Posts Tagged ‘New Hampshire’
03/09/2010
Snatam Kaur &....
We’ve just had an amazing Mountain Spirit Institute fund raising concert: Snatam Kaur, Guru Ganesha Singh and Ramesh Kannan played at the Lebanon Opera House, New Hampshire, USA.
GuruGanesha Singh
Not only are we grateful for their music, but for who they are as people. We were fortunate that they made time in their schedule to come to central New Hampshire, and we responded with an enthusiastic audience, (301), and lots of willing volunteers who did everything from move gear, provide flowers, to cook wonderful meals. Thank you Snatam, GuruGanesha, Ramesh, Shanti, Sopurkh, and Japreet!
Snatam Kaur & Family/Band at Lake Sunapee/MSI
As we prepped for the fundraiser by printing brochures, prepping our booth, and coordinating volunteers, Snatam’s band rehearsed in our living room, here in Sunapee, NH, which was really tough duty for us, not.
I learned a lot about what music is meant to be, a spiritual communion – with good discussions about why Snatam and her band do what they do. Also I talked with Ramesh Kannan, and discovered that a book I’d bought in a Durango bookstore, is one of his favorites, on the treatise of the spiritual nature of making music. The book is called The Music Lesson, A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music.
Ramesh Kannan
Stay tuned for some wonderful footage, pending the band’s approval of course. Meanwhile here are some pix. Again a BIG THANK YOU to all the volunteers, support team, Snatam’s family, band members, the Lebanon Opera House, and especially to our sponsors who made this fundraiser possible.
Randy Richards,
Founder
Mountain Spirit Institute
Tags:Concert, Fundraiser event, Gure Ganesha Singh, Lebanon Opera House, Mountain Spirit, New Hampshire, Ramesh Kannan, Snatam Kaur, Sunapee, urbannaturemusic
Posted in Health, Holistic Living, Inner Work, Inspirational People, Leadership, MSI News, Music, Spiritual, Supporting MSI | 1 Comment »
18/06/2010
Ragged Mountain Equipment Leads the Way in Giving for the Environment
Donating for the Environment
Ragged Mountain Equipment in Intervale, NH is doing good work. When I was climbing in the North Conway area, Rob Nadler and Cort Hansen were just starting the store in a small space behind the Intervale post office. They made their own chalk bags, ice axe leashes and a few polypro pullovers. Since then, they’ve grown the business to one of the best outdoor and retail outlets in the nation. They might not be the biggest, but in my opinion, one of the best. There’s always a good feeling when you go into their store.
In line with their values, there now contributing .50 cents from every sale of a Ragged Mountain made product over $25.00 retail cost to the Upper Saco Valley Land Trust (USVLT).
USVLT’s mission is to protect the cultural and scenic values of the Upper Saco River Valley by preserving land for farming, forestry, recreation and education. Founded in 2000, USVLT has helped preserve nearly 4,000 acres of open space here in the area. The same program is being used by some of the restaurants and B&B’s in the valley.
Says Cort, “I think we are the only retail/manufacturer doing this at this time. I think it is a great program to raise the awareness of local land conservation issues. ” He adds, “The customer has the choice at the register to opt out and save $.50. Very few have done so.”
Every garment has a hang tag explaining their mission. Says Cort, “We are in the process of expanding hang tags to all our existing inventory which is a major task I can inform you. New styles come through with the tags already on them.”
They’re up to more good. Adds Cort, “We also enrolled the Mount Washington Valley Ski Touring Foundation in the program as well. All ski trail passes sold here at the Touring Center include a $.50 contribution the USVLT. We are the only XC ski touring center participating in this program currently. I think this is vital to making all nordic skiers aware that almost 100% of the valley XC trails use private land which is not protected from development or alternative uses.”
Climber Henry Barber approached Ragged Mountain late last fall about their participating in this this program.
If you’d like to donate and help owners Rob and Cort with this worthwhile project, contact Cort at cort(at)raggedmountain.com
Tags:Conservation, Dexter Randall Richards, Henry Barber, Intervale, Mount Washington, Mount Washington Valley Ski Touring Foundation, Mountain Spirit, New Hampshire, NH, Ragged Mountain Equipment, Service, Upper Saco Valley Land Trust
Posted in Conservation, Environment, Inspirational People, Leadership, Service, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
06/04/2010
I’d grown up, skiing every spring, on Mt. Washington’s east side – Tuckerman’s, Gulf of Slides, and Great Gulf. Once, I think I took one run, years ago on the west side, but last week Junji Itagaki suggested we head up to his favorite haunt. I don’t often get in ski touring mode when back east, but the west side of Mt. Washington is as close as it gets to a wonderful alpine touring experience on the east coast of the U.S.
We climbed up Munro Gully, then headed to the Lake of the Clouds, then over to the summit of Mt. Washington, for a nice descent down Ammonoosuc Ravine, on thick but great snow. I think we had record-breaking temperatures that day. (See my earlier post on getting kids outside, which was filmed in Ammonoosuc Ravine).
Mt. Washington's West Side
Pictured above, Junji Itagaki, Lake of the Clouds and its Hut, Mt. Washington to the right.
Tags:Backcounrty Telemarking, Lake of the Clouds, Mountain Spirit, Mt. Washington, Munro Gully, New Hampshire, Ski Touring, Summit, Sunapee
Posted in Climb/Ski/Mntneering, Mountain People, MSI News | Leave a Comment »
21/01/2010
Another Study Proves It – Live Music: Definitely good for the soul.
By Randall Richards
Images: Mike Heffernan
Fat Hands, creating good vibes, L to R: Walt Kutylowski, Gerry Putnam, Dana Flewelling, and Nic Kutylowski
OK . It wasn’t an official *scientific study, but ask anyone who was there, at Gerry Putnam’s CedarHouse Sound & Mastering recording studio when he hosted his annual music get-together, and they’ll tell you – Their souls felt better after having been there – both musicians and listeners alike. This year, I had the good fortune of being a listener. We had missed most of the day’s party which had started mid-morning, but we certainly weren’t short-changed for music.
The party has been the