Today is our twenty-first birthday here at PEMBA. We’re now officially old enough to drink.

Think on that.

It’s been a long time since I stared at the ceiling of our base camp tent in Alaska as the snow buried it from outside, sketching out the idea that would become PEMBAserves. Those years, I  spent four to six weeks every summer climbing, and for several consecutive summers we went to Alaska to go up anything and everything that was in condition. It was a good life.

In those days, I worked part-time at Erehwon in Chicago and Madison, and supplemented that income as a free-lancer for Outside Magazine, Climbing, Rock&Ice, and a number of other publications. For Erehwon, I ran their newsletter and their marketing out-reach projects. I originally thought that PEMBA would do this same thing for different stores across the country, but then the phone rang.

It was Karen Peil from Five Ten (who is now Karen T’Kint at Prana), and she was looking for a rep and my name kept coming up. She introduced me to a young sales manager at Moonstone named Michael Crooke, who introduced me to Dion Goldsworthy at Gregory. After my first trip to the Outdoor Retailer show in Reno, I became one of the first Petzl reps in the United States.  Just like that, PEMBA became a rep agency instead of a marketing consulting agency.

But we’ve never strayed too far from the roots that I put down in my Alaska journal. Not just purely a sales agency, we take pride in taking a holistic approach to sales where it’s not just about the product, or even the brand, but also about the idea that we can change the lives of individuals and businesses for the better.

About the name: Pemba was a yak-herder on an Everest expedition I was on in 2008. Cowboys on Everest went in to the north side of Everest through Tibet, and yaks carried our equipment seventeen miles from base camp to advanced base camp on the East Rongbuk glacier. Tibet was and is under extreme pressure from the Chinese, and the Tibetans are losing their cultural identity. Pemba stuck to the old ways. He was kind and very gracious, honest, and exuded integrity. He seemed a natural choice to name a business after. It seemed to me that what we do as reps was literally anything and everything needed to get the job done, so rather than a list of services we provided I decided that we would simply “serve.” We’re only as good or as bad as the last thing we have done, so the commitment to serve is ongoing, too.

So now we’re PEMBAserves.

Business has changed radically in the twenty-one years we’ve been in business. There was no internet when we started. It was cutting edge to have a fax machine then, and now having and using a fax machine is somewhat quaint. There were no major chains; REI had only one location in our territory, and less than ten locations anywhere. Retail was very different, and specialty retail was even more different, still. What we did then as reps and retailers and manufacturers was somewhat the same – as my eldest daughter described my job: “He travels places and sells stuff” – and it was also very, very different.

The why and the how of this, we’ll get into at another time. The Outdoor Industry is literally at a cross-roads, with tremendous opportunities down one path, and huge threats down the other. But we’ll talk about that, later.

Today? Today we’re going to go for a long bike ride, or perhaps a snorkeling or bouldering session, or maybe just take out a long-board and ride.

It’s either that or get a new ID and wander off in search of jello shots, and maybe get a new tattoo.

Could go either way, actually.

Happy Birthday, PEMBA. Thanks for everything, and thanks to all of you, too.

In the February 2012 issue of Men’s Journal.

“The Atlas Aspect can tackle terrain from powdery fields to icy 14er summits, thanks to traditional round tubing at the front (to ease strides on snow) and a bladelike serrated bottom that digs into slush and ice (for a firm bite on climbs).”

It may be called the Nao (“now”), but Petzl’s newfangled head beacon isn’t available until July. That’s the bad news. The crazy-cool news is that this is the brainiest headlamp ever invented, with sensors that work somewhat the way autofocus does on a camera. Look into the distance and onboard “reactive lighting” microprocessors tighten the beam and increase lumen output up to a max of 355 from dual LEDs. Gaze down at your paperback while kicking it in your tent and the beam diffuses and lumen output drops accordingly as well, so you’re not blinded.

Read More: Fresh Goods – PETZL NAO Headlight

Amid the new year’s first big winter storm in Utah, more than 21,000 attendees gathered in Salt Lake City to see the latest in winter gear and connect with peers at the outdoor industry’s largest semi-annual gathering, Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2012.

