Anderson School Fundraiser a Success!

We would like to thank everyone that supported the Parent Council's fundraiser at our Outdoor Gift Works warehouse! For three days we were swarming with positive shoppers that wanted to support the local school. Because of the overwhelming response from the community and school district, we were able to raise--drum roll please. . .over $1,000 to go towards Anderson School! We are so pleased that we can make this donation, and are sincerely thankful for the opportunity to collaborate with our neighboring school.

Announcing Anderson School Fundraiser

Anderson School’s Parent Council is sponsoring a fundraiser for Anderson School through OutdoorGiftWorks.com on September 11, 12, and 13. Ten percent of the total proceeds from a warehouse clothing clearance sale will benefit Anderson students. Funds raised go towards the council’s discretionary funds, and are then directly channeled towards students.

The Anderson School District (41) was established in 1894, one year after the founding of Montana State University. Today, the Anderson Parent Council provides staff and student support.

Both Anderson School and the Parent Council have been innovative and successful in their use of limited resources. Anderson Parent Council coordinates creative fundraising activities throughout the year, including working with the 8th grade’s annual Haunted House in October. Previous Parent Council funding projects have been used to help purchase items for curriculum-related materials, technology, drama, athletics, equipment and field trips including Washington D.C.

The warehouse clearance sale will take place at Outdoor Gift Works a Bozeman-based online company. A variety of gear and apparel for hiking, running, yoga, cycling and more will be featured. Many of the clothing items are made with environmentally friendly materials, and are discounted up to 40 percent off. Early-bird holiday shopping purchases with scheduled delivery dates and free shipping will also be available.

For more information about Bozeman’s Anderson School, visit the website at andersonmt.org. The Outdoor Gift Works warehouse is located next to the firehouse at 10180 Cottonwood Road. Sale times are Thursday and Friday September 11 and 12 from 11:00 am to 8:00 pm, and Saturday, September 13 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. For more information call 406.922.1290 or toll free at 1-866-918-1809.

Make Your Bike Work For You

As the trend to dump the expensive gas pump continues, bicycle commuting has become an increasing transportation mode. In turn, innovative and versatile gear has hit the market to make bike use and transportation more convenient. In fact, Bikes Belong Coalition recently released industry findings revealing that an overwhelming 95% of bike shops surveyed said “customers cited high gas prices as a reason for their transportation-related purchases”. As a result of this change, manufacturers have developed technology targeted towards the utilitarian function of the bicycle.

Detours bicycling company is an example of this product development. They have updated traditional Asian bike designs by using new materials and construction techniques. By creating a series of pannier bags and packs, they have significantly assisted the bike commute and running two-wheeled errands around town.

Imagine a heavy-duty “grocery tote bag” or a messenger bag that converts into a bike pannier. That is the idea behind Detours’ Toocan Pannier. Unlike a typical shopping bag, the Toocan has a waterproof rubber bottom tolerant for heavier items and for keeping internal items protected and dry. The pannier’s versatile quilted exterior provides water-resistant and padded protection of contents. Other features include a waterproof rain cover that fits over the bag for additional protection, a removable shoulder strap, and tote bag handles. The bag also offers a pocket-lined interior, with four interior organizer pockets and a zip pocket for valuables. Students may find the Toocan perfect for carrying their textbooks and school supplies without the use of a backpack.

Busy parents who need to keep both hands free should look at the Teeco Bag, which not only is a tote bag and bike pannier, but also converts to a small backpack. The Teeco also has a rubber bottom, but has heavy mesh side panels so you can easily see inside the pack and view the contents. It is sized to fit one grocery bag, and it is designed to function in crowded venues like the farmer’s market with a draw string top.

These functional bike panniers are very easy and fast to put on and lift off of a bike. The Toocan and Teeco both have a universal stainless steel hanger system for a rear bike rack. The hangers simply loop over the steel wire of the bike rack. The panniers can be effortlessly lifted off the rack with one hand when upon arrival at the destination.

