Sponsored by HP, Summit on the Summit is taking donations and selling gear to help bring clean water to the areas that need it most. They’re also making some strange/funny “training” videos to get people excited. Check the first episode out below and visit the very cool Summit on the Summit website for more information and to support a life-and-death cause.

In addition to being a tremendous athlete, Vonn is also a true sportswoman (she even received a Sportswoman of the Year nomination from the Women’s Sports Foundation). According to her website, she believes in hard work and perseverance and her motto is “when you fall down, get back up again. But get up stronger, hungrier and more ambitious.”

This Friday, November 20th, from 5-6 pm MST she’ll be spreading her message to kids all over the country via an interactive online news conference for kids. Children (and their parents) are invited to submit questions to Lindsey that she’ll answer during the conference by visiting the Epic Kids – Live with Lindsey website. Kids whose questions are answered during the conference will win a children’s Epic Pass good for unlimited skiing or riding this winter at any Vail Resort.

Questions may be submitted on video through the Lindsey Is Epic YouTube page or via a written question posted on the Lindsey Is Epic Facebook fan page.

Photo credit: World Cup star Lindsey Vonn, left, is teaming up with Vail to celebrate Friday’s season opener. ( Getty Images )

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) is reporting that there have been seven incidents with nine people already this season and that early season conditions have the potential to be every bit as life-threatening as mid-winter conditions.

Like with anything related to the snow and cold, it’s smart to be prepared. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center offers the following advice for avalanche safety in the early season… (for more detailed information and to find an avalanche safety course near you, visit the CAIC Education page).

Early Winter Avalanche Safety

• Anyone traveling in the mountains, including hikers, hunters, sledders, skiers, riders and ice climbers, needs to be aware of the avalanche threat as soon as snow starts to accumulate on steep slopes.

• People are often misled when they see grass and brush sticking out of the snow surface. You should start thinking about avalanches any time you have snow resting on a steep slope. Remember, all you need is a slab resting on a weak layer of snow. The ground can easily act as a bed surface, even if it’s only a few inches below the snow surface.

• Old summer snow fields can act as the perfect bed surface too. Hard, frozen old snow with new snow on top are common culprits in early-season avalanche incidents.

• Early in the snow season there is not much snow on the ground. This means that rocks and stumps are near the snow surface. If you get caught in an avalanche you might get tumbled through rocks, stumps and downed timber. These obstacles can do great bodily harm to backcountry users traveling through them at high speeds. Knee pads, helmets and full body armor may not be a solution to this problem. Even a very small slide can cause great harm if the terrain is unfriendly. Don’t let an injury ruin your winter.

• Wind drifts will create thicker slabs. Strong winds can take a 3-inch snowstorm and quickly build an 18-inch wind slab. Areas with shallow snow may be very close to deep drifted areas. It may be easy to move from a very safe area to a very dangerous area without traveling very far. The wind drifts will be denser than the new snow, and thick, hard snow on light, fluffy snow is a great setup for an avalanche.

• Once the sun returns after a storm cycle and warm temperatures cause the new snow to melt, look to see where the pockets of snow remain. The snow that lingers in sheltered areas and shady slopes could be the weak layer after the next snowfall. These areas could also become recurring problem areas throughout the winter depending on how the winter snowpack develops.

• Closed ski areas have a backcountry snowpack and require avalanche skills to ride steep terrain.

• Pockets of instability can develop quickly above ice climbs. Climbers should know the terrain above their route as rapid warming or heavy wind can quickly work to build slab or loose-snow avalanches that can nudge a precariously perched climber into a bad fall.

• Brush up on rescue skills. Beacon practice, reviewing shoveling techniques and first aid classes are good preparation for the upcoming season.

Via the Denver Post

The annual show of comet debris will peak in the early morning hours of Tuesday November 17th and will be best viewed from the eastern U.S. and Europe this time around.

Starting at around 11:30 pm EST Monday night through about 5:30 am EST Tuesday morning about 10-20 comets an hour should be visible if we get lucky enough to have a clear night. This may not sound like much but it’s actually 2-3 times more prolific than your average Leonids show.

Because of the trajectory of the debris cloud, the chances of seeing a fireball are also slightly increased. A fireball is a meteor that “silently explodes like a strobe along its path,” according to this article in Space magazine.

While beautiful, meteorites have the potential to be dangerous, “warns” Gene Gardner, Project Manager for the Smithsonian’s Whipple Observatory in Tucson, AZ (aka my Dad). “This car was hit by a meteorite (shown above) in Peekskill, NY in 1992. While the odds are very low that your car will be hit by a meteorite, those chances will be greater than normal during the Leonids Meteor shower predicted to peak after midnight Monday night, November 16th,” he says.

So get the coffee out and stay up all night Monday and on into the wee hours of Tuesday if you want to see one of the universe’s greatest shows. But leave your car in the garage… just in case.

UPDATE: Check out these two cool video the astronomers at Willard L. Eccles Observatory at Frisco Peak caught on their security camera last night. Apparently the rather large meteor lit up the sky in California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado at 12:09 PST.

The Fox Searchlight film, set to be directed by Danny Boyle, (Slumdog Millionaire) is aptly titled “127 Hours.”

It’s the stuff great movies are made of. Ralston was climbing in Canyonlands National Park in Utah in 2003 when an 800-pound boulder fell on top of him and pinned his arm so tightly he was unable to free it. He was deep in the remote BlueJohn Canyon and hadn’t told anyone where he was going, (big mistake – always let someone know when and where you’re headed into the backcountry and when to expect you back) so a rescue mission was highly unlikely.

