Alpine Shop Blog – News and Events
Remember recess? It’s not just for kids anymore.
Now through July 15, 2012 (or while supplies last), when you buy any pair of KEEN shoes at any Alpine Shop location or on-line at alpineshop.com, you’ll get a free set of KEEN Fold and Play Recycled Speakers. They’re perfect for turning any break into full-fledged recess with KEEN.
Are you ready to jump into recess? Start shopping on-line here or we’ll see you in the store!
The most important thing to remember when buying a new bike is this: Buying a bike is not like buying a television or a stereo. All bikes, no matter if you purchase yours from Alpine Shop or some other store, are shipped un-assembled in boxes to the store. What happens after that box arrives depends on the store you purchase your bike from.
If you buy your brand new bike from a mass market chain store, your bike will be built buy someone back in the warehouse who may or may not have any experience putting bikes together. He may have a pedal wrench to make sure your pedals are firmly attached to the bike – or he may not. She may know the correct way to make sure your wheel’s tubes aren’t pinched – and prone to blow out – when she installs the tires, or she might not.
If you buy your new bike from Alpine Shop, your bike will be built by one of our bike shop technicians whose only job is to build and fix bikes. These people know what they are doing. Not only that, but they will also customize the bike for you before you ever leave the shop. Our techs will take various body part measurements that translate into a starting point for every moveable part on the bike. From there, they work with you to find out what position provides you with the most comfort and the most power.
As even Consumer Reports states in their Bike Buying Guide published in January 2012:
Find a good bike shop
You’ll pay more, but we think you’re more likely to be satisfied. Bikes from big-box stores might not be properly assembled or well matched to your body. If you don’t like the pedals or seat on a particular model, some bike shops will swap components at little or no cost.
The lighter a bike is, the easier it is for you get it moving. Take a look at the weight of the bike you’re looking to buy (if the mass market store will even provide it for you). Ask yourself if you really want to pedal an extra seven or eight pounds up the first hill you encounter.
It might seem like a good deal at the store, but what about when you actually use it? Mass market bikes have cheaper construction all around, from the frame to the components like the shifters, the tires, the handlebars, even the seat post. The biggest quality issue, and possibly most important one, is your brakes. Not only do many of the least expensive bikes have brakes that hardly work to begin with, if you’re brakes are installed wrong, even the best ones won’t work properly.
Even our lowest priced bikes will have higher quality parts than what you can find at the big box stores. And the true measure of value isn’t how much you spend, but how much you enjoy riding the bike.
Again from Consumer Reports:
Avoid cheap bikes, except for very casual useInexpensive bikes selling for less than $200 from brands such as Huffy, Mongoose, Roadmaster, and Schwinn may seem like good deals, but we advise spending $300 or more, if your budget allows. Why? Because you’ll get a lot more bike for your buck.
Mass-market bikes have cheaper construction than higher-priced bikes and can weigh seven or eight pounds more. They come in only one size, so you’re not likely to get a great fit. And mass merchants can’t match bike shops for quality of assembly, expert advice, and service.
Adults should consider inexpensive bikes from a department store only for the most casual use, and stick with a front-suspension model, which is likely to be better than an inexpensive full-suspension bike.
Simply put, bikes are complex, mechanical pieces of equipment exposed constantly to dirt, water, oil, potholes and just plain bad roads. More than likely, your bike will have some sort of issue come up while you own it. If you purchase your bike from a discount chain, don’t expect them to be able to fix the problem. Their only option may be to replace the bike, if they’ll even do that. But do you really want a new bike that may have the exact same problem as the bike you just brought back?
Our bike techs work to make sure that your bike – you know, the bike you’ve worked to set up just the way you like, that you’re used to and trust – will be fixed to not only your standards but to our standards. Alpine Shop also offers free maintenance on every new bike we sell.
We don’t assume when you come to talk to us that you’re an expert cyclist. We don’t assume that you’ll understand everything we can tell you about a bike. That you’ll know the difference between disc brakes and rim brakes. That’s why we make hours of instruction available to you at our Kirkwood location for everything from changing your tire to the basics of maintaining your bike at your home. We’re not just in business to sell bikes. Our mission is to see “Generations Transformed by Discovery Outdoors.” What that means to us is we want your time on the trails or on the roads to be a potentially life-altering activity. We want you to discover that you can do things you never thought possible. And then come back and tell us all about it.
