I had the opportunity to take PROBAR on a trip to Trinidad & Tobago this winter and I am so glad that I did. There were times when the rest of the group was not on my dietary schedule and I was able to reach in my pack and pull out one of these ‘meal replacement’ bars.

PROBAR is made made from whole, organic and raw foods. They are also 100% vegan. If you are used to reading ingredients on other foods that you can’t pronounce…you are in for a surprise as all ingredients are natural and the combinations make for a great tasting and nutritious snack or ‘meal’.

There are 12 flavors in the PROBAR line: Superfood Slam, Original Blend, Whole Berry Blast, Nutty Banana Boom, Apple Cinnamon Crunch, Cran-Lemon Twister, Koka-Moka, Cherry Pretzel, Maple Pecan, Kettle Corn, Cocoa Pistachio and Sesame Goji.

Our favorites were:
Nutty Banana Boom
Apple Cinnamon Crunch
Cran-Lemon Twister
Sesame Goji

Our least favorites:
Cocoa Pistachio
Koka-Moka

Each bar weighs 3 ounces and retails for $3.29 each. We thought this was pretty high for an energy bar when we first started this review but if you take the weight and compare it others on the market, you will find them very competitively priced. And, you can save by buying them by the dozen which drops the price to $2.96 each. Each 3 ounce bar ranges from 350-400 calories depending on flavor.

PROBAR will have a place in each of my future trips regardless of geographic location.

Lance Mackey wins Iditarod for 3rd consecutive year. He joins an elite group of people ever to have one the event itself and becomes on the 3rd person ever to win 3 consecutive events (Susan Butcher, 1986-1988 and Doug Swingley, 1999-2001).

Mackey crossed the finish line yesterday after just less than 10 days on the trail. The Iditarod has been called one of the last great races on earth.

Mackey was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2002 and came back to compete in the race in 2004 with a top 30 finish and competed again in 2005 with a top 7 finish (he won the Yukon Quest that year). He won his first Iditarod in 2007.

Mackey is also a four-time winner of the 1000-mile Yukon Quest (2005-2008).

For more information on Lance Mackey, visit www.mackeyscomebackkennel.com.

           Three world renowned base jumpers, Jeb Corliss (USA), Chris “Douggs” Mcdougall (Australia), Paul Fortun (Norway), traveled 10,000 miles across the globe seeking Tian Keng, or “The Heavenly Pit.” They document their trip in a cool film that was recently showcased at the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, and received rave reviews.
           ”Millions of years old, half a mile deep, waiting for eons to test the endurance, skill and courage of the men who dare to parachute into her heart.” The perfect place for these guys to showcase their talents.
           Visit their website to find out more.

A truly intrepid route, spanning 2,490 miles – the length of the Americas from Roosville, MT down to Antelope Wells, NM on the border with Mexico. And an extra 215 mile stretch reaching down from Banff, in Alberta, Canada to Roosville, MT. What makes it so amazing is that something like 90% of this route is off paved-road, making it the longest “off-pavement bike route in the entire world.”

Anybody who has ever been on a bike tour, or even commuted, knows the depths of vehicle´s ability to be a nuisance. It can really take away from your experience when you are consistently contained by a white line on the side of the road and speeding automobiles. We all owe a huge debt of grattitude to the people who helped create this route.

Put on by the Adventure Cyclist Association, who first made a name for themselves with the Bikecentennial Tour in 1976, rallying over 2,000 cyclists to traverse the country on bikes. They have since created almost two dozen bike routes creating a network of over 38,158 miles of scenic routes and built up a membership of cycle tourists 44,500 strong (and growing). They also put out a great print magazine titled, “Adventure Cyclist” keeping you up to date on the latest happenings in the bike touring world.

In Uruapan, Mexico, at a bookstore, I came across an old National Geographic documenting the adventure of two couples called “Hemistour”, riding from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego on bikes. One of the riders got hepatitis in Southern Mexico and had to bail, but the other couple managed to complete the journey, arriving in Tierra del Fuego in February, 1975. During their trip, they got the idea of celebrating the nation´s bicentennial by organizing a bike tour across the country. Quite the grassroots movement, they got together flyers and sent them around to bike shops across the country and plotted out the most scenic route, and amazingly enough – made it happen. Read their FULL STORY. Continue Reading

The Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge first appeared on the race calendar in 2007 and made such an impact that its second running in December 2008 had the most international entries ever for an adventure race – 36 teams and racers from 21 nations!