Both the Toocan and the Teeco are available in a variety of colors to add some style to your ride. They can be found at www.OutdoorGiftWorks.com for under $50 a piece, which includes free shipping.

The Loveliest Travel Companion

I recently returned from Europe with the Moab Capri as a new-found traveling companion. I work at Outdoor Gift Works and am openly partial to this item. On my discovery of new countries and new weather, the fit of the Capri engulfed me in comfort and inspired me to walk to all corners of undiscovered territory. I went from the Bavarian mountains in the rain, to Sevilla, Spain with 100 degree Fahrenheit weather in the Moab Capri. These pants will empower the activity of any woman.

The decision to bring the Capri overseas primarily depended on its versatility in my wardrobe. I needed something that could be dressed up and down, and the "stone" colored material allowed for the immediate change in casual and dressier styles. The length was also perfect for more conservative places, yet still had some fun as the Capri length and ability to match with everything.

Spending time outside walking around most everywhere, I needed the ability to be fully prepared for either an immediate downpour or the hot-hot sun. The nylon blend of the Capri is lightweight, and it doesn't hold moisture, allowing it to dry incredibly fast. Overall it helped me regulate body temperature and kept me warm or cool by wicking away moisture.

Permanent wrinkles can generally become a permanent irritation on the travel wagon. But surprisingly the thought of ironing never had the chance to enter my head. The "permanent" wrinkles immediately fell out. What can't these Capri pants do?

The fabric has quality that has a bonus and a minus to mention. One drawback was that while I was on the crowded Metro in Madrid, I sat next to a bag with some Velcro. Now my right hip has a snag, but there could be worse things--like a red wine spill. And the red wine spill did happen. I believed that the damage was irrevocable with deathly merlot streaks covering the front of one Capri leg. The wine spill also went onto my shirt, which prompted me to wash both clothing items immediately with some club soda and detergent. The Capri's nylon material was the superior in that the material has a knack for cleansing itself. It now looks as good as new. This item of clothing will last me a long time. I give this product five stars because of its overall performance.

-Tegan Molloy
A traveler and an employee of Outdoor Gift Works

Environmentally Friendly Maverick

We all know that versatility and quality are important considerations for any clothing purchase. Versatile and durable clothing reduces purchases, simplifies life, minimizes waste and energy, and saves money. With this in mind, here is a review of a recycled performance T-shirt for active men.

The Maverick T made by prAna is a 100% recycled polyester performance T. The knit is lightweight and loose, making it highly breathable and perfect for warm weather or intense activity. The brick color is understated and attractive allowing this shirt to be worn as a general purpose T-shirt as well.

On a recent Grand Canyon river trip the Maverick T shirt was one of only 2 shirts I used for the 16-day trip. I wore the Maverick for portions of every day and most nights as well. Daytime temperatures were consistently over 100 degrees with our hottest days in the 110-112 degree range. This shirt was constantly dunked, rinsed, swum-in, hiked-in and rowed-in. It dried incredibly quickly and it never acquired an odor; something that I am sure my trip-mates appreciated. PrAna uses a unique chitosan antimicrobial coating which uses crushed crab shells as the active antimicrobial agent.

With a suggested retail price of $50 the Maverick is expensive, but not out of line. There are many shirts in this price bracket without the recycled poly or the chitosan coating. The sustainability and durability of this shirt more than make up for any price differential. PrAna has done a great job of incorporating cutting edge green materials and techniques into this shirt, and the Maverick certainly deserves your consideration based on performance.

Go with the Flow – a Paradigm Shift?

Two winters ago we had beautiful 50 degree weather in February. Living in Montana, this occurrence was not welcome. It wiped out the local Nordic skiing and it planted all kinds of legitimate fire fears in our heads for the upcoming summer. Most of us did get out on our bikes, but it just didn’t feel right.

Another weird weather pattern occurred this spring, but it was flipped. Heavy late season snows blanketed both our mountains and our valleys. Spring has always been a nebulous concept here, and spring snow is nothing new, but full-on winter blizzards below 5000 feet in elevation are not normal. Those dumps usually occur much higher up. Some of our best Nordic skiing occurred in late March, and even extended into early April below 6000 feet. Weird.

