Cool Athletes

Below you will find athletes that blow our minds! The common thread between these profiles is their love for Gramicci. If you are an athlete that loves Gramicci E-Mail us your story and some pictures! We would love to know how you live it up outdoors!

Follow world renowned explorer and environmental activist Will Steger as he travels to Baffin Island with a team of Inuit hunters, educators and fellow explorers. Baffin Island is in the Arctic Ocean on the northernmost coast of Canada.

The four month Global Warming 101 Expedition runs from mid-February to May 2007. The mission of the trip is to investigate the impacts of global warming on the local Inuit community. The Inuit came to Baffin Island about 5000 years ago and global warming poses an enormous threat to this fragile, unique ecosystem. It is possible that, within our lifetimes, these rare animal, plant, and human communities could disappear from the world forever.

Everyone at Gramicci wishes Will and his team a safe and successful expedition. We talked to Will the day before the trip began and were stoked to learn that he has packed some of our gear for this awesome journey!

For daily updates on the 1200-mile dogsled expedition check out www.globalwarming101.com and follow the explorers yourself on a free expedition map.

photo credits: Dan Campbell and John Nantes

Adventure photographer Tim Holmstrom and his team covered the Primal Quest Race in Utah. Tim and his team of 5 photographers traversed some of the most challenging terrain in America while following racers from around the world during the expedition adventure race that covered over 800km and lasted 10 days.

In November we caught up with Tim as he was between trips to Costa Rica. In 2007 he is producing two awesome races that combine outdoor adventure with community experiences in Costa Rica: the Coastal Challenge and the Duel in theSun Duathlon.

Check out our mini interview below with Tim on his experiences during the Primal Quest race!

Q: As photography director for the Primal Quest Race, you must have seen some pretty inspiring moments. What was the most memorable?

A: I think one of the most inspiring was to see the patience and resourcefulness displayed by Erik Weinmeyer and his teammates. Eric is now famous for being the first blind man to summit Everest but before he did that he competed at Primal Quest, Lake Tahoe. He showed incredible poise and determination in what may have been a testing ground for the challenge of Everest. But just as inspiring were his dedicated team who to some degree shepherded him over 500 kilometer over 8 days on bikes, white water kayaks, trekking and mountaineering.

Q: How many guys were on your photo team and how many pictures did you guys end up taking?

A: I had 5 other great photographers on my team and between us we took between 3500-5000 images a day or 35,000-50,000 images in the course of the 10 day event.

Q: What's the hardest element to deal with during an adventure race? Sun, water, wind, mental fatigue, etc?

A: It depends on the day but sometimes over the course of the event, after the initial adrenaline rush begins to fade, you sometimes realize too late that you've accumulated a sleep deficit.

You're often exposed to the same harsh conditions as the competitors for most of the day and It becomes easy to start making mistakes if you're not careful. You can forget to change settings on the camera, misread the maps, forget to drink enough water or eat enough. Ironically, these are some of the same mistakes that sleep deprived competitors make.

Q: As an adventure photographer, where is the craziest location you've found yourself in for a shoot?

A: So many crazy places. Up vertiginous and steep scree slopes without any fixed ropes, crossing strange rivers holding my camera back above my head, hoping not to go under. But the absolute craziest place was in Borneo, in the Madai Caves. Some villagers made a good living here creating and climbing an intricate system of bamboo ladders in order to collect sparrow's nests hundreds of feet above the cave floor. These nests are used as the main ingredient in the well known Asian delicacy, Birds Nest Soup and apparently worth more than their weight in gold. High up on a ledge I heard the echo of men calling out hundreds of yards away on another ledge. They mimicked me when I waved and howled with laughter when I did a little dance on my perch. The cave was also home to thousands of bats and the cave floor covered in bat guano. Good Stuff ;) It was truly a crazy place.

Q: When you pack for an excursion, what 3 things do you have to have with you at all times?

A: A good knife, my passport (just in case I need flee the country J) and a travel hammock.

Q: What Gramicci item helped you perform during the race and why?

A: The quick dry pants. They are so light and sheer that they were perfect for the desert and they also easily converted into shorts. But my favorite was the incredibly soft brushed cotton T was such a nice change from the technical wick ware fabrics. It truly breathed and I'm not just saying this for Gramicci but it was the most comfortable T-shirt I've ever worn while covering these events.

photo credits: Dan Campbell and John Nantes

photo credits: Dan Campbell and John Nantes

photo credits: Dan Campbell and John Nantes

photo credits: Dan Campbell and John Nantes