As we settle into the New Year, it is a perfect time to start training for the upcoming racing season. The key to creating an effective training plan and then to staying motivated and excited about what we’ve created for ourselves is a clear set of realistic and measurable goals not only for race outcomes, but also for personal fitness, technique and mental development as well.

To get started, take some time in the next week to think about where you want to be with your sport in a couple years. What is your ultimate goal? I mean the one you are almost hesitant to share with anyone because it seems a bit outrageous, but it is secretly in the back of your mind as you plod along on an easy over-distance run or when you are registering for your next event thinking maybe it could happen this time? Write it down!

Intention is 100% of what it takes to achieve a goal. So set that intention by clearly and specifically articulating in writing where it is you want to be – no matter how far beyond reality it may seem today.
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          The first time I saw the Hennessey Jungle Hammock, I was skeptical and never imagined that I would spend almost a year happily living in one.
           Being such an unconventional shelter, it takes a rather bold leap of faith to voluntarily make the switch from your typical floor structure.  Is it really waterproof?  What if you can’t find trees to set it up?  Can you move around in it?  Is it comfortable enough to sleep in?  These questions all pop up.
           As a teenager, Tom Hennessey used to take off on multi-day biking trips in the Appalachians, bringing with him a minimum of gear.  An old WWII army jungle hammock was his preferred shelter because it was light and packed so small.  Yet it still fulfilled his needs for a camping shelter: bugproof, weatherproof, and comfortable.  He later went on to perfect the hammock shelter concept through over 50 prototype designs into what is now appropriately considered a supershelter, securing patents in the US and abroad for its innovative design.
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           Somehow the Mountain Hardwear´s Beryllium feels like more than just a jacket. Designed for serious outdoor activities, it delivers everything you could expect from a jacket. Windproof, waterproof, breathable, lightweight and somehow it is even durable.
           I have used it in tremendously humid tropical conditions kayaking through the San Blas Islands and the Coast of Colombia. It has kept me warm in dangerously cold and windy conditions up at around 20,000 feet elevation on the summit of an Ecuadorian volcano.
           My buddy has the same jacket and I´ve seen him wipeout twice at high speeds over muddy patches, sliding on the pavement, but amazingly the jacket was unphased.

The Features I like:
Helmet ready hood allows me to cover my helmet and preserve a bit of ventilation, crucial for your head.
Welded components keep the jacket weatherproof on the seams, which are most vulnerable.
Climbing Pockets are a little high, most likely designed to be accessible with a harness or waiststrap on, but a bit awkward when sitting around the campsite.
Water-resistant zippers on the pockets make them much more useful.
Articulated sleeves allow the jacket to fit comfortably when cycling or climbing.
Internal pocket allows room for a water bottle (something I wished I realized before climbing Cotopaxi and having all my water supplies freeze).
Fits well with multiple layers (though I have a very small frame).

Summary: May no be the most cost effective solution for casual travelers and weekenders, but anybody going on serious adventures or trips will be happy to bring the Beryllium along. Mountain Hardwear´s commitment to high quality has really raised the bar with this jacket; it´s tough to imagine a better product out there.

Certainly a tough job, but somebody is going to have to do it.    On the news a few months back, Island Reef Job, the Queensland advertisement wherein you get paid $100,000 to live on the picturesqe Whitsunday Islands for 6 months.   Job responsibilities?: get a tan, snorkel, and drink coconut milk from coconuts freshly fallen from a tree.

The competition must have been something fierce, as they had to sort through 30,000 video applications.   Applications closed a week and a bit ago, and now the videos of the 50 short list candidates are up and some are pretty entertaining. Currently, they are taking votes to help them choose the best candidate.

National Geographic writer, filmmaker and adventure, Jon Bowermaster has spent the last twenty years exploring the end´s of the earth, documenting his experiences in an effort to raise awareness for global issue. He has just returned from another exploration documenting in Hi-Def, Antarctica, as he experiences it on foot, kayak and small plane. His film will be released later this spring, “Terra Antarctica, Re-Discovering the Seventh Continent.”

His website, Notes from Sea Level, has recently been revamped and showcases his many impressive adventures over the years with dispatches, videos, and photos - while he posts current news about important environmental issues. One of my favorite adventures of his, was kayaking in the Alitplano, involving an extensive hike-a-kayak across the world´s largest salt lake, once the ocean floor and later an inland lake. Seeking water high in the Bolivian Andes, one of the driest places in South America, helped bring to light the destructive forces of the nearby copper mines, sucking the water out of the country.

