Win Tickets!

We’ve got 2 family packs of 4 tickets to give away for the show in March in Vancouver. All you have to do is comment below to get a chance to win. Let us know which vendor or display you’ll be going to see first. Tag your friends on the Facebook post and Instagram post for more entries to win. We’ll draw tickets Tuesday at 5pm to see who gets to go free!

What are the Zones?

I’m sure there is going to be a map to find all of this stuff, there are so many different sections. Here’s a list of all the different sections for the show.

• Vancouver Bike Show
  • The latest in road and mountain bikes and new bike tech.
• Adventure, International and US Travel Pavilion
  • Reps from the best travel outlets from around the world help you with questions and plan your trip.
• Camping Showcase
  • See the latest camping gear and great deals on the floor
• G Adventures
  • The show’s main sponsor. They’ll be running some of the presentations and giving away some big prizes.
• Health and Wellness
  • A zone full of fitness and nutrition information.
• Paddlers Paradise
  • The latest gear and deals on all things related to paddling.
• Adventure Theatre
  • Presentations from adventure travellers. Healthy living and travel tips
  • Adventure Theatre Schedule
• Junior Outdoor Adventurers
  • Tons of activities for the kids to do like rock climbing and mountain biking.
• Leo’s Camera Travel Photography Workshops
  • Tips and instruction for taking great travel photos
  • Photography Workshop Schedule
• White Water Demo Pool
  • Kayak, paddle and underwater demos by pros all weekend in the 30’ x 50’ wave pool.
  • Learn to scuba, snorkel and paddle.

What vendors are going to be there?

Tons of vendors are going to be there for outdoor gear and travel. You can see the vendor list here.

Where can you buy tickets?

Tickets are available right off the website at http://outdooradventureshow.ca/vancouver/

Where can you follow for the latest information?

If you want to follow the adventure show for discounts on tickets and speaker announcements you and sign up for their email list and follow their social channels:

Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Show on Facebook

Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Show on Twitter

Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Show on Instagram 

Hope to see you all there!

The post Win Tickets to the 2018 Vancouver Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Adventure Pool

The show had multiple stages and even a pool for talks and demonstrations over the course of the weekend. Not sure how a SUP works or rolling in a kayak? Brave athletes hopped in the cold water and showed off their moves. You could even try scuba diving for the first time.

Climbing Wall

If getting wet isn’t your thing there was a climbing wall as well. The ropes were attached to weights on the inside to let them down gently.

Delorme (Garmin) inReach

DeLorme, now part of Garmin, has already updated the popular inReach satellite messenger with a slightly better mapping system and a new body. The body of the device looks like a 64-series GPS but with all the inReach functions. The SOS button is under a tab on the side to stay out of the way and the charging port on the bottom got a better cover. Really the only difference between the SE and the Explorer now are the maps. With the previous inReach versions if you just want the messenger you can get the SE and save a bit of money but if you want the maps and not need a GPS, get the Explorer.

BikeArt.ca

Sharon Tenenbaum put together a very unique display of work for the show. Some of her beautiful photos on canvas and metal had additional painting over top.

My favourites were the skylines and mountain photos created out of bike parts and accessories printed on metal. The finished product was very impressive. You can find more of the images to buy at BikeArt.ca.

Skyview Outdoors and Eureka Tents

Skyview Outdoors brought a ton of outdoor gear. Johnson Outdoors as there as well with a lot of tents. Everything from tiny 1 person tents up to massive family outdoor tents.

GnomeHomes

GnomeHomes are tiny trailers with either a double or queen size mattress inside. They’re light enough a small car can tow them around and some are under $10k. They make them to order so you can get the exact features you want. And most of the parts are sourced in Canada. Some parts, like doors, just can’t be found in Canada so they go to the US for those.A battery and small solar panel on the roof give you tons of power during sunny periods and at least a few days worth of juice. If you watch the TV in the larger model then it’s going to drain you battery much faster.Inside is the bed and storage.Around the back is the kitchen. Bottom left drawer had a refrigerated cooler in it (that draws power from the battery while it’s cooling) but can also switch to keeping food warm.

