Couple weeks a go famous BASE jumper Jeb Corliss hurt himself on a jump in Asia. Here is the cool footage from the jump and events after. If I understood right, he broke his leg, but other than that he is fine. Get well Jeb!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjxCCkQLfrQ[/youtube]
Here is more footage that they (Jeb and girlfriend Roberta Mancino) shoot from the BASE-trip with new HD GoPro cam:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VNuhtHp0PI[/youtube]
Free diving is definitely one of the most beautiful sports out there. It is dangerous, but yet always looks so zen-like cool.
Here’s the video where William Trubridge breaks the freediving world record without fins with a dive to 88m (288 feet) in 3:30 in Dean’s Blue Hole, Bahamas.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/4802703[/vimeo]
On a weekdays between 1-2pm I start my daily running ritual and put on my Nikes, Garmin and iPod. Then I start a 4K climb to the top of Route de Vaudagne, where I get nice rolling down to the Prarion ski station and back via Route du Napoleon that Mr. Bonaparte used back-in-days to go past the Mont Blanc.
This an hour run is essential part of my day. It clears my head, gives me time to think and time listen latest tech podcasts, which I normally don’t remember anything about, as I am so in my thoughts. Running that loop recharges me to the second phase of the day – the afternoon shift that usually goes on at least until 9pm, when I have a glass of Chardonnay and start heading towards the night shift…
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[iframe http://www.runsaturday.com/TabId/70/activityId/164216/SubView/Map/Default.aspx 400 275]
Top 20 countries on the Human Development Index:
1. Norway - I could live there…nothing to get excited about, but somewhere on a coastline, close to Oslo could work well.
2. Australia – I bet it’s beautiful, it’s big, it’s the outdoors sports country for sure and people speak right language, but to be honest – it is too far from the civilization.
3. Iceland – No thank you. too small for anything else than tourism and I am not really into that business.
4. Canada – Yes! Vancouver North Shore. Get me a house on Deep Cove, by the water and I’m all set. The best mountain biking and trail running, beautiful city, nice people and awesome skiing.
5. Ireland – I wish I were more into golf and Guinness and IT support, then I could actually live there. Yep, people do speak correct language…but that is not enough, sorry Bono.
6. Netherlands – booooring.
7. Sweden – Stockholm Absolute! I have lived there and I could do it again.
8. France – Here I am, so what can I say…no clue about the language, but I love the nature, climate and being in the heart of the Europe. I might be stuck here for a while…
9. Switzerland – I could see myself “upgrading” to Switzerland. Especially for work reasons, tax or kids school. So, big YES for Switzerland.
10. Japan – No thank you. I love their heritage, ambition and gadgets, but not as a place to live in.
11. Luxembourg – boring, but as that is as Europe as it gets, I have to say “I could consider”.
12. Finland – Yes, take me back home to Chicago Finland…but not yet please. Let me live first 
13. United States – Yes. That is “my other home country”. Drop me anywhere on West Coast and I am happy.
14. Austria – Beautiful and everything, but no thank you…I don’t know why…but no.
15. Spain – As siesta is not my thing, I have to postpone “Yes” for Spanish living for another 20 years or so…
16. Denmark – 140% tax on cars, flat, not warm enought, so no thank you. PS. I like Danish people.
17. Belgium – No. and I dont even want to explain.
18. Italy – Yes. I love the people, language (even though I can’t speak it) and food. I am Italian – kind of.
19. Liechtenstein – Yep, give me a job as a banker and I am happy to live there.
20. New Zealand – Paradise (I have heard), but that is a place far, far away, so I have to say no thank you.
To learn more about this ranking, read this Telegraph article Britain slips out of top 20 best countries to live in
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDu2A3WzQpo&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Sure thing that Danny MacAskill is amazing trials/urban mountain biker, but on my opinion, having over 10 million views on Youtube is the marketing achievement of the decade for the mountain biking/trials. Would be nice to know how well Inspired Bicycles have been able to capitalize their success with MacAskill videos?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o[/youtube]
This kind of “wow, that’s super cool”-video and movie moments has always been an important part of action sports growth. I cannot recall, if there was something in the beginning of the 90’s that kicked off the mountain biking boom, I don’t think so, but I definitely remember the 80’s BMX boom and how it got started.
It was 1982 and the movie was E.T. – Extra Terrestial. On this blockbuster movie, there was an infamous BMX scene where Elliott with E.T. on a handlebar basket and other the kids were chased by the police and they had to jump over the police cars, banks, etc. Movies BMX stunt team included Bob Haro, the founder of Haro BMX bikes.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak6njWo2XsA[/youtube]
On a winter stuff, I have a clear memory of how cool it was when James Bond on a View to Kill, took the snowmobile ski that came off after the exposion and used that to snowboard away from the soldiers. That stunt was done by Tom Sims, the founder of Sims Snowboards. A year after I saw that, I bought my first snowboard from French ski resort Valmorel.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGOe-KLc9QI[/youtube]
James Bond and E.T. style movie moments are now replaced by Youtube. 10 million views for mountain biking video is amazing as average mountain bike DVD probably sells 1000 copies. I can’t wait to see which action/outdoor sport makes the next “Youtube blockbuster” and how other social media tools like Twitter will boost our sports visibility in these overwhelming times, when there are simply too much cool stuff to digest.
[flash width="400" height="224"]http://v.wordpress.com/cbG17WXi[/flash]
This is Zherpa Blogs. A new type of a media network, dedicated to outdoor sports and lifestyle.
For decades, magazines have been the most important medium for the extreme and outdoor sports. Great titles like Outside, National Geographic, Surfer, Powder, Velo News, Runner’s World, etc. have served the role of “the messenger” to the adventure and outdoor fitness enthusiasts.
Now times has changed. Pretty much all print titles are declining (some slowly, some fast) and if we look at the other media sectors, like newspapers, it is clear that bloggers are taking over the traditional media.
We believe that by organizing the blogging movement a bit, we can create a new type of a media house where technology and marketing are centralized, but bloggers still work as individuals, blogging what’s important to them and holding the rights to their own content.
So that’s Zherpa Blogs. A media company that gives outdoor sports and lifestyle bloggers a tech, design, and marketing support, so that the authors can focus on creating great content.
This kind of a “blog house” gives bloggers true benefits with a cross-traffic between the blogs, sharing of the best marketing practices. Together Zherpa bloggers will have a traffic, reach and capacity to do cool ad campaigns, in a scale that will excite even the most print centric outdoor brands.
I am excited to get this blog ball rolling and see how big of an snowball effect we can create – Winter is here soon!
My name is Ransu Salovaara and I am the founder of Zherpa LLC, outdoor sports media company. This is not a corporate blog, but rather a blog about everything that I'm enthusiast about, including (but not limited to) Internet ventures, revolution on social media and digital marketing, outdoor sports and lifestyle. Currently I live in Chamonix, France. Read more...
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