A new iPhone/iPod Touch application developed by the Canadian Avalanche Centre in partnership with Mountain Equipment Coop allows users to view weather updates and recent avalanche incidents for most areas of British Columbia.

Key features of the app include avalanche hazard ratings, weather forecast synopsis, incident report synopsis and real-time weather reports. In addition the information is cached to your device so you can access it when you’re out of bounds or in areas that don’t have web coverage.

Support regions of the province include the South Coast, North Shore, North Columbia, South Columbia, Kootenay Boundary, South Rockies and Northwest.

The developers soon hope to add real-time alerts that will be sent automatically to your device.

The application is free. To download visit the iTunes App Store.

If you get a chance to test the application out the developers would like to hear back from you – email avalanche@mec.ca.

Conditions outside are pretty horrible these days, especially in the Lower Mainland. With snow, slush and ice threatening to topple you every step of the way on your walk, hike or run, you may want to consider using an innovative product called the Yaktrax. Yaktrax are like chains for your feet. They can be pulled onto any shoe, and greatly increase your traction. Here’s a recent review from the TrailRunning Blog …

" Yaktrax are traction devices that slip easily onto your footwear to reduce the odds of slipping while running on snow and ice. Yaktrax consist of coils to create hundreds of biting edges to grip snow and ice. I used these in very icy conditions in the Alberta Rockies as well as on snow here in British Columbia and I found them to work flawlessly. Make sure you get the right size so you have a snug fit and try not to wear them on exposed asphalt areas they will wear quickly. All and all a very good product and highly recommended to those running in slippery conditions."

For more information on the Yaktrax you can visit their website at www.yaktrax.com . On the site you will also be able to find a retailer near you.

Trainharder.com was recently made aware of a new athletic clothing line called "today i win" from a Canadian-based company. The company, Team Canada Sportswear Inc, is a small Canadian company trying to break into the specialty running market. The company currently offers shirts in two styles, cotton t-shirts and moisture wicking performance t-shirts. New performance shirts and accessories will follow shortly.
Following is a story from company founder Dave Buzanko who shares his story on why and how the company was started…

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Running for beginners
By Erik Gable
GateHouse News Service

It’s summer, and just about anywhere you go, you can see runners and joggers hitting the sidewalks and trails. Thinking about joining them? If you’ve never run before, here are some tips from the pros.

Decide why you’re doing it

“First and foremost, you’ve got to have a goal,” says Eric Clarke, who owns Running With E’s in Adrian, Mich., with his wife, Kerri. “You have to really identify why you want to do this.”

You might be running to lose weight, or to compete in a race, or even to run with a school-age child who’s in sports — but having a clear goal will help you stay motivated.

Get cleared by your doctor

James Larson, head track and cross country coach at Adrian College in Michigan, says people should get a doctor’s approval before starting an aerobic exercise program. “We want you to be safe, and being cleared by a medical doctor is the first step,” he says.

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Are you still drinking from plastic water bottles? Even after retailers last fall, led by Mountain Equipment Coop, pulled them from their shelfs? If so perhaps a pending decision by the Canadian government to label the a plastic commonly found within plastic water bottles as toxic, will change your mind.

According to the Globe and Mail yesterday, and most recently the New York Times today, a public announcement by Health Canada may come as early as today but could be delayed until the end of May. This would make Canada the first country to label bisphenol-a, or B.P.A., as toxic.

In recent studies B.P.A. has been shown to disrupt the hormonal systems of animals. Also yesterday according to the New York Times, “a draft report from the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ National Toxicology Program endorsed a scientific panel’s finding that there was “some concern” about neural and behavioral changes in humans who consume B.P.A”.

Trainharder posted an article in February on water bottle alternatives, so what are you waiting for?

The New York Times has put 5 running hats to the test – see which ones pass the test.

Thought this might interest some of the more gear obsessed people out there. Stephen Regenold, a US nationally-syndicated newspaper columnist, writes The Gear Junkie column for a number of newspapers in the US including the New York Times. He’s got a ton if great information on all the latest gear on his website, The Gear Junkie, including his top 10 gear of the year awards for 2007.  Check it out – http://thegearjunkie.com/top-10-gear-of-the-year-awards-2007.

