The North Face

I am pleased to introduce North Face athlete and champion rock climber Emily Harrington. Get to know her a bit better by watching this video of her deep water soloing in Mallorca, Spain. Emily will be guest blogging on FitSguar in February!

The Beginnings: Less structure, more diversity
I have been climbing for 14 years, since I was 10 years old. I started at an indoor climbing gym in Boulder that my dad took me to during the summer. I was previously a ski racer and gymnast, but liked climbing because it was a little less structured than team and school sports and more individual-focused. I have always enjoyed how diverse climbing can be. There are countless styles (i.e. outdoors: rock, ice, mountains, etc; and indoors: competitions) and it is a vehicle for traveling. I have been extremely fortunate in my career to be able to travel the world to compete and climb outdoors.

Fave Spots: Near and far
My favorite places to climb are Rifle, Colorado and the Red River Gorge in Kentucky; but I just recently returned from a trip to the Himalayan mountains in Nepal, where I taught Sherpa people climbing safety. The Himalayas offer and very different style of climbing (more big mountains — known as alpinism) that I have not yet explored, but it was one of the most powerful and inspiring places I have ever been to.

Inspiration: Exploration and evolution
I climb because it is more than a sport, it is a lifestyle that is never boring and ever-changing. There is so much to explore in this world through climbing and no challenge is ever the same. It changes and evolves with me as I grow and mature.

Check back next week for more on rock climbing from Emily. If skiing is more your thing, The North Face athlete Kit Deslauriers has tales from the mountains to share too.

The following post was written by North Face athlete and champion freeskier Kit Deslauriers.

We all know we should take great care of our skin but how to do that when our love of the mountains means exposing our skin to harsh conditions?

My skin care regimen differs depending on if I am at home while preparing for my day in the mountains, or if I am on a 20 day expedition living in a tent and carrying all of my belongings on my back. Here's my basic approach, including a few of my favorite products, for at home and on expedition.

Home Skin Care

• Morning Routine: Wash your face in the morning. I just started using a Clarisonic skin care brush instead of simply my hands to apply a gentle cleanser and I love it! Next a splash of hydrating toner to keep that moisture in, followed by a high potency vitamin C serum since this helps start the day with increased moisture and protection against sun exposure. Top that off with a light lotion and then sunscreen. Always sunscreen! These five steps just shouldn’t be skipped if you want to stay on top of what you’ve got.
• Night Routine: Similar to the morning, start with a gentle cleanse, followed by hydrating toner splash, then some kind of hydrating serum, and lastly apply same lotion as in the morning or a thicker cream if you prefer. Honestly, I like to use a cream in the Winter and a lotion in the Summer.

Learn how teabags can save your skin in the back country.

The following post was written by North Face athlete and champion freeskier Kit Deslauriers.

Why bother with cross training
My first philosophy is to never get bored so it is important to me to mix it up as far as cross training goes. Secondly, to carry a big pack and still ski the things we do, the core of the body has got to be incredibly strong. Combining this concept of core strengthening with keeping it fresh is the most important cross training combination to me since power comes both from our core and our minds.

Mountain post meets the mountain
If you can guess a single workout that targets both the core and the mind you will discover what I call my secret weapon: yoga. A strong body is a flexible body. I first discovered yoga when I was in pursuit of my World Freeskiing Tour titles and I became fascinated by the concept of ‘embracing my stiffness because I worked hard to get it’ while full of enjoyment with the moments of mental clarity during the challenging poses, and well-rounded by the humility required to continue to practice at something that I am most likely not the best in the room at.

Beyond yoga here are some more cross training tips:

I am pleased to introduce North Face athlete Kit Deslauriers. She shreds on the mountain, is a champion freeskier, and is guest blogging on FitSugar for January.

The Beginnings: Loving the peace of snow
With a resume that includes two-time World Freeskiing Women's Champion and being the first person to ski from the highest point on each continent, aka the Seven Summits, you would think that I started skiing when I was 2 years old, but that's not the way it went. To be sure, my two daughters started skiing at 15 and 17 months respectively and using sign language to ask for more since they were still too young to speak many words. But my story is more of one where I didn't grow up near a ski area nor could we afford to travel to one, so I learned to walk around outside in the woods in Winter on Nordic skis and found at an early age that I love the peace of being in nature in the Winter.

Learn why Kit thinks freeskiing is similar to meditation.

Keep your kiddo warm at recess! Deck your lil student out in The North Face's latest casual, class-ready looks! We're adding some classic staples to Lil's back-to-school Twitter wardrobe giveaway with a chance to win a $300 gift card for The North Face! One lucky student will have the opportunity to dress to impress in the brand's signature designs. From fleece jackets and sturdy footwear to powder pants and snow hats, The North Face has enough durable items to fill youngsters' closets. Ready, set, get started: * First, follow @LilSugar on Twitter. * Then share what your lil one will be sporting this Fall at school by tweeting at us. Include the following message and hashtag to qualify: The #1 item on my child's back-to-school list is: RT @lilsugar http://ow.ly/2oVXi #LilBacktoSchool

Tweet your entry anytime between now and September 13 at 11:59 p.m. One entry per person, and remember: you must be a @LilSugar follower on Twitter. Click here for the official rules, and then head over to Twitter to tell us what's on your back-to-school list.

Are two super slick puffers better then one? Ja. The proof is in the puff at the Sundance Film Festival, where Kerry Washington and Naomi Watts snuggled for a photo. What's interesting is both puffers have an extra wet look to them, making them even more unique. Black is always right; navy, also a sound color choice. The wetter, the better!