Osprey

Professional Climber, Foodie

Beth Rodden grew up in the flatlands of the Central Valley of California. She started climbing at the age of 14 at the local climbing gym. Climbing immediately captured her attention and has been an integral part of her life ever since. She traveled the country and world for competitions while she was still in high school, earning the title of three time Junior National Champion and two time Adult National Champion. Shortly before she graduated high school, she fell in love with the mountains and wanted nothing more than to travel the world exploring climbing areas. Over the next decade she became one of the most accomplished female climbers in the world. Beth has free climbed three routes on El Capitan, more than any other woman. She has also established some of the hardest traditional climbs and sport climbs in the world by a woman.

Over the past few years Beth has become very involved with clinics and working with young climbers across the country. Climbing has been her passion since childhood and she loves sharing that with young climbers today; working to develop their skills and enthusiasm into good stewards for the sport. Beth has also developed a strong passion for local food systems. She is very engaged in bringing awareness that food sourced and grown locally is beneficial for the environment as well as people's health. She is fortunate enough to split her time between Yosemite and the Bay area, where she can pursue both her love of the mountains and climbing, and her love of good, quality food. When she's not climbing she can be found cooking with food from the local farmers market, and spending time with her four legged companion, Max.

Regular Joe

Joe Schwartz is a resident of Vancouver, BC although he was born and raised in Nelson BC, a small mountain town in the interior of the province. He has been a professional mountain bike rider for almost 10 years. He is a featured rider in the New World Disorder series of bike movies, as well as other movie productions and TV shows (Ride Guide, Drop-In). Through his work with film companies he has been fortunate enough to travel all over the globe, riding in some very exotic locales. Joe works with photographers to produce stunning images that have been published in bike and outdoor magazines worldwide. He has also competed in and judged the internationally renowned Red Bull Rampage, a freeride event that pushed the limits of mountain biking.

A large part of Joe's summer is spent guiding, coaching and consulting. He spends time each summer guiding groups in Switzerland with Big Mountain Bike Adventures, leading DH and XC trips through the Alps. He is involved in consulting work, designing DH jump trails and bike skills parks for ski resorts and community cycling clubs. Joe is a head coach for the Summer Gravity Camps in Whistler, and has also coached in Whitehorse, Bella Coola, Panorama, Squamish, and all through the Kootenays.

Joe features videos, photos and stories of his adventures on his blog joeschwartz.ca , and has also had writing work published in magazines such as Decline and Terrengsykkel from Norway.

Joe is an ACMG certified backcountry ski guide, and has worked for numerous catski, heliski, and ski touring lodges all over BC. While mountain biking is his main love, Joe uses his skis as an escape mechanism. His past adventures include completing multi-day ski traverses throughout BC and achieving a number of committing descents in the BC Coast Range, the Canadian Rockies, and in the French Alps.

Joe is currently finishing up a Marketing Management diploma program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Vancouver. He has been using this education to work with non-profit organizations and adventure tourism companies to develop their communications strategies.

Sponsors: Osprey Packs, Kona Bicycles, Smith Optics, NRG Enterprises, Sombrio Clothing, Chromag, Bell Helmets

In 2003 I was introduced to mountain biking while working as a Senior Electrical Design Engineer at Motorola in Atlanta, GA. The once a week group rides led to racing and traveling. Before I knew it my husband Todd and I were leaving work early on Fridays for long weekends of camping and pre-riding or racing.

Todd, also an Electrical Engineer, began working for himself in 2005. We were paying for pet care, housecleaning and yard maintenance in order to spend our free time traveling. Deciding it made sense to move back West, we sold our home in 2006, bought a 40' class A motorhome, I quit my job and we hit the road in search of a new town to call home.

We initially gave ourselves a two-year time limit but have been full-time RV'ers ever since. We love the lifestyle. I never did look for another Engineering job; instead I became focused on racing at the highest level possible, against the best racers in the world.

I remember how much there was to learn when I began. My goal is to make myself available to anyone, at any level, to share tips, skills, encouragement, resources, or anything that will allow racers, riders, or potential riders to fall in love with the sport of cycling as I have.

Osprey Sponsored Athlete and Climber

It's always best to start with the name. Technically, it's "My-ka," sometimes it's Maj, and if you want to traumatize her, it's Mike. But watch out, because when Majka was growing up, she recorded each time her sister caller her Mike in a pink-sequined notebook and turned it into their parents for a weekly older-sister trauma report. Add to this being a kid who hyperventilated over papercuts, cried over indigestion, and refused to go to bed without a tiara, sprinkle in the "Toughen-Up-Majka-Campaign" (a little bit of ingenuity on her father's part) and the result is a woman who became a mountain guide at age nineteen and hasn't looked back since.