You’ve heard the news, in December Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co-op became the first major Canadian retailer to pull polycarbonate containers from its store shelves. Lululemon Athletica Inc., also Vancouver-based, announced plans later the same month to stop selling plastic water bottles that contain bisphenol A. However many of us who are active continue to drink water and other beverages from these types of bottles, perhaps not yet convinced they pose any danger or not yet sure what other alternatives exist. To help shed some light in this issue we have gathered below a few resources to look at.

On bisphenol A

• The Bisphenol-A Debate: A Suspect Chemical in Plastic Bottles and Cans – from the Green Guide
• Bisphenol A: FAQs – from CBC In-Depth News
• Bisphenol A – from Wikipedia
• the “official” Bisphenol-A Website – sponsored by the Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group

Alternatives

Sigg Switzerland Inc. and Klean Kanteen are two prominent bottle makers that specialize in making aluminum and stainless steel bottles. The Gear Junkie has written a great review on these bottles, you can read it here. Other alternatives include the New Wave Enviro metal water bottle and the Peddler’s Wagon’s metal water bottle.

Reviewed by John Biggs on Crunch Gear

Athletes may have little control over things like the weather, the terrain, their energy levels. With the Timex iControl, they can at least control their music selection from their wrist.

The iControl is a watch and receiver combination that connects to almost any iPod and the iPhone and allows runners or the preternaturally lazy to control the iPod through buttons on the watch face. This lets the wearer keep the iPod in a pocket and avoid fumbling with it. The small and light watch has buttons for track control, play/pause and volume.

The iControl is also a full Ironman Timex watch with countdown timer, 50-lap memory and interval timers. There is an Indiglo backlight for evening workouts. Timex says the watch’s battery should last three years.

The $125 iControl, which is available from major online and offline retailers, comes in black, pink, blue, orange and green. It uses the iPod’s docking port, which means other devices like the Nike+iPod pedometer cannot be used, forcing you to choose between tracking your distance run and skipping that easy-listening tune that sneaked into your workout playlist.

Written by Kenyon Wallace, published in the Globe and Mail, December 8, 2007

Ryan Leech was a self-professed “Nalgene addict” for five years. Now the Port Moody, B.C.-based professional mountain bike rider – who uses six of the handy polycarbonate water bottles to stay hydrated during his dangerous performances – says he’ll never use the products again after learning that Canada’s largest specialty outdoor-goods retailer pulled them from its shelves over health concerns.

Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co-op instructed its stores across the country this week to remove polycarbonate plastic containers – including the brightly coloured water bottles – that contain the plastic building-block bisphenol A, an endocrine disruptor that mimics estrogen. Many environmental groups and consumers praised the move, but other retailers are wondering how to proceed.

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Did you know that you can recycle your old polyester-based clothing at Mountain Equipment Coop stores? Just bring clean, worn-out, polyester-based garments to your local MEC store and toss them in the bin. They will be sent to Teijin, a fabric manufacturer in Japan, where they are reprocessed into new fibres through Teijin’s Eco Circle™ closed-loop recycling system. In this process, garments are crushed, turned into granules, then run through a chemical reaction process that removes dyes and other chemicals before turning it back into raw polyester (polyester polymer), then new Eco Circle fibre. And if they’re  still in decent shape they’ll be donated. Click here to learn more.

In keeping with the recent barefoot running theme, the folks at trainharder.com would like to bring to your attention an innovative product called the Vibram FiveFingers Classic. These are the essence of a minimalist shoe, nothing that we know of can mimic the feeling of barefoot running, without actually barefoot running, while protecting your feet from all kinds of nasties (see entry from October 3rd below).

Peter Keller has written a really great review on his blog: http://mygaragegym.blogspot.com/. Vibram Fivefingers can be purchased in BC from select MEC stores, or directly from their website: http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/.

Who has seen this ad before in Discovery Magazine or in another location?
http://www.fastexercise.com/

Its an exercise machine which costs $14,615 and among other things claims to burns more calories in four minutes than from an hour on a treadmill. Here is their explanation: (more…)