I am gonna try to get to this one:

Monday-Tuesday, March 5-6
Sunrise Mountain Sports
2455 Railroad Ave
Livermore, CA
Mon, 7pm: “Circling Alaska & Yukon:
Tues, 7pm: “Ultimate Hiking Gear & Skills”
$5 admission, $2 for Boy Scouts in uniform
I work in San Jose so i think i can make it to Livermore after work Monday for the AK Yukon event.
I am hoping for some inspiration for my own "out of the box" Long distance hike/paddle.
I want to hike from Baja up the Colorado River, over the Divide and hike/paddle down the Mississippi to the Gulf coast.

How come BPL hasn't installed a "Like" button yet? Get with the times, guys...

"How come BPL hasn't installed a "Like" button yet? Get with the times, guys..."

Well, I did notice "Staff Member" next to your name :)

P.S. What is a like button?

Hey Nick, Be my friend on facebook... oh nevermind.. ;)

Taking my dad to the Seekonk,MA one. Maybe he'll finally replace his old frame pack ;) though i doubt it.

@Matthew: Are you going to try to make it Tuesday as well? I think I'm going to try to be there Tuesday at Sunrise, but it's maybe 50/50 at this point.

I would most definitely like to see both.

I went to Andrew's slide show on his Alaska trip last night with some friends and was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of other BPLers there too along with a lot of Boy Scouts.

Was a full house, but still an intimate gather where Andrew did not need a microphone to address all of us.

The slide show with his personal narration and stories to share was a real treat with stunning photos and a number of video clips from his trip that ranged from very humours to extordinarily honest/personal moments on the trail.

It was nice to be able to see the man in person in person and to realize that he is very socialable, normal, humble, and very approachable.

One of the highlights of the night was being able to see and touch a lot of the gear that he used on the trail. To see what gear stands the test of thousands of miles on the trail and then to compare it against my own gear choices.

Lastly, Andrew fielded questions from the group to close the night out.

My only suggestion to make the presentation betters was if there was more time for Q & A.

Looking forward to going to the next one tonight on his book and picking up a few signed copies for myself and for a gift for a friend.

If I can snag some photos, I will post them up here.

Highly recommend that other attend this event, which was very entertaining as well as informative.

Made for a great evening and listening to Andrew talk for about 70-90 minutes was a pleasure.

-Tony

Tony I believe Andrew said there will be more time devoted to Q&A tonight at Sunrise.

Edited by aldosean93 on 03/06/2012 17:52:38 MST.

Yesterday I had a chance to attend Andrew's Gear Clinic and I took these photos of the event.



Sunrise Mountain Sports Livermore, CA.
It was a packed event where Andrew laid out his theory comparing Ultimate Hiker vs. the Ultimate Camper. There were a lot of humorous personal stories and slides to show examples between the two.



Starting the Slide Show

The slide show gave a nice mix of photos to illustrate his ideas as well as to clearly list resources and definitions of the techniques and ideas that he wanted to convey to us.



Hands on Time with Gear
The gear assembled was a mix of Andrew's personal gear that he had taken on his trips and what Sunrise Mountain Sports had to offer. The day before, when Andrew had given his presentation on his Alaska-Yukon Expedition, he had this same table filled with nothing but his own personal gear he had taken on the trip. This was great because you could touch and feel his choice of materials and gear that was proven on the trail.



PackRaft 5 lbs



The Most Important Piece of Equipment- You Brain and the Skills You have Mastered



The Humble Cat Food Tin Alcohol Stove Andrew had Taken on his Expedition



Evernew Ti Pot with Handles Removed
Andrew prefers simple meals that require plenty of hot water- Soup Like Meals. They provide not only food, but aid in re-hydrating and warming the body.



Recruiting the Audience to Help Setup a Mid Shelter
Andrew asked a number of audience members to help him illustrate the various light weight shelters options such as this Mid and a simple tarp that can provide plenty of coverage from the elements.



Q&A After the Formal Presentation
One of the nice aspects of the event was Andrew frequently inviting the audience to ask questions throughout the presentation. The negative aspect of this event was that there was so much material to cover in a relatively short time. Given Andrew's vast experience and fielding questions, he really needed twice the time to be able to coverage the main points of his ideas and give examples.