After talking with a bunch of people, most folks just wanted to pack away the skis and wait for spring. I can sympathize with this view. I have had that same mindset after a number of hard winters as well.

But this year while skiing in West Yellowstone in April (not crust cruising, but actually skiing on great snow), I basically just came to the conclusion of… why fight it. The traditional rhythms of the seasons, although cherished, may be a thing of the past. With climate change upon us, why continue to hang on to historical patterns when we really should be expecting the unexpected. Why not shift our paradigm from the historical normal to the present reality of climate volatility?

We had some fantastic Nordic skiing in late March and early April.
Crust cruising hasn't even begun yet. This picture was taken April 12th.

That reality could mean that we could have just about any type of weather, at just about any time. We also might have severe shifts between weather extremes. From a recreational standpoint, his doesn’t necessarily have to be bad. Last weekend, we had an evening snow and woke up to 18 degree temps., we were Nordic skiing at 10 AM at 29 degrees (F), and by 1 PM it was 60 degrees and the cyclists were out in full force. The next Tuesday, it snowed again.

This picture was taken April 14th, notice the lack of snow.
It snowed 6 inches the next day.
I am not kidding, and you can stop laughing!

Current conditions and weather will most likely dictate our future activities, not the calendar. A season might be cut short, interrupted, or extended – who knows. If that means bike riding in February or skiing in April, we need to get out there and enjoy it. Maybe more importantly, we have to accept it, the volatile weather, as our current reality or the “new” normal. To make that paradigm shift, we have to forget about what “normal” was, and live more in the present. We have to be spontaneous, flexible and ready to get out there no matter what scenario plays out. The right time to get outdoors may be right now. We just need to see it for what it is and enjoy the “spring”.

Happy trails!

A Crazy Spring

Here in Montana we received some heavy snow in March and April.
Here is a quick look.

My Garden, April 12th. Is this some cruel joke from the weather gods?
These sprinklers are 3 feet high.

April 12th, our patio furniture is finally sighted!

April 12th, West Yellowstone, MT. This picture shows plowed, and drifted snow not the natural snow level, but you "get the picture" - pun intended. There was fantastic Nordic Skiing in the morning and beautiful bicycling in Yellowstone National Park that afternoon.

Everest ER

About two years ago, Dr. LuAnn Freer came to Montana State University to speak about her work at a clinic at the Everest Base Camp. An interesting topic in its own right, but what really made her talk sing, was learning how she leveraged her work at the base camp to provide health and medical care to the Nepalese people in the region.

Everest ER is now in its sixth year of operation. Basically how it works is Dr. Freer and her other volunteer physicians provide life saving medical care to the Everest climbing and trekking parties. The proceeds from that work, as well as the medical supplies that they ship over, are then used to provide basic and necessary medical care to the people of the Everest region. What a perfect way to leverage the expertise, supplies and good-will of the clinic, and give back to the region and its people!

To learn more about this generous and worthwhile organization, please visit www.everestER.org.

Trail Grooming Benefit a Great Success!

Thank you to everyone who came out on a windy Montana night to shop for deals and to help support Bridger Ski Foundation's trail grooming efforts in the valley! The positive support and energy we received on both nights made it a wonderful event for us and for trail grooming funding. Our initial hope was to maybe shoot for a $500 donation, but we really didn't know what kind of turnout we'd get since it wasn't advertised to the public. We are pleased to announce that we wrote a check for $600 to BSF earmarked specifically for trail grooming! We couldn't be more excited and pleased to help out in that way, and we have all of you to thank for it. Thank you!

It is Cold Out There - Think About Layering Your Lid!

I love hats; always have. When I was a kid, I used an old coat rack for a hat rack in my room. I had everything from cowboy hats, to baseball hats, to my “crash helmet” that I wore on my bike.

Anyways, I still own quite a few hats; all different styles and weights. But what I’ve found is that the thin ones are usually the most useful and the most versatile. Thicker hats can come in handy when you’re hanging out around camp or town on a really cold night, but during the day I’ll take a thin hat every time.

