason, Laura, Kelly Sumner (course designer) and all the volunteers.

Alpine Shop Short Track Dirt Crit Series - First Week Results

Alpine Shop, Lone Wolf Coffee, Wapiti and Velo Force Racing Team hosted the first Short Track Dirt Crit Series Mountain Bike Races on Thursday, July 2 at Castlewood State Park.

Complete results and photos from the race are available through a link here.

Chris Ploch of DRJ Racing (and an Alpine Shop Bike Technician) took over the lead from fellow Alpine Shop employee John Mathews just after the first lap and never looked back. Ploch built a sizable lead throughout the first 45 minutes of racing and established the early lead for the series championship.



Ralph Pfremmer- course designer, racer and owner of Lone Wolf Coffee and Wapiti- established a tight winding course through the start/finish line for each lap in the meadow just past the entrance to the park; but nowhere on the course was as difficult as the crossing over Keifer Creek. Continually stopping riders in their tracks as they had to navigate the water and then immediately climb the steep bank, only a few of the top riders could power up the slope without losing an obvious amount of speed.

Besides Ploch, Josh Johnson (Big Shark), Bob Arnold (DRJ), Mathews and Greg Sandknop (Seagal) rounded out the top five finishers for the A division (Category 1 racers and experts).

In the B Race (Cat 2 racers & Sport level), Jeff Powell (Ballwin Cycles) took home the cash prize for first place followed by Justin Bouwen, Todd Holtman (Ghisallo), Craig Hoeflinger and Craig Thrasher (Velo Force).

The final race of the night for the C Division (Category 3 racers and beginners), Jax Powell (Ballwin Cycles) crossed the finish line in first followed by Caleb Lambiner, Kevin Bonney, Andy Runty (Ghisallo) and Ben Tiefenbrun (Dogfish).

The Alpine Shop Short Track Dirt Crit Series continues this Thursday, July 9 at Castlewood State Park once again. Alpine Shop will also have Gary Fisher mountain bikes available for racers or spectators to demo throughout the evening.

Alpine Shop Announces Early Open for "On Your Way Saturdays"

If there's one thing you can count on when you're ready to leave for a day (or a week) of adventure, it's that you'll realize you're missing something right before you leave.

Alpine Shop has a solution with our new early morning hours each Saturday at our Kirkwood location. Starting June 21, we’ll open the doors each and every Saturday at 8 am and we’ll have coffee and donuts waiting for you when you come in. PLEASE NOTE: "ON YOUR WAY SATURDAYS" ARE AT OUR KIRKWOOD LOCATION ONLY. That way, you can grab the gear you need... and fuel up with some energy at the same time.

On Your Way Saturdays: Alpine Shop Kirkwood now opens at 8 am every Saturday morning.

Climbing with Conrad Anker

Working at the Alpine Shop has presented many cool opportunities over the years. However, today’s “opportunity” really just about takes the cake!
As advertised, Conrad Anker is in St. Louis tonight to host the movie, EVEREST, and to give his own multimedia presentation on his career and his latest first ascent. He is a world-class climber and as such I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that he wanted to get a “work out” in before his afternoon of presenting and talking about his climbing experiences. Upper Limits, the local climbing gym, agreed to let him climb this morning, before their regular opening time of noon. This arrangement is super cool on Upper Limits’ part, and then to top it off they decided to invite Alpine Shop employees to join in!! I can only begin to describe how cool this morning was to all of us!! We had the entire gym to ourselves!

Conrad Anker has climbed all over the world and helps to draw attention and funding to a charitable foundation in his deceased partner’s name. I won’t go into his list of accomplishments, but you can find out lots more information about his life and mission at his website or at the website of the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation’s website.

So, on to the really cool stuff from this morning!! We got there about 10am, and in total there were 5 of us from the shop (3 from the Kirkwood store, and 2 from the Chesterfield store). We actually got there about a half hour earlier than Conrad and Brian Masewicz, the North Face rep who was helping to make all of the day’s events possible. Since we were there, we decided to go ahead and start climbing. I think we were all a little intimidated by the idea of climbing with someone who was so much more experienced than all of us, which meant that the warm up time was greatly appreciated. It was also really nice to swap belays with my coworkers, instead of having to talk about work!

