The route, which circles Mont Blanc, begins in Chamonix, passes by Aiguille de Bionnassay and will cross the Col du Bonhomme. In the early morning, racers will cross Col de la Seigne into Italy and the Val Veni overlooked by Noire du Peuterey and the glaciers descending Mont Blanc. Later they will reach the Val Ferret, guarded by Dent du Géant and Grandes Jorasses before finally turning into Switzerland. They will then climb over Bovine and Les Tseppes. Then, with Aiguille Verte in front of them, under the vertical heights of the Drus and with Mont Blanc before them, they will dive down towards the finishing line in the heart of Chamonix. Alongside the UTMB, is the CCC, a 100km race in the same region. Polartec’s own David Gatti should be mid-way through this route right now, we wish him the best of luck.

You can see the virtual course here on the North Face website, and you can also follow the racers on this Live Trail site by typing in their bib number. Polartec’s David Gatti is #7276.

Check out this awesome footage of the starting line yesterday morning.

The race, which took place this last weekend, was stopped after 15 hours due to inclement weather and Laurent and Julien were pronounced the winners of this epic road run, which included over 4500m+ elevation gain with two 2,800 meters passes, and Lombard pass at the bottom of Aiguilles d’Arves at 3,100 m. The route took runners through the Karellis, Valloire, Bonnenuit, around Le Galibieer, Besse Gerbier, and Albiez regions.

Laurent, a 39-year old accomplished ultra runner and adventure racer, lives in Rotherens, France. Congrats Laurent and Julien!

Some of the new developments covered include Polartec Power Shield Pro (a new soft shell technology launching to consumers August 2010), new even higher-efficiency fabrics for base layers and insulation, wool/poly blends, recycled content fabrics and a bunch of stuff we can’t talk about yet.

During free hours, the group managed to fit in some climbing, hiking, trail runs, fly fishing, paragliding, and a few great meals (thanks to Cache Cache, Jimmy’s and Montagna). The scenery, gorgeous weather and quick access to world class recreation even inspired an ardent New Hampshire-ite to take back all the things she’s said over the years about Colorado (she will remain unnamed for her safety).

Attendees from Polartec included Andy Vecchione (President), Jon Adelman (EVP Sales and Marketing), Mike Baron, Steve Cuthbert, Nate Simmons, Karen Beattie, Allon Cohne, Jane Ruth and Ruthann Brown.

The full roster for the Polartec Athlete Advisory Board includes:

- Sari Anderson (30, Glenwood Springs, CO) is a national mountain bike champ, a world class adventure racer and randonnée ski racer.
- Antoine Barthelemy (54 of Annecy, France) is an accomplished alpinist and ski mountaineer.
- Bill Belcourt (45, Salt Lake City, UT) is a crusty alpinist and champion paraglider pilot.
- Janet Bergman (29, Madison, NH) is an accomplished all-around climber and consultant to outdoor nonprofit organizations.
- Gord Betenia (47, Vancouver, BC) is a talented ice climber, mountaineer and gear flogger.
- Kelly Cordes (40, Estes Park, CO) is a renowned alpinist, climber, writer and self-proclaimed dirtbag.
- Nick Devore (24, Aspen, CO) is a telemark freeskiing world champion and ski mountaineer.
- Doug Heinrich (47, Salt Lake City, UT, is a world-class all-around climber and multi-sport athlete.
- Mike Kloser (49, Vail, CO) is a world champion mountain biker, adventure racer and legendary multi-sport athlete.
- Laurent Valette (39, Rotherens, France) is an accomplished ultra runner and adventure racer.
- Michael Silitch (48, Chamonix, France) is a certified international mountain guide.

There was a lot of discussion about the location of the next meeting – Chamonix, Alyeska, Mt. Washington – we’ll have to keep you posted on that one.