Treeline Rooftents

Treeline Outdoors from just outside Calgary, Alberta is making some rad rooftents. With models for 2, 3 or 4 people and additional versions that integrate solar products from Goal Zero, Treeline can be set up so they fold off the side or back of your car. An additional Annex or set of walls for under the fold out part would keep you dry even if it was raining sideways. The Annex comes with a removable floor.

Trial Stars

Jeff and Steve from the Trial Stars demonstration group and a guest rider did a few great shows. The audience was packed as they did their thing jumping over, around and onto things both up and down. They started with a little competition to see who could bunny hop (jumping straight) and side hop (jumping sideways) over a little high jump bar they set up. The side hop competition got up to 53 inches, nearly word record height.They proceeded to jump, over and down three, four, and five foot platforms, hopping up there in various ways. They took a break jumping on and off the platforms to jump over each other laying on the floor. Jeff jumped over Steve, at one point jumping over his face and tapping his nose with the bike tire on the way over. Some of the audience had to look away.

Rice Lake

Staying in Lynn Valley for the night between the 2 days of the show, I had to take advantage of the beautiful Saturday evening. A quick hike along new trails for me around Rice Lake was a welcome change from being inside all day.

Day 2

I spent day 2 catching up with the vendors that I missed the day before and getting in a couple of the photography workshops from Leo’s Cameras. They weren’t much of a workshop as a talk but a couple very good ones. A Leo’s staff member gave a great talk on 360 cameras for video and still photos and got my brain firing about how to use those to capture a trip into beautiful places. With the 360 cameras, you can leave it recording and don’t have to point it at anything. Afterwards on YouTube or in one of the apps, just pan around and look wherever you want in the video. You’ll see things you missed after wards since you were likely looking somewhere else. While everyone stared at the waterfall in the video, you can pan around the other way and see the beautiful old growth trees and giant ferns.

Kimoto Kafee

Kimoto Kafee is a coffee shop in Tofino that brings in coffee from Thailand. The coffee was delicious and very welcome early Sunday morning but what caught my attention was the paper and cotton page they used in the photo below to sit in the cup, ready for the water. These individual packets would make for a great on the go or camping coffee solution. I’ve never found an instant I like, Starbucks gets close, but these little coffee holders worked great. They’re working on distribution around Vancouver Island and BC.

Soup Girl

I was hoping to try out some of the delicious looking soups from Soup Girl. I missed the gluten-free one she had going on the Saturday. The small packs are just add water and could make a great backpacking meal for 2. The jars would be too heavy to talk but would be great for home. She had bigger packs as well for 4-6 people.

Big Bear Tools

The Silky hand saws that Big Bear Tools had at their booth caught my eye. A good saw for tail building is a life-saver and I usually have one in my truck, sometimes my backpack, just in case you run into something you can’t get through. We’ve had cut out a tree that had fallen across the road while we were out hiking. It was a slow process with the small saw we had but it was better than nothing. A Pocket Boy 170 like in the picture below is 6.75 inches long with super-sharp, hardened teeth on a japanese blade. It would be easy to toss in a daypack.

A boat ride home

After hating the ferry for so long because of the long wait for the other side, I’ve come to like the forced disconnection the ferry offers. The wifi exists but is terrible so there’s no internet. I try to relax and read as much as I can. I’m always running into friends I haven’t seen in ages as well so it’s a fun time to catch up.And most of the time, there’s a a nice view to sit and enjoy.

Huge thanks to the Vancouver Outdoor Adventure and Travel show for the passes to the show and 2 sets to give away through their blogger program. I’m already excited for what’s in store for next year so keep an eye out for that!A few other bloggers have their “Trip Report” up from the show.

7 Ways to Be Inspired at the Vancouver Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show

The post Vancouver Outdoor Adventure and Travel Show first appeared on Pack & Trail.

We’ve got in touch with the winners to get their info. Super stoked to see you guys at the show this weekend. Hope to see everyone else there as well!  

The post Outdoor Adventure and Travel Show in Vancouver Ticket Winners first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Win Tickets!

