From adventure racing Team nuun-FeedTheMachine’s blog, some thoughts from Team Captain Cyril Jay-Rayon (in action in photo) after using Gregory’s new Active Trail line of backpacks this season:
Five years ago, I was looking for a backpack sponsor for our team. After a lot of research and testing, we concluded that Gregory not only made superb packs but also was committed to innovating in the lightweight and fast moving pack category. Luckily for us, Gregory agreed to support us through 
our good friend David Egan, owner of Egan & Associates LLC , who distributes Gregory products in the Northwest and Alaska (David also distributes product from 3 other amazing sponsors: Teko, Ibex, and Atlas). Sponsoring a team like ours should only be undertaking by the most confident of companies because we don’t treat our gear well when we take it through extreme conditions for days on end, So their commitment to innovation is expressed not only through their sponsorship of a team like ours (where we provide a constant feedback loop), but also through the actions they take every year when coming out with new designs. Some offer improvements on existing proven designs while others are quantum leaps in innovation. 2009 is one of those quantum leap year with the introduction of the Active Trail line. 
The other day John, CJ and Mark, part of Gregory’s R&D crew, headed up to Tahoe for some early morning backcountry skiing. They hit the trail at about 5:30 am, skinned up to Deep Creek, gained the ridge and descended a northeast aspect with some good powder. The packs of choice for this endeavor were a Drift and a Z30. All of this, and the guys still managed to be back at work in Sacramento by 10:30. Well played.
George and I are back in the office after another awesome year at the Red Rock Rendezvous in fabulous Las Vegas. Mountain Gear puts on a great event every year and we are stoked to be a part of it. For those of you who haven’t heard of it yet, Red Rocks is for climbers - everyone from first timers to those working on nailing down their technique. We had the Gregory booth set up, full line of products on display, schooled attendees on the importance of having a properly fitted pack, and gave a few bags away to some lucky individuals.
Joe Kinder was on hand to give 2 clinics on redpointing - you can check out some pictures from those clinics on his blog. There was a huge dinner on Saturday night for everyone who was attending, and the line was super long, but everyone got fed and hung around for the Access Fund auction and music provided by a solar paneled dj booth. And for your viewing pleasure, here are a few more outtakes from the event - hope to see you there next year.
slacklining clinic
joe!
dyno comp
sunset
some nightime hooping fun
T-minus two weeks till the annual spring gathering that is the Red Rocks Rendezvous, outside of Las Vegas at the Red Rocks Conservation Area 
- so close to Vegas that the all-you-can-eat buffets and evening blackjack are still within easy reach. The festival is March 20-22, Friday through Sunday, this year.
Gregory’s been part of the Rendezvous for many years running. This year, along with our usual booth at the event and packs giveaways, Gregory-sponsored athlete Joe Kinder will be on the scene. He’ll be doing clinics (along with a list of other who’s who athletes from the climbing world) and hanging at the Gregory booth. For anyone who’s never met Joe, you’ll leave thinking it’s possible for you to climb 5.14 too. This guy is more than positive.
Along with climbing and clinics, there are slide shows and movies, parties, a variety of outdoor events along with climbing, and service-oriented projects to give back.
Gregory will, as usual, be giving away some packs, both through the auction that supports the Access Fund and at our booth, and this year we’re bringing some extra-special and unique swag that you’ll just have to stop by to see. We will say that people who get it will be psyched. We’ll also, of course, be doing pack fitting and fielding questions about Gregory.
Stop on by!
Ticket to Outside Lands Festival from the Box Office: $95
Ticket from the guy I bought one from: $40
Seeing a Gregory Day & a Half Pack there: PRICELESS
We spotted this guy walking around Golden Gate Park this weekend wearing a “vintage” Day & a Half pack. He told us he bought the pack at a garage sale for $1, we told him what a steal that was and to carry on being awesome. Sunday at the park was a good day.
This past weekend, George and I traveled out to Buena Vista, CO for the 2008 Continental Divide Trail Alliance’s Trailfest event. We ditched the car at the hotel and decided to stroll down the road to see what the town had to offer. After a quick drop by The Trailhead - one of our retailers in town - we headed over to the Lariat Bar & Grill on E. Main Street for some lunch. This place is awesome, and if you are ever in Buena Vista, or just traveling through, it’s worth a stop (and be sure to say what’s up to the bartender Ryan for us). This bar is one of the oldest establishments in town and is still in the family. And with all of the good people and fun stuff to do in there-pool, foosball, darts, running the dj booth for an hour-we guarentee you’ll have no trouble closing the place either.
At Gregory, since we’re a backpack company, we get a lot of questions about backpacks. Good ones.
One of the more common is, ‘what’s the best way to pack a backpack,’ or various variations thereof. That’s a great question, because there are a lot of opinions and theories on the matter. More often than not, Gregory customer service/jack of all trades guru George McCloskey (that’s him getting the faceshot) is the guy to take the phone call, e-mail or Facebook message.
So, in the vein of being of service, we thought we’d put George on the spot find out what he tells folks. Turns out, George just answered the question again recently, so here’s what he said (clearly he’s done a little thinking on the matter):
When it comes to packing your backpack, everyone seems to have their own way, and therefore we only ‘publish’ general guidelines. That said, here are my own personal guidelines (and please feel free to ‘build’ your own):
I typically start with my sleeping bag in the bottom (sometimes with, sometimes without a stuff sack, but I don’t necessarily recommend if for the first timer, because not using one allows you to stuff out the corners really well, which can be tougher when in a stuff sack). And a key point here is that packing your backpack well, ie: using all the space effectively without having dead spots with nothing in them, is essential to achieving positive load transfer, which means transferring the weight effectively to your body, and that’s what you want if you want your pack to carry well.
I wish.
But, if you can’t have a pack that instantly kills those pesky winged devils once they penetrate your personal space, then you might as well have a pack that’s ergonomically comfy and stays on your back when you’re swinging for the fences trying to escape from the torture of those worthless winged things. Since it covered my entire back, my Gregory Triconi 60 probably did save me from a few more dozen bites.
I should have known better though. Taking a four-day backpacking trip into Wyoming’s Wind River mountains in the beginning of July after a huge snow year is like going to your local blood drive - except you come away with 46 swelling bumps instead of feeling warm inside that you might have helped save someones life. The Winds in July equals Mosquitoville and my girlfriend, Genevieve, and I were held hostage.
Yes, our friends, sisters, brother-in-laws, crusty old retail gear shop guys and co-workers all told us the bugs were going to be bad. But really, how bad can it be, I thought? Bad enough that after every mosquito bite you got you wanted to name it after someone who told you not to go?
It was bad. Unbearable at times. And dousing yourself in DEET didn’t seem to do the trick.
Little known to many fans of Gregory Mountain Products in North America, the brand has enjoyed a huge following in Asia for the past 25 years. In particular, Japanese consumers love the quality of the Gregory brand and the lifestyle that it represents. So much so that company founder Wayne Gregory is a minor celebrity in Japan. People recognize him and stop him on the street for autographs. 
Just ask him.
So it was a natural that Gregory’s first brand/flagship store opened in downtown Tokyo last week, on July 4. Located in the Shibuya area of Tokyo, a popular shopping district for younger city residents, the Gregory store is on a pedestrian-only street, which is also home to Patagonia’s top store in Japan, as well as flagship stores for Burton, Oakley, The North Face, Columbia, Millet and Cannondale, to name a few. The area, as you might imagine, is pretty popular among the outdoors set.
