Friday, January 27, 2006

Blog connections

I was inspired to start this web log after attending a Web Enhancement Workshop for tourism operators in Northern Ontario. If you are in the tourism business in Ontario and can make it to one of their upcoming workshops, I highly recommend the session.

Now, Todd Lucier, one of the workshop leaders, and my blogging mentor, has used the Algonquin Outfitters blog as an example of how a blog can help businesses get media coverage and make connections. Check out the complete Tourism Web Workshop Blog.

I guess I'll keep on blogging!

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Algonquin Outfitters in the news!

Here is a great example of how a blog can help make connections.

About two weeks ago I received a phone call from a reporter named Clayton Collins, of the Christian Science Monitor. He was interested in writing an article on snow shelters, had been Googling on the topic of Quinzees, found this web log (from the article on our upcoming Winter Assembly) and decided that someone in a place named Oxtongue Lake, Ontario would just have to be an expert...

The end result is a nice story by Clayton in the Living section, both on-line and in print. If you are looking for a good background on Quinzee building, check it out!

Monday, January 16, 2006

Banff Mountain Film Festival program, Jan. 19, Huntsville

As I mentioned earlier, Algonquin Outfitters' presentation of the Banff Mountain Film Fetival World Tour is sold out in Huntsville. Here, in alphabetical order, is a list of the films we'll be showing on Thursday night:

Balancing Point - SPECIAL JURY AWARD WINNER

USA, 2004, 6 minutes
Directed & produced by Danny Brown
Website: www.senseistudios.com
Focus: Environment
This short film involves the "reverse destruction" of balanced rock sculptures. The protagonist appears to magically create the sculptures - intended to be very meditational and a manipulation of gravity and time through the simple effect of reversing the film.

Charles, Edouard ou le temps suspendu (Suspended Time)
AWARD WINNER: BEST FILM ON MOUNTAIN CULTURE
France, 2003, 26 minutes
Directed & produced by Bernard Boyer
Focus: Culture
Silence and the passing of time mark the lives of two elderly brothers living on a mountain farm. For the two bachelors, isolation is a way of life. They share few words and live in a routine of caring for their animals and watching the slow cycle of the natural world.

The Hatch
USA, 2005, 18 minutes
Directed & produced by Ben Knight & Travis Rummel
Focus: Environment: Fly fishing
Website: www.feltsoulmedia.com
Once a year, an epic insect hatch invades Colorado's Gunnison River Gorge, sending tingles down the spine of every trout and angler in Black Canyon National Park. This film is a tribute to this extraordinary place, and to the people who will fight for its future as a unique ecosystem.

Hockey Night… in Ladakh
Canada, 2005, 9 minutes
Directed and produced by Baiba Auders Morrow & Pat Morrow
Website: www.patmorrow.com
Focus: Culture, Sport
Middle-aged Canadian Embassy staff living in New Delhi fly up to Ladakh to play in a high altitude hockey tournament. While there, the sorely out-of-shape Canucks manage to avoid having heart attacks in the rarified atmosphere and, at the same time, help to nurture a Himalayan-sized passion for Canada's national sport. In return, the Ladakhi people give them a big, warm Tibetan Buddhist welcome.

The Khumbu Mighty-Mites
USA, 2005, 3 minutes
Directed by Karl Swingle
Produced by Conrad Anker & Jennifer Lowe
Website: www.alexlowe.org
Focus: Skiing, Culture
After a big snowstorm, the children of Nepal's Khumbu enjoy a day of fun on their homemade skis.

The Lost People of Mountain Village
USA, 2005, 15 minutes
Directed and produced by Carol Black & Neal Marlens
Focus: Environment, Satirical Humour, Culture
Anthropologist Wade Davis calls it "no less than the most spectacular archaeological and anthropological discovery of our lifetimes". Jerrold Sapphire, author of "Vanished: Why Bad Things Happen to Bad Civilizations", calls it -- well, you'll see what he calls it. When a lost backcountry skier stumbles onto a monumental complex of structures - apparently completely uninhabited - the only thing upon which experts agree is that we may never know what really happened to the lost people of Mountain Village.