Winter Market saw increases across the board, with jumps in buyer, store and overall attendance as well as a significant increase in exhibitor count, easily making it the largest-ever winter show.

“Winter Market remains one of the fastest growing and exciting shows in the country, and the lack of big snow nationwide has not dampened the incredible energy this industry emanates,” said Kenji Haroutunian, OR’s show director. “Retailers and media have flocked to the show from the corners of the continent and the world to witness the incredible strength of innovation in 2012-13 products and brand stories, and to partake in the elevation and celebration of the active outdoor lifestyle.”

Read More: Biggest-Ever Winter Market Wraps Up After Week of Innovation, Collaboration and Enthusiasm

Innovation is a must: this was the primary criterion for entry in the competition for the ISPO AWARD 2012, the “sports industry’s new quality seal”, according to Tobias Gröber, Head of Business Unit Consumer Goods at Messe München GmbH. A jury of professionals consisting of journalists, designers, retailers and athletes from all over the globe selected the most exceptional innovations from the 260 entries.

Segment Outdoor
Category Accessories Hardware: NAO headlamp by Petzl
NAO by Petzl automatically adjusts the intensity and spread of the light to the external conditions and user’s requirements. This optimizes energy consumption, using rechargeable batteries. Jury statement: “The NAO’s automatic light intensity adjustment is new to the market. A very innovative feature is the USB charging option.”

Read More: The Winners Of The ISPO AWARDs 2012

Last week Salt Lake hosted the annual Outdoor Retailer Winter Market trade show, the place where manufacturers show off their hottest new gear, clothes, skis, and more. This is the gear that will be arriving on retail shelves later this year. Four Climbing and Urban Climber editors roamed the Salt Palace for three days, checking out the wares. Here, our picks for the 10 coolest new products for climbers.

Petzl Nao headlamp. The pioneering headlamp maker introduced its “reactive lighting” technology, in which the beam automatically adjusts from 7 to 355 lumens, depending on the amount of outside light hitting the lamp. Great for battery life and user comfort, but it comes at a price: $175.

Read More: Outdoor Retailer Top 10

Petzl has come out with a headlamp which will very likely alter the course of headlamp technology. Their new NAO Reactive Lighting headlamp alters the brightness based on the activity and available light. The NAO (pronounced “now”) has two high power LEDs and a light sensor set up in a triangle pattern. The sensor measures and analyzes ambient and reflected light and then sends the info to a chip that alters the brightness of the lamps. What this really means is that when you look from map to trail, the light will get brighter, when you go from trail back to map, you won’t get blinded, and you won’t have to adjust the light in between. To sweeten the deal, the USB-chargeable batteries comes with accompanying software so you can alter the light intensity on you computer to suit your needs.

Read More: Outdoor Retailer Roundup: PETZL NAO Headlamp

We tested the NAO headlamp, which will cost a cool $175 when it comes to market later this year, in the dark woods on an XC ski outing one night after the trade show. Short story: It works. The “intelligent” beam saves on battery life by only using the needed light for any distance view, plus you won’t blast your eyes with 300-lumen bounce back if you glace from that proverbial cliff face above to a glossy map held in hand.

Read More: ‘Best in Show’ Awards: Latest, Greatest Gear for 2012!

When you’re trekking through the great outdoors in the middle of the night, you need your hands free for reading maps, clearing obstacles, and fighting off bears. So Petzl’s new Nao headlamp makes all the brightness and focus adjustments for you.

Billed as one of the first intelligent headlamps, the Nao (pronounced now) features a set of LED lights—one with a wide beam and one with a spot—that are automatically controlled by a large light sensor located above the two. While you’re hiking (or fleeing) the reactive lighting system—as they call it—measures the ambient lighting and continually adjusts the beam for optimal visibility, and prolonged battery life.

Read More: Self-Adjusting Headlamp Knows If You Want To See Near Or Far