These days Majka is a writer, climber, and AMGA-Certified Rock Guide who lives in Boulder, Colorado... when she's home. Lately she's been spending a lot of time searching for stone in Africa. In 2007, she established first ascents on sandstone towers in Ethiopia, and came home and wrote a book about it: Vertical Ethiopia: Climbing Toward Possibility in the Horn of Africa. A return trip landed her in Namibia, where she, Peter Doucette, and Kate Rutherford climbed a new route up the granite walls of Namibia's highest peak, The Brandenburg. Waypoint Namibia, the film, followed. In addition to her focus on Africa's rock walls, Majka spent three years exploring its cultural coffee roots, resulting in her second book: Coffee Story: Ethiopia.

Talk to Majka for five minutes and you will likely know two things: she is intense, and has a poodle. What you might never learn is that she always goes to bed at 9:30, when she's not out dancing until 2am. She's built a strawbale house, made three-tier wedding cakes, installed a septic system, worked as an EMT in Trenton, NJ, and has never run but only jogged. In fifth grade she got the award for the most checking penalties in the Minnesota floor hockey league – the boys one.

Majka's a self-proclaimed mental tooth-wiggler�that place where it hurts and feels good�and goes there often in her writing and her climbing. When not in Africa, she's swinging ice tools, climbing long alpine rock routes, guiding, and being the mother to the poodle (who has no foofy weird hair-do, so get that picture out of your mind). Majka has an MFA in Creative Writing from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers and received her BA in Anthropology from Princeton University. She speaks often about the merger of adventure, ambition, culture, and perception and brings a lifetime of inquisitive travel to her projects.

Majka's an alumnus of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and Outward Bound, and credits the two organizations with convincing her to pursue a life outside. She was a ski racer as a child and hopes to be one again. When she's seventy she'd like to finally have the guts to ride her bike without holding onto the handlebars, in Italy, between villas with great wine.

Mike Horn is acknowledged as the premiere eco-explorer of the modern era. For more than 20 years, Mike has undertaken exceptional feats of adventure exploration and ecological analysis that have extended the boundaries of human achievement, natural discovery and environmental education.

Here is a small selection of the expeditions Mike has conducted: Mike crossed in 1997 the South American continent on foot and hydro-speed via the Amazon River. The expedition was conducted alone, without any assistance, and took a whole 6 months. This was followed in 1999 with the circumnavigation of the world along the equator without any motorized means, a trip lasting over 17 months and clocking in at over 40000 kms. In 2006 Mike, with Borge Ousland, became the first person ever to walk to the North Pole.

His latest endeavour, the PANGAEA Project (Pan Global Adventure for Environmental Action), is a 4-year circumnavigation of the world through a series of 12 expeditions each to different climates and biospheres including mountain, desert, ocean, rainforest and tundra. For each expedition, Horn choses a team of young explorers -- high school and college students -- from all over the world to accompany him on the journey.

Osprey Sponsored Athlete and Media Magnate

Tired and I don't want to go home.

I am exhausted. My body is spent. I'm having dreams where I slip into a luxurious bed to profound sleep, and the voluminous, lined bags under my eyes would bankrupt me on US Ariways. I am in Chile and life has been full bodied, in that dark French roast, 36-28-36, dank KGB kind of way. While heading south this afternoon on the bus from Puerto Natales, I was drooling onto the pages of Craig Childs "House of Rain". Now in Punta Arenas I am running on fumes at the Hostal Amanacer where the Internet is slow and the owner is massive, as in Ignatius from the Confederacy of Dunces –hotdog cart and all, no kidding.

I am at the end of the world, not so much born again Armageddon, but more just the tip, as in the tip of Chilean Patagonia. I was invited down to speak at the Banff Mountain Film Festival y me dije, "Sipo, por su puesto, que bacan." (Chilenismo = "Yeah dude, of course, how cool.") I gave my show in Spanish and showed the Sender Films "First Ascent TV" episode of climbing in Alaska's Ruth Gorge with my brother Sean. I then played LIVE rock and roll music @ the local bar Baguales until 3am with two-bands, the 1st being an ad hoc posse of want to be's and the 2nd a consummate power trio of head bangers called Leyendas Del Rock. We raged through Zeppelin, Kiss and Deep Purple anthems amongst other covers, don't frown; after all we're all covers of our parents.