The Retrospective - Red Bull Rampage
Canada, 2005, 17 minutes
Directed by Derek Westerlund
Produced by Jonnie Broi and Chris Mater
Website: www.free-ride-entertainment.com
Focus: Freeride Mountain Biking
A candid look back from the birth of freeride mountain biking to the spectacular riding and remarkable athletes that defined the legendary Red Bull Rampage event from 2001 to 2004.

Return2Sender: Bug Out
USA, 2005, 10 minutes
Directed by Peter Mortimer
Produced by Peter Mortimer and Timmy O'Neill
Website: www.senderfilms.com
Focus: Bouldering, Youth
Bug Out is a profile of inspiring 10-year old climbing phenomenon Cicada Jenerik, with footage of her shocking ascent of Lowrider V10 in Bishop, CA. The film is interspersed with her insightful commentary on climbing, motivation and being ten.

Return2Sender: Parallelojams (The Fundamentals)
AWARD WINNER: BEST FILM ON CLIMBING (excerpt from award winning full version)
USA, 2005, 18 minutes
Directed by Peter Mortimer
Produced by Peter Mortimer & Timmy O'Neill
Website: www.senderfilms.com
Focus: Crack Climbing
A hilarious and inspiring look at modern desert crack climbing, hosted by Timmy O'Neill. The Fundamentals is a special excerpt from the highly-acclaimed Parallelojams and showcases the accomplishments of crack-climbing addicts in legendary Indian Creek, Utah. This funny and insightful film offers a unique perspective on this pure form of climbing.

Solilochairliftquist
USA, 2005, 4 minutes
Directed & produced by “T.M.” (Thomas) Faversham
Website: www.favermanfilms.com
Focus: Humour
The time involved in riding chairlifts while skiing a hundred days a year can lead to many profound realizations. This short explores the complexities of life as a ski bum.


Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Banff Film Festival sold out in Huntsville!

The Banff Mountain Film Festival is SOLD OUT for the fourth year in a row in Huntsville! There will be no tickets available at the door. If you were unable to get a ticket this year, we hope to see you next year. Tickets will go on sale on or about Dec. 1, 2006.

Don't despair - the festival tours across Canada, the US and the world - check the World Tour page for other locations in Ontario and elsewhere. If you don't mind travelling, there are other venues with tickets available.

If you really like action-oriented outdoor films, check out the Radical Reels tour, coming to a variety of locations in March, 2006.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Job opening at Algonquin Outfitters!

Update: wednesday Feb. 15 - this position has been filled. welcome aboard Darryl Musgrave!



If you are a bike enthusiastic with bicycle retail management experience, here is a great opportunity to live, work and play in beautiful Muskoka!

Position:

Bike Dept. Manager - full-time position at our Huntsville location

Who are we:
Algonquin Outfitters operates a group of outdoor adventure stores as well as providing canoe trip outfitting outfitting services for nearby Algonquin Park. We are located in beautiful Muskoka; 2 1/2 hours north of Toronto.

Our bike department covers the full range of bicycle sales and service. We carry off-road, road, adult recreational and children's bikes. The shop offers a complete range of maintenance and repair service - from minor to major. Our customer base consists of active local riders, sponsored atheletes, seasonal residents and a number of institutional clients such as children's camps.

Duties:
- buyer for bike department (hard & soft goods)
- manage full service bike shop
- run off-site sales/service program
- responsible for day to day operations of bike department
- run trade show events; some travel
- report to owner & controller
- off-season: run service shop for alpine/snowboard/nordic

Attributes:
- team player, good communicator, solid organizational skills, flexibility

Experience:
- minimum two years related retail experience; extensive knowledge of bicycle sales and service; knowledge of ski & board service an asset

Please submit cover letter, resume and references to:

Richard Swift - Owner
Algonquin Outfitters
86 Main St. E.
Huntsville, ON
P1H 2C7
p - 705-787-0262, ext. 31
f - 705-787-0222
e - rich@algonquinoutfitters.com