We’ve got 2 family packs of 4 tickets to give away for the show in March in Vancouver. All you have to do is comment below to get a chance to win. Let us know which vendor or display you’ll be going to see first. Tag your friends on the Facebook page and Instagram post for more entries to win.

What are the Zones?

I’m sure there is going to be a map to find all of this stuff, there are so many different sections. Here’s a list of all the different sections for the show.

• Vancouver Bike Show
  • The latest in road and mountain bikes and new bike tech.
• Adventure, International and US Travel Pavilion
  • Reps from the best travel outlets from around the world help you with questions and plan your trip.
• Camping Showcase
  • See the latest camping gear and great deals on the floor
• G Adventures
  • The show’s main sponsor. They’ll be running some of the presentations and giving away some big prizes.
• Health and Wellness
  • A zone full of fitness and nutrition information.
• Paddlers Paradise
  • The latest gear and deals on all things related to paddling.
• Adventure Theatre
  • Presentations from adventure travellers. Healthy living and travel tips
• Junior Outdoor Adventurers
  • Tons of activities for the kids to do like rock climbing and mountain biking.
• Leo’s Camera Travel Photography Workshops
  • Tips and instruction for taking great travel photos
• White Water Demo Pool
  • Kayak, paddle and underwater demos by pros all weekend in the 30’ x 50’ wave pool.
  • Learn to scuba, snorkel and paddle.

What vendors are going to be there?

Tons of vendors are going to be there for outdoor gear and travel. You can see the vendor list here.

Where can you buy tickets?

Tickets are available right off the website at http://outdooradventureshow.ca/vancouver/

Where can you follow for the latest information?

If you want to follow the adventure show for discounts on tickets and speaker announcements you and sign up for their email list and follow their social channels:

Sign up for their email list

Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Show on Facebook

Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Show on Twitter

Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Show on Instagram 

Hope to see you all there!

The post Win Family Tickets to the Vancouver Adventure Travel Show 2017 first appeared on Pack & Trail.

What was this Trails Network Conference for?

The Vancouver Island Trails Network Conference was put together to kickstart the networking and community building between members of any and all groups on Vancouver Island that want to help build of the Vancouver Island Spine Trail and related trails. That’s a mouthful. Basically the organizers wanted to bring everyone together and talk about trails on Vancouver Island, and a bit more specifically, the Spine Trail.

Who is VISTA?

The focus of the conference always came back around to the Spine Trail, the soon-to-be baby of the Vancouver Island Spine Trail Association, who are based out of Victoria. The association was started by Gil Parker and is currently chaired by Andrew Pape-Salmon with the sole purpose of bringing to Spine Trail to life. One side-project within that goal has been to connect communities, adventurers and trail builders across the island. A 700km trail does not exist in isolation, it will require a huge amount of volunteer work to be completed and will connect communities that have stood separate for ages.

What was the conference about?

The main goal of the conference was to bring together trail builders, sport and hiking groups, communities, government members and leaders from other organizations and get them talking, to start the conversation around the Spine Trail.“How do we build a 700km trail?”“What can we learn from other large trail projects across the province and Canada?”“Instead of a struggling pet project, inching it’s way up the island, how can we make this a resounding success?”The conversation has obviously already started as the association as existed for years now and the south end of the trail is nearly complete.

Who was there?

Speaking at the conference were all sorts of folks from mayors and government employees to trail builders and hikers.Trisha Kaplan is the Trail Development Manager for Western and Northern Canada for the Trans Canada Trail. Building a trail across Canada is no easy feat and she had lots to say about the issues they’ve encountered while building the TCT. One highlight was how different every region and province were in what they thought would benefit them most. Communities in the rockies who like to hike and run are not the same as communities in the prairies that like to snowmobile.

Philip Stone is an adventurer and guidebook writer from Vancouver Island. He’s written great books like Island Alpine and Quadra Climbing. He’s been hiking, climbing, kayaking and sailing in the most remote regions of Vancouver Island for the last 25 years. Few know the backcountry here like Philip. He spoke to the challenge of running a trail through the middle of the island and also some history behind the spine or “backbone” idea of the trail.

Ken Melamed was the mayor of Whistler during the Olympics. He talked about the success of their trail system and the economic benefits it brought to his City.