After Conrad and Brian showed up, we continued to climb and Conrad joined the group. Of course, when he was climbing everyone paid a little more attention to what route he was doing and what move. It is really amazing to see confident climbers do their thing: so much grace and pose in their moves! On a side note, it was fun to see that even someone of Conrad’s abilities does a warm up route of a 5.6.




Although this entire event had developed from Conrad wanting to get his own work out in, he was very relaxed and took the time to give everyone else a belay or tips on their climbing. He came over to watch me on a route that was slightly above my ability level. I was ¾ of the way up, had finally fallen, and was taking a rest. All I could think was that he HAD to come over to watch when I was pumped and hanging on the rope! This was actually a good thing though, since you can’t wuss out with such an experienced climber watching you, so I got back on the route and with a cheating hold or two, was able to make it up the rest of the route. By the time I came down, Conrad had moved onto a climb of his own, and my belayer decided to take a turn at the same route I had been on. She also had problems at the same spot and Conrad came over and offered to climb the route to help us troubleshoot the area. Watching him climb a route that I had fresh in my mind was really interesting. Of course his strength and ability were far better, but it was neat to see that many of his moves were the same. When it came to the troublesome section, he moved left on the wall, where both myself and my coworker had started to go right. This left him in a very different position about 2 feet higher up, and completely changed the sequence of holds that were used for this section. After he came down, we talked about the route for a little bit and then he went on to another route. Another two coworkers came over to work this route and after seeing another two examples of how the route was done, I decided to give it another try. I still fell in the troublesome section, but I got a lot farther into it and was almost through when I fell. I rested briefly and then finished the route, without any cheating holds this time! Just another example of how watching and learning from other climbers is such an important component to climbing!



At noon, Upper Limits opens to the public, and a few regular customers came in. We finished up and then posed for a group picture. It had been a really fun morning! This afternoon there is going to be a Meet and Greet event for Conrad to talk one on one with some of our customers, and then of course the big event is the Everest movie at the IMAX tonight at 7pm! What a great day of climbing and movie watching!!

(more, AND better, pictures to follow, when I get them from the North Face Rep!)

You Can Paddle Day Photos

Photos from today's You Can Paddle Day are up on our Facebook fan page at http://tiny.cc/alpineshop_ycp

Thanks to everyone for joining us on a gorgeous, if occasionally chilly day on the water. Thanks to all our reps who made it in for the event and helped give our customers a chance to paddle some of the newest and best craft on the market. If you couldn't make it out this year, make plans to join us next year.

Not a facebook fan yet? Hop on over to http://tiny.cc/alpineshop and sign up for the absolute latest information on what's going on in the outdoor world, especially in the midwest.

Take a look at one of our Columbia Manager's Trip Reports from this past weekend

This trip report was originally posted on our Columbia store's blog at:
alpineshopcolumbia.blogspot.com. Check it out yourself!

We showed up for a great saturday on the Saint Francis river near Fredericktown, Mo to find bridge-level water, great friends and amazing weather. We got in a quick first run down from millstream gardens, and then followed it up with a second run of the same stretch. It had been a while, so the water felt great. The Saint is quite a gem tucked away in the Ozarks. We really do have some amazing stuff here in Missouri.

Some views from the put-in

Big Drop

Ran into a lot of fellow paddlers at Double Drop

Cats Paw

Cats Paw

Thoughts on the First Night of Banff

I've been hosting the Banff Mountain Film Festival for Alpine Shop in St. Louis for quite a few years now and there's always something amazing each and every time we do this.

A lot of people think we get to see all of the films beforehand and hand pick which ones we think will work best. Well, there's some truth to that; but the whole truth is a lot more interesting. You see, we get about two minute clips of each of the films. So, you can imagine with a film like Red Gold last night, it's impossible for us to tell whether or not an hour-long feature film will be any good based on that clip. It's kind of like a film critic writing reviews based on trailers instead of the actual movie. No, what's great about Banff is that I'm seeing these films for the first time alongside everybody else. That's not to say that there isn't work done by a bunch of people to select which films we think will go over best; but we just never know until the lights go down each year.

