Because we here in Jackson see The Grand almost daily – while driving, while hiking Snow King, while strolling on the Elk Refuge Road – it’s easy to forget that the majestic mountain is a big deal. It’s on many people’s To Do Before I Die lists. Locals stare up at the golden granite hoping to touch it some day, visitors flock in from far flung places for a shot at its small, rocky summit. People climb it with their children, their parents, their best friends. And they always come back with stories. It’s a classic. Why, just a few weeks ago, reporter Kelsey Dayton documented a woman who summited the 13,770-foot mountain via the Owen-Spalding route that her great-great-grandfather Frank Petersen had climbed as a member of the first ascent party. Attempting to climb the Grand is no small feat. Below, Cloudveil-sponsored ski patroller Jennifer Homel describes her (budding) relationship with the mountain.

You know how some people dream and obsess about a lifelong goal that they hope to accomplish? Ten years ago they bought that one piece of gear that they will only need in one spot on that one particular trip, and they’ve studied maps and routes and photos and asked everyone they meet for beta just so they are ultra-prepared when the moment comes to fruition? Yeah, well, that’s not me. This summer, a river trip canceled, and I suddenly found myself with a week off in August and nothing to do. There was an Ansel Adams calendar hanging over my desk with an awesome photo of the Grand Teton, and I pointed to that. Why don’t we go there? To the top. You can do that in a couple of days, can’t you? Now, I’ve done a lot of cool stuff, like ski patrolling and whitewater rafting and hiking and mountain biking and camping … but never backpacking, and not much rock climbing either. But really, how hard can it be to carry 45 pounds of gear up 5,000 feet in six miles, camp at 11,600 feet and then tack on another couple thousand feet of climbing the next morning, before coming all the way back down to the car? Nevermind that the tallest peaks where I ski and hike in Utah only make it to 10,500 feet; I’m a pretty tough girl, and last winter’s fitness has gotta count for something! Proper preparation prevents piss-poor performance, right? So what does improper preparation promote? Piercingly painful pressure points from pushing too hard! Well, I didn’t make it to the summit … didn’t even get past camp on the Lower Saddle. Ouch. Failure like that stings, because it means I’m either out of shape physically or lacking the passion to persevere to the top. But guess what? It’s hardly fair for someone like me to achieve a goal like that, first try, with no preparation when it was a random, somewhat meaningless spot on the map to me. People who have dreamed for years about a single summit attempt – be it a Teton or Everest or Denali – deserve to make it to the top first try. The summit has emotional significance to them, and years of focus create an intimate relationship with the mountain that pulls them to the peak. Me? I just needed something to do and it was there; and hey, I got partway up it and it was beautiful just being there. Failing to summit was actually no big deal. Funny thing though, I’ve been having this dream lately … about a mountain I need to go climb. …

Jennifer Homel is a ski-patroller hoping to enjoy everything she can squeeze in to her one trip through life. She works at Brighton Ski Resort, Salt Lake City, UT.

After placing second overall in the 2008 Freeride World Tour and third in the US Freeskiing Nationals, Cloudveil Ambassador Jess McMillan took her annual trip to Argentina’s Las Lenas. Here’s what she has to say about her experience:

Las Lenas went off this year.

I never know what the season will have in store when I buy my plane ticket and head to Argentina. The wind can blow upwards of 100 miles per hour for months. Access to the upper mountain is solely dependent on one chairlift, the Marte.

The Marte is an old, fickle lift that can ruin your trip or make it unforgettable (or both). This year the Marte chairlift ran almost everyday and the snow continued fall all season long. It was one of the best seasons I have ever had in Las Lenas. Afterall, who doesn’t like powder skiing everyday?

For more on the trip, please visit my blog JessMcMillan.com.

I have been guiding up on the Chilko River in Western Canada since Memorial Day. Right now the salmon are in thick as thieves and the grizzlies are often fishing with us as we chase trophy trout on dry fly.

The evenings are cool now as autumn is upon us, but the river is clear and we see hundreds of bald eagles everyday.

It’s cold; I’m looking forward to Cloudveil’s winter selection of down!

September is my favorite month up here. The wild rainbows are plentiful and range from 16-29 inches and the the sockeye and king salmon jumping all over the place make for entertaining days on the water. I use my Cloudveil fishing vest daily; it has held up to the fishing rigors. And my jacket is still looking as swanky as the day I bought it.