We also just finished this video about Power Shield Pro, which features our Athlete Advisory Board Members Sari Anderson, Kelly Cordes and Nick DeVore. It provides a great description of how the fabric was developed and how it performs.

Ever wonder what goes into developing the high-performance fabric in your technical clothing? I talked with Karen Beattie, Product Marketing Manager at Polartec, to find out. Polartec (formerly Malden Mills) is a world leader in advanced performance textiles, manufacturing more than 300 different types of fabrics, mostly for the outdoor industry (though they also develop fabrics for military and industrial use). They design fabrics for conditions ranging from extreme heat to severe cold, from dry to stormy, and everything in between. Here’s a glimpse into how it’s done:

The TNF Kishtwar jacket, featuring Polartec's new Power Shield Pro fabric

Spadout: Polartec is credited with helping develop the modern fleece. How did that happen?
Beattie: Polartec, or Malden Mills as it was called then, was a mill that largely made fake animal fur products, with the core competency of surface finishing (raising pile and creating loft). A fledgling outdoor company – Patagonia – came and showed us a problem they had. It was a carpet-like polyester pile, with one side of fuzz and one side of carpet backing – it was a little more pliable than carpet, but the same sort of thing. They were like, “This stuff has some advantages over wool; it’s synthetic, breathable, and it dries quickly, but it’s pilly, it starts looking bad, and it’d be better if it were softer on the inside because it’s like – well, like carpet backing.” So we studied the concept, and had some constructions that lent themselves to double-sided surface finishings. We tried some out, submitted them to Patagonia, and they liked it a lot. That’s how fleece was born.

Spadout: What goes into developing a new product?
Beattie: We start with a defined problem, a customer need, and we have a body of knowledge on fiber choice and polymer chemistry – what’s great about polyester, what’s great about nylon, what’s great about polypropylene. Also, we have knowledge about yarn choice, yarn size, knitting experience, what kinds of constructions to use with these yarns to maximize their potential; and surface finishing, which is our core competency – how to create loft, minimize weight, and make something that performs and is durable for the long run.

For example, if the problem is defined as internal moisture management – keeping sweat away from your body and needing quick drying – there’s the thinking that went into Polartec Power Dry with polypropylene, where we’ve got bi-component construction with the polypropylene next to the skin and the polyester on the outside. So, a fiber choice was made (two different fibers actually); a construction choice (how to knit it, where to put the polypropylene and where to put the polyester); and then some finishing ideas (brushing the inside of the polypropylene to give a couple of little touch-points next-to-skin for active moisture transport).

You take all those little variables and you consider them like levers, which buttons do I push, which levers do I pull, and you put the package together.

Read the rest of the interview here.

Running the 4-miles and 1,500 feet up to our house.

It is finally feeling like winter and this weekend reminded me why I love Colorado so much. I spent much of my weekend teaching Juniper how to ski which has been one of the most fun and rewarding things I have done in a long time. The kid truly loves it and is able to ski all alone down short beginner slopes. Watching her learn and have so much fun is such an amazing experience as a mother.

Mixed in with the skiing, I was able to get out for a run and a skin to test out a new Polartec fabric. So far I have been very impressed and am excited to get out more to continue to put it to the test.

I continue to feel well and fit even as I’m at five and a half months pregnant. It’s a relief to be able to get out to clear my mind and do what I love.

Elinor, Sari & Wendy ready to skin in some fresh snow!

(Excerpted from The Alpine Briefs, the American Alpine Club’s blog).

Janet hard at work testing the technical features of her Polartec layering system

Newfoundland, new routes and exploration.

By Sarah Garlick, North Conway, NH; photos © Sarah Garlick and Kirsten Kremer

“What about Newfoundland?” I asked, spinning around on the bar stool to face Janet and Kirsten. “Aren’t there granite walls rising right out of the ocean?”