At 7am the next day with brain banging, compelled by the 1st splitter weather window of the season, after more than 8-weeks of cold rain and snow, I begged out of a prior 'con promiso' and began the hours long bus to mini-bus to trek to Japanese Base Camp. I partnered with 27-year Chilean Tadeo Sotomayor for a glorious ascent of the Monzino route of the North Tower. He was gripped, I was impatient, and together we suffered. Back at camp, Gabriela waited with juice, crackers and her radiant smile. I passed out as Tadeo salted the pasta and Steve Schneider peppered me with stories, questions and his nervy buena honda. The next night, back in Puerto Natales, we celebrated mass summit success, at the season party for the world's best hostal, Erractic Rock (un muy bueno desayuno, the coolest staff and wide-open, accommodating arms). We played rock and roll again for a great thrumming audience, only this time louder, longer and with 50-liters of free beer and a few special guests. As luck would have it, another window of "buena clima" appeared the following morning and we pounced.

After only a few hours of sleep and with a "hatchet in my forehead" the journey back to advanced base camp (a natural cave with a well crafted Italian laid rock floor) worked me badly. That night, another 3-hours of sleep led to a 2:30am wakeup call of melting snow, macking oatmeal and slurping black tea. On this ascent I roped up with a badass Colombian alpinist named Sebastian Munoz for a rapid ascent of the 2,000-ft long "Bonington Route" on the gargantuan Central Tower of Paine –solid crack systems through steep flanks of red granite leading to a circuitous traverse of fractured gendarmes, snow slopes and a short lived summit party of a high-five and a "que buneo hermano", before beginning the next half of the climb, getting the f&%k down. At dusk, feet soaked, toes numb, hands battered and bloodied we slumped atop a sloping boulder wedged amongst millions in the moraine at the base of the last two-thousand foot snow couloir, my mind reeling from a "timmyo style" festival of 5-days of rock&roll to rock to rock&roll to rock. I wanted water, food and cryogenics.

Now it's off to meet James Q Martin and company for a descent of the Rio Baker in order to capture the epic beauty and adventure of this ancient Aysen waterway. We are documenting the trip to aid the local NGOs in their efforts to prevent the river from being dammed. Thanks Osprey for the on-going support for my projects, climbing, music and my life. I am more afraid of not living than I am of dying, for the latter is a certainty and the former a call to action in all forms and to connection with people and the places they inhabit.

Tracy Moseley is a Professional Downhill Mountain Biker racing for the Trek World Racing Team. She has been competing on the World Circuit for 11 years and in that time she has obtained 10 World Cup wins; she is the 2010 World Champion and 2006 World Cup DH Champion! 2011 is the first year that sees Osprey as one of Tracy's official sponsors- having just become champion at the Urge Cabo Verde Race in February we are very excited at the prospect of this partnership.

Born in 1979, Tracy (nickname Mo) was a keen dog trainer before mountain biking really took off for her in 1993 when she entered her first xc race- although she suffered badly afterwards! Un-deterred, Tracy started downhill riding in 1994 and won the National Championship for her age category. However, not having a licence meant she couldn't take the title. So in 1995 it was Helen Mortimer, the most successful female rider at the time, who spurred Tracy on by offering her a bike and kit that she had previously used and thus Tracy's first sponsorship began.

1996 saw Tracy join the Volvo Cannondale UK team where she raced all Nationals as a junior; she was also selected to race at the French National. In 1997 Tracy won her first silver medal at the Junior World Championships- which she admits she should have won. 1998 brought about her first win in a Senior National Title whilst also juggling university. She even found the time to race in a couple of World Cups!

Fast forward to 2001, Tracy begun racing full time for Kona Ford Focus- her first opportunity to race all of the world cups. An amazing experience and gradually the results began to happen! After a string of 6th places and finish line crashes, she finally managed to get on the elusive world cup podium. 3rd at Vancouver and 2nd at Durango and Kaprun.

The next few years saw Tracy reaching 3rd overall in the World Cup Series in 2003- her most successful year to date! Although in 2004 after another great year winning the Maxxis Series, Tracy crashed and dis-located her shoulder meaning she had to finish that year prematurely. It was a long winter of rehabilitation for her shoulder with hours spent at the physio, massage and gym to get it right. By February though, she was back on her downhill bike! One of the biggest highlights of 2005 had to be another victory at the home world cup in Fort William. She also found time to fit in some Maxxis cup races and managed to clinch the overall again and remain injury free!

