For the second year in a row, Rebecca Rusch took top spot among women in the Leadville 100mountain bike race, one of the most grueling and high-profile races on the mountain bike tour, which was held in and around Leadville, CO, this past weekend.
Rebecca’s winning time of 7:47:35 set a new course record, destroying the previous record, held by Laurie Brandt, by more than 11 minutes. The next closest racer behind Rusch was Amanda Carey, who came in at 8:12:54.
“Another win at Leadville is a huge. This race is just unreal,” said Rusch quoted in a post on Bike World News. “I’ve been training with this being my main goal all year. Still, I surprised myself. I wanted the course record, but I didn’t expect to beat it by 11 minutes. This was the most painful day I had on a bike, but it was worth it.”
Many of us at Adventure® Medical Kits just got back from another busy but greatOutdoor Retailer Summer Market — the trade show for leading outdoor manufacturers and retailers, which takes place the first week of August in Salt Lake City, UT. Prior to and during the show, AMK was recognized by OR’s organizers as one of its ’40+ Legacy Partners’. The initiative, which included special call-outs on OR’s website and signage on the convention floor, honored AMK as one of only 54 companies that has exhibited at Outdoor Retailer for at least 40 shows. Below is a summary of other highlights that occurred during OR:
SOL ORIGIN & CORE LITE MANIA!
Buyers and media alike couldn’t get enough of the company’s first ever line of Essential Tools, the SOL Origin and Core Lite. The Origin was prominently featured on the local Salt Lake ABC affiliate and Park City Television, among a plethora of other media outlets. Representing AMK’s first entry into hard goods, the Origin and Core Lite — which will also be the first products to be released under the newly minted SOL brand — offer a multitude of survival components that will save your bacon, if you’re lost, hurt or stranded in the outdoors. Among other items, both the Origin and the Core Lite come with a fully featured knife — a folding AUS-8 locking blade with easy-grip handle that includes a built-in LED light and single-frequency, pea-less whistle. Both products will hit store shelves later this year — just in time for the holiday rush!
AMK ATHLETES IN THE BOOTH
Plenty of AMK’s athletes and other industry notables stopped by the booth, including International Mountain Guides‘ partners Eric Simonson and George Dunn. George recently became the first person to ever summit Mt. Rainier 500 times. An amazing milestone. Congratulations George! Only 500 more till you reach 1000, right? Women’s World Mountain Bike Champ Rebecca Rusch also hung out in the booth. Rebecca was preparing to compete in the Leadville 100, which is coming up this weekend. Rebecca won the event in ’09 and is gunning for the two-pete this year. Best of luck, Rebecca!
Rebecca Rusch hanging out in the AMK booth
Throughout the show, AMK was also helping to raise money for Epicocity’s Elephant Ivory Project, which aims to end the practice of elephant poaching in Africa. National Geographic Channel’s Young Explorer grant winner Trip Jennings and the Epicocity Crew are currently raising funds for a forensic biology expedition to the remote jungle of the Democratic Republic of Congo this fall, with the goal of saving wild elephants from the illegal ivory trade. You can help the cause directly, by donating money to the project here.
During the OR show, AMK also donated DEET-free Natrapel® 8 hour insect repellent and Ultralight/Watertight medical kits to the Four Corners School of Outdoor Education(FCS), a Monticello, Utah-based non-profit organization that provides outdoor education on and about the Colorado Plateau located in parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. According to executive director and founder Janet Ross, the Natrapel® 8 hour was sure to be an indispensable item for the trip the FCS was organizing for a group of outdoor industry leaders to the Canyonlands and Arches National Park, following the conclusion of OR. To learn more about the great work the FCS does, go here.
It’s hard to believe it already came and went, but it was another amazing Summer OR show for Adventure® Medical Kits. Now the real work begins, getting the new products onto retailers’ shelves – oh yeah, and preparing for Winter OR 2011. It’s, like, only six months away!
