Mark Kalch » Zeal Optics

School is out!

Mark Kalch — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:54:38 +0000

What a weekend! The Expedition School went down starting Thursday evening and the last campers left on Monday. In between we had a pretty awesome time! I will get a full report up as soon as I have had a chance to breathe. (Click on the pics to enlarge)

A hard, hot as hell walk on the first day, a gnarly, big smile river day the next and a day at the beach to tie things up nicely on Sunday. Breaks were spent discussing all the intricacies of mounting an independent expedition. Early mornings spent getting through some tough workouts in the mist I hope woke everyone up nicely. Throw in some bloody nice food and expedition dvds on the projector and I reckon it was a real hoot!

Thanks so much to everyone who came along and grateful for all the help I got from Dave and Holly. Congrats to Sammy also, who won a sweet pair of Zeal Optics sunglasses. Who was the online competition winner? None other than Mister Lightweight himself, Phil Turner!

I will endeavour to get details of the Winter Expedition School up as soon as possible. I cannot wait!

Win Zeal Optics!

Mark Kalch — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:47:59 +0000

I am stoked, thanks to the awesome guys at Zeal Optics and as part of the Expedition School, to give away a bunch of very cool gear!

Zeal Optics have been an amazing sponsor over the last 3 years and super supportive of anything I do. Zeal Optics are just like me. Stoked to be doing what they do and with a real passion and “zeal” for the outdoors. Without doubt they make some of the best eyewear available on the planet!. Anyway, great company, awesome kit. End of story. Now watch the clip below.

NB. I swear I did not read that spiel off a prompter. It took about 100 takes just to bumble those few words out and that was the best of a bad bunch!

Right, how to win! I have a bunch of hats, (as you saw in the clip) and a pair of Zeal Optics Tenacity sunglasses with ZB-13 polarized lenses to give-away. All you need to do to be in the running is the below. Simple.

1. Answer this question: How many grey Zeal Optics hats are shown in the clip?

2. Email me (mark@markkalch.com) with your answer and Twitter name*

3. Follow me (MarkKalch) and Zeal Optics (ZealOptics) on Twitter and tweet the following – “I just entered to win sunglasses from @ZealOptics thanks to @MarkKalch. Stoked! You can too! http://bit.ly/brT99Q” (no need for the parentheses)

*If you are honestly not a Twit like so many of us, just email me the answer (and tell your friends about it!). If you are on Twitter, be nice and follow Zeal Optics and myself. Good Karma!

Easy enough? I will be drawing the winner at random on the weekend of the Expedition School (August 20-22).

First prize is 1 pair of Zeal Optics Tenacity sunglasses with ZB-13 polarized lenses plus a sweet Zeal Optics cap and stickers. I also have a couple of runner-up prizes of caps and stickers to give-away.

Friday Stoke

Mark Kalch — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:36:08 +0000

As always, hectic times here in the mountains. Some my own doing by being a mite dis-organised or just plain faffing about. On top of that I have busted my neck training which is a real drag. Having finally recovered from shoulder recon and being able to train hard again, I go get an ego and don’t tap out when I should! Stupid! I am now walking around like Frankenstein, loaded up on Ibuprofen and an ice pack tied to my neck with a pair of thermal long johns, trying to keep good posture. I kid you not! What a sight!

My good friends at Zeal Optics have sent through some fantastic prizes for me to giveaway. I have a bunch of awesome hats and some very cool sunglasses to give out to some lucky folks. Everyone attending the Expedition School will score some very nice kit just for turning up, as well as having the chance to win a pair of sunglasses. But, if you can’t come along then you still have the chance to win sunglasses and hats. I promise a post on Monday will reveal all and how you can win! TIP: I am not so famous or loved, so you probably have a very good chance of winning with a little effort!

Right, today’s stoke is wing-suit flying. Done before, but this one is a little different. Red Bull sent some of their Air Force guys to Seattle in the US, to do a fly by of the iconic Space Needle. Results below! Cool as!

Have an ace weekend! Competition details next week I promise!

Sponsorship proposals – ROI

Mark Kalch — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:57:25 +0000

Planning for Expedition Amazonas took a lot of years. Nathe was a mad man with maps, routes, logistics, contacts and overall feasibility. I managed to squeeze myself in there somewhere and took hold of, among other tasks, sponsorship. We knew we were looking at an epic. The task was to convince others that it would be worthwhile backing us and coming on board. Much easier said than done. However, with enough common sense, blind passion and self belief can really help out. I started off with the perhaps deluded and naive assumption that folks would be knocking down our door to sponsor us. Even after those rejection emails, or worse, no replies started to mount up I still felt we were on to something. As we flew off to Peru we had 17 industry leading sponsors on board. Not bad for a first major expedition from a few unknowns I reckon. How did we go about it?

Above is the final draft of our sponsorship proposal which was emailed as a PDF to potential sponsors (click to enlarge). 1 page. Just 1 page. Isn’t that a bit short? We started with a 30 page brochure full of graphs, photos, kit lists, breakdowns etc. It never even saw the light of day! 30 pages? What were we thinking! Who was going to read that? Answer? No-one! Potential sponsors do not care about your plans to save the world, end poverty or track climate change by pulling a little box behind you on the ice. They care about three simple words – RETURN ON INVESTMENT. What does an insurance company care about how greenhouse gases could affect the marine life of the Arctic Ocean (despite the marketing blurb)? Sure, your aims must align with their core beliefs in some way. Royal Dutch Shell is unlikely to come on board with your expedition in Alaska to promote an end to off-shore drilling are they? Call me a cynic if you like (I prefer realist), but ROI is key.