In 2006 Tracy managed to take wins at the first 3 world cups! She managed to maintain form and finished in the top 3 all year and it eventually gave her enough points to win her first ever Overall World Cup Title. Having been so close over the past few seasons it was a great feeling to finally bring the title home to the UK! Once again the highlight of the year for Tracy was winning the Fort William World Cup in front of that amazing crowd. In 2007- nationally Tracy rode well, winning both rounds she entered and taking the British National Title for the 5th time. However her goal to win the World Championships in Fort William again was dashed after she had to settle for 4th place- her biggest disappointment in her career so far.

In 2008 Tracy was the only downhill rider on the Kona team and it required a lot of planning and organisation to make it all come together. She was working with some new components, a new mechanic and no team mates to ride with so it took a while to get back into the groove! After a disappointing 7th place at the first World Cup she managed to claw some points back and took 2 wins along the way to take her World Cup win tally to 10. Tracy finished the year in 3rd overall and retained the National Title.

2009 was the start of a new era for Tracy. After 9 years with Kona she changed sponsors to ride for the new Trek World Racing Team. It was a dream start to the year, winning her first few races and winning the first World Cup of the year in South Africa, the first win for Trek. She finished the year with a win at the final World Cup at Schladming and ended up 2nd overall in the World Cup, 2nd at the World Champs and retained her National Title. After the 2009 season Tracy had some time out for an operation to repair an old hip injury, this meant starting the season off pretty slowly on the world cup front with some disappointing results. As the year progressed, however, her racing increased rapidly and she managed to finish the World Cup Series in 3rd place and then went on to win the title that she had been chasing her entire career- she won the World Championships and turned a poor 2010 season into a year she will never forget. Tracy Moseley 2010 World Downhill Mountain Bike Champion!

Sizing

Sizing your pack is the key to not only comfort but the pack's performance. Your height and weight don't relate to certain sizes, people of the same height many times have different torso, hip and shoulder measurements. Take the time to get it right. If you're buying from one of our online partners measure yourself carefully and don't hesitate to call customer service at 866-284-7830 if you have questions. Always remember that there is no better way to fit a pack than with a store professional at your local specialty retailer.

Torso Sizing

Many of our packs are available in multiple sizes to fit a range of torso lengths. To determine your torso measurement have a friend help or go to your local shop where the knowledgeable staff can use an Osprey Pack Sizer. If at home have your friend measure the length of your back along the spine. Start at the iliac crest which is the top of your hipbones on the side of your body that act like a shelf. From this level on your spine, measure to the C7 vertebrae, the knobby bone at the base of your neck when you put your head down. Make sure to keep your back straight while your friend makes the measurement. This measurement determines your pack size, if you are in between two sizes we suggest you head to your local shop and try them both on.

Hipbelt Sizing

Our Argon & Xenon, Aether & Ariel and Variant series packs offer interchangeable hipbelts. To determine your hipbelt size measure around your hips, at your iliac crest not your waist. A properly fitted hipbelt rides centered over the hipbones and needs to be very snug; after all it will be carrying the bulk of the pack's weight. The padded portion should wrap well around your hips, leaving a gap of 3 to 6 inches between the tips of the both hip pads when securely tightened. Make sure to account for cold weather clothing for packs being used for winter activities.

Harness Sizing

Osprey Argon & Xenon, Aether & Ariel and Kestrel packs offer interchangeable shoulder harnesses. Harness sizing usually corresponds to pack size, but your best bet is to try one on. A properly fit harness should terminate 2 to 3" beneath the armpit, webbing should not touch the side of your body below the padding. The padding on the harness should make full contact with the top of your shoulder and slightly down the back side. You should not have any gaps near the top of your shoulder. Make sure to account for cold weather clothing for packs being used for winter activities.

How to Pack Your Pack

Be sure to use the red internal compression strap. Also, compress the contents solidly using the external compression straps. You want the pack to adopt a tall, thin profile. Remember to maintain side-to-side balance as well – a pack that leans over to one side places excessive pressure on your spine and irritates your shoulders. Make a point of getting as much gear inside the pack as possible. Odds and ends strapped on all over the outside of the pack wreak havoc with balance, especially if they are free to swing around. Finally, the top pocket has a tendency to become the repository for many, many small items that add up to significant weight and often make the pack distinctly top-heavy – be careful!

Argon and Aether Series

Kestrel, Talon, Manta, Raptor, Hornet 24 and 32, Momentum/Metron, Viper, Karve, Farpoint Series

Atmos, Aura, Exos, Stratos, Sirrus, Kode, and Hornet 46 Series