After taking stock of his food – two burritos and candy bar crumbs – Ralston began chippping away at the boulder with his multi-tool pocket knife. He did this for 4 days until he realized it was never going to work and there was only one way he was going to live. By first breaking and then amputating his own arm. So that’s what he did – with a multitool generic Leatherman dulled from 4 days of chipping away at a boulder.

His grueling story should translate well to film, but if I’m picturing it correctly it might be a little intense to watch. I imagine lots of grimacing and eye-shielding in the audience. Can’t imagine what it was like to live it.

Read Aron Ralston’s full story at Outside magazine.

Right now it’s crunch time for our most exciting contest. We’re giving away a trip to Greece! Sierra Trading Post is teaming up with Friendly Planet Travel and Tours.com to offer our customers the chance to win an incredible, exciting vacation to Athens and the Greek Isles! Be sure to enter today, though, because it’s your last chance! The deadline to enter is today, November 12, 2009!

We’d also like you to know that we are doing something huge for Black Friday this year! We’re not giving the secret away completely, but visit our Free Black Friday page for more information on how to enter the Free Black Friday giveaway! Black Friday is November 27th this year, which means you have until the eve of that day to enter! Pay close attention, because we’ll be launching a really exciting Cyber Monday event, too!

Sierra Trading Post encourages you to participate in our social program all the time! We offer several opportunities to stay involved:

CarpeDeal, an ongoing social contest, launched in November of this year. The more you take the opportunity to CarpeDeal (seize the deal!), the more chances you have to win! Carpe Deal is about seizing Sierra Trading Post’s great deals; #CarpeDeal is about sharing deals with your friends; #CarpeDeal is about winning free gift cards, up to $500! All you need to participate is an eye for great deals and a Facebook or Twitter account. That’s it!

You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter. Becoming a fan on Facebook will bring you retail store updates, Gear Doc tips, current sales, deals, and discounts, and other going-ons around the company! Follow us on Twitter for a similar experience, in addition to helpful outdoorsy links, most recent blog posts, and special promotions!

By signing up for our Deal Flyer you’ll receive a 20% discount, just for signing up! Then, you’ll receive exclusive coupons, free shipping, sales announcements, outlet store alerts and so much more!

Of course, we always recommend you check Sierra Blogging Post for the latest updates on deals and events at Sierra Trading Post. We also provide you with news from the outdoor adventure world, health and fitness tips, trip and gear reports from our customers, green tips and an inside look at Sierra Trading Post!

If you’d like to see anything else on any of our social programs, please let us know. We’re more than open to your thoughts and suggestions – there’s always room for improvement. Just leave a comment below!

Maser and his fellow kayakers were on the Congo River conducting scientific research (measuring the depth, speed and turbulence of the river, which scientist Ned Gardiner suspects might be the deepest in the world) but ended up having what looks like a lot of fun. I’m assuming the video was taken on a helmet cam – and a pretty good one at that. Watching it makes you feel like you’re actually paddling the boat, albeit much drier. Check it out…

via Outside Blog

In honor of Veteran’s Day, admission to all U.S. National Parks is free on Wednesday, November 11th.

Pay tribute to our troops and veterans by enjoying one of the many national treasures they have fought (or are fighting) to protect. I can’t think of a better way to show your respect for the sacrifices they’ve made in each and every one of our names.

Visit the National Park Service website to find a park near you or the GORP website for ideas on how best to enjoy our national parks. Go hiking, rafting, mountain biking, backpacking, kayaking, climbing, snowshoeing or just find a scenic spot and have a picnic!

Whether you visit a national park for the first time or the 50th time, enjoy it for free on Wednesday and pay tribute to the men and women who make it all possible. Happy Veteran’s Day.

Because black and grizzly bear encounters have been on the rise lately, some officials think bear spray may now be a necessity for all permitted backcountry hikers and campers. As we move closer and closer to bear territory and encroach on their space, we can expect even more potentially deadly encounters in the future.

Although there were only 44 fatalities from grizzly bear attacks in the 20th century, most of them happened in the last 20 years. That’s a sure sign that humans and bears are getting a little too close for comfort.

If I was hiking in grizzly country you can be sure I’d be carrying bear spray. But is it right to require it by law?

What do you think? Yay or nay on the Wyoming bear spray law?

Luckily for the teenager, his friends witnessed the slide and were able to locate him quickly and dig him out. They then called 911 from a cell phone and Summit County rescuers were able to transport him by helicopter to a medical center nearby where he was listed in critical condition. Rescuers said he was lucky to get out alive.

“It (the avalanche) was 15 feet wide at the top, expanding to 65 to 75 feet wide at the toe, and about 500 to 600 vertical feet in length. The snow failed right down to the ground, and there were a lot of rocks,” said Kevin Kelble, the flight paramedic at the scene. “You’re getting swept down a slope that is covered in rocks and dirt and just nasty, nasty terrain and you are going through the grinder.”

Officials are warning that this year will be a particularly active avalanche season. “There have been seven incidents and one close call reported in Colorado in October. Nine people have been caught, three of them partially buried and two of them fully buried,” said Spencer Logan of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. “It’s just fascinating that we’re almost on a record-setting pace. And I’m really surprised, to be honest with you , that we haven’t had our first fatality,” Kelble said.

All backcountry skiers, snowboarders, snowshoers and snowmobilers should be trained in avalanche safety and carrying the proper gear – avalanche beacons and transmitters, avalanche probes and avalanche shovels at the very least. Wearing an Avalung is also a smart move if you’ll be skiing in avalanche-prone terrain. Sierra Trading Post carries Black Diamond Avalung Backpacks that provide air in case you become buried by a slide.

Be smart out there – it could just save your life!