Announcing Two New Sponsors

With only 42 days before I embark on the World's Toughest Boat Race, I am proud to announce that Spirit West Outdoor And Adventure Store has agreed to become an official sponsor of Team Chinook. Spirit West is a store specializing in outdoor adventure and are one of the largest carriers of Mammut and Navarro in Calgary as well as in-store outdoor books and maps. Spirit West will be contributing specifically designed and measured dry-bags that will be function as a back-pack. Having looked at the prototype, these bags will be fast to put on and fast to take off and will benefit in long portages by removing weight from the canoe. The padded straps and adjustible hip belt will provide stability when running with a canoe overhead. Created from a lighter-weight rugged vinyl, these dry-bags will be able to withstand scraping, pulling, and tugging that foliage of rough portages can provide.

They will also be providing lightweight, gusseted, fast drying white leggings that we will wear during the race. These leggings will be made of a high-performance microfibre-polyester material and will prevent sun-burns. The colour will provide a cooling effect as light will be reflected as opposed to absorbed by the fabric and the fast dry-ing action/fast wicking, will ensure that we remain comfortable. The gusset will provide a more natural fit and will help increase mobility when we are on land.

Spirit West is responsible for presenting the Calgary Outdoor Festival as well as providing an online community for adventurers and outdoor enthusiasts. Although mainly local to Calgary and Southern Alberta, Outdoorspirit.ca site provides blogs, forums, user-entered trail reports as well as an online gear swap.

I am also pleased to announce that Out There has agreed to help Team Chinook. They have donated two Thermarest Neo-Air sleeping pads to minimize weight and bulk during the race. The Neo-Air is the world's lightest sleeping pad available (weighing just 14 oz while being 2.5 in thick). The patent-pending internal triangular core matrix creates an internal truss system that produces the most stable inflatable mattress allowing you to sleep on uneven terrain and not be kept awake by twigs and little stones. When we are done our few short naps, the Neo-Air will pack down to the size of a 1L (1 quart) water bottle an be virtually invisible while canoeing.

Started by Jamie Clarke (Professional Adventurer and Everest Summiter) Out There has grown to have the largest selection of the premier outdoor brands such as Arc'Teryx, North Face and Mountain Hardwear in Calgary. It is also the home of liveoutthere.com, a growing online community of avid adventurers from around the world providing live updates, stories, photo albums and videos of their travels via integrated twitter, facebook and login features as well as soon to come gear reviews and contests.

I would ask everybody to check out the two communities that these companies offer and if you are ever in Calgary and need gear. These two stores come highly recommended from me for their levels of professionalism and quality of gear.

42 days until the start of the 2010 Texas Water Safari.