Icebreaker - Pure Merino

Icebreaker is supporting the 2010 Czech Seakayak Expedition which sets off on the 24th of July to East Greenland. Here is a short update from the team prior to their departure:

The first Czech seakayak-expedition in the coastal areas of East Greenland has the ambition to journey about 200-kilometers in the system of local fjords and islands.

Greenland is a place where local residents (Inuits) have been using kayaks as an aid in hunting whales and seals for over two thousand years. We’d like to meet them and compare our experiences. For this purpose, we developed a completely new type of sport seakayak.

Areas that we´d like to visit are some of the most photogenic parts of the planet, so the whole project is designed not only as a sport, but also  as an ethnographic and documentary expedition. The expedition has already had lots of media interest in magazines, newspapers, and for talks on radio stations.

Icebreaker has provided us with premium quality merino underwear to keep us toasty warm in severe conditions of the Greenland. BF150 and BF260 tops and leggings paired with brand new RealFleece jackets and super, super warm and comfortable Hike socks will be our best fellows on the trip.

The three experienced paddlers on the team are:

Petr Novotný: photographer and journalist (more than 200 professional travel and outdoor publications in several journals in the country); organizer and popularizer of many first sea kayaking expeditions (including I. Czech expedition to Iceland 2002, as many others – almost always the first ones – trips to the region Skagerrak, Stocholm skargard, Aland – Sweden, Sardinia, Corsica, Cyclad islands – Greece, Costa Rica, Panama, Tasmania, Madeira). A former contestant on a wild Water (USK Praha Dukla Brandys), an international instructor rafting and canoeing IRF trip leader.

Standa Klokočník: Author and designer of the Czech-art prototype sea kayak. Instructor Guide and the sea kayaking, since 2003, passed 22 missions.

Jan Kolanda: Long-term representative of the Czech Republic in the many water sports; Canoe racing – multiple champion and participant in the World Cup marathon, the participant surfski Ocean Racing Australia, quadriathlon – world champion and winner of several World Cup races. Participant in a number of sea kayaking expeditions. Professional guide in Australia and the Pacific.

Check out the photos below of preparations and stay tuned for an update on their expedition.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the band new Icebreaker office in Germany and the also relatively new office in Czech Republic.

The main aim of the trip was to meet and train the finance managers…however it quickly became clear that the actual aims of the trip were to eat as much chocolate as possible as fast as possible, substitute water for beer and ride bikes.

On the first day at the office we had challenged each other to beat the world record Ferrero Rocher’s consumed in a minute. We needed to consume 8 to beat the record. Priding ourselves on being massive chocolate fans we thought this challenge would be effortless. In fact it is not! However it proved to be a very entertaining exercise.

Martina, the German Marketing Manger, and I fronted up to the touristy tour of Munich in the spring rain. After a strenuous 5km 3hr tour of Munich we found ourselves downing Weißbier like it was water…and with the tour guide who had made a habit extending the tour for Icebreaker girls into a German pub crawl.

The following morning, feeling a little under the weather I needed to rid myself of the evil jagermeister toxins. So I rode around the very picturesque Lake Stanrberg. It was an honest 50kms on a bike with a basket and no suspension. At the end of the trip I joined the brave few taking the first dip of the summer in the lake. The toxins were nearly gone and I started to feel human again.

For the last weekend in Europe, David the Czech Marketing Manager convinced me to enter a “about 50km” bike ride in the Czech mountains. Not being able to say no to energetic and enthusiastic David, I agreed. How hard could it be?

Let’s just say the next time I take on 70km mountain biking adventure, I might do a spot of training beforehand!

However the pain was more than offset by the amazing experience. The scenery was spectacular, through lush green forests. The views were fantastic from the mountain tops, over the Czech country side and into neighbouring Poland.

The beverages were graciously received, particularly the classic Czech beer at the end. And last but not least the Icebreaker team, encouraging, supportive the whole way. We had a few laughs, nearly a few tears, ate lots more chocolate and all passed the finish line with grins from ear to ear.

- Heidi Anderson, EU Finance Manager

Viktor and Viola from the Czech Republic are big fans of Icebreaker…so when a new addition to their family came along, they decided to get creative with baby clothing.

Viola´s old Icebreaker Tech-T wasn’t buried in the garden to break down, or re-made into a shopping bag – instead she refashioned it into baby Vinc’s luxury bodywear.

Vinc thinks his new Icebreaker is great – it’s soft, breathable and odour resistant (a very important feature at this age!).

Vinc is our Czech man of the month!