There are umpteen articles written about layering your clothing. Almost all of them mention the importance of wearing a hat. And yet, I don’t think I have ever seen one that applied the principles of layering to your head. There are a couple of layering principles that are specifically applicable. Thin to win and layer evenly. Thin to win is the idea that using multiple thin layers are usually better than using one heavy one, and layer evenly addresses the need to layer all parts of your body evenly as opposed to piling on the layers on one specific part of the body while not addressing the rest.

Layer your head in the same way you layer the rest of your clothing. When you are working hard, strip down to your lightest layers including your head, and when the time comes to add a layer or zip up a shell, add a head layer as well. You will stay much more comfortable throughout the day, and you will have a number of layering options if the weather becomes severe.

My favorite combination of head layers, bar-none, is the Craft Race Hat and Headband. I tend to heat up fast, so for those of you who run cold you might try the Pro Hat and Headband. The versatility and lightweight of these layers is amazing. Many times I’ll forget I have one or the other with me due to their lightweight and size. I use these items by themselves, together, and in combination with other hats I own. In moderate temperatures, I layer headbands both inside my hat and outside. I think you will be surprised at “how low you can go with this combo” (sorry). When it gets really cold or windy, I layer two hats, because I find it gives me better wind protection, better coverage and better insulating properties.

I am not saying abandon all your heavy hats. When I am out photographing in sub-zero weather, where I am not very active, I layer the Race Hat under a heavy wool hat. What I am saying is rather than rely on just one heavy hat that will only serve one purpose, bring a couple of hats or layers and use them consistently to manage your body heat and moisture throughout the day.

Layering your head has a number of benefits. One, it allows you to regulate your body heat. This is pretty obvious, but wearing a light headband or hat on an uphill allows you to strip other layers keeping the even layering principle in mind. Another related benefit is sun protection. If you are balding like me, and you’ve got to keep that noggin protected, The Race Hat is perfect. Moisture management is much easier with two layers. After skiing uphill the other day with the Race Hat, it became pretty soggy. So before the descent, I threw on the (dry) Race Headband for dry warmth on the downhill, and to dry out the hat (which it did). This leads us to another benefit, and that is coverage and protection against freezing. It is much easier to completely cover your ears and back of your neck with two layers. It doesn’t take much to protect against frostbite, but how many of you have beanies that are not big enough to completely cover your ears? I find the Race Hat and Headband to be much more comfortable than the hat/earmuff combination and much more versatile as well. And finally, another benefit of thin layers is the ability to use them throughout the year and to layer them with other headwear, including helmets. The Race Hat and Headbands easily fit under a helmet, and you’ll find yourself using them for a variety of mountain activities in every season of the year. The Race Hat is my favorite summertime hat around camp.

Here is another combination to consider for Nordic skiers. If it is snowing and the temperatures are fluctuating around 30 to 32 degrees Fahrenheit, consider a baseball cap with a headband over the back if needed. In these conditions, snow crystals will melt on your glasses and then refreeze, rendering your glasses useless, which you need for eye protection. The baseball cap will help keep the snow crystals off your glasses and the headband will keep your ears warm and your hat on your head. About 6 or 7 years ago (maybe more) the Boulder Mountain Tour had these conditions. I was one of about 3 guys with this set-up at the start (out of about 600 skiers). My biggest concern that day was trying to avoid the guys who couldn’t see. About 597 people skied almost blind that day, while about 3 of us enjoyed relatively unhindered skiing. There were some pretty funny stories that day, but I think I enjoyed them more as a listener than as a teller.

So next time you head out into the mountains, think about layering your lid, you’ll be glad you did (couldn’t resist that one).

Ground and Craft Jacket Sale!

Puffy down Jackets, synthetic insulated jackets, insulated vests, soft shell jackets, training jackets and shells are now all on sale! For a limited time only all our in-stock Ground and Craft Jacket prices have been reduced. Take advantage of this in-season sale - CLICK HERE.