The Red Helmet kicked off the show with the tale of a youn,g timid boy coming to grips with his fears after he finds a red helmet in the forest. After experiencing the lives of a number of adrenaline sport athletes (kayaker, climber, mountain biker, etc.) through the helmet, the little man faces his own fears and takes the plunge, literally. Good start to the show.

Papiroflexia (Spanish for origami) was an animated feature. Dealt with the dream to get rid of all the noise and pollution of our lives and get back to nature. Will it be the most popular animated film of the year? We'll have to wait till tonight to see The Cable Car to find out?

Now for the most controversial topic every year at Banff... did the feature film live up to your expectations? Red Gold dealt with a proposed mine at the headwaters of two of the largest remaining sockeye salmon runs on the planet near Bristol Bay in Alaska. I'll just say that I loved the film. The cinematography was gorgeous. The story resonated with me. I know there were people that thought it was too long. But I'd be interested in what some others thought. What did you think of Red Gold? (For conversation's sake, I think the best feature we've ever shown was Alone Across Australia during the 2004 tour.)

The Sharp End: Eastern Europe was hands down the funniest movie of the night. "We don't drink a lot, a lot. I mean 8-10 beers a day is standard." That pretty much sums up this group of Checzk climbers' philosophy. Not that this film was all drunken play. Some of the climbing was pheonmenal. A little humor never hurts, though.

One of the fascinating things about this festival is an almost 50-50 split among our audience as to why they've come to Banff. Half of them come strictly for the adrenaline. The other half are there for the culture and nature. Maybe I'm generalizing that a little much, but I can tell you each year I hear from numerous people "Why didn't you show more of this?" or "Why did you pick that?" and it always has to do with the cultural/adrenaline split. So, I wouldn't be surprised if half of our audience loved Shikashika and half hated it. This was the story of a Peruvian family that climbs into the Andes, hacks enormous blocks of ice from the mountain glaciers and brings them down to the valley on the backs of mules to shave off and sell as snowcones (or as they call it- shikashika). Can you imagine the TroMo kids having to bring down the blocks of ice from the mountains to give Kirkwood it's snowcone fix? That's what I kept thinking anyways....

The last two films, Under the Influence and Seasons, both showcased the adrenaline rush with two of the best production groups in the business today. Teton Gravity Research's Under the Influence had some absolutely unbelieveable powder footage from last year's massive storm system in Jackson, Wy. Seasons comes from a group called the Collective. Every year that they have a film in the tour, I'll pick it. They've been on the cutting edge with their style in all three films they've produced starting in 2004 with their self-titled DVD, The Collective, and continued with ROAM and now Seasons. Their work features some of the most innovative use of zip-line cinematography, super slo-mo and helicopter footage you'll ever see. So, in the future, just so you know, don't miss a mountain biking film from the Collective.

So that was night one. Tonight, our feature film is Journey to the Center, and we'll move from sockeye salmon to BASE jumping. That's Banff for you. It's why I love the festival so much and look forward to it all year round.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did last night. Leave a comment on what you liked or hated...

By the way, funniest Banff film ever: Xtreme Tramping II: Lord of the Springs.

Share Your Adventure: Photo Competition

For those of you who have visited our new Chesterfield location since its grand opening in October of last year, you've seen the future look for all Alpine Shop stores. The images which span the walls include those our own customers have taken as they've explored the world.

This spring, all three Alpine Shop locations will take part in the fun as our Kirkwood and Columbia shops put up frames to showcase their customer's adventures.

Simply put, we don’t want stock photos of models from California in our store. We want images of you, our Alpine Shop customers.

We will be choosing as many as 25 images for each of our stores, so please indicate which store (or stores) you shop at when you submit the images. If your photo is selected, you'll receive a gift certificate for $25! From all the photos selected, we will select first, second and third prize winners for each store and a final grand prize winner chosen from those contest winners.

If you have a great photo of you or your family on an adventure anywhere throughout the world, please e-mail a high-resolution version of the shot to adventure@alpineshop.com. Please also include the names of everyone in the shot, the photographer and the specific location (as close as possible) where the photo was taken.
A Few Notes & Fine Prints...