In a monumental effort to protect the oceans, he and his teams kayaked in every single one and a few more, “Our OCEANS 8 project took us around the world by sea kayak one continent at a time; its name derives from the seven continents plus Oceania where we mounted expeditions. There are not, of course, eight oceans. If you dig out your National Geographic Atlas you’ll find five: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Southern Oceans. But I subscribe to the One Ocean Theory. Spin a globe and notice that all of those five oceans are connected.”

His adventures won´t stop soon, he shares on his website, “We are still out there exploring that relationship between man and the sea and upcoming 2009 filming expeditions will take us to the Maldives, Seychelles, the Marquesas, Tokyo, Croatia and more. So … stay tuned!”

Pushing the limits of what is possible with downhill mountain biking. Just about everything is labelled as extreme these days, you could probably even go to the grocery store and get extreme cottage cheese, but I think these guys qualify as extreme downhillers. Epically steep drop at the end of the video, watch the bike continue falling off the cliff.

Something out of a science-fiction novel, Jean-Yves Blondeau,  now known as “Rollerman,”  invented the 31 wheel roller suit as his graduate project at a design school in Paris.  In something akin to a ”human rollerblade,”  the wheels are positioned along the major joints of the body allowing the  user to “roll” on thier back, side, all fours, etc.  capable of reaching speeds over 60 mph. 

You can visit his website to learn more, but you´ll be better off just searching for “rollerman” on YouTube.

Bungee – surfing or skating or snowboarding or skimboarding, etc.  Trying my best not to make fun of this. Not going to consider it a sport, but will recognize it as a good way to add a bit of adrenaline to your local swimming hole or skate park.  Just hook the bungee to a rock or tree on the creekside, stretch it, and as their advertising says, “rip it”.

By Jacqueline Windh

Defending TCC champion, Costa Rican Javier Montero ran pretty much a perfect race this year. He’d won the first four stages, and even though Italian Leonardo Soresi had won the fifth stage, Leonardo had been quite a bit slower in the early stages and posed no threat for the overall win.

American Dave James, who finished second last year without little apparent effort, took his training more seriously this year and was clearly here looking for a win. Dave also ran a pretty much perfect race – but coming into the final 23 km stage, Javier still had an approximately 50 minute lead over Dave. Scott Jurek, probably the most accomplished and awarded runner of the field, had been finishing in the top 5 each stage, but Scott was definitely focussing on his upcoming summer race season and not pushing for the win here.

Competition was much hotter in the women’s category. Costa Rican Ligia Madrigal had won most of the previous women’s stages, but American Jaclyn Greenhill had been pushing hard and was only 13 minutes behind Ligia in cumulative time.

Other than the inital 4 km river section and waterfall crossing, the whole route was very runnable. Although Javier’s overall victory was all but certain, Leonardo and Javier were both going for the stage win. Leonardo won the stage in 2:43:25, with Javier sprinting in only 20 seconds behind him, both of them a good 7 minutes ahead of Canadian woman Doone Watson who took third – an impressive effort by Doone, and first time in this race that a woman has placed in the top three overall.

Click the Sleepmonsters Race Report Logo to read the rest of the story.

By Cory Wallace

Last night there was a storm warning for Sunday so the riders had a meeting and decided they would rather do the full 160 km today rather then do two 80 km days and risk the weather which was coming. Riding out into the fog at 8am a paceline of 5 riders (Lupillo, Simon, Art, Ramon and myself) formed at the front for the first 50 km before the feedzone split the pack as Art continued on thanks to his camelback and Ramon dropped off.

Leaving the feedzone the pace was slow and pretty soon we found out Art had taken a 7 minute lead. I was getting nervous so I picked up the pace and soon a sick Simon was off the back which left Lupillo and myself. Lupillo was suffering and wasnt willing to help chase down Art so I set the pace for the next 2 hrs, finally catching Art about 20 km from the finish. 10 km from the finish I attacked, dropping Art but I couldnt loose my shadow Lupillo. For the last 9 km Lupillo and I would ride togethar along the stunning ocean side boulevard in Vera Cruz with Art just 10 seconds back and chasing hard but we made sure to ride a little bit harder as we didnt want to test his legs out in the sprint.

Coming around a corner 400 m from the finish the sprint was on. Lupillo got a slight edge, I reeled him back in and came around his right side just before the finish line as we crossed together before slamming on the breaks and skidding into the fence behind the finish line dangerously out of control. Were still not sure who took the win as the organizers are looking at the photos of the finish. If I had to guess I would have to say Lupillo may of taken it by the thickness of a tortilla. For the next 3 hrs we would relax with drinks on hand as the rest of the riders rolled across the finish line of what may be the toughest mtn bike course in the world.
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By Kathi Merchant
March 4, 11:23 AM

Fingerlake, Checkpoint 3 mile 130:

Many racers have made it into the Fingerlake Checkpoint(mile 130). 29 racers so far.

