The team brings together a unique mix of alpinists, climbers, snowboarders, skiers, endurance runners and adventurers, all leaders in their respective sports. So when the everyone is brought together there is mutual respect flying around by the bucket load along with somewhat scary levels of energy and competitiveness.
I sea kayaked with Conrad Anker ("arguably the world's most influential alpinist" - a quote from Outdoor Magazine that I randomly read on the way home), ran with multiple winners of races like UTMB and Western States, had dinner with Sochi Winter Games medalists and cross trained (Mountain Athletics) with a selection of them all. Where do you start when chatting with these guys? It's like your dream dinner date fifty times over. Oh, and a full week of it too.
The brand has always put athletes and expeditions at the forefront of everything it does and, being based at the headquarters in San Francisco, the place where it all began 46 years ago, really hammered that home. We also managed to make good use of the outdoors playground that is California by heading north and trying our hand at some different sports whilst hanging out at a beautiful campground set amongst giant Redwoods.
Sometimes I need to take a step back to remember just how fortunate I am to be a part of it all, but I've certainly come away feeling inspired, honoured and fired up ready for more adventures in the coming year.
