Racking up Adventure Points on Box Elder

Each summer Backcountry.com holds the "Adventure Contest" which goes on for nearly six months after which the annual company wide adventure party is held. At said party all the points earned in the adventure contest are transferred into tickets that go into one of the biggest gear raffles this planet has ever known.

It's simple really - earn more points, get more tickets, increase your chances of winning gear. We don't only "use the gear we sell" like our company motto says we also covet the gear we sell. For some of us it's this coveting that keeps us racking up adventure points when all sanity has been tossed out the window.

So how do you earn points? A photo explanation from this weekend's adventure which was schemed at noon on Friday and underway by 8pm.

Hiking - 1 point for each hike. Jim sets out for Box Elder Peak just after 8pm in search of snow.

Vertical - 1 point for each 1000 feet of vertical gained by hiking, biking, rock climbing or skinning. We chose to hike/mountaineer 4300 vertical by moonlight to the summit of Box Elder. Headlamps were optional.

Camping - 1 point for each night spent camping out. Why not make the summit your home for the night? Jim's tomb where he caught some zzz's.

Skiing - 1 point for each ski outing. Most people have put the skis away by now. Easy points here. Droppin' in!

Trash - 1 point for every 4 pieces of trash you pick up on the trail with a max of 3 points per outing. I think we got our 3 points each on this trip. The lead pipe was the most unusual find of the day.

The only other thing that would have given us points is if we would have run the trail for at least 20 minutes, gaining the 1 available point that we didn't snatch up on the Box Elder Peak adventure. There's always room for improvement.

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