Tim and Tom from Pennsylvania are leading the foot race and arrived in Puntilla (mile 170) this morning. They are veterans of this race and have done this race several times.They both walked 1100 miles to Nome in 2001 on the southern route in just under 27 days. Tim walked to Nome in 2004 and 2008 on the northern route.

I heard through the trail gripevine that Marco Costa and Roberto Gazzoli had spent the night with Mike and Ingrid at Fin Bear Lake. They have been on the trail for several years now offering their hospitality to weary racers between Fingerlake and Puntilla.They go out to their remote cabin every year to cheer on the racer and they are just great people and big fans of this race!
Steve Evans, a racers from the UK just called me that he was scratching at Shell Lake Lodge and to let his friend Howard Cook ( from the UK as well) know that he was out of the race. He said that he has not been feeling good since he started the race. Most racers have been stopping at Shell Lake Lodge which is about half way between Skwentna and Fingerlake and Zoe has been feeding them hamburgers to get them up them trail.
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          Usually, you have to sacrifice weight and space for a synthetic bag, but the Sierra Designs Lazer +30 Deg bag packs down remarkably small and is uncommonly lightweight. This makes for a great combination for extended backpacking trips when there is a possibility that your bag might get wet. And still, you get the beauty of a synthetic bag: it´s soaking wet and you´re still able to find some warmth and get to sleep.

Some of it´s features:

Insulated with Primaloft Eco, which is basically recycled platic and soda bottles.
Partial flex, creates a more comfortable and efficient design.
Removable mattress guides to secure your mattress directly underneath you and making the zipper more snag-free.
The Lazer uses a half-zipper which apparently saves weight, a feature that might appeal more to ultralight backpackers, but I´ve come to appreciate the ability to fully unzip my bag on warmer nights. I have noticed the half zipper popping up on lots of sleeping bags these days.
Foot box zipper allows for you to let in a bit of extra ventilation, which helps make up for the half zipper.
Top and Bottom draft tubes help with insulation and work great

Sierra Designs also has great warranty service and has made some notable innovations to sleeping bags over the years, making them a top manufacturer of quality outdoor gear.

Summary: The Lazer +30 deg bag is great summer camping, traveling, or tropical destinations when you are expecting warmer nights. Being a synthetic bag, it is a good choice if you are rafing/kayaking, or in situations where your bag might get wet. Also great for tentless camping when the morning condensation will be heavy.

Rafting in Tena, dragging their bikes across cow pastures through high valley, connecting roads that don´t exist on any maps, climbing 20,000 foot peaks, and competing in HuairaSinchi, Riding the Spine has been at it in high gear as they pedal their way through South America. Check out the Riding the Spine Website for more information about their bike journey that began in Alaska.

Overall, the ExOfficio Baja Long Sleeve Shirt has held up well to an adventurous lifestyle. During a kayak trip in the San Blas Islands, I began to appreciate many of its features:

Quick drying: could jump in the ocean after a long day on the kayak and it´d be dry within 15 minutes.

Sun Protection and Ventilation: Under the tropical sun, the best thing you can do sometimes, is cover up, but sometimes the heat makes that impossible. Fortunately, the shirt has climate control: generous hidden mesh vents on the sides and back you can Velcro open or closed, combined with deep pleats on the back that offer extra room for airflow.

Wicking Fabric: Especially nice in humid tropical conditions. Helps keep moisture off your skin and still doesn´t saturate the fabric.

Anti-Insect Shield: We were unable to test whether this feature actually repelled the insects, we were swarmed by insects at just about all points during the kayak trip, but being able to cover up comfortably in the warm evenings did help protect us from mosquitoes.

During the rest of my travels, I´ve appreciated the durability of the design (shoulder patches for reinforcement) and wrinkle-free fabric that allows me to pull it out of my dry bag and not look like the vagabond I am. Velcro tabs allow me to roll up the sleeves securely and a zippered security pocket on the chest keep things like my passport/cards safe when I´m crossing borders.

Downside: The chest pockets are oversized in my opinion, and couldn´t imagine ever filling them. After a dozen or so washings the fabric doesn´t seem to be very wrinkle free (that doesn´t really bother me, though) and the cost would be a bit steep for some.

Summary: A good example of technical apparel, a feature rich travel shirt, highly recommended for people wanting a versatile shirt for short vacations up to extended expeditions.