Getting ready for summer: Gear repair day with Gear Aid
As summertime approaches, Aneka, Matt and Amy — our amazing Youth Leadership Adventures team — have a lot to get ready for. After several months of outreach and promotion of this unique backcountry stewardship and leadership program for high school students, they’ve received over 120 applications to fill 11 trips. Next up, they’ve been working closely with resource and recreation managers on Ross, Baker and Diablo lakes to develop engaging itineraries for completing volunteer stewardship projects, developing outdoor leadership skills, and learning about environmental issues. Another crucial step in getting ready for the upcoming summer is to attend to our cache of gear that we loan the students on the trips — many of the young people have never camped, paddled or backpacked before so are in need of outdoor equipment like tents, waterproof clothing and backpacks.
Matt sorts through new outdoor gear donated to Youth Leadership Adventures by Gear Aid.
Gear Aid, an outdoor equipment company based in Bellingham, has been a crucial supporter of Youth Leadership Adventures over the past years. They’ve helped us by reaching out to other equipment companies to solicit gear — last week they dropped off a huge load of tents, sleeping bags, rain gear, cooking equipment, rain boots, fleece hats, Nalgenes, and sunglasses — as well as working directly with our staff to keep the gear we have in good shape. Utilizing Gear Aid care and repair products like ReviveX boot cleaner, Aquaseal SR, Tenacious Tape, Seam Grip and ReviveX Durable Waterproofing, our team spent a day with their staff at Gear Aid headquarters repairing boots, sewing clothing, sealing jackets and other important maintenance. Reduce, reuse and recycle in action!
Here is a report from the Gear Aid blog:
Everyone dreams of attending summer camp. The fresh mountain air, crystal clear lakes, and the friendships formed along the way. For many kids North Cascades Institute helps make those dreams a reality. Through NCI Mountain School, kids learn to be better stewards of the environment as well as learn valuable outdoor skills like hiking, backpacking, and Leave No Trace principals. Many of the kids who attend programs at NCI aren’t equipped with the appropriate outdoor gear or have little to no outdoor experience. NCI provides gear for all of those who can’t afford to bring their own. Things like boots, backpacks, and tents take a beating. Buying new gear every year would be a huge expense for NCI. That being the case, Gear Aid® has stepped up to provide NCI with the training and repair products to help get their gear back on the trail. Last week NCI brought us their entire stock of beat-up boots, broken backpacks, torn stuff sacks, and even their rain jackets. We spent the afternoon out in the sun chatting up their staff about how to make various repairs in the field, while working hands-on to repair the things they brought with them.
Watch a video of this transformative backcountry program for high school students at http://youtu.be/26Lwq6gfufk.
Photos courtesy of Gear Aid, except for photo of Matt sorting gear by Aneka Singlaub.