You can tell that these items have been designed and manufactured by people who know our business as each detail and feature makes practical sense.

I am off to guide in Ecuador and Galapagos soon so I guess the down products can wait until I get home again.

Brian McCutcheon is the founder of ROAM Adventures and operates The Lodge at Chilko Lake in all his spare time. He can be found wearing Cloudveil most days on the river, in his kayak, on the mountain or while fishing.

I was guiding a rafting trip this August and was having a little trouble with chaffing. Quite possibly the cause was a combination of the heat, the constant need to get in and out of the river to stay cool and a really old pair of river shorts. I have tried many products to assuage this problem, but with no positive results.

On one trip, a fellow guide must have known I was suffering from my affliction by the way that I was gingerly waddling around in my Carhartt shorts. He gave me some Gold Bond extra medicated powder and suggested I use it. I did, and immediately was on the mend.

What an excellent product for that problem.  Everything was cruising along fine and the next evening I wandered a short distance  out of camp for a quick five gallon river shower. Being the crunchy river guide that I am of course I had a huge bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint soap.

Little did I know  the combination of Dr Bronner’s Peppermint soap and Gold bond extra medicated powder creates a HIGHLY EXOTHERMIC CHEMICAL REACTION.  So there I was, 20+ yards from 24 commercial rafting clients, behind a tree, naked, with my junk on FIRE and only five gallons of water in the immediate vicinity to solve the problem.

Luckily with some deft maneuvering I was able to calm things down with the five gals of water and made it to a more private spot to sit in the river and let Little Timmy and the twins cool off for an extended period of time. I escaped with no physical damage.

I needed to share this with ya’ll for the laugh and the hope that if I get the word out that no one will have to go through the same experience.

Tim O’Connor is a river guide on the Middle Fork of the Salmon river in Idaho and spends his winters in southeast Idaho.

Cloudveil, maker of Inspired Mountain Apparel, has redesigned its fall site to include more user-friendly and sport-specific elements as well as interactive video product reviews.

Working with local producers Arden Oksanen and Trask McFarland of Arris Films, Cloudveil produced athlete video product reviews. Darrell Miller of Storm Show Studios filmed the Sulli TV episodes, a series of product spotlights hosted by Cloudveil co-founder Steve Sullivan. Check out an episode of SULLI TV.

Cloudveil ambassadors, Nick DeVore, Lisa Watson, Jon Klaczkiewicz, and Jason Tattersall highlight their favorite Cloudveil products while doing what they do best in the Jackson backcountry. Videos can be viewed on the newly designed Cloudveil online product pages or on the Cloudveil YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/cloudveilvideos. Watch Tele sensation Nick DeVore talk about his favorite Down Patrol jacket below.

The new cloudveil.com Web site has also been altered to offer a more directed approach for the online consumer. Not only can users search by sports as specific as expedition mountaineering and skate skiing, but they can also link to relevant Web sites with news about that activity or read about Cloudveil ambassadors in that category.

“The Sulli TV video reviews are way for us to provide our online community with an in-depth look at the product features as well as the product in action,” says Steve Sullivan, Cloudveil co-founder. “A studio photograph only gets you so far and today’s consumer likes to know exactly what they are getting.”

The new website design and video product reviews are just a continuation of Cloudveil’s growing interactive network. Last year, the brand launched this site, TheMountainCulture.com, a blog about mountain town life. Cloudveil also operates a group on Facebook.

“We have a very loyal customer base,” says Suzie Hultman, Cloudveil Consumer Marketing Manager. “And our ability to interact with them, get their feedback and share what’s happening at Cloudveil through a number of different web mediums will only benefit the brand and the product in the future.”

FLOW-THE FILM- HOMEPAGE

Irena Salina’s award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century – The World Water Crisis.

Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question “CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?”

Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.

Teton based, rando-racer, always motivated skier Steve Romeo, is giving away a FREE pair of BD skis on his blog TetonAT.com
The winner will get to choose the skis of their choice by entering a contest centered around the Best Trip Report submitted by December 1, 2008. The winner will be selected on 12/15.

So, either get out there or get busy writing up the greatest, worst or most hilarious recent trip and share it on TetonAT.com