Come visit the Bike Shop at Alpine Shop Kirkwood. Discover what makes us different. And why buying a bike from us just makes more sense.
If you enjoy the summer heat, then you’ll love camping at the nearby parks in Missouri during the hottest times of the year. You can take shelter in a shady wooded campground, feel the cool misty air evaporating from spring-fed streams and rivers, or take a swim. There are several great state campgrounds within a few hours drive from St. Louis.
For those who prefer a staycation, one of the closest campgrounds to St. Louis can be found at Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park. Babler park has some great hiking trails and plenty of open picnic areas for large groups of people. If you enjoy horseback riding there is also a 6 mile trail for the equestrian.
Driving north brings you to Mark Twain State Park and Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site. The campsites are located near Mark Twain Lake where you can paddle and fish. If you like American history, you can learn about life in the 1800s with tours of Civil War battlefields and the birthplaces of Harry S. Truman and Mark Twain.
About an hour and a half drive southeast of St. Louis is Hawn State Park. There are backpacking trails where you can hike along Pickle Creek and set up camp in the woods. If you are quiet and observant you will find wildlife throughout the park. There is also an orienteering course to challenge your navigation skills with a compass.
An hour’s drive southwest of St. Louis will take you to Meramec State Park where you can camp, paddle, fish, and explore caves. There are several caves within the park that you can explore on your own or you can take a guided tour of Fisher Cave. Fisher Cave has some impressive formations including 30 foot tall columns and cave-dwelling wildlife.
Farther southwest of St. Louis brings you to the popular Johnson Shut-Ins State Park. You can camp near the shut-ins and swim and hike the nearby geological wonders. The shut-ins are pools of water in the igneous and sedimentary boulders connected to the Black River. The park staff at the visitor center will explain the geology of the area and is a great place for children to learn about natural hydraulics.
The five camping areas listed above are a small sampling of what is available to you in Missouri. There are at least 40 Missouri state campgrounds where you can have a variety of outdoor camping experiences. You can research those campgrounds on the Missouri State Parks website.
It’s important to be prepared for any camping or backpacking trip. Alpine Shop has a great backpacking checklist that you can use for shopping and packing. Check out the following list for essential camping items from Alpine Shop:
Water containers to carry pre-filtered water
Water treatment products for natural water sources
Stoves for cooking outdoors
Make everyday an adventure with Alpine Shop and get outside yourself!
Go exploring with new apparel and gear this Father’s Day!
1 – Arc’Teryx – Velox Comp Crew
2 – Columbia – Palmerston Peak Short
3 – Exofficio – Trip R’ Check Shirt
4 – Icebreaker – Tech T Lite
5 – Leatherman – Micra Tool Stainless Steel
6 – Leki – Khumbu Antishock Trekking Pole
7 – Life Is Good – License To Grill T
8 – Merrell – Moab Gore-Tex XCR Shoe
9 – Marmot – PreCip Jacket
10 – Mountain Khaki – Granite Creek Pant
11 – Patagonia – GI III Short
12 – Princeton Tec – Quad Headlamp
13 – Quiksilver – V-Land 2 Boardshort
14 – Reef Brazil – Leather Fanning Sandal
16 – The North Face – Base Camp Duffel
Make this a Mother’s Day to never forget…
1 – Aventura – Peyton Dress
2 – Chaco – Tanana Flip
3 – Eagle Creek – Marta Bag
5 – Horny Toad – Rosemarie Dress
6 – Jillery – Jewelry Mix Metal Trile Thick Ring Earrings
7 – Kavu – Keeper Bag
8 – Life Is Good – I Dig Everything Tee
9 – Merrell – Henna Sandal
10 – Overland – Bayliss Bag
11 – Patagonia – Margot Dress
12 – Pistil – Whisper Scarf
13 – Reef Brazil – Braided Cushion Sandal
14 – SkirtSports – Gym Girl Ultra Skirt
15 – Smartwool – Socks*
16 – Ugg – Kayla Sandal
*Smartwool Socks Mother’s Day Special – Buy 3 pairs of Smartwool socks and receive a complimentary reusable gift bag while supplies last.
