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The North Face
CLIMBERS

alex hannold

Rock Climber

Alex Honnold burst onto the climbing scene in Fall 2007 with a splash of headlines. He drew attention from the press by his audacious one-day free solo link-up of The Rostrum followed by Astro Man - two demanding multi-pitch Yosemite 5.11+ free routes. He made news again in spring 2008, with a first-ever ropeless free ascent of the long Moonlight Buttress, 5.12, in Zion National Park. He was just 21.

But now, looking back on those impressive feats, he eschews the attention those climbs have gotten him. He'd rather tout the less-headlined free ascent he made of El Capitan's Salathe Wall, a seldom-free-climbed 5.13 testpiece requiring 3,000 feet of climbing. He and his partner did it in three days. To Alex, that's more noteworthy.

The Rostrum and Astroman were "leisurely," he says in his sincere, understated tone. "I climbed the Rostrum, then came down and ate lunch. Then I went over and soloed Astroman. Each one took an hour."

As for the tougher Moonlight Buttress, with its soaring finger-width cracks and dizzying 2,000 feet of relief, he modestly passes that off by explaining that he'd rehearsed the moves on prior ascents.

"Exposure doesn't bother me," he says when addressing the reality that on a free solo ascent, if you fall you die. "It's easy not to be scared if you know you won't fall."

The Sacramento, California born climber took to the sport at age eleven, when his parents introduced him to a local climbing gym. "They figured that since I was always climbing trees, I would like the gym," he recalls. "Soon I was going there five days a week, and riding my bike seven miles to get there. I would traverse back and forth across the walls for two hours at a time, never stepping down."

On a student field trip to Yosemite, one look at El Capitan firmly planted the climbing bug in his head, though he'd be diverted by a year of engineering at UC Berkeley before committing himself to full-time climbing. Now, with 2011 before him, he's a professional climber and North Face athlete, recently profiled in Climbing Magazine. At 25 he's already accomplished a lifetime's worth of vertical feats, but with an appetite for rock and raw talent like his, he's certain to push the frontiers of adventure even further.

emily harrington

Rock Climber

Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, Emily Harrington, 24, has been climbing for 13 years and has an impressive list of achievements to show for it.

She started as a member of the USA Junior Climbing Team in 1998 and has been a member of the USA Climbing Adult Team (difficulty) since 2004. In 2007, Emily became the 2nd American female to climb 5.14b and finished 2nd in the Sport Climbing World Championships in 2005. Despite her roots as a competition climber, Emily has explored several other aspects of the sport. Recently, she claimed the first female ascents of Roadside Prophet (5.14a) and Living the Dream (5.14a) in Rifle, CO, and an ascent of Full Equip (5.14a) in Oliana, Spain and served as a Team Leader on TNF's Free Range Turkey Expedition. This past winter, she climbed up to M8 mixed and 5.13a traditional and competed in the 16th Ouray Ice Festival, placing 14th overall and 3rd for the women.

While busy accumulating these athletic achievements, Emily also managed to graduate Magna Cum Laude from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor's Degree in International Affairs in 2007. Her other achievements include serving as a USA Athlete Representative at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy, and representing Access Funds as Youth Ambassador from 2003 to 2006. She served as an Athlete Representative on the USA Climbing Board and is currently an ambassador for Outdoor Nation. It is clear that Emily does not do anything halfway, whether it is school, donating her time, or climbing, and she clearly has a passion for every endeavor she undertakes - a passion well beyond her years.

CONRAD ANKER

Conrad Anker

Alpine Climber

Conrad Anker's specialty, simply put, is climbing the most technically challenging terrain in the world. This quest has taken him from the mountains of Alaska and Antarctica to the big walls of Patagonia and Baffin Island and the massive peaks of the Himalaya.