If you cannot grab a marketing managers attention in the first paragraph of your proposal then you have lost them. Even after you have piqued their interest you won’t hold them very long. Get their attention, show them potential (and highly likely) returns and get out. If they want more information they will ask for it. If not, your proposal is probably in the bin. You can pull out the facts and figures when called for. If you are asking for financial backing you’d better have them, just like with any business plan. Not many companies hand over cold hard cash because they are such lovely people. They may well be, but, they have a business to run. They want to see those three words again – return on investment. The above proposal is not perfect, but it did have at least a few things going for it. It was short, it was to the point and did not take up anyone’s time. This tended to delay that short journey to the trash bin just enough.

There are so many other elements involved in the sponsorship game (ROI is just one of them). Elements that after so many years I have a pretty firm grasp of. I am not spot on with sponsorship or propose to be some sort of guru, but I have learnt a few things here and there.

If you have any questions on getting sponsorship, email me and I would be happy to help out. NB. Try not to email questions like – “How do I get sponsorship?”. Make it specific. Something that cannot be answered with a quick Google search.

Boots made for walking

Mark Kalch — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:23:22 +0000

A lot of walking! Following up on last weeks post about my best kit in Iran, it would be remiss of me not to mention my footwear. As you probably know I did a lot of walking, almost 1700km in fact. For 60 days straight I wore the same pair of boots (I did have 2 pair of socks!) – Meindl Burma Pro.

Meindl had sent me out a couple of pairs of boots to test out – the Burma Pro and Softline Ultra GTX. I was fortunate enough to be able to give them a run through in the Pyrenees and a tougher assault on 2 Kili summits. Both boots were excellent. The Softline Ultras weigh in at around 700gms (UK size 12) and seemed perfect for a long distance trek over changing terrain. On Kili they were very comfortable and being so light were a pleasure to walk in. As with any light weight boot the trade off is support and in the mid-sole. This is no fault in design but an onus is on the user selecting the right boot for their activity. The Burma Pros while being heavier were as comfortable and the support in the mountains just brilliant. Carrying a heavier than expected pack also meant that the mid-sole took the load with ease. These boots ate up all that Iran could throw at them. Ploughing through deep snow, kicking my way through rocky desert and of course plodding along boring tarmac! Final proof of their comfort comes by the fact that 2 weeks back in London has seen me in them everyday. I just cannot let go of them. I usually get around the city in a pair of skater shoes (strange, as I cannot even stand straight on a skateboard!) but they have stayed relegated to my closet. Not sure when I will be able to let my Meindls go! (even if I do look like a bit of a hero!)

A bit of kit that you could argue I could have gotten away without, were my Zeal Optics Swap-its. To that I would (most politely) say – YOU’RE WRONG! These bad boys were on my face from sun-up to sun-down. Being optically challenged, Zeal hook me up with their Polarised prescription ZB-13 lenses for all my sunglasses. Unbeatable!

Through the Alborz and Zagros with blue-sky days and snow as far as the eye can see, having close-fitting, polarised sunglasses was essential. In the desert and the gulf with the sun beating down, likewise. For a second major expedition, Zeal Optics made my life a whole lot easier. I got some shocking Racoon-eyes by the end of my journey I can assure you. For a little explanation of just why I trust Zeal Optics to supply me with the best eyewear for the outdoors check this out – Zeal Optics Transcend GPS Goggle. The world’s first GPS enabled googles with integrated “Head Mounted Display” system. With the push of a button the rider can call up data right in front of his/her eyes and like a jet pilot display information such as speed, altitude, temperature, time, GPS location and stop watch. How cool is that! All I have to do now is convince Zeal that I need a pair for my next…umm…snowboarding expedition. Yeh, that’s it!

Tomorrow, the camera that turned me into an ace photographer and the watch that has so many applications I still don’t know how to use all it’s functions! I will also have a stab at picking out my most useless kit!

NB. I do appreciate that all my kit is sponsored and the cynics may decide it unlikely that I would say a bad word against these companies. True enough I suppose, but I would never choose to head off on an expedition, putting myself in harms way (or at least being uncomfortable for weeks on end) with kit that I did not truly believe in. I do not jump in to bed with just anyone who will have me! I use this particular kit and partner with these specific companies because they are the best at what they do. End of story! (Now check out this ad for Suunto below!)

The Cloak of Many Cares

Mark Kalch — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:06:54 +0000

Well, it’s that time again – time for a bit of pain, hardship, frustration, fear, excitement, learning, exploration and adventure! I have made live my expedition mini-site (which is just a cool way to say I tacked on a few more pages to my website!). You can access these pages by clicking on the banner above or simply by clicking here.

I have purposely tried to keep things simple and this is a theme I am trying to extend across the whole journey. I will be posting on an expedition journal throughout my adventure, but I am putting a ban on Twitter! It can be a fantastic tool and I really enjoy following those that do use it while on expedition (Ed and Mark) but I want to keep alive some of the feeling (illusion?) of isolation and real adventure. Is this possible? I am unsure but I will give it a crack. It is not a stand on using modern tech on expeditions, just a personal feeling and choice. Please don’t read too much into it.

You can follow my progress via the Location Map powered by Suunto X10. It will also display my post locations.

The Expedition Iran Gallery powered by Sony is where you will be able to view images and clips that I upload throughout my journey.

Please take a look at the companies who have partnered with me not just for my latest undertaking but have been gracious enough to provide ongoing support to my day to day activities. Easy to say, but I choose to partner these guys not because they said yes, but because they are industry leaders – their kit just works! Most importantly they provide an amazing degree of support to my endeavours that transcends product or money. They believe in me. Again I have kept things simple by limiting my relationships. This way I can improve my return to those that I have and concentrate on the task at hand – Expedition Iran!

I am still tweeking a few things, so any glaring errors please let me know or if you have any ideas on improvements please drop me a line, keeping in mind the keeping it simple ethos.