This weekend, Alpine Shop and the Ozark Trail Association will host their ninth annual Mega Event on the Ozark Trail.
Many of us at Alpine Shop can still remember John Roth, the OTA’s founder, walking into the upstairs offices at our old Webster Groves store in 2002 and 2003, discussing plans for his vision of the OT and the organization he was founding.
Alpine Shop helped design the first maps the OTA gave out. We helped introduce the OTA in a full-page ad in our 2003 Spring Swap Guide when almost no one knew what the Ozark Trail was, let alone an organization created with the sole purpose of finishing its creation and maintaining it.
Alpine Shop used its first Patagonia environmental grant to support the OTA in 2004 in a presentation during the intermission of the Banff Mountain Film Festival. At that festival, we announced and recruited the first of what would become the Spring OTA Mega Event. Throughout the years, the Mega Events have grown bigger and now include working with many of the Shop’s brands to come up with more than $12,000 in give-aways, auction items and donations each and every year.
For some multinational business that might not sound like a lot, but we’re a local business. “Local” is a vital part of our DNA. We do everything we can to transform our little slice of world here in the Midwest into a better place. Alpine Shop’s vision states that we strive for “Generations Transformed by Discovery Outdoors.” We believe that experiencing the outdoors fundamentally changes each and every one of us.
This is why the OTA is so dear to Alpine Shop. It’s a part of our creed to be a “Local Business Helping Local Organizations Transform Our World.” What better example of that is there than our relationship with the OTA? By transforming the Ozark Trail into the premiere trail throughout Missouri, the OTA has provided the perfect opportunity for generations of Missourians to transform their lives in the local beauty of the Ozarks.
So, this weekend, as nearly 200 people work to complete another section of the Ozark Trail, we send out and open invitation for a new generation to transform themselves in the discovery of this gem right in our own backyard.
“SMILE, Pass it on!” That’s the tagline for one of Alpine Shop’s favorite footwear brands, Sanuk.
Sanuk wants to make people smile by being comfortable in their shoes all day long. Then, you can pass along that smile to the next person, and so on! Along these lines, Sanuk is working to help a not-for-profit called Operation Smile. Operation Smile is an international children’s medical charity that provides free surgery for children born with a cleft palate, cleft lips or other facial deformity. These deformities do not need to go uncorrected. Operation Smile has a long history of changing kids’ lives by simply restoring a smile.
In order to help raise money for Operation Smile, we are selling the “Operation Smile, Pass It On” bracelets at all Alpine Shop locations and on-line at alpineshop.com. They are only 4 bucks, and Sanuk is donating 100% of it’s net profit of this wonderful organization.
So, come in, buy a bracelet, smile and pass it on!”
St. Louis and Columbia are amazing locations for outdoor adventures with your children. With our two cities as your base camp, you have access to miles upon miles of wilderness featuring trails, rivers, springs, caves, forests, bluffs, rock formations, waterfalls and more. Set your sights within just two hours of our metro areas and we have more opportunities than we can possibly tell you here. Best of all, many of these locations are absolutely free for your family for a day visit. A camping trip may cost you as little as $10 for the night.
Each of the areas we have listed below have the potential to provide your children (and you) with experiences that will last a lifetime. We may not have the dramatic mountain silhouettes of the Rockies or the crashing waves of the ocean; but we do have the beauty of the Ozark Mountains, spring-fed rivers that run stunningly, perfectly clear and a vast system of caves that appeal to every child. Best of all, because of our Midwestern geography, most of our outdoor destinations are surprisingly kid-friendly.
So if you’re looking for some ideas for a new adventure for you and your kids, we’ve included a list of our top choices below. Some are nearby. Some are further away. But all of them offer families a chance to have fun and experience the great outdoors.
Meramec State Park, Sullivan, MO – The absolute gem for camping and outdoor adventures for kids. Trails, beaches on the river, and over 75 caves and numerous springs.
Onondaga Cave State Park, Leasburg, MO – Camping, cave tours, canoeing. Great place for a long weekend.