Other names rounded out the list and provided interesting stories related to trails.

Amanda Ridgeway is a director of the Mountain Bike Tourism Association in Cumberland. She calls herself an “amenity migrant”, meaning she moves from place to place because of the amenities there. For her it’s always been the mountain bike trails. She’s moved from Australia to England to Fernie and finally to Cumberland in search of good trails. Many people are doing this these days. Trails can be a huge attraction for people of any ages looking for fun activities where they are going to live.

John Hawkings is the Manager of trails with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources. He talked about provisions in sections 56 and 57 of the Forest and Range Practices Act. Section 56 deals with the establishment of public trails and 57 with the legal authority for them. Having section 56 status means that the Province provides public liability insurance.

What’s going to happen next, going forward?

By the end of the day there was a buzz in the crowd with excitement about new trails on Vancouver Island. There was also some skepticism as well. Other groups have tried in the past to bring groups together only to fade away.

The crew from VISTA committed to keeping in touch with email newsletters about new developments and to arrange for another conference in about 2 years time.I thought the conference went extremely well and brought together some great voices that can put a serious dent in the work that’s left on the Spine Trail as well as all the other trails on the island. No trails are built or maintained without good people and lots of sweat.

How do you connect and help VISTA with the trail?

If you want to know more about the Vancouver Island Trail Association and the Spine Trail and keep in touch, visit their website at http://www.vi-trail.ca.

The post Vancouver Island Trails Conference Recap first appeared on Pack & Trail.

*

You may be asking yourself: What exactly is an outdoor cooperative?

To start, the Outdoor Adventure Social Club (OASC) is a worker-owned cooperative, which means that there are 12 co-op owners who each have an equal share in the business – everything from the day to day business decisions to shouldering the financial implications of running said business.

Last February, the owner of the OASC pulled together a group of friends who he thought might be interested in going into business together. The backstory: he had started the business in 2005 and had been running it as a solo operation since then, with volunteers and some paid employees along the way. Now, he was getting married and the business was growing past the point where it could effectively be run by one single person.

From the initial people who showed interest, the group eventually evolved into the Adventure Co-op, which now runs the OASC. Instead of just one person shouldering the load of running a business, we now have 12 sets of hands and minds. We have business- and marketing-minded people, a designer and a developer, financial folks, teachers, small business owners – within the group, we have someone who has expertise in each area that’s necessary for keeping the business running smoothly. We meet at least once a month, sometimes more often, and have quarterly financial meetings.

How is the club itself structured? 

OASC Members are adults of all ages and skill levels exploring and enjoying nature’s beauty, experiencing diverse cultural and social events, and volunteering in hands-on community service projects while forming new friendships. Our mission is to provide daily opportunities to exercise mind and body in a safe, supportive atmosphere fostering camaraderie, education, and respect for our environment and community. And, unlike many adventure companies (as one example, whitewater companies who focus exclusively on rafting), OASC is activity and community oriented, rather than profit-oriented. We try to focus on building community while connecting people to their natural environment.

In a nutshell, we took a business model that was dependent on one person and flipped it to being cooperatively run. This spring, we will celebrate our one year anniversary of being in business, and will hopefully have implemented most of the changes that we as a group have been working on over the past six months. Our hope has always been that the members of OASC wouldn’t really notice the difference with the co-op behind the helm, and that has seemed to be the case. During the transition, we tried to keep things business as usual, and we are working on transitioning to a new and improved club this coming spring.

And now, the fun part: What do you actually do?

One of the things that we love most about the business is providing the opportunity for people in our community to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors while strengthening their ties to the community. Because we organize large group adventures, we are able to utilize our community partnerships to get great deals for our members, allowing them to take advantage of trips they might not be able to afford on their own. (Those profit-oriented rafting companies mentioned above? We have a great relationship with one of them out in West Virginia, and partner with them several times a year!) We have adventures year ‘round, and wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of the ways you can have fun during all 4 seasons!