Please understand that these images will need to be increased in size to 24" tall or 48" wide (and for front window photos up to 72" tall). Mobile phone photos will simply not make the grade. For those of you with some experience with photography, your photos should still be over 80 dpi when height is set (not enlarged) to at least 24" tall. Only a total of five photos may be submitted by each family. If you have questions, please contact the e-mail address above.

Please do not send single e-mails with over a total of 3 mb of files. If you a number of high-res photos you would like to send, please contact us at the e-mail above so we can give you our ftp access.

Images will be placed in our stores during the middle of May.

NOTE: $25 gift certificates will be given for total number of photos selected. (E.g. Family "A" submits 5 photos from three different e-mail addresses and 3 photos are selected for the walls. Family "A" would recieve three (3) $25 gift certificates.

Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour Returns

For those of you who have been there before, I know you're hearing the voice in your head right now at the end of the intro: "Welcome... to the Banff Mountain Film Festival..." For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, well, watch this:

As the host once again for the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, we've got TWO nights of shows this year, Wednesday, April 1 and Thursday, April 2 back at the Moolah Theatre and Lounge at 7 pm both nights.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning, March 6 at 10 am. $10 for either night or come both nights and get the second night for half price: $15 total. Drop in to any Alpine Shop location or call us at 314-962-7715 to pick up tickets before we sell out once again.

We hope you'll join us for a pair of nights dedicated to the mountain life, to culture, to adventure and to a little fun.

Final film selections will be up on alpineshop.com soon.

Orienteering at Rockwoods Range, February 21

As many of you remember Saturday morning's weather for this weekend's orienteering course at Rockwoods Range was a little poor: windy, cold and snowing. But, as it has been said: "there is no bad weather, just bad gear", so I geared up and headed out. As I had planned, I chose the green course and electronic scoring.

One thing I noticed was that the clue sheet was covered in some sort of hieroglyphics. Apparently on the green course they use the IFO symbols, I probably should have learned those.

Off I went. I felt pretty good, a little cold as I left but from my two previous events I knew I would soon heat up. Down the road and past the playground, over the hill and then halfway down the gully and bingo!

Oh yeah, I forgot the 45 minutes of fruitless searching, then looking for #2 and backtracking to #1, then bingo...

It had not started well. #2 was easy, because I had already been there. It was up the opposite side of the creek, then back down to the creek and back up the other side for #3, I think there must be some sadistic tendencies in those who set these courses. From #3 to #4 I really used my oxygen deprived brain. I could just follow the contour of the hillside, with the creek to my right, at a nice cut-in with a large rock, bam! Well not really, it was more like head down to the creek, jump over the water and try to land on the opposite bank, well it looked like bank. It turns out it was just some snow covered leaves and sticks that swallowed my left leg up to my knee.

A few moments later I was crossing the same creek when I landed on a rock that bent my foot like a horseshoe. Then I twisted my ankle, got a twig snapped on the side of my face, then took a whipping twig strike to the giggle-berries, tripped over a branch and found #4!

From this marker to #5 was just follow a creek, halfway back up the hill and around the bend and there it should be. According to my clue sheet marker 169 would be on top of a small knoll. There it was, right where it should be, except it was marker 166. I spent the next 45 minutes looking back and forth. I climbed to the top of the ridge, found the trail (called a handrail) followed it over a hill then cut back down the side of the ridge and found marker 166, again.

I'd been in the woods for two hours at this point and I wasn't even halfway done.

I couldn't for the life of me find the fifth control. The sun had melted the snow on the western side of the gully, my feet were soaking (but still warm thanks to Smartwool's new PhD socks with WOW technology) my legs were wet, my ankle had a nice twinge and I had had enough. I checked the map and looked for the most direct route back to the start and the car.

As you probably know, while creeks are the roads of the forest the ridge-tops are the highways, really cold and windy highways. I pulled my hat down swallowed my pride and headed home, then to add injury to insult I of course got a cramp in my right quad. I got back without too much trouble, turned in my SI card and asked where marker 166 was on a map so I could see how far off I really was. Oh wait! the course setter had made an error on the clue sheet; I was supposed to be looking for 166. He was really sorry, and apologized profusely.

I got in the car, cranked the heat on my feet and headed home to think of how I could spin this in some sort of positive light, at least I had an Alpine Shop driclime jacket on. Don't worry kids, only 33 days until the next one!