My Review of OSPREY Poco Premium Kid Carrier

David Lottmann Uncategorized

Originally submitted at Eastern Mountain Sports

A deluxe child carrier, the Osprey Poco Premium Child Carrier is as comfortable for parents to carry as it is for kids to ride in.

The Cadillac of kid carriers

By Dave the Guide from Conway, NH on 6/24/2012

 

5out of 5

Pros: Adjustability, Storage, Ease of Use, Comfort

I’ve been a backpack/gear snob for 18 years, so when it came time to buy my first kid carrier I did some serious research. I wanted comfort for both me and my 9 month old son for the many White Mountain miles I knew we would be putting on this pack over the next 2 years. After trying the other companies high end model this one won out for a few stand out reasons;

1) Comfort for me; Osprey know’s comfort, as their suspension systems always involve very breathable designs while magically keeping the load close and over the hips. The shoulder and waist padding is a nice dense foam, the torso size easily adjusts even though my wife said “just keep it sized for you”. Thanks hun!

2) Comfort for baby; totally and easily adjustable, with ample padding, a removable washable drool cloth, built in easy deploy sunshade, adjustable stirrups for when he’s bigger… he showed us how comfortable it was by sleeping soundly the last 2 miles of our hike!

3) Storage. This pack has over 2000 cubic inches of storage space. The “bottom garage” as I’ve taken to calling it fits the diaper changing station, my extra layers, food, a kid blanket, first aid kit, etc with ease. The removable day pack could hold another 1200 cubic inches of gear but I just dropped my map, compass, headlamp, and some snacks in it. Plenty of room to spare. The hydration sleeve easily held my 100oz CamelBak Bladder. Built in changing pad? It has that too!

I searched other sites and found cheaper options out there, and they might be for you. But if you plan on logging any serious miles with the little one on the back, DON’T GO CHEAP! This pack is worth every penny for the comfort it provides!

Happy as can be

thumbnail

Tags: Using Product, Picture of Product

Boulder Loop Trail, White Mountains New Hampshire

thumbnail

Tags: Picture of Product, Using Product

(legalese)

Mountain Rescue Service Training

David Lottmann Professional Development ,

Recently we have responded to rescue requests from Fish & Game of injured hikers in less than 5th class terrain where proper belaying of a litter may be necessary. Last Thursday about 20 members of North Conway based Mountain Rescue Service met atop Cathedral Ledge to practice some twin-rope technique lowering on lower angle terrain, including passing knots through a re-direct.

Frank demonstrating the knot pass
Working the litter
Working the litter
Our “victims” during a practice session
Our “victims” during a practice session

To learn more about Mountain Rescue Service go to http://www.nhmrs.org/ or and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NHMR

Rock Climbing at Whitehorse Ledge

David Lottmann Rock Climbing

Issac, age 14, and Alex, age 25, joined me today for their first outdoor climbing adventure. These two had been practicing indoor wall climbing for awhile and had both been on some adventures from Alaska to Bolivia already. We headed to nearby Whitehorse Ledge to introduce them to the fundamentals of multi-pitch rock climbing.

We climbed about 600 feet up to Lunch Ledge via Standard Route (via Quartz Pocket), then rappelled and made our way over to Beelzebub Corner for some afternoon top-roping and a visit from a pretty good sized Porcepine.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

These guys were quick studies and I look forward to our next climb together!

Rock Climbing Fast Track Course

David Lottmann Rock Climbing

This weekend I got to spend two days out on the rock with some great guys as they learned the basics of rock climbing. Saturday was forecasted a bit hot in the valley so Jeff, Carl, Will and I headed up to Square Ledge in Pinkham Notch to take advantage of the higher elevation and cooler temps. After learning how to tie-in and belay everyone got multiple top-rope laps on the West Face, then a full ascent of the West face followed by Top-Rope laps on The Chimney and The Brain. We finished the day with a rappell down the West Face.