Winter

One of our favorite winter trips is a long weekend where club members gather at several rented houses at Snowshoe Resort in West Virginia. Members are able to decide what level of excitement they want in their weekend (Quiet house? Party house? Somewhere in between?) and pick what outdoor activities they want to enjoy during the trip. Besides the standard downhill skiing and snowboarding, there is also cross country skiing, snow tubing and snowshoeing. When members want to come in from the cold, there is always plenty of food and lots of activities, ranging from movie showings and board games to live music and wine tastings.

Skiing

Spring

While the early spring is usually cold and icy in our neck of the woods, the many caves and caverns that dot the landscape are a balmy 55 degrees year ‘round. Our members are able to take advantage of caving trips throughout the year, and here is the hilarious and awesome description given by one of our members (and a fellow co-op owner):

“If you’ve never been caving, it’s kind of like scrambling around in a field of large boulders with only your trusty headlamp to light your way. Sometimes you’ll be walking upright through large “rooms” while at other points you might be crawling or squeezing through a small passageway, scrambling up a wall of boulders, or fording a small stream. Throughout the cave, you’ll have the opportunity to admire formations such as stalagmites (“g” is for ground), stalactites (“c” is for ceiling), and cave “bacon.” Speaking of food, lunchtime in the cave is a great time to experience absolute darkness and see sparks fly when you chew on a Wint-O-Green lifesaver.”

Caving

Summer

Summer is the time when everyone manages to get outside, so we end up having more adventures going on than you could ever imagine attending. From hiking or mountain biking the local trails, kayaking under the full moon, sailing the Chesapeake Bay, playing sand volleyball, river tubing on the James River, climbing the Via Ferrata or playing frisbee golf to volunteering at a local organic farm, wine tastings or cooking club, we lead activities for all ages and activity levels. The weather stays amazing from late spring into early fall in central Virginia, minus the pesky hot (did we mention hot?) weather in August, so there’s always a chance to take advantage of the longer days.

Canoe and Kayak

Fall

Every October, there is a dam release on the Upper Gauley River in the New River Gorge of West Virginia. Members have taken advantage of this opportunity for years on end; the weekend is usually jam-packed with things to do, from hanging out with friends at Bridge Day watching base jumping, to outdoor rock climbing in the gorge, or whitewater kayaking. There’s hiking, mountain biking, tree-top tours, standup paddle boarding, fishing, horseback riding, and nearly anything else you can imagine in the river range of the town of Fayetteville.

white_water

All Seasons Travel

Along with trips to other states close by, we also like to spread our wings and do some traveling. This spring and summer, we have members heading to a mountaineering class on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, some folks making the trek to the Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal, and a 10 day backpacking trip through Sequoia National Park to Mount Whitney. There are generally at least a few trips of this type planned per year, and along with our other big adventures, give our members the opportunity to make some amazing outdoor memories.

Everest 9-4

Jessica

Hopefully now that you’ve read over the description of the business and what we do, you’ll be inspired to get outdoors more, find friends to drag with you, or even start your own outdoor cooperative in your town! It’s been a great learning experience for all of us, and has allowed a fun local business to grow and evolve in a sustainable way. As for us, we’ll be busy behind the scenes keeping things running, but we hope to see you outside enjoying all the great outdoors has to offer. And, if you’re ever in Virginia, stop by and have an outdoor adventure with us!

**

Jessica is a freelance graphic designer, environmental activist & organizer, social media queen, musician, non-conformist, tree-hugger, ruckus-raiser, and lover of all things fuzzy. Her design work can be found at www.verdantspringdesign.com and all things cooperative live at www.outdoorsocial.com.

The post Why an Outdoor Cooperative = 4 Seasons of Fun first appeared on Pack & Trail.

The dust is settling from a great weekend trip to Mount Washington for the Yeti snowshoe race. For the last 3 years we’ve made the trip up to the mountain to “compete” in the only snowshoe race on Vancouver Island. For the past 2, a bunch of friends and I book a cabin on the mountain and make weekend of the event. My birthday falls around the last weekend in January as well so it works out well for me as well. An exciting event, a beautiful venue and a bunch of awesome people makes for memorable birthdays.