Winter Report: Wavelight & Prime Jackets

The Wavelight is a thin, lightweight synthetic jacket. It can be used as a stand alone layer in cool weather or as a middle layer for winter cold. It is roomy enough to layer underneath it, and lightweight enough to layer over it. This jacket, with its rip-stop nylon exterior, is also great in the wind. I wore this jacket almost non-stop through the fall, and I am really enjoying its light weight and design. This winter I have worn the Wavelight on cold Nordic ski trips where I had a chill and wanted something beefier than a shell. It kept me warm, I did not overheat, and it's roomy design worked well through the poling motion. My wife has been wearing hers as a middle layer on alpine ski days. On New Years Day, the morning temperature hovered around 4 degrees. She had the Wavelight on underneath a heavy shell, and she was totally psyched about how toasty she was all morning. She had skied two days earlier in slightly warmer temperatures with a fleece middle layer rather than the Wavelight, and was cold all day.


I was wearing a Prime Jacket with only a base layer underneath on that same trip. Skiing off the tram, I wasn’t sure how cold it was, but my face was stinging slightly from the cold wind yet I was completely comfortable and protected with the Prime Jacket. We have experienced a lot of wind (with cold) this winter and the Prime Jacket has really worked well as a stand alone outer layer.

ProZero Base Layers

When I first tried on the Craft ProZero long-sleeved crew, I wondered how a shirt that was lighter than a regular T-shirt - the material is only as thick as a handkerchief - was supposed to keep me warm. "Maybe under a sweatshirt and coat," I rationalized. And so it was with quite a bit of skepticism that I headed out for a short walk on pretty easy trail around dusk. The temperature was 27F and there was only a hint of a breeze, but the sun was going down and the temperature was dropping with it.

After about a quarter of a mile, I chucked the coat, sweatshirt, hat and gloves in the backpack. It was a bit chilly, but I wanted to "test" the shirt and see how long it took me to freeze to death. It was remarkable. Everyone else in the group had at least two layers on, and I was tramping around in a handkerchief-shirt, quite comfortable. It was too easy of a hike and too cold to work up much of a sweat, so I rubbed snow on a sleeve, just to see what happened. After a minute, there was no noticeable difference in heat retention, and I rubbed on more snow - same results. On the way back, my legs were colder than my arms, even with basic long underwear under my Carhartts. The only time I became noticeably chilled was when I stopped walking; the shirt lacks wind resistance and wasn't designed to be worn as an only layer or outer layer.

The ProZero crew is an incredible top; uber-lightweight and super-comfortable. Craft uses flat-lock stitching, so there aren't annoying seams anywhere in the garment. That, plus the wonderfully soft ProZero material mean you can wear this next to your skin all day long without a complaint. The fit is perfect for me. The Craft base layers are designed to fit like a second skin, and the ProZero crew really lives up to that promise. Its long enough that you won't bare skin when you bend over or reach up, the sleeves reach all the way to the base of my thumb - neither too long or too short, and the mock neck is never binding. So far, the shirt's mobility has been above par: I can bend and reach in any direction and the shirt never bunches up under my ribs or limits movements, and the cuffs alway stay around my wrists instead of riding up my forearms.

The ProZero fabric is designed to perform according to temperature and exertion levels. Craft recommends wearing it at 55F at low exertion levels to -10F for high exertion activities, though I wore it at 25-30F at a pretty low exertion level and was fine. This shirt would be perfect for rock climbing during cool conditions, either early in the morning or towards the end of the climbing season.

I can imagine this top easily becoming too hot during high exertion level activities at cool temperatures. I might grab it for an easy run at 50F, but I would choose a cooler top for a fast game of frisbee, football or basketball at the same temperature. Likewise, if I was heading out into the mountains either for strenuous skiing, hiking, or snowshoeing on a colder day, between 20 to -10F, I could wear a lighter jacket with wind and water resistance rather than bringing my full down jacket. Heck, I might even get away with just a heavy sweatshirt, depending on conditions. And athough we don't have any reliable ice here in Bozeman yet, this is going to be a great top for playing pick-up games of hockey.

-Randi