Unfortunately I lost most the photos from the day when uploading from a new device due to user error. Sorry guys! Only one I salvaged from the day is Jeff on “The Brain”

Jeff on “The Brain”

Day 2 brought us to Whitehorse Ledge where an early start saw us topping out Standard Direct by 11:30am. We hiked over to the South Buttress and rappelled down Cold Day in Hell, then went over to Cathedral for a lap on Kiddy Crack to round out the day.

Whitehorse Ledge
At the pinch belay on Standard Route
Climbing the Arch, with Echo Lake in the background

For details on this program click http://www.emsexploration.com/climb/accelerated-intro-to-rock-climbing/

2012 Climb Convergence

David Lottmann Professional Development, Rock Climbing, Self-Rescue , ,

If you don’t work for EMS you probably don’t know what the Climbing Convergence is. Technically, it’s staff training, but “staff training” does not begin to describe 160 employees from 60+ stores getting together in the heart of the White Mountains for 2 full days of climbing, clinics, training, hiking, cook-outs, camping, bonfires, slacking, and stuffing pockets with swag while perusing a vendor village.

Tent City at Great Glen, at the base of the Mount Washington Auto Road

My part in the event was limited to one day at Cathedral Ledge, but it was enough to sense the kind of camaraderie folks who work for EMS share.

Ethan and Sara setting up at “the classroom”
One of the anchor clinics I taught during the day- Photo by Dave Karl of http://www.skyambitions.com
Keith and Ethan teaching belay escapes and some self-rescue skills…
Anyone know what kind of snake this is?
Lunch break at the base of the cliff
Keith being Keith

It is very cool to work with a company that takes authentic training like this so seriously. Sometimes I don’t think my own family understands. We LOVE what we do. It’s not just “retail”. It’s sharing a lifestyle, a healthy lifestyle, with our customers. Climbing, hiking, kayaking, biking, ice climbing, backcountry skiing… these are the sports we represent, and these are our own personal passions. And our company puts events like this together to help us outfit our customers so they can enjoy these pursuits as much as we do… It just doesn’t get any better!

Five Borough Bike Tour

David Lottmann Uncategorized

This past weekend I had the opportunity to ride in the 2012 Five Borough Bike Tour. Held annually in May, the TD Five Boro Bike Tour is America’s largest cycling event, with over 32,000 riders cycling 42 miles though a very rare traffic free New York.

While I’ve considered myself a recreational mountain biker for years I’ve never really done any road biking. With the arrival of my son Alex and dreams of our new family riding the carriage roads in Acadia National Park the next few years I figured I should give it a try. Since EMS is a presenting sponsor I was lucky enough to get a ticket to this lottery style event.

But first I needed a bike. A few weeks ago Michelle and I headed down to EMS Portsmouth to shop for some Hybrids. I wasn’t quite ready to get all lycra’d up on a high performance road bike so the resident well known Bike Tech, Rog, suggested the MARIN Seadrift Hybrid Bike, and we were sold.

All techno jagin aside, this bike is just comfortable to ride. With only a short 6 mile warm up ride around my neighborhood I left for NYC and road it 47 miles in 5 hours. Not bad for a first real road ride!

6AM, inside the Staten Island Ferry
Manhattan approaches
Little did I know my helmet cam was not charged
Looking back from near the start line, the World Trade Center Memorial building in the background
EMS Schools Office Manager, George Karaffa
Around mile 26, going strong
Approaching Verrazano Bridge… it’s always backed up when I’ve driven this way…
Crossing the Verrazano
Looking out at the Hudson
The Finish Line
Fort Wadsworth

Hard to say what the coolest part of this experience was. The empty (of cars) NYC streets? Riding through dozens of red lights? The camaraderie of fellow riders and the company of the co-workers I shared many of the miles with? The gospel bands cheering us on while we went through the Bronx? The views… the list goes on. I’ve got to say it’s definitely one of the coolest things I’ve done lately and I think I’ve been bitten by the bike bug. A Facebook friend has already mentioned I should join his crew on a similar tour in Montreal in June… hmm… that sounds interesting!