Silver Mines Recreation Area, Fredericktown, MO – One of Missouri’s unknown wonders. Explore an old dam. Watch whitewater kayakers make their way through the St. Francis River rapids. The Missouri Whitewater Championships are held upstream of this location each March.
Rockwoods Reservation, Eureka, MO – Trails for hikers of all ages and skill levels as well as wildlife exhibits. Plenty of picnic grounds and fields for group meals.
Powder Valley Nature Center, Kirkwood, MO – Easy to get to, incredible nature center, easy trails. Great local asset.
Amidon Conservation Area near Fredericktown, MO – The Castor River Shut-ins here is one of Missouri’s best play spots for kids both young and old. (Shhhh! It’s a secret!)
Pickle Springs Natural Area near Farmington, MO – Short length, incredible rock formations, fun for everybody!
Rock Bridge Memorial State Park, Columbia, MO – Diverse trail network for hiking or mountain biking, or plenty of space for a nice weather picnic as well. And for a true adventure, explore Devil’s Icebox on a park-led tour.
Simpson Lake County Park, Valley Park, MO – A local, hidden gem just off Highway 141. Bring a bird guidebook, a canoe and fishing poles.
Meramec River, Consider launching your boat near Steelville, Leasburg or Sullivan for best water quality and natural beauty. Besides the Missouri and the Mississippi, probably the most recognized river in the area – and the easiest to access.
Huzzah Creek, Leasburg, MO – (Hoo-za) More advanced young paddlers can take off on their own sit-on-top kayaks (rented through numerous outfitters) on this gorgeous clearwater gem which drains into the Meramec near Leasburg, MO
Missouri River, West and South of Columbia, MO – Experience the same river Lewis and Clark explored; offers great opportunities for experienced paddlers.
Okay, we’re cheating on some of these here. Some aren’t really outdoors. They’re climbing gyms. But, the skills learned here could very well lead to the ability to tackle the real rock walls of the area.
Center of Clayton Climbing Gym – Clatyon, MO – Geared towards kids more than any other gym in St. Louis.
Upper Limits Climbing Gym – St. Louis, MO – Best overall climbing gym in the area.
Capen Park – Columbia, MO – Close to campus and featuring some good top roping and sport routes.
University of Missouri – Columbia Climbing Wall – Columbia, MO – Open to University Students and Staff
Grant’s Trail in South County, St. Louis – Flat, easy, and even at its most crowded is still enjoyable. And now the trail starts almost in our Kirkwood store’s backyard!
Katy Trail, beginning in St. Charles, MO – One-day trips to week-long adventures on 235 miles of bike trail between St. Charles and Clinton, MO.
Lost Valley Trail in the Weldon Springs Conservation Area in St. Charles – Fabulous for both hiking and biking with clear creeks and miles of wooded, flat trails.
Forest Park, St. Louis, MO – Local, with a myriad of opportunities for other activities.
MKT Trail, Columbia, MO – Another rails to trails project, but runs right through Columbia for some easy, family-friendly riding.
The Swap Tent is up in Kirkwood and our Swap Center is ready in Columbia and we are accepting used items during normal business hours through Friday, April 13 at 5 pm.
Bring in your bike and your kayak, or your skis and snowboard along with camping gear and that jog stroller you haven’t used lately. Throw in a few pieces of clothing and your ready to roll. Your first ten items are absolutely free to enter into the Swap. After the 10th item, each additional item is $1. To help reduce your check-in time, please download and print this form, fill it out as much as you can and bring it with you.
To thank you for participating, everyone who checks in used gear receives a coupon good for 20% off one clothing or footwear item on that day!
For more information about Swap Check-In Procedures, please visit our Swap info headquarters here.
Mountain Khaki has declared Saturday, March 24, 2012 as Spring MK Day!
On this day only, All Mountain Khaki items (pants, shirts, accessories) are all $10 off at Alpine Shop.
The best part is, a portion of the proceeds will benefit an organization Alpine Shop has close ties with as well, the Conservation Alliance.
This deal is only good in our stores, but you can see what we have available by visiting alpineshop.com’s Mountain Khaki page here.
