I'm heading down to the Bay Area today for Columbia Sportswear's Spring 2012 preview event. It's a two part event that starts in San Francisco with dinner, drinks and presentations of next year's Spring line at the California Academy of Sciences. The next day, Columbia's taking ten of us journalists down to Yosemite for a four-day backpacking trip to try out the gear we checked out the night before. It's tough, but hey-it's a job.
I've checked out Columbia's Peak to Peak shell and I've had a tester report on their Neo Wind women's jacket for Backpacker and my Trek Tech column and I've been impressed. I can't wait to see what they've got in store for next year.
This week's going to be huge. I'll be testing out gear from Salomon, Easton Mountain Products, and Magellan as well, so I should have a lot to report on when I get back I'll try to blog and send out pics and reports on Twitter (follow me at @trektechblog) as long as I have reception to keep you guys posted on what's up.
In the meantime, I'll have a few more posts popping up while I'm gone-I talk up slacklining and Gibbon Slackline Kits for spicing up your barbecues and review a few slim (yet tough) iPhone cases to keep your PDA safe on the trail.
