Sheboygan, Wis., March 11, 2010 - Tune in to the Science Channel on April 15th at 8:00PM EST to see and learn more about Wigwam on "Factory Made". "Factory Made" is a show that provides an all-access experience to see the insides of some of the most amazing factories in the world. Throughout this show, viewers will have a chance to see what goes on in Wigwam factory and how our amazing products are made.

"Factory Made" also airs on the Discovery Channel regularly. Wigwam will be featured this Spring on "Factory Made" on the Discovery Channel as well. Stay tuned for official dates and times of that show.

Be sure to tune in to learn more about Wigwam and our products on both the Science Channel and the Discovery Channel.

Click here for more information about Factory Made.

At times, we all find ourselves out of our element. Those moments usually occur when we are not prepared. Things that happen at those times are not necessarily the things we want to happen. They are not under our control and that is where problems may become uncomfortable or unbearable.

Part of the reason some people are able to cope with things that are out of their element is they do not fear being out of their element. These individuals are not afraid of placing themselves in situations they are not comfortable with to see how they can actually deal with new experiences.

In January I chose to run a couple of warm weather marathons. Leaving the comfort zone of single digit temperatures for the heat of the Arizona dessert one weekend and the heat and humidity of Florida two weeks later. Not that I am implying the single digit temperatures are comfortable; meaning the higher temperatures would be out of my comfort zone related to training in a completely different climate.

Not having the time to acclimatize meant stepping out of my element. I thought learning how my body handles the different temperatures would, at some point, be beneficial to me, and it may not necessarily be running related. Near the end of February, I went to central Wisconsin to help a friend tap sugar maples and red maples for his business. I was out of my element, that’s for sure. I had never done anything like this before. I was eager to try a new adventure. I am really glad I had the opportunity to try something new and definitely different.

After leaving Doug Riske’s maple syrup operation of 100 Springs Sugar Bush, near Athens, Wisconsin, I realized in many ways I was out of my element, but also in many ways I was also comfortable in the new situation due to the things I have experienced in the past.

For instance knowing how to dress for being active outdoors in sub-freezing temperatures meant I could work outside for eight-hours in my comfort zone. Taking food and water along on the trip into the woods, to stay nourished and well hydrated, were two important factors to maintaining a well-fueled body.

Proper dress was also important. Because there would be lots of walking, on snowshoes, I knew from my experience racing on snowshoes years ago, how warm I would get, and then stopping to tap the tree using a cordless drill, I would chill down instantly if not dressed with clothing made specifically to move moisture away from the body and keep me dry
.

I emptied out a dresser drawer of running gear and another of Wigwam socks. Knowing once my feet were cold the day would be over, I felt this was one of the most important items that would allow me to continue tapping trees. I chose to incorporate a combination of socks with different properties. Knowing the properties of the fabric helped me decide which to wear. Experience in using each of the socks I chose insured my feet would stay warm and dry. With that combination I would also be guaranteed comfort.

My first choice next to my skin in the winter, is always the Ultimate Pro Liner, which shields the foot from outside air and helps retain body heat, but also offers protection against moisture and is important for the prevention of blisters. Walking on snowshoes, over uneven surfaces, means lots of shifting in the shoes I chose to put on my feet and go into the bindings. I chose a waterproof, wool lined boot from UGG.

Over my base layer I chose the Rebel Fusion Crew, a combination of two socks with different properties woven together in a single knitting operation. The inner sock is 100% Olefin for moisture management and the outer a combination of Merino wool, stretch nylon and Lycra Spandex for balanced comfort and warmth.

Because I was so comfortable working outdoors, I managed to run 10 miles each morning before breakfast and get in another 6 miles in the evening, meaning I spent almost 12 hours outdoors in sub freezing temperatures. Needless to say, I was in my comfort zone! My feet never felt cold or wet. The running gear I chose to wear also reflected the experiences of years of winter running and offered me the correct balance of moisture control and warmth. With an outer garment to shield wind and water I again was able to remain in my comfort zone whether walking on top of the snow or standing and drilling a hole in the tree and connecting the tap from the tree to the connection on the tubing.

Taking the steps necessary to remain in your comfort zone makes it a whole lot easier to step out of your element. Try a new adventure and enjoy yourself.

Landscape and wildlife photography brings me to many different places to make presentations. I get a lot of questions about the kinds of gear I use. Obviously, the camera equipment I use is important. However, what most people don’t realize is that the gear I wear in many regards is just as important as what I use to create my images.

