For the third year running, Respect The Mountains undertook a grassroots initiative series called Envirotrek in co-operation with KEEN. An Envirotrek is an adventures outdoor event, to preserve your favorite nature spot. More than 200 participants were involved this year.
Michiel from the Netherlands and his girlfriend Soraya from France started their adventure biking the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route in North American. It’s the longest unpaved mountain bike trail in the world covering 2,745 miles between the Mexico-USA border all the way through the ups and downs of the Rockies to Banff National Park in British Columbia, Canada.
This Holy Grail for mountain bikers ends in Banff, where they take a left, passing through the wine area in British Columbia. From Banff to Vancouver, they try to follow a part of the Trans Canada Trail. Depending on wind and mood directions in the first three months of cycling, they take a break on Vancouver Island and surroundings: explore the city of Vancouver, cover a big part of Vancouver Island itself, read few books, take some surf lessons, etc.
We wish them good luck on their trip and most of all, lots of Playtime!
Last month, KEEN Europe began the search to find KEEN testers thoughout Europe. We wanted to find people who are not afraid of the outdoors, eager to share their experiences with other like-minded people, whilst having fun out there testing KEEN Products. The challenge to become a KEEN Tester was simple. KEEN fans were asked to tell us how they would test our KEENs to the Limits by sending us a picture of their Outdoor moment living the HybridLife.
Our expectations were exceed, we received hundreds of entries throughout Europe, from the Scottish Highlands to the sunny beaches of Italy. It was no easy task to select from such fantastic entries the final 20 testers, who for one month will test our shoes to the limits whilst feeding back to us their journey.
A BIG thanks to everyone who entered and congratulations to our winners, we can’t wait to hear back what great stuff they get up to with their KEENs!
The Netherlands is usually known for its Tulips, Cheese and Bicycles but this weekend it was overrun by the Solex. The VéloSoleX is a moped or motorised bicycle that was originally produced by the French manufacturer Solex, based in Paris, France.
Here is a little video of the tour me and about 35 other people did through a typical Dutch village:
The first edition of the EnviroTrek in Samoën, France has been truly great. 70 participants from various countries removed a big pile of trash from the Vallee du Giffre and had an adrenaline rush in the afternoon with rafting, rock climbing and via ferrata.
The day prior to the event the clouds burst. The rainfall and thunderstorms made the EnviroTrek uncertain. The forecast of rain was 50-50%. The day started dry and luckily stayed dry despite the dark clouds.
After an early morning yoga session three groups went out to different section in the Valley Giffre by different means of transport: By foot, by bicycle and bus. Groups were accompanied by walking guides.
The clean up made everybody hungry, so the BBQ lunch was a very much needed break to fuel up for the second round of the day: adventure sports! Giffre rafting on the river, climbing the sheer cliff near Sixt on the circuit via ferrata and rock climbing routes up the near Gorge du Tines was the perfect reward for bringing back around 200 pounds of trash from the beautiful mountains of the Grand Massif.
A big thanks goes out to Arno and Jessica of AlpAdventures and the tourist boards in the Vallée du Giffre for organizing the EnviroTrek in Samoëns. We’ll be back next year!
For the past four years Playing for Change has been traveling the world with recording equipment and cameras in search of inspiration. Playing for Change traveled from streets and subways to Native American reservations, through African towns and villages, up to the Himalayan Mountains, and beyond. Throughout this journey Playing for Change has created a movement connecting the world through music.
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