Working in concert with Scout Troops 364 and 361, of Madison, AL, AMK is supporting the Jamboree with the donation thousands of samples of DEET-free Natrapel® 8 hour insect repellent wipes, which will distributed along with “Be Safe” outdoor first aid pamphlets in goodie bags to scout leaders. In addition, AMK is also providing a variety of its medical kits, survival packs and hygiene products, including the alcohol-free Adventure® Hand Sanitizer and Fresh Bath Travel Wipes.
Throughout the Jamboree, Troops 364 and 361 will use the AMK products to teach four outdoor merit badges — for camping, hiking, backpacking and cooking – to scouts in attendance. All of the AMK gear will also be showcased in designated areas as “suggested products” that scouts should pack when camping, backpacking or hiking.
Separately, AMK is also shipping a significant amount of Natrapel® 8 hour wipes to the Scouts’ New York City Jamboree, which will take over part of Times Square from July 30 – August 1st. NYC-based outdoor retailer Tents & Trails will hand out the wipes on behalf of AMK along with prizes for troops, including AMK’s Day Tripper medical kit and stainless steel SOL Survival Bottle.
Natrapel 8 hour wipes to be distributed to Scouts at Times Square Jamboree
Whatever Jamboree you’re attending this week, be sure to make it a safe one!
Congratulations to AMK East Coast Sales Manager Kyle Peter, who recently competed in his first 100 mile race — the Western States 100. Known for its grueling terrain, the Western States 100 takes place in late June, in California, starting at the base of the Squaw Valley ski resort and finishing up at the Placer High School track in Auburn.
Kyle recuperating post race
Over the course of the race runners climb 18,000 feet and descend a total of 23,000 feet on mountain trails before they cross the finish line. Runners finishing before the 30 hour time limit for the race receive a bronze belt buckle; those who finish in under 24 hours receive a silver belt buckle. Kyle, an accomplished adventure racer and member of Team Tecnu, snagged a bronze buckle, finishing in 169th place at a time of 26:35. Read below his account of the challenges he experienced during his first stab at an ultra marathon:
This was by far the highest quality event I have ever competed in, and that includes Ironman and Primal Quest. After the race, I definitely developed a new outlook on the pace of adventure racers – Adventure Racers, we are slow!
At Adventure Medical Kits, periodically we ask top athletes what essential items they pack before competing in their particular sport or activity.
This week we asked three-time World 24 Hour Mountain Bike ChampionRebecca Rusch, who also happens to be a licensed EMT,what she stows before heading out for a mountain bike race. Here’s her can’t-leave-home-without-it list:
Bike. “Sometimes two bikes so I have a back up. Which bike I bring depends on the course, but it’s usually the Specialized S-Works Era or the Specialized Stumpjumper Carbon 29er hardtail.”
Bike repair stuff. “Extra tires, tubes, pump, tools, chain, lube, brake pads, etc. I try to be fairly self sufficient and assume that there might not be a bike shop or mechanic available where I am going, so I bring quite a bit of extra repair stuff. I guess this goes back to my adventure racing days.”
Clothing. “For appropriate conditions and then some: rain gear, sun gear, cold weather gear, extra socks, gloves, shorts, sunglasses, Buff for my head/neck.”
Shower cap and surgical gloves. “As emergency cold weather items. These fit right into my saddle bag on my bike and have saved me more than once.”
Pre-race, post race and race nutrition. “I bring all of my own race food because you never know what you will be able to get when traveling and the fuel that you put into your body is a direct link to your output. Mostly Hammer Nutrition items including vitamins, bars, gels and recovery drink for after the race. I make myself drink a recovery drink before I can toast a celebratory beer.”
Suunto T6c watch and heart rate monitor. “So I can record the work and re-live the experience after the fact.”
Adventure Medical Kit. “Usually a hybrid, semi-customized kit with chamois cream, sunscreen, anti inflammatory, anti-histamine, wound cleaning/closure items, antiboitic cream and tablets, asthma medications, kinesiology tape and any specific medications for where I’m traveling such as anti malaria pills for certain parts of the world, Diamox for very high altitude trips, etc.”
Rusch favors AMK's New 2.32 oz Ultralight/Watertight .3 kit
Foam roller. “This is key for cheap massage and keeping my muscles loose and supple for racing.”
