Sherpa Adventure Gear: Funding the Future

MAKING A DIFFERENCE, TODAY AND TOMORROW In Nepal, many children grow up in remote mountain villages, and are deprived of basic education. The Sherpa Adventure Gear Fund provides a brighter future to the children of Nepal through empowerment and education. Working alongside respected Nepal-based organizations, we fund scholarships, build schools, support orphanages and provide safer…

The Best Places to See the Desert in Bloom

Picacho Peak State Park Happy Spring! If you haven’t already noticed, the wildflowers are out in full force in the Sonoran Desert. Driving around Tucson, you can see Mexican gold poppies, desert marigolds, brittlebush, desertbells, and scorpionweed, all bursting with color. Picacho Peak State Park There are many accessible parks and open space to view…

How do you layer?

Layering your clothing is a useful technique that is designed to help you get the most out of your outdoor experience. By giving you flexibility in your wardrobe to accommodate inevitable weather changes, layering will keep you comfortable in temperatures that may otherwise send you back indoors. There are three key components to a proper…

3 Steps to Finding the Perfect Backpack

Consider the Options With so many options available, start by determining overall capacity required, which is measured in liters or cubic inches. Day hikes and overnight trips usually require fewer than 45 liters for most individuals. Longer excursions often require more capacity from 60 liters and up. Volume requirements vary from one person to the…

Hiking Report: January

As I write this, December 31, 2012; Tucson and the surrounding mountain ranges are being pelted with rain and snow. as I look from the Summit Hut door to the North, The Catalinas are being blanketed with snow to about 4000 feet. What a spectacular place we live and know that conditions can change on…

Hiking Report: December

Editor’s Note: The Summit Hut Hiking Report is a new feature to the Summit Hut blog. Along with our typical great content (gear reviews, trail descriptions, travel stories, etc.) we will be publishing a monthly Hiking Report with a quick look at some of the key tips, gear and destinations for the season. Let’s face…

8000M Challenge & Big City Mountaineers

Each year, a team from Summit Hut joins about 150 of our closest outdoor friends for a heart-pounding, 38-mile day hike! The goal is to summit 3 of the tallest peaks in Southern California in under 24 hours. It’s an incredible physical challenge, but it’s also an amazing experience. The camaraderie between stores that are…

Don’t Forget Your Sun Protection!

Editor’s Note: This is a special guest post from Lisa Quale, Senior Health Educator at the Arizona Cancer Center Skin Cancer Institute. This post is part of our Sun Protection Weeks now happening. Through May 9th save 20% on select sun protection accessories from Buff, Tilley and Outdoor Research. Also, join us on May 3rd,…

Banff Mountain Film Festival Grant

Each year, for the past 12 years, Summit Hut has brought the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour to Tucson. The tour is an evening filled with some of the world’s best films on mountain sports and mountain culture. It is equal parts adrenaline pumping and inspirational. For the past three years, we have donated…

Saguaro Census 2010

Its census time again. Saguaro National Park is looking for volunteer help to conduct the third Saguaro Census since 1990. The Park conducts a saguaro cactus census every ten years, which curiously coincides with the U.S. national population census. This past November, four Summit Hut staff volunteered for census work with the Park as part…