MOUNTAIN KHAKIS - Built For The Mountain Life Blog

RECAP: Johns Hopkins University Climbing Competition

On November 6th, JHU held the opening competition for the Mid-Atlantic Colligate Climbing Series. We had upwards of 70 students from all over the greater Baltimore come and compete in our annual top-rope competition. Our small wall could barely hold all the spectators and competitors at once.

The competition was a huge success; helping to raise money for the recreation center’s climbing wall, so we can keep improving the wall and the experience of the local climbers. The gift cards donated by Mountain Khakis went quick to the top competitors in each category, and the cozies disappeared even faster among the rest of the competitors and crowd. This event would not have been made possible without the support from Mountain Khakis. A big thank you goes out to MK from down here in Baltimore!

How Do You MK? Umberto Bonfante

I spy the MK Logo Cap in action!

MK Ambassador, Laura Farrell, Recaps NubleFest 2010

When most people think of kayaking in Chile they think of the steep creeks of Pucon or of the big water at the Futa, but I was fortunate enough to spend the past week experiencing another gem of Chile, the Rio Nuble Valley located in the small mountain town of San Fabian. I was brought to the town because of my good friend Jon Clark, who found this place many years ago and has since been returning yearly to experience the beautiful vistas, play on the river's waters as well as to support a movement to fight the hydro electric projects that threaten the Nuble River and its tributaries.

Five years ago Jon started organizing "NubleFest," a festival to promote the town of San Fabian and showcase the value that the river can have to not only the people of San Fabian, but to greater Chile. The festival lasted the whole weekend with its primary goal to get as many people as possible excited about the river. This involved taking hundreds of people on free rafting trips, a boatercross event, a raft race as well as a freestyle rodeo.

The Nuble watershed has something for everyone. The Nuble River itself consists of over 25 miles of whitewater with a number of different sections including a harder class four upper section, a class three middle section and a lower class two stretch. When the water is flowing good, it has a feel similar to a cross between the Gauley and the Ocoee. If creeking is your thing, there are a number of tributaries to the Nuble that will give you what you're looking for. The week leading up to the festival, Gareth and I were fortunate enough to get to experience the magic of one of the Nuble's tributaries, Las Truchas.

The adventure started by hopping on a bus from San Fabian that took us as far up the watershed as you can reach by road. We were dropped off next to another tributary of the Nuble, Los Sauces and proceded to gear up and paddle ten minutes downstream to the beach where we would be meeting our cowboy in the morning to load up our boats on a horse and start the long hike to the creek.

First thing in the morning our cowboy arrived and we helped get everything loaded up on the horse and started the 8 hour hike to the put in of Las Truchas. Intially, Gareth and I were skeptical about paying for a horse to carry our boats, but by the end of the hike we both conceded that Jon was probably correct to push us in that direction. The hike itself was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. We were staring at snow capped peaks and mountain waterfalls pretty much the whole journey. We spent the night camped out by the river ready for a full day of kayaking down the Truchas the next day.

Las Truchas turned out to be a great class 4-5 creek, with a steep boulder garden feel and lots of moves to make and boofs to hit. The steepest miles involved a lot scouting and managed to keep us both on our toes the whole day. In the end it took us eight hours to make it down to the confluence with the main Nuble and because we wanted to shorten our final day, we pushed on another hour down river before discovering an epic campsite below the Andean peaks.

Our final day consisted of a full day of paddling on the Nuble, from the top most section all the way back down to the town of San Fabian. We arrived just in time to get showered and experience a real Latin American Thanksgiving, complete with a lamb asado and to make us feel at home, they even threw in some turkey and mash potatoes.

If the proposed hydro electric projects were to happen, it would flood the Nuble valley all the way up to the confluence of Las Truchas, eliminating the Los Sauces tributary (which is known to have some steep creeking class 5+ sections) and creating a lake where the best rapids of the Nuble currently sit. The easy logistics of the Truchas, with busing up from town and paddling all the way back to town would be lost and the experience not nearly as magical.

If you come to Chile, make sure to make the beautiful town of San Fabian and the waters of the Nuble watershed a must make stop on your itinerary. The more people that come and experience this wonderful place the better chance that we will have it in its current state (without dams) for many many more years to come. If you would like more information on the festival or the logistics of visiting San Fabian, feel free to email me or contact Paul Jimenez of Extremo Sur Expediciones at [email protected]

RECAP: NC Fly Fishing Team Members Nick Johnson and Paul Bourcq win the 2010 Rumble in the Rhododendron

Members of the North Carolina Fly Fishing Team participated in the Rumble in the Rhododendron in Cherokee, NC on the weekend of November 12, 13, and 14th. The two man team of Paul Bourcq and Nick Johnson won top team honors. They were followed with a third place finish by team member Kevin Lowe, who was paired with Josh Stephens of Team USA. Team Members Chris Lee and Eugene Shuler placed 4th in the team standings with a 5th place finish by team member Mac Brown who was paired with David Woody.

Additional Honors were taken home by team member Paul Bourcq who landed the largest fish at 56 cm and had the highest accuracy casting score. Team Member Chris Lee had the longest distance cast at 100' 7'' with a 9 foot 5 weight rod. All of the North Carolina Team anglers qualified for the fishing portion of the tournament, which was selected through accuracy and distance casting. 15 teams were selected for the fishing portion.

The event began with the rules meeting and dinner at Myrtles Table restaurant in Cherokee, NC. Competitors drew casting times in a random draw at the dinner. Saturday morning anglers from across the country went head to head on the casting field where fishing rights were on the line. The top 15 teams advanced to the first round of fishing on Sunday morning.

Fishing on Sunday morning was tough but almost all anglers managed to land fish. Several teams missed a fishing spot in the afternoon session by less than 15 cm.

The event will be featured on Curtis Fleming Fly Rod Chronicles, the air date is still undetermined.

Team NC is holding a regional for Team USA in Western North Carolina on February 19th and 20th, 2011 if you would like to sign up to be a controller or compete please email Paul Bourcq at [email protected] This is a great time to see the best fly anglers in the country go head to head trying to get a spot on Team USA.

Several team members will be heading to the Team USA NE Regional on March 12, 2011 which will take place in State College, Pennsylvania. The team will be defending its title in the Harman Cabin Invitational on May 19, 20 and 21st in Cabins, WV.

For more information about the NC Fly Fishing Team visit www.flyfishingteamnc.com

Hawaii - It is Your Week in the 50 State Challenge!

Aloha Hawaii!  This is the LAST MK 50 State Challenge and YOUR chance to win some FREE MK Gear! For a chance to win some awesome gear for the new year, comment on our Facebook Page and tell us all about your New Year's resolution!