Picture of the week 1/29/10

Reflecting on the joys of Umpqua Hot Springs as we gear up to hit the road for the 2010 season

Snow on the Mind

Jason and I had the opportunity to get some skiing & snowboarding in at Solitude Resort before the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City. It was an epic day with 11 inches of fresh snow, but while getting on the lifts I kept noticing a sign I had never seen at a resort. The general gist of the sign was: "Protect our water, use the facilities provided at the resort." It turns out that 60% of Salt Lake City's water comes from the Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons and between these two canyons there are four ski resorts that see an enormous amount of recreationists throughout the year.

While deep snow is an excellent durable surface, it's important to remember that it is water and in certain places, like the Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons in Salt Lake City, a major source of municipal water. When you're visiting snow covered places, remember the four objectives of proper human waste disposal:

* Avoid polluting water sources
* Eliminate contact with insects and animals
* Maximize the rate of decomposition
* Minimize the chances of social impacts

When possible, use the facilities available! Otherwise, pack out human waste.

All the best...

Agata and Jason

Seeing is believing........

Our old friend Bigfoot was the talk of the town at the 2010 Outdoor Retailer show last weekend in Salt Lake City! The big fella burst onto the scene to kick off the Bigfoot Challenge and was excited to have so many participants take time to share their support for the ethics challenges and take part in the Great Gear Giveaway sponsored by Backpacker Magazine and Subaru of America.

If you missed the opportunity to take part in the Ethics Quest at the Outdoor Retailer then check out the monthly Bigfoot Challenge throughout 2010 for a chance to win sweet prizes and of course take part in simple acts of environmental activism and learn Leave No Trace principles.


All the best,

Agata and Jason

Winter Outdoor Retailer

Outdoor enthusiasts, the latest and greatest gear, and Bigfoot sightings, all mixed up in the chaos that is the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, UT, made for a busy but exciting weekend for the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics!

The Outdoor Retailer Show is a bi-annual event that showcases the newest gear and trends in the outdoor industry. With over 15,000 people in attendance, this show is a great venue for us to share Leave No Trace education. Our best opportunity to reach people is through the Great Gear Giveaway sponsored by Backpacker Magazine and Subaru of America! This year, we had over 500 people take part by testing their Leave No Trace knowledge, as well as taking the Bigfoot Challenge. 18 very happy participants walked away with sweet prize packages that included lots of fabulous gear. Thanks to all the companies that donated products to the Great Gear Giveaway, and to Backpacker Magazine and Subaru of America for sponsoring the event. This was a wonderful kick-off to the 2010 season for the Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers!

Safe Travels...Kate and Tracy

Bigfoot is Back in 2010!

By now you have probably noticed that Bigfoot is Back to help us promote responsible outdoor recreation on our favorite trails, waterways, mountains and other outdoor spaces. The elusive Bigfoot leaves no trace of his passing through the wild, but we fortunately have been able to track him down to help us in 2010. He even made a visit to our office last week.

Bigfoot met with Education Director, Ben Lawhon, while visiting the Center.

Bigfoot will be hanging out starting today with our Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers at the Outdoor Retailer Trade Show in Salt Lake City. He will be helping us with a number of different outreach efforts. Keep your eye on Bigfoot over the next four days on Facebook. We will be uploading stories and photos from the show. There ought to be some pretty funny pictures of Bigfoot interacting with the crowd.

You can also get involved in your local area to help Bigfoot promote outdoor ethics, take the Bigfoot Challenge. Each month this year we will be challenging you to take on one simple Leave No Trace action, that will be fun and easy to do. You can follow the challenges and pledge to practice Leave No Trace each month by clicking here. You will also get some great opportunities to win some prizes donated by Leave No Trace partners.

Winter Trails Day

On Saturday, we had the opportunity to take part in Winter Trails Day in Rocky Mountain National Park. The event offered free snowshoe rentals, winter safety presentations, as well as an igloo building demonstration. We shared Leave No Trace information with visitors before they hit the trails and thoroughly enjoyed our first opportunity at outreach at this festive annual event.