In other words, my socks are JUST as important as my lenses, or filter systems. Your socks!? You’re kidding, right? Let me explain.

Landscape and wildlife photography requires me being in the right place at the right times. Unfortunately the ‘right’ time isn’t always middle of the day, in 80 degree weather, and right next to my car. In fact…it NEVER is. Most of the time I’m waking up well before the sunrise, hiking long distances, and sitting in miserable temperatures for long periods of time waiting for the lighting...to be perfect, or the animals to wake up. Yes, I'm up before a lot of animals.

When the light does hit that perfect moment, it’s a mad scramble to gather as many quality images as possible in an ever shrinking window of opportunity. Have you ever tried to think artistically with cold feet? Or blisters? I have and it’s nearly impossible.

On one occasion I made a long winter hike to a location in a pair of socks that did everything in their power to make my life miserable. Blisters plagued me early into my hike, each step making me wince in pain. When I finally arrived at the location and stood in the snow waiting for the light….my feet began to freeze. I had no insulation, and the cold was numbing. While that took away the pain from the blisters…it made photography next to impossible. Rather than enjoying my morning doing what I love…I was just hoping the light would fade so I could quickly make my way back to my vehicle and get warm.

When you’re happier being in the car than out of it…there’s a problem. I got back and vowed…I was NEVER making another big hike with cold or sore feet.

In preparation for my next long week of hiking, in the desert regions of Northern Arizona and Southern Utah, I purchased a couple pair of Wigwam socks. Over the course of that week I hiked nearly 60 miles and spent several days/nights in temperatures in the 20s.

To make a long story short, I had ample opportunity to totally destroy my feet during that week but ended with no blisters for the duration of my trip. I walked in padded comfort everywhere I went. My feet never got too hot, or too cold. I found that because they kept my feet so warm, on those below freezing nights...I just left them on. I literally had my socks on ALL the time. Even better…when I got home the socks didn’t smell nearly as bad as you would expect for as much as they were on my feet.

In my book any piece of equipment that stays on my body at all times, keeps me comfortable, warm, and doesn’t smell horrible even when it’s been soaked with creek water and sweat has to be listed when someone asks me about the equipment I use.

Preparation for the comp-world cup/the night before . . . . .
The night before a big comp, or any comp for that matter can be an emotional rollercoaster. At the world Cup in Saas Fee, we had a big athletes dinner, did some “testing” for a UIAA survey, mingled a bunch, had a big dinner, and then went home. (Oh, side note, I played a lot of ping pong and owned the table all night…beating all the euros! Yah!). When we got back to the apartement, I tuned my tools, tried to relax and then went to bed. The problem with bed was that my body still wasn’t used to the time change, so sleeping ended up being sort of minimal. So basically I layed in bed for a few hours, then got about 6hrs of sleep. Not bad, but not great. Sleep is important…especially before a big comp, or anything that requires energy and focus.

Isolation.

Being in isolation is something new to me (for those who don’t know what isolation is, it’s a place where competitors wait for their turn to compete/climb etc.), and this time was definitely a new experience. Isolation was a heated tent in the back end (in the basement) of a parkade, lit with dim lights, offering minimal food, and of course with 80 athletes waiting anxiously to climb on the comp route. The fact that I drew 5th from last to go (compete), that meant that I was in isolation for 4.5hrs. And for this duration of time, I was definitely not prepared enough. You need food, lots of it, and of course the right food, perhaps something to read, games, whatever, so that you’re not stuck sitting around, letting your mind take over. It was hard, really hard, to try staying comfortable, relaxed and at ease. There was lots of media floating about with big cameras, filming and interviewing athletes and such. That was weird as they were in our faces a lot. Just outside the tent there was an overhung slab of wood x3 that you could warm up on with your tools. Another thing that I didn’t do well enough. Warming up properly is a hard thing to do when you’re outside of your “typical routine”/comfort zone–something to pay attention to next time for sure. Being in isolation is a good time to really focus on your mental game. Being such an important part of competition, gaining control of your mental state is imperative. Isolation offers that opportunity, especially when you’re in there for a few hours.

The walk to the comp route from isolation. . . . .
Waiting, on the edge of my toes, heart rate gaining speed and quickly, the hair standing on end due to anticipation, knowing that any minute the judge would come into the tent calling your name saying, “Gordon McArthur, you’re up”. That moment, it’s like everything in the world all of a sudden disappears. All you can think about is not puking, and stayin upright on your legs. The walk from the isolation tent to the comp venue felt like it was going to last forever. All the adrenalin pumping through your body like a surge of electricity…it was insane–but so rad at the same point. As I got closer to the comp venue, located in the middle of the circular parkade, I could see the light shining from the actual location of the comp route, and hundreds of people cheering…it was totally wild. And as I entered the comp venue, standing infront of the 130ft structure…well to be quite honest, I don’t really remember much of what I was thinking, as my mind tends to shut everything out at that point. But what I can say, it was freakin’ cool!