Conrad's Antarctic experience spans a decade, with first ascents in three regions. In 1997, Conrad teamed up with Alex Lowe and Jon Krakauer to climb Rakekniven, a 2,500-foot wall in Queen Maud Land. In the Sentinel Range, Conrad climbed the Vinson Massif via three new routes. His climbs in Pakistan's Karakoram include the west face of Latok II along the "Tsering Mosong" route (which begins at the same height as the summit of Denali) where he climbed 26 pitches on a vertical cliff and then topped out at 23,342 feet.

In 1998, Conrad and Peter Croft made a first ascent of Spansar Peak via a 7,000-foot ridge in one day. In Patagonia, he climbed the three towers of the Cerro Torre Massif. On Yosemite's El Capitan he joined Steve Gerberding and Kevin Thaw to establish "Continental Drift," a steep "nail-up" on the right side. And in Zion National Park, Mugs Stump and Conrad first climbed the intimidating "Streaked Wall".

In May of 1999, as a member of the Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition, Conrad discovered the body of George Mallory, the preeminent Everest explorer of the 1920s. The disappearance of Mallory and Sandy Irvine on their summit bid in June 1924 is one of climbing's great mysteries, and Conrad's discovery and analysis of the find has shed new light on the pioneering climbs of the early expeditions.

Conrad graduated from the University of Utah and lives in Bozeman, Montana, with his wife and three sons. He is a board member of the Conservation Alliance, the American Alpine Club and the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation. He stays in shape by climbing, running and skiing.

JIMMY CHIN

Skiier, Rock Climber

Jimmy's passion for exploration and photography has taken him on break-through expeditions around the world. Chin has worked with some of the best adventurers, climbers and skiers in the world on their most challenging expeditions.

Climbing, skiing and often enduring death defying situations next to some of the best in the industry, Jimmy shoulders the camera equipment and documents the epic stories.

In 2002, he joined Conrad Anker, author Rick Ridgeway, and the late photographer Galen Rowell for an unsupported 275 mile trek across the largely unexplored northwestern corner of Tibet's 17,000-foot-high- Chang Tang Plateau while filming for National Geographic. The following year Chin accompanied Stephen Koch to the north face of Everest on his quest to snowboard the Seven Summits.

Chin hit Everest again in 2004, climbing to the summit with Ed Viesturs and David Breashears while juggling two assignments - shooting production stills and video for Universal Films. Viesturs called upon Chin again to accompany and photograph him on his final and successful expedition to Annapurna, Ed's last summit in his quest to climb all fourteen 8000 meter peaks. In 2006, Jimmy climbed and skied from the summit of Everest while shooting Kit DesLaurier's historic ski descent of the mountain.

The list of epic journeys goes on. In the last ten years, the Victor, Idaho based Chin has averaged six to eight months a year, on cutting edge expeditions and on assignment, shooting for National Geographic Magazine, Outside Magazine, The North Face, and Timex Corporation, to name a few of his editorial and commercial clients.

Jimmy has been profiled in numerous national publications including National Geographic Magazine, Outside Magazine, People, Men's Journal andothers. He received the Rowell Art of Adventure award for his philanthropic work and excellence and breadth in adventure photography. National Geographic Society has awarded Jimmy two expedition grants and named him one of their inaugural Emerging Explorers. Jimmy's most recent assignment about the Yosemite climbing culture and cutting edge of climbing was featured as the cover story in National Geographic's May 2011 issue.

kris erickson

Rock Climber

Kris Erickson frequently jokes about being the invisible man, because there are often very few photos of him carving turns or climbing to the top of the peak. That's not because he is taking the easy way up or down; it's because he is the unseen guy, on the chin-scraping slope, behind the camera lens.

For years, Kris Erickson has brought his camera to the highest points, coldest reaches, and most untouched folds of the planet's geography. What's more, he is not merely a shutterbug who stands idle to the side of any expedition. Instead, he tackles the same challenging mountaineering projects as the world's other top-flight climbers and skiers, often combining his abilities to ascend difficult mountains with a love and passion for true mountain-sliding descents. This is called "glisse alpinism" and, when combined with a remote photo-shoot, it is Erickson's idea of nirvana.