The race is more fun than business for most of the participants which makes it even more appealing. There are regularly large teams that dress up in themes. One of the longest running is the snow queens who have fantastic queen costumes every year. Most of the costumed runners elect to spare themselves some pain and participate in the 5 km race. If you’re looking for scenery, you won’t need to go any further than 5 km the 10 is only 2 laps of the same track.

This year the track felt short. I was chatting with a girl that was doing the 5k for the first time as we neared the finish and she couldn’t believe that it was almost over. I was a little surprised when we got there how short it had felt. I had my Garmin 405 tracking the entire time (and accidentally for an hour after) and it didn’t look like the track was 10 km. I can’t point pinpoint the exact finish because I forgot to top my watch when I finished but it looked like it tracked out 8.6 km for the race. It was a little disappointing paying for a 10km race and then running 8.6 but I wasn’t going to go run another kilometer and a half to fill it in. You can see my track here on Yeti snowshoe race track on Garmin Connect.

The results aren’t in at the time of posting this but they’ll show up on Race Day Timing pretty soon. I’ll add in a link straight to the results when they get uploaded.The weather was perfect for the race, if a little cool. Most people had pants or tights on which was right for the weather. In years past, I’ve been ok temperature-wise with a short sleeve poly-propylene shirt. I have run into problems with the t-shirt though not because of the temperature but because of the snow. It depends on the type of snowshoes you have but when you run, they tend to flick up a lot of snow.

The Atlas snowshoes that are rented out at the Yeti are particularly bad for this. Because the Atlas snowshoe bindings are attached to the snowshoe by an elastic band of sorts, the flick up when they’re unweighted, bringing snow with them. This airborne snow usually ends up on your back, neck and arms, making for a bit of a chilly race. The wet didn’t bother me on my clothes but on bare skin it stung a bit. The back of my arms were red from getting barrages with snow pellets and near the end of the race my neck suffered from the assault as well. I don’t think I’m going to be wearing a collared shirt for snowshoeing any time soon but a long sleeve definitely helps block the snow.

Another thing I learned quickly in the race, and nearly every time I snowshoe, is to not kick your ankles. It hurts. I don’t recommend it.If you haven’t yet done a snowshoe race, I highly recommend it. If you’re not up for the not-quite-10 10 km race, you can sign up for the 5k, and don’t forget your costume.

The post The Yeti Strikes Again first appeared on Pack & Trail.

There’s only one more day to go until we hit the trail for the first annual Pack & Trail Juan De Fuca run. 47km of sweet ocean-side single track awaits us tomorrow on the trail near Sooke.

The nearly 50km Juan De Fuca Marine Trail is hiked by hundreds every hear and provides a moderate way to experience hiking on the West Coast. Most tackle the trail in 3 or 4 days, hiking 10-15 kms each day.Our plan is to run it in one day.In under 10 hours. My good friend Ryan and I will be starting at 5 am at the China Beach trailhead. The plan is to hit Sombrio beach around 9am and then finish at Botanical at 1-1:30.  Another group that we’ll most likely meet up with along the trail is starting at 4.

I was on the trail last weekend checking out the north end. It was incredibly dry for that trail as some parts never dry out. The weather for this weekend was initially supposed to be dry with a temperature around 11-15, perfect for long run. That’s been degraded to cloudy with showers in Sooke and 40% precipitation in Port Renfrew.  One thing that would make this run a lot harder would be any sort of rain. Our fingers are crossed.

I’ll be posting on Sunday with photos and how the run went.

Good luck to everyone on the run!

The post One More Day to the First Pack & Trail Juan De Fuca Run first appeared on Pack & Trail.