Janet Bergman, Kirsten Kremer, and I were sitting in my kitchen in North Conway, a few beer bottles and an old grade-school globe on the dark Formica counter between us. Kirsten was visiting from Alaska, and we were hashing out plans for our next climbing trip. Spinning the dusty globe to North America, I recalled vague images from a Climbing magazine article about Newfoundland: a climber run-out on a wind-blasted face; a steep rappel over gray ocean. And I remembered impressions from a novel placed there: the tiny, isolated towns; the bedrock landscape. And always, I thought, there were storms.

“I’ve heard it’s pretty wild,” I said.

Janet heading into unknown terrain, Chaleur Blow Me Down.

A year later, the three of us loaded my 1991 Toyota van with two and a half weeks worth of food and enough gear to handle big aid lines, blank granite slabs, and fifth-class traverses—all of which we’d been told we could encounter. But, like any good trip, the first crux would be just getting there.We drove 15 hours straight from New Hampshire to the tip of Nova Scotia, making the overnight ferry by less than 30 minutes. The ferryboat had eight floors and accommodated more than a hundred vehicles—even tractor trailers. Lucky for us, there was also a bar.

We landed on “The Rock” at dawn the next day and pushed the van for one more sprint to link another ferry leaving from Burgeo, a town literally at road’s end. Here, a few nice ferrymen Saran-wrapped a pallet of our gear and loaded it into the ship’s hold for a six-hour ride up the coast.

Read the rest of the story here.

Janet testing Polartec's new polypropylene fabric

(From L to R) FRONT ROW: Allon Cohne (Polartec), Bill Belcourt, Janet Bergman, Kelly Cordes, Sari Anderson, Nate Simmons (Polartec) SECOND ROW: Nick Devore, Antoine Barthelemy, Michael Silitch, Mike Kloser, Laurent Valette, Doug Heinrich, Eric Yung (Polartec) Gord Betenia

This past weekend, Polartec organized the first meeting of its new 11-member Athlete Advisory Board. The group met in Boston and then traveled to HQ in Lawrence, Mass. to tour the Polartec plant. After the plant tour, the group of world-class climbers, skiers, alpinists, cyclists, guides and adventure racers sat down with Polartec’s product development team to provide feedback on current performance fabric technology and discuss some of the ‘dream’ layers they would all like to have in their packs.

The group gelled really well and by the end of the trip, lots of people were planning ski rendezvous and climbing get-togethers. The meeting exceeded everyone’s expectations and we’re all excited about the potential for real fabric innovation this group can help Polartec to create. The group consists of:

- Sari Anderson (30, Glenwood Springs, CO) is a national mountain bike champ, a world class adventure racer and randonnée ski racer.
- Antoine Barthelemy (54 of Annecy, France) is an accomplished alpinist and ski mountaineer.
- Bill Belcourt (45, Salt Lake City, UT) is a crusty alpinist and champion paraglider pilot.
- Janet Bergman (29, Madison, NH) is an accomplished all-around climber and consultant to outdoor nonprofit organizations.
- Gord Betenia (47, Vancouver, BC) is a talented ice climber, mountaineer and gear flogger.
- Kelly Cordes (40, Estes Park, CO) is a renowned alpinist, climber, writer and self-proclaimed dirtbag.
- Nick Devore (24, Aspen, CO) is a telemark freeskiing world champion and ski mountaineer.
- Doug Heinrich (47, Salt Lake City, UT, is a world-class all-around climber and multi-sport athlete.
- Mike Kloser (49, Vail, CO) is a world champion mountain biker, adventure racer and legendary multi-sport athlete.
- Laurent Valette (39, Rotherens, France) is an accomplished ultra runner and adventure racer.
- Michael Silitch (48, Chamonix, France) is a certified international mountain guide.

Checking out the huge dye jet machines

Learning about the napping and shearing process

Inside the testing lab

Look for updates, fields tests and other cool content from our Athlete Board in the months to come. Incidentally, if you’d like to learn more about Polartec’s manufacturing process, check out these videos.