BEND, OREGONBryn and I were invited to 5.10's media event down in oregon this week to learn about the brand, do some climbing, riding, and smoozing with our new journalist friends/editors - ( Outdoor magazine, Men's Journal, Backpacker, Climber, theGearcaster.com, Oregonian, Washington Post, decline , etc).
5.10 sponsors most all of the best climbers/flyers/ mountain bikers in the World, so we also met the legendary Dean Potter, Mayan Smith Gobot, JT Holmes, etc. Bryn , Carson Storch- who is a slopestyle rider , and I were there representing the bike world.
It was pretty humbling climbing for the first time at smith rock, but also probably the most amazing introduction of all time to a sport with this crew. Dean was our belay for one climb, which I'm sure was hillarious for him as a guy who climbs without a rope and who has done things in this environment that no other human has wanted to or could do.
Anyway, The people who work for 5.10 are super down to earth and accomplished athletes as well, so plenty safe, but still the initial fear for a first timer is there. Bryn made it up a 5.9 route on his second climb, so that was cool. Think I did a 5.7 which is still scary. It was mostly a mentally draining thing to do, because of the balance of fear and focus. Once you know what you are doing I am sure the death grip eases off a tad:)
5.10 is a difficult climbing grade, hence why a company who a, and they are the only ones with this type of rubber, which is incredible. There was a merge with Adidas, but the core of the company stays the same, just adds better distribution, vendors, etc
For the next day of biking, none of the pro climbers came, but we had a good time teaching the editors and 5.10 staff about biking. Cog wild, which is a bike tour company outta bend was awesome too. Even Lindsey Voreis was there as one of our group leaders, keeping everyone entertained and laughing:)
It's such a great opportunity to get to spend this kind of quality time with our sponsors. Thank you 5.10!!