The intensity of it all. . . . .
Climbing for fun, without competition always seems a little more settling, less stressful, and mindfully easier to take in. But put yourself infront of thousands of people cheering, competing against the best in the world…things get intense, ten fold. But maybe that actually works against you. If you allow it to get intense…you need to channel that intensity towards positive thinking. A lot of times, when something gets intense, your mind starts to doubt the situation, or your capability of carrying such a task through to its end. I think working on staying calm, enjoying the moment, remembering why you love to climb (or whatever it is you love to do), the intensity soon gets replaced with peace of mind. Interesting. Essentially, the more experience you can get, the more your mind, body, is likely to accept the situation/task at hand and not freaking out about it…because you’ve been there before, you know what’s coming and you know what it takes.

Being on the route and what I learned. . . . .
When we previewed the route, at first I was like, “wow, how on earth am I going to pull those moves off?” and of course, back in isolation all the athletes were contemplating how they were going to pull it off. If there’s one thing that was reinforced at this comp, it’s to not worry about what anyone else is saying, or how they’re going to do something. Stick to your own game plan, your own ideas and thoughts. The second you start to question your methods and ability/thought process, that’s when things get confusing. I remember one of the first moves off of the ice and onto the “woody” part of the route, I was messing about with figure fours and nines to pull a move off…and it wasn’t going well, then I allowed myself to snap back into my style of climbing, hooked my leg up on the ledge, and booya, I pulled the move off. A simple heel hook allowed me to progress. But initially I allowed other peoples’ styles/ideas get into my head, and naturally I thought, “well maybe I should do that”. Nope, typically never works out better. Stick to your own game plan, and if that doesn’t work, then maybe explore other options…but until then…climb your style.

Watching the video of me climbing the comp route after, it was hard…because right away I could see my weaknesses, what I was doing wrong. However with the right mind set, I was able to channel this into pure motivation. Fact is, I was climbing way too slow. I was resting where I didn’t need to rest. When I previewed the route, I didn’t pay any attention to where the good rests were…I just climbed like I was doing a redpoint…not like an onsight attempt with a clock tickin’. Lesson learned. Game on for the next comp that has a stop watch.

Another note about the route and previewing it…moves are never as big as they look from the ground, looking up. Every time I see a route and look at the moves from ground up, they always seem so much bigger and scarier then when face to face with them. Relax, wait ‘til you get to the move before you count yourself out from being able to pull it off.

Something that I’ve also noticed about my competitive climbing is the fact that I drown out any sound other then my own breathing. I can’t hear anything. Is this a good thing? Not sure yet, but I know that my friend was yelling at me to move faster and I didn’t hear him. Gotta work on this. It’s good to be able to tune things out, so that your focused on the task at hand, but be careful as you may want to be listening to “help” from the crowd.

The feelings I had after I competed

After the comp, like when I untied from the route, I was excited. So excited infact. All I wanted to do was keep climbing. Instantly I was psyched to call my coach, tell him how it went, and get back on the training gig to get stronger, improving on my weaknesses. It was a cool feeling. Of course there was a bit of dissapointment as I had hoped to do better, but that’s ok, the experience I gained from such a venture/competition, it’s only made me stronger mentally as well as motivated me more.

The intensity of how much I want to train. . . . .
I think it’s really cool that I’m so psyched on training. Training is the meat of it. When you’re competing, it’s 6 minutes of your life. But it’s the training that takes hours, days, months, sometimes years. And now, I’m starting to see how cool training is. Training allows you to go deeper, and in the end, you’ve had a chance to address your weaknesses merely improving your climbing, offering a huge level of satisfaction. Of course the science of training is so intriguing to me too…as there is so much to training, whether physical, mental, dietary, whatever….all of it is so cool. So stoked to learn more, try harder, go deeper.

The emotions of it all . . . . .
The entire trip, what came with it, the ups and downs, lack of sleep, level of energy expended, the adrenaline, all of it opened a door of emotions that fluctuated so rapidly that I thought my heart rate was hitting 300 and dropping to 30 top speed. It’s an emotional rollercoaster. Wow.

