The Columbia Sportswear #OmniTen Team Goes to Arizona Part 1

After our Columbia trip to Alaska for heli-skiing there was so much more I wanted to do right after.  Unfortunately, there wasn't a trip until Arizona that, at the time, felt incredibly far away.  The trip was here and now it's gone and I would like to do a wrap up of what fantastic events just occurred over the weekend and few days after.

Here is day 1:

Gina and I flew in from Cleveland and after 5 hours of travel, Columbia made us feel special right off the bat with a nice greeting (above).
We were then met outside to catch our ride...

Yeah, that's an Escalade with the Columbia & Mountain Hardwear logo on it

 The ride from Phoenix to Sedona is roughly 2 hours and of course Columbia had another surprise...

Introducing Project Z aka ZERO

Project Z was finally unveiled to the #OmniTen and media, in the middle of nowhere.  What's cool about this converted ice cream truck, is that it's still an ice cream truck!  Columbia will be using this truck to promote their new Omni-Freeze ZERO technology by handing out their sweat activated sleeves and yes, Columbia's blue ice cream!

Sweat activated sleeve

Another hour of driving got us to where we were going to be staying in Sedona.  Another classy sight.

Suite view

...and of course another surprise from Columbia Sportswear.

Some of the gear tested on the trip (look ahead to this gear reviewed)

There's a reoccurring theme when Columbia/Mountain Hardwear plan an event...surprises.  Dinner was no different.  After getting settled in, we got rallied into two buses to an unannounced location for dinner and a presentation.

Twenty minutes of driving got us here...



Dinner concluded and night fell, starting the presentation and introduction of Columbia's new Omni-Freeze ZERO.



I reacted really well with this new technology that I was motivated enough to make a quick video.  If you don't want to watch the video, all you need to know is that it's exciting new technology that's solving the problem of cooling your body when it's hot.  To learn more, watch on.


It was an incredible first day with Columbia, the #OmniTen crew, and all of the media that came together for this event.  Stay tuned for Day 2, when we went mountain biking!