Erickson's commitment to his photography, climbing, and glisse alpinism has spurred him to make the driving force of his images the difficult ascents and descents he's made around the world. His romantic vision for exploration of the final frontiers and his photojournalism documenting these far-flung adventures has blended with his traditional style and ethics in climbing and skiing to capture a rare and wild side of history.

With an exuberant smile and free-flowing conversational style, Erickson reflects on where he has been, where he has going, and his home base. The born-and-raised Montanan says, "I've traveled to the four corners of the globe, yet I keep coming back here to Montana." That he does, much to the joy of his wife, Cloe, and daughter, Noor.

Runners & Bikers

Jez Bragg

Ultra Runner

In a sport when it's often the older competitors who excel, Jez has stood out for the seven years he's been running ultras as a youngster on a mission.

He arrived in the sport by chance more than anything else. His school and early university days all centred round the rugby field where playing six or seven days a week embedded a high level of fitness from the start.

"I have a little theory that my inner strength - which is so important to ultra running - came directly from my upbringing; playing a lot of rugby, climbing trees, riding my bike, all sorts of physical activities, usually in a relentless fashion. It was undoubtedly the foundations for the level of endurance I have today."

Jez picked up ultra running as a 'natural' progression from the marathon that he trained for as a one off charity challenge 2001. The attraction of ultra distance trail running came from a combination of a love for the outdoors, the excitement of adventure and the endurance embedded from his upbringing.

"Every long run in a new place provides a wonderful opportunity to explore. To me it is one of the greatest attractions of the sport; being able to cover long distances, non-stop, on foot, getting to the places that most can't reach. To be solo, on foot, creates a wonderful sense of freedom in a world where day-to-day life is increasingly frantic. There are few sports that offer such a pure and unhindered way in which to explore the hills, mountains and countryside. When you run in places such as the Highlands of Scotland, the scenery inspires and gives strength to push you further. That's what it's all about for me."

Jez won his first trail ultra marathon in emphatic fashion and has gone on to win most others he has started since then, establishing himself as one of the world's leading ultra distance runners, both on the trails and the road. Jez now has his sights firmly set on the global scene, building on the success of his biggest performance to date, a win at The North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc in August 2010.

Sage Cattabriga-Alosa

Mountain Biker

Sage Cattabriga-Alosa was a ski-obsessed kid growing up in Alta, Wyoming, learning about the fundamentals on the race team and cutting loose in the powder.

When he wasn't thinking about skiing during the day, he was dreaming about it while he slept. It didn't take long for his talents and energy to get him noticed, and today Sage is one of the best-known skiers in the ski-film industry. In fact, in 2004, 2009, and 2011, he won Best Male Performance from Powder magazine's video awards.

Most of his energy is focused on Filming, print media, and online content. He works with Teton Gravity Research, the largest online community for mountain sports. Together they produce an annual action sport film, as well as countless webisodes, and commercial content.

Sage is passionate about the outdoors, sustainability, living well, mountain biking, and art as well. As an artist, he works in both digital and analog media, producing art and graphic design for Musicians, Designers, and companies such as The North Face, and Atomic.

He spends time between Utah's snowy winters, and Portland Oregon's hot summers, which cultivate both his passions for the outdoors and his art. They are a driving force in his life and a passion that he breathes.

goose down fill

GOOSE DOWN FILL : THERMAL INSULATION

Using only the highest quality goose down in all of our products, The North Face® tests each lot of down at three stages of production for loftiness, moisture resistance and ability to regain loft after compression.

The fill power of goose down is an indicator of two important features: warmth-to-weight ratio and compressibility, both critical to retain warmth and furnish comfort. True fill power is measured by placing one ounce of goose down in a graduated cylinder and measuring the volume the down occupies in cubic inches. The North Face® products are insulated with exclusive, high-fill power goose down ranging from 600 to 900 fill, which represents the highest quality down commercially available.

BETTER THAN NAKED

Sage Cattabriga-Alosa

Alex Honnold in Yosemite

Jez Bragg

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