Red Bull Energy shots. “Little tiny 2 oz shots that travel really well and can fit in with my race gear. This is my motivation when I have none.”
Cell phone. “Because it’s mandatory to Twitter, Facebook and tell everyone what’s going on and I need it as an alarm clock so I don’t miss the race start. I’m not a good morning person, so I have to be certain I’ll wake up in time for the race.”
iPod. “For relaxing during travel and in the hotel (especially if I have loud neighbors and really want to get a good night’s sleep before the race).”
Andy. “My small travel gnome who goes along with me for good luck.”
Rebecca Rusch is a three-time World Solo 24 hour Mountain Bike Champion. Her next race is The Wood River Short Track Series in Hailey, ID.
It was a big weekend on Mt. Everest – everyone’s patience paid off and may climbers made it to the top of both the North and South Summits.We have been following International Mountain Guides for a couple of weeks, and their update is below, in addition there were several other notable summits this weekend.
Viewed from the summit, IMG climbers take the final few steps to the top of Mt. Everest, 29,035'. (photo: Willie Benegas)
As expected, the winds died, the sky cleared, and the weather window opened on schedule on Everest today, giving climbers access to the summit from both sides of the mountain. There appears to have been a lot of summits, although as of this writing, I haven’t heard an estimate yet. There were however, two summits of note that I wanted to touch on this morning.
First, on the North Side, 13-year old Jordan Romero successfully reached the top of Everest, setting a new record for the youngest person to accomplish that feat. Jordan has received a ton of media attention prior to the climb, and is sure to receive a lot more today, and while I’m definitely not in favor of these young kids climbing 8000 meter peaks, I’m glad that his climb is over, and he is down safe today. I want to extend a congratulations to Jordan and his whole team. He now has just Mt. Vinson in Antarctica to summit to nab all of the Seven Summits. He’ll head for that peak in the fall.
Apa Sherpa also topped out on the mountain, via the South Side, claiming his 20th summit of the mountain. Apa reached the summit at 8:34 AM local time today, extending his own record for most times on top of the world. Apa is climbing to raise awareness of his own charity, the Apa Sherpa Foundation and to raise awareness of climate change. Congratulations to Apa as well!
All 15 IMG climbers and guides, and also their 15 sherpas climbing today, have now reached the summit and are on the way down. All that patience has paid off with a gorgeous summit day and not too much wind up high. We are super proud of all these climbers and wish them a safe trip down. The second IMG team is making good progress up to the Col from Camp 3 in preparation for their summit attempt tomorrow.
Everest's summit ridge. The lower peak with a climber visible is the South Summit, followed by the traverse to the Hillary Step with climbers visible on top of the Hillary Step. Lhotse is the big peak visible directly behind and to the left of the South Summit. (photo: Justin Merle)
May 24th:
We are proud to report that John, Ryan, Lei, Mike, Justin and their four sherpas have summited and are now on the way down to the Col. Robert, Chris, and Peter turned back on the ascent from near the Balcony and have already reached back to the Col and are now descending to Camp 2.
The climbers who summitted yesterday and spent the night on the Col are also making their way down to Camp 2. The weather up high on Everest has been light winds with some clouds and a few flakes. Down lower there was more snowfall overnight, but the sun is now starting to burn through. We have a group of Sherpas on their way to the Col from C2 to start carrying down the empty oxygen bottles and equipment. We’ll keep you posted on the team’s progress.
Here is another update on the International Mountain Guides summit bid status. As always, keep an eye out for more updates coming soon!
Camp 3 at 23,500' midway up the steep Lhotse Face. Climbers begin sleeping on oxygen here, and crampons must be used outside of tents to move around on the ice.
May 19, 2020
IMG deputy leader Ang Jangbu reports from Base Camp that everyone did very well today pulling into Camps 1 and 2:
Karel, Al and Lei went from Camp 1 to 2. Bergum, Ford, Mike Chapman and Merle went from BC to Camp 2 directly. John and Ryan Dahlem and Robert Kay stayed at Camp 1 for the night and will move to Camp 2 tomorrow. Ten sherpas carried to South Col, three carried Camp 3 and two carried to Lhotse Camp 4 today. Three more sherpas moved to Camp 2 today. It was windy all day today above Camp 1.