Moving forward. . . . .
From all of this, the experience of traveling across the world, competing at a whole new level, the expectations, the motivation, all of it has lead me to wanting to try harder. My coach has been very encouraging, and without that, it would be a lot harder to want to push forward. But, I’m psyched and am ready to give ‘er. To try harder means more commitment, digging deeper, and allowing those who want to help…help. Onward hoe!

Thank you to all my sponsors. . . . .
Having help to reach and attain your goals, it makes things more attainable. Anything is possible, but with help, it becomes more feasible. I’m super greatful for all of my sponsors, having the opportunity to represent their brands, using their gear to the best of my ability…so greatful indeed. Thanks to Petzl, Loki, Scarpa, HighCountry Sports, Ice Holdz, Wigwam socks, and for redbull giving me the “boost” that I need.

The competition aside, one of the coolest parts of the entire event was the after party. This “party” was held under the parkade, opening only once a year for this very event, and it was super cool. Why cool? Well there was a boulder problem, with climbing holds, on the roof of this “bar” that people were sessioning all night, amongst thousands of others partying and having a good time. So cool. There were a lot of people packed into this place, with no ventilation and pretty sure no security, but things stayed calm, and by calm I mean no fighting etc. I was psyched on that. Pretty much anything went at this bar, including my buddy sewing up my other buddy from an open flesh wound he received from his ice tool in the speed comp. Yup, crazy, my buddy whipped out his suture kit and proceeded to sew up my other buddies cut, right in the middle of the bar. That was rad!

The finals, it was like being at the super bowl, front row seats, the energy was out of this world, as the top athletes picked their way through the route, the crowd would erupt with every gain. Thousands cheering at the top of their lungs, no resting, always screaming. This was prolly the most motivating part of it all, watching the best of the best compete in the finals…so rad. The energy was off the hook. Marcus Bendler ended up taking first place (which seems to be the trend for the moment) climbing to just about the last hold, falling at the last second. Man that guy can climb. But lets not forget about the Korean who was flying up the route, crushing everyone’s time by minutes…but in the end his speed worked against him as he blew off a hold just below Marcus. The crowd was in shock as everyone knew he was on route to winning. Oh, and something to give mention to, probably the coolest part of the entire comp was watching one of the Russians. In the semi finals, half way up the route he dropped one of his tools. Well, everyone at that point thought he was done, except for him that is. This Russian without hesitatin all of a sudden dyno’d with one tool from one hold to the next. And as if that wasn’t enough, he did it again…campus dynoing to the next hold, with one tool. It was out of this world.

· February 1-2
Rocky Mountain On-Snow Demo @ Winter Park, CO

· February 8-9
Northern California On-Snow Demo @ Alpine Meadows, CA

· February 9-10
Intermountain On-Snow Demo @ Snowbasin, UT

· February 10-11
Southern California On-Snow Demo @ Mammoth Mountain, CA

· February 16-17
Northwest On-Snow Demo @ Mission Ridge, CA

The Snow Mojo Pro is one of Wigwam’s top of the line, and technologically advanced ski socks. It is part of the Wigwam Pro Series – a patented moisture control system that repels and absorbs moisture and prevents blisters from the bottom-up. In addition, this sock is combined with a soothing fit that cradles and embraces the leg to reduce fatigue and enhance control. Its light weight design, breathable mesh air vents, and natural antimicrobial agent, Chitosan, makes this a dream sock for anyone hitting the slopes.

Look for Wigwam at the events listed above for an On-Snow Demo of their product and a chance to try the best of the best in sock performance and technology.

About WWSRA: Western Winter Sports Representatives Association is a non-profit association that sponsors trade events in the winter, active lifestyles and outdoor industries. In addition to producing industry trade events, WWSRA offers many resources and services to the reps and retailers in the
active sports industry.

About Wigwam:

Wigwam Mills, Inc. was founded in 1905 and is located in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. It is an authentic American brand that designs, manufactures and markets the knitwear that America grew up with. For more information, visit www.wigwam.com. Wigwam...Your Personal Best.

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At the beginning of the class, our instructor told us that we shouldn’t try and compare ourselves to other people in the class and simply do “Your Personal Best”. With this being my first experience with anti-gravitational anything, I was glad to hear it. I stretched, balanced, flew, hung upside down, along with so many more poses. And even though I wasn’t an expert at everything, I felt accomplished at having done My Personal Best. Not only did I add a new experience to my life, I had a 
                                               great time in the process.

                                               What is “Your Personal Best”?