If you’re not aware of the 5 Peaks Trail Running Series and are looking to get your trail running shoes a little (ok, a lot) dirty it’s something you need to check out. This year there is a different series of races held in 5 provinces. This year’s circuit for BC’s coastal region boasts five great runs:

1. Golden Ears, April 24
2. Simon Fraser University, June 12
3. Mount Seymour, July 24
4. Whistler Blackcomb, August 21
5. Buntzen Lake, September 25

Each race has 3 or 4 course lengths. The Children’s Challenge; a 1km trail. The Sport; a 4 – 8 km trail. The Enduro; a 10 – 17km trail. Ant this year, the Buntzen Lake event will really push people who want to try their hand at the half-marathon distance.A bit more info about 5 peaks:

5 Peaks is the premier trail running company in Canada. Our goal is to provide an exciting atmosphere, a challenging course, a competitive field, and an amazing off road experience, all while practicing & promoting sound environmental ethics. British Columbia Trail Running Series

The British Columbia Coast Mountains offer tremendous terrain and incredible scenery. The 5 Peaks courses cover single-track, hiking and cross country trails, with elevation gain varying according to the course design. The trails are always challenging and you get to experience some of BC’s finest, most beautiful backcountry.Each race venue is located within one and a half hour drive or less, from Vancouver. So here’s your chance to get out of the city and into the backcountry for an exhilarating Saturday morning experience. What better way to start your weekend?! You’ll be physically challenged while experiencing some of the most spectacular terrain BC has to offer.

If you register for all 5 of the races, you get one race free. Also, the website has a lot good information on training, clinics, course descriptions, and so on.

The post The 5 Peaks Trail Running Series first appeared on Pack & Trail.

On June 5 relay runners, bikers and hikers will make their way all the way from Port Hardy along the trails, up the mountains and across the roads down to Victoria by June 27. Now they’re not expecting you to do the entire thing. One of the organizers (aka one crazy d00d), Andrew Pape-Salmon, has agreed to do the entire relay.

Jen Segger made the trip last year during her Vancouver Island Quest 2009, but she does it for a living! Needless to say, it will be an epic trip.The registration fee for the Relay is going to be $30 but that will essentially just buy you a membership into the association. Just think, you will have supported the construction of what will undoubtedly become one of the worlds greatest trails.

You can also get a membership or donate right now.

Here are the initial dates for all the legs. Along the way there will be Community Days in Port Hardy, Campbell River, Port Alberni, Cumberland, Cowichan Lake and Victoria to support the event. There will be lots of food and goodies at the events kindly provided by Overwaitea and Thrifty’s.

Saturday, June 5, 2010, Section 1, hike from Cape Scott Provincial Park parking lot to Nissen Bight.

June 6, Section 2, run the North Coast Trail to Shushartie Bay, travel to Port Hardy by boat.

June 7, Section 3, mountain bike from Shushartie River to Port Hardy along river and logging road.

Tuesday, June 8, Community Day at Quatse Salmon Stewardship Centre in Port Hardy, short hike with participation of local schools, businesses, service clubs, First Nations, local governments, community members.

June 9-10, Section 4, road cycle to Campbell River, overnight in Woss on June 9.

Friday, June 11 morning, Community Day at BeaverLodge Lands in Campbell River, short hike (with schools, etc)

June 11 afternoon, Section 5, road cycle to Mount Washington.

June 12-14, Section 6, hike from Mount Washington to Cumberland in Strathcona Provincial Park, via Forbidden Plateau and mountain bike trails.

Tuesday, June 15, Community Day in Cumberland, short “historical hike” starting at Community Centre (with schools, etc)

June 16, Section 7, mountain bike in Cumberland area on the community trails.

June 17-19, Section 8, hike from Mount Clifton to Port Alberni along Beaufort range and down from Mount Joan to Log Train Trail.

June 20, Community Day at McLean Sawmill in Port Alberni,  short hike along Log Train Trail (with schools, etc).

June 21-23, Section 9, mountain bike from Port Alberni to Lake Cowichan via logging roads and Runner’s Trail between Headquarters Bay and Francis Lake (including trail runners on this section on June 22).

June 24, Community Day in Lake Cowichan, short hike in Cowichan River Provincial Park (with schools, etc).

June 25-26, Section 10, run from Lake Cowichan to Victoria along Trans-Canada trail (including horseback riders from to Shawnigan Lake on June 25).

Sunday, June 27, Community Day in Victoria,  hike from Legislature to Mile 0 through Beacon Hill Park (with schools, etc).For more details hit up the VI Spine Relay page.

The post VI Spine Trail Relay June 5 to June 27 first appeared on Pack & Trail.