Since my helmet cam saw no action please check out the official video:

Welcome Spring, time to clean house

David Lottmann Uncategorized

Well rock climbing season is here, as I’m sure you all know. It arrived pretty early after such a mild winter. I actually have gotten 5 days in so far which is pretty good considering it’s my very first Spring as a dad. While I thought fatherhood might strain my ability to get out and climb my incredibly supportive wife has allowed me to get after it once or twice a week. I can’t tell you how excited I am about getting my son out to the cliff, once he reaches toddler age of course! Having a child to introduce to the mountains and nature and climbing… well… I just never thought about it until it happened… and it is definitely a life changer.

Speaking of changes I think this blog needs a remodel. While it is pretty active in the winter months with my avalanche course posts it gets awfully quiet here round’ summer. I’d like to change that, and make this blog more useful to you, the reader, whoever you are…

Since I only guide on a part-time basis in the summer I’m thinking I’ll use this interweb space for anything climbing/hiking/kayaking or otherwise outdoors related that I do. I’ve been getting inspiration from this climber from Charelston, S.C. who I have never met before but who’s posts have been fun and insightful to read.

So changes are coming. If you have a suggestion please let me know, I’d love to hear it. I’ll be looking at re-formatting, content, etc, etc. Not sure what the end product will look like, but that’s often the case isn’t it?

I’ll be riding in the 5 Boro Bike Tour this Sunday, and will definitely get some video and pics of that event. Considering I’ve only put about 6 miles on the bike this season, that 40 mile ride will certainly be interesting.

Until next post, thanks for reading!

10th Avalanche Course of the Season

David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing ,

Despite the record breaking warm temps and early arrival of our Spring snowpack we finished another avalanche course yesterday. After a day in Crawford Notch we hopped the high speed quad on Wildcat Mountain and were actually able to see some layers in the snow off the south side of the summit. Lots of old MF Crusts still visible in the very dense wet snow.

For our ski tour the next day we headed to the familiar, but now heavily traveled, Tuckerman Ravine trail.

1st break on the Tuckerman Ravine Trail
Continuing up the busy Tuckerman Trail
Busy HoJo's
Skinning up Hillman’s Highway
Re-grouped at the top of the “Christmas Tree"
Kicking steps as the angle increases
Top of Hillman’s Highway
Choosing our line
Looking up Hillman’s Highway
Re-grouped at the bottom of the gully

Despite the low avalanche danger we got to manage some typical spring-time hazards like loose wet snow surface slides, avoiding fall-line’s of falling ice, route-finding, etc. The

The Sherburne Ski Trail was barely skiable at the bottom, with a few mandatory mud turns needed.

Spring has Sprung

David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing ,

Today we wrapped up the 9th avalanche course of the season. 6 hard-chargers from UCONN braved 45 degree temps, 100 mile visibility, and gusts of wind up to 10 miles per hour to put there newly learned risk management skills to use.

Bill looking at a small crown at the top of Hillman’s Highway while USFS Snow Ranger Jeff Lane chats with the group
Spreading out while we cross the floor of the ravine
Some quick snowpack observations confirmed what we read in the bulletin
Climbing up Left Gully
Topping out
Looking for some corn
Traversing over to the Lip/Sluice area
Dave gets ready to drop the lip in some heavy “mashed potatoes” snow

Low Avalanche danger allowed us to cover quite a bit of terrain. Lots of traffic on the mountain provided many opportunities to watch other people and learn from their decisions. Where the snow was getting the most solar radiation it was quite heavy.

Unfortunately the Little Headwall is open in multiple places and doesn’t allow you to connect the floor of the ravine with Hermit Lake, so we hiked from Connection Cache back to HoJos.

The Sherbi had a mix of sun/shade on it. The shaded areas iced up quick but allowed faster skiing. Glide wax would have been nice. The bottom of the Sherbi is melting out fast, not sure if we’ll be able to ski to the base during next weekends course. Let’s hope this unseasonable warming is short lived so we still have some snow left in April!