We're heading to Salt Lake City to the Outdoor Retailer Show where we hope to get a glimpse of Bigfoot.

Agata and Jason

Bigfoot is heading west!

Everyone here at the Center in Boulder are working hard to get ready for the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City later this week. Much to our surprise, we had a special guest come by to get ready as well. Yep, you guessed it, Bigfoot is Back!

Bigfoot had a pleasant hibernation period and now he is rested and ready for another fun-filled year of outreach, awareness and adventure! He will be joining us in Salt Lake City, so be sure to look out for him if you are heading to the show. If you are not going to be at Outdoor Retailer, be sure to check out Bigfoot's web page and take the Bigfoot Challenge! There will be new challenges posted every month and a chance to win some sweet gear from our partners to use on your next outdoor adventure.

Safe travels...Kate and Tracy

Picture of the Week 1/15/10

Enjoying the outdoors responsibly on a bluebird day in Colorado!

17 states and 3,056 miles...

.... and we finally made it to Boulder! We've had a very exciting first couple of weeks of 2010. We left Massachusetts on the first of the year and headed to the Ocala National Forest in Florida for our Master Educator Course. After five frigid Floridian days and nights, tons of new information, and a few new friends, we hopped back in the car to make it to Boulder.

We were fortunate to be able to attend the annual Provider's meeting and are getting acquainted with our colleagues at the Center. Stay tuned for updates and maybe even a few action shots with our old friend Bigfoot as we get ready to kick off the Bigfoot Challenge for the new year.

All the best........

Agata and Jason

2010 Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainer Season is getting set to Kick Off!

On Monday we began our annual Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainer Training for our 2010 teams. We are lucky to have Kate Bullock and Tracy Howard returning for their third season on the road, starting their year as our Team East. Check out their schedule so far.

We are also very excited to have a new pair, Jason and Agata Ketterick, joining us for our 12th year of the Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainer Program as Team West. You can take a look to see if they will be coming to your area in the coming months by clicking here.

Both teams will be attending the Outdoor Retailer trade show next week in Salt Lake City, and then will be back here for another week and a half of training before they hit the road for the season in early February. If you are interested in hosting the Traveling Trainers this year, please request a visit online.

Kate and Tracy, are excited for you to meet Bigfoot!

Jason and Agata on top of Mt. Katahdin in Maine last June.

Winter Trails Day

It's an exciting time in Colorado.  This past weekend, we spent time with 600 snowshoe hikers at Echo Lake.  Nationally, Winter Trails Day was held in nearly 90 venues around the country.  Locations include alpine resorts, Nordic centers, and national parks.  Organizers estimate that participation exceeded last year's total participation of 10,500 due to snow cover in most parts of the country.  Winter Trails Day, celebrating it's 15th year, was created to enable children and adults new to snow sports to try snowshoeing and/or cross country skiing FREE at participating venues.  This is an amazing opportunity to demo products and enjoy the cool crisp winter air.  Not to worry if you did not make it out last Saturday.  There are a few more events on January 16th.  The Traveling Trainers will be providing outreach at the Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, CO where all the festivities will take place.  We hope to see you there!

Safe travels...Kate and Tracy

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...REFUSE

In recent years the phrase "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" has become widely known, accepted, and practiced.  At Leave No Trace, we would like to challenge you to practice a fourth "R", which stands for REFUSE.  Here are two examples of refusing that could be easily achieved in your everyday life.  First, carry your own reusable water container.  Every five minutes, 2 million plastic bottles are thrown away, using 750 million gallons of crude oil per year.  In the U.S. only 20 percent of those bottles are recycled.  Refusing plastic bottles would cut down on the amount of plastics purchased and the amount of plastic that ends up in a landfill each year.  Second, store reusable shopping bags in the trunk of your car, eliminating the need for plastic bags.   Plastic bags are made from petroleum. Every year, Americans consume an extra 12 million barrels of oil for plastic bags! Take action today.  Every little bit helps!

Safe travels...Kate and Tracy

Picture of the week 1/1/10

Enjoying the Rocky Mountains of Colorado one delightful summer afternoon!