Deuter and Yamnuska Mountain Adventures form partnership

Deuter, makers of innovative, high quality, and price-competitive packs with 100 years of internationally proven experience, announced today their partnership with the Yamnuska Mountain Adventures, the premier provider of mountaineering, ice & rock climbing, backcountry skiing and trekking experiences in the Canadian Rockies.

Deuter is one of the world's largest manufacturers of backpacks and it has a remarkable history in providing packs and equipment for mountaineers for over 110 years. Many of the world’s most challenging peaks saw their first ascents done with Deuter packs. Yamnuska was the first operation of its kind in North America and it has a tremendous history and legacy in the Canadian Rockies as a leader in guiding and teaching new generations of climbers, mountaineers and skiers.

“Deuter’s partnership with Yamnuska provides us with an opportunity to work directly with a very important user group while supplying leading professionals with equipment that they want their clients and students to use in challenging environments.  Both Deuter and Yamnuska share a long and rich mountaineering history and we can learn from one another. This new relationship provides outstanding linkage of two organizations that are very passionate about the mountains.”,  said James Retty of ROI Recreation (distributors of Deuter).

“ Many of our guides have already been choosing Deuter products for years as their 'go to' choice for specialist mountain backpacks. It just seemed like a natural partnership for us to pursue. Fact is, our guides won’t compromise on their gear for obvious reasons, and Deuter understands that.”, states David Begg, Director, Yamnuska

Diamir World Backcountry Freeride Jam at Whistler RETURNS!

The perfect end to a great season is/was perfect! We had blue skies, cold snow, perhaps a little too cold at -18C! But great conditions for ski testing, demo testing, telemark and AT clinics, etc. A record number of people were there to enjoy all the free events and activities at The North Face Backcountry Village at the top of Whistler Mountain for the 18 - 20th. This is the only event in North America where consumers can test out NEXT YEAR'S equipment. A chance to try stuff out in fabulous conditions. The biggest names in backcountry equipment will all be there including Scarpa, Diamir, Movement, Black Diamond, Dynafit, Prior, Komperdell, Ortovox, and many, many more.

There was all things backcountry this year including the 2nd North Face Canadian National Ski Mountaineering Championships which saw a record no of 71 competitors in the three races throughout the weekend. A hard fought win this year in tough conditions over the 26km Spearhead Passage course had some new challenges this year with the very steep boot pack section up Exhiliration couloir and the steep skin line with a very tricky face out kick turn on a 45 degree slope! The cold conditions also froze up some competitors' hydration systems making it very hard to push a race pace with no water for 4 + hours. The fastest time was a very quick 3:33.21 by Aaron Chance the new Canadian National Champion followed very, very closely by Andy Traslin at 3:33:40. Andy led across the finish line but had a time penalty and ended up giving up the top spot. These two were neck and neck all season. In third place went to Reiner Thoni at 3:36.30 and he is the newest strong young talent in the national team pool.

The women's winner was Melanie Bernier who has been a standout performer all year with a time of 4:26:40 over the 26km, 2200m course. 2nd was Julie Matteau at 4:53:16 and 3rd to Whistler Patroller Erika Janackova at 4:58.06. All the competitors loved the new course and it promises even more challenges for next year. Check out complete results at www.wbfj.ca.

The evening events started with a blast on Thurs night with the TNF ICE party co-hosted with TGR. Tons and tons of prizes were given away to the late night party crowd and ski media in attendance. Friday night saw a fantastic fund raiser event for the Keith Flavelle Hut hosted by the Escape Route and Deuter which raised over $1500 for hut repairs and maintenance.

All of this took place with the backdrop of the world famous TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival which makes the whole package an unforgettable end of the season event. So don't miss it next year!

For more info go to www.wbfj.ca

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