That said, it was very informative and dense for the novice to intermediate traditional backpacker. For more experienced and lightweight backpackers, I think that the value of this was to be able to talk to the man himself, to ask your own questions to him, to glean some insights on how to improve your own kit based on his experiences, to simply be inspired to better yourself by his example and his accomplishments.



Fielding Question at the Intermission with Debbie from BPL
Actually, one of the pleasant surprises was to see how many BPLers were in attendance. I was sure that saw at least 8 or more people who had attended the recent Gathering of Gear Geeks at Henry Coe State Park.



I was able to get two copies of his book at he event, which he autographed for me.

Really enjoyed both nights but between the two, I enjoyed the presentation on his Alaska-Yukon Expedition the most, because it had a more relaxed pace and was more intimate feel due to the mix of photos and videos taken on the trail.

Either way, I highly recommend your taking a little time out of your evening to attend his presentations. Great fun.

-Tony

Edited by Valshar on 03/08/2012 01:31:57 MST.

Tony -

Thanks very much for posting these photos. I think they convey the event pretty well, in terms of both its content and its accessibility.

This comment struck me:
"One of the nice aspects of the event was Andrew frequently inviting the audience to ask questions throughout the presentation. The negative aspect of this event was that there was so much material to cover in a relatively short time. Given Andrew's vast experience and fielding questions, he really needed twice the time to be able to coverage the main points of his ideas and give examples."

I absolutely agree with you. 90 minutes (really, 75 after factoring in the intermission and raffle) is just not enough to do this topic justice. Not only do I have to skip over things, but there's also not experiential component, which is really how people learn best. This is part of my motivation in offering guided trips -- during the course of pre-trip discussions and then actual time in the field, participants will acquire a tremendous amount of knowledgeable about backpacking gear, supplies and skills.

This year I'm offering 3-day trips and 7-day trips. The 3-day trips are very learning-intensive, whereas the 7-day trips are more hiking-focused (but equally educational). The first 3-day trip is in Henry Coe State Park, May 18-20, and I'm also offering them in 6 other locations around the country. The 7-day trips are in Wyoming, Yosemite and the Colorado Plateau.

For more information, visit:
http://andrewskurka.com/guided-trips/

The tour is mostly going very well. The presentations are being very well received. Maybe I'll see some of you at some of my other events this week:

Wednesday-Thursday, March 21-22
Nantahala Outdoor Center, in The Grove Park Inn
Asheville, NC
Wed, 7PM: Circling Alaska & Yukon
Thurs, 7PM: Ultimate Hiking Gear & Skills
Details: Nantahala Outdoor Center

Saturday, March 24
The Summit School, sponsored by Great Outdoor Provision Company
Winston-Salem, NC
7PM: Circling Alaska & Yukon
Details: Great Outdoor Provision Company

Next week I start heading north. I'll be at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA, and then at Campmor in Paramus, NJ.

Anyone thinking about signing up for one of Andrew's clinics - take the plunge! I did back in 2009 and loved every minute. There's nothing like learning in the field from the best.

Here's a link to the story we submitted of our adventure:

Wilderness Trekking II: Long Distance Backpacking

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/wt2_ldbclass_2009.html


(sorry you have to cut/paste...I don't know how to insert a link)

Andrew,

I noticed Southern California is not on your tour. Any chance you will add this destination?

I tried to schedule some events down there but struggled to get a full week of venues. If you care to, call A16 West LA and tell them what a great idea you think it would be for the chain to host a few shows.

How about an online version? I realize you won't be coming to my neck of the woods.

I spoke at Google a few weeks ago and they will be putting it up on their website shortly.

You can find some pictures of the Google event on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/andrewskurka

Andrew,

Do you drive a BMW 7 series, or a Benz S series?

I think that is a prerequisite for public speakers in southern California, especially Orange County.

:)

I attended the clinic in Louisville Ky and it was a great experience. I also picked up one of his books and love it. Both provided a little different information than the other books and information that I have read. Both are very worth while!

Has anyone pre-ordered online? I got one email back like an invoice with 'order processed' but is there another email coming with the actual ticket? or do we just print that?

Jake