Congratulations Kahtoola!

It's been a tough year to be selling snowshoes, but we've had to repeatedly reorder Kahtoola Microspikes to help folks deal with all the ice.  We've been touting the excellent performance and benefits of Microspikes for the last year (see our Microspikes blog from last winter.)   Now others have taken notice!  The editors of Backpacker Magazine just honored Kahtoola with an Editor's Choice Award at last week's Outdoor Retailer Trade Show in Salt Lake City.  READ MORE.

Zamberlan--the Italian boot-maker--donated $1500 of Zamberlan hiking boots to help Vermont victims of Tropical Storm Irene.  The boots raced out of the store in no time as our store sits on the state highway running along the Winooski river which jumped its banks on August 28th and inundated the village of Waterbury, Vermont.  While no damage was done to the store, many of our loyal customers lost just about everything on and below their first floors in a matter of hours.  Four months later many--but far from all-- have been able to occupy their homes again, most still have long punch lists of projects to pull their homes back together.  Thank you Zamberlan for your help in getting our community back on its feet.  For updated info on flood recovery efforts in Waterbury, check out the ReBuild Waterbury website. 

Z What? Z3.

The Zeal Z3 ski goggle  further blurs the line between life and the video game.  By far Zeal's Z3 is the coolest toy in our store.  The Z3 ski goggle combines state-of-the-art military Recon GPS technology with Zeal's high quality photochromatic optics.   You read correctly...GPS.  Speed.  Altitude. Distance. There in your goggle's view finder with the touch of a button.

You've probably read the great reviews of Zeal's goggle optics over the years...but if you've actually tried on a pair of Z3 you are one of the few.  These came to market late in 2011 without the same hype and fanfare as their big brothers the Zeal Transcend goggles.  If you want a taste of Zeal's cutting edge, innovative style check out their Mission Impossible like Z3 Goggle YouTube release.  If you just want the plain vanilla overview of features check out the Z3 page on our site. 

Green Mountain Club Snowshoe Festival 2012

It's always fun to head out on the trail with a group of folks and discover someplace new.  The Green Mountain Club Snowshoe Festival on February 4, 2012 gives you the chance to do just that.  This year the 16th Annual Snowshoe Festival promises to be bigger than ever with live music after the day's adventures to go with the always fun bonfire & hot cocoa.  New seminars during the day include a dog sled workshop and live V.I.N.S. owl &/or hawk presentation. 

Plus the Snowshoe Festival is a great way to try on snowshoes from different brands.  We'll be there along with other local shops helping folks demo different snowshoes.  For the event we'll be bringing along our MSR snowshoes and Crescent Moon snowshoes so you can find out how each excels in different ways.  We also like to bring along our Jetboil Flash Stove to show off how cool this can be for a hot drink at trailside.  So come join the fun on February 4th at the Green Mountain Club Visitor Center on Rt. 100 in Waterbury. 

Let it Snow.

FINALLY.  We're seeing a healthy snowfall in the forecast for this evening into Saturday morning.  As I typed this sentence the freezing rain turned to snow...hopefully for good as we look for 6 to possibly 10 inches of snow on Northern Vermont's higher summits.  To follow the improving snow conditions, I like to listen to and watch the Eye of the Sky Forecast...a good detailed way to cut through the hype that often comes with resort's own snow reports.  It's looking good for breaking out the snowshoes tomorrow. 

SALE: Boots, Poles & Mitts oh My!

Winter boots, ski poles, gloves, and mitts are all on sale thru Monday 1/16.  SAVE 20% this weekend.  Choose from our selection of Lowa Winter Boots, Black Diamond Poles, and Outdoor Research Gloves and Mitts.  Take advantage of some great bargains over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. 

Out with the old, in with the new.

We're just wrapping up our end-of-the-year inventory count and have made some interesting finds: caches of old inventory we didn't realize we were sitting on.  There should be a lot of deals popping up in our clearance section on old gear to go along with sales on new winter inventory.   Stay tuned for more....