The plan for tomorrow (5/20) is that the Hybrid team and also Greg, Brook, Boaz, Hancock, B Chapman, Lein, Davis, Karel and their personal sherpas plan to leave Camp 2 at 3am in the morning and head up to Camp 3. Ang Pasang, Tenzing Gyalzen and Phura Ongel will go ahead of the group to Camp 3 and set up three more tents and then they will drop back down to Camp 2. We have two sherpas down here at BC (Phu Tashi and Karma Gyalzen) who will go to Camp 1 and meet two sherpas coming down from Camp 2. These four sherpas will take down the Camp 1. The rest of the sherpas are taking a rest day today. Tomorrow they will go to Camp 2 and will carry personal/group gear to the Col and set up tents the next day.
Looks like the teams on Everest, including International Mountain Guides‘ teams are getting ready to start their summit bids! Keep watching for updates – there should be more news soon.
IMG Sherpa Trek team before they departed base camp. (photo: Ang Jangbu)
Dawa Nuru on the fixed ropes below C3 (photo: Justin Merle)
IMG leader Justin Merle reports from Base Camp that the Sherpa Trek group left today after a nice visit, and are heading for Lobuche.
The team reports that there may have been as many as 50 Everest summits today. Congrats to these summiters, the door is open now!
This morning the IMG climbers finished packing high altitude snack food and personal gear for the summit bids and we got the oxygen masks handed out to the Sherpas. The weather report is looking better with the jet stream is forecasted to start tracking over the next week more to the north, away from Mt Everest. Currently it has been very close to Everest, moving away slightly, but then meandering back and forth. Now that it starts to move conclusively to the north, this is really the beginning of the end of the climbing season, since this also signals the beginning of the monsoon formation down in the Indian Ocean.
The tentative plan for the IMG is to split the team into two waves, with the first group of summit climbers starting up tomorrow, and the second group starting up the next day. Leaving at a pre-dawn hour tomorrow morning are the Hybrid team, Greg Vernovage, Boaz, Hancock, Lien, Wang, B Chapman, Masek and their respective personal sherpas. The rest of the climbers and their Sherpas leave Base Camp the following day with Justin.
International Mountain Guides reported that their first expedition members reached the summit of Mount Everest today. The teams are preparing for their summit attempts in the coming weeks. Keep track of their progress and read daily updates by vising their blog. Congratulations on the first successful summits of the year and we are wishing the teams luck in the coming weeks!
IMG Sherpas at Everest Base Camp
First Summits of the Season
May 5, 2010
IMG deputy leader Ang Jangbu Sherpa reports that the following IMG sherpas reached the summit of Mount Everest between 11:25 and 11:30 AM on Wednesday, May 5, 2010:
They fixed rope from the South Col to the Balcony yesterday and finished fixing all the way to the summit today along with three sherpas from two other teams: HIMEX and AAI. Congrats to all nine of these guys, great work.
AMK adventure athlete Will Cross will soon attempt a climb of Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world (27,824ft), located 21 miles east of Mount Everest.
Cross will depart shortly for this monumental peak as part of his “Giant Mountain Challenge” – a quest to climb six of the highest peaks in the world. Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 30 years ago, Cross is pursuing this latest challenge as part of his ongoing effort to demonstrate that one can lead an extraordinary life with diabetes, an incurable condition and a global pandemic. AMK and its parent company Tender Corp. are sponsoring Cross for the climb and other expeditions he’ll be participating in throughout the year.
Along with packing a variety of AMK products , Cross will be taking along HealthiFeet, which he’ll use as part of his daily regimen to keep his feet strong and healthy during the trip. A podiatrist recommended topical cream, HealthiFeet is clinically proven to relieve foot discomfort associated with cold feet, diabetes and neuropathy. To learn more about how HeatlthiFeet works, check out this episodeof “The Doctors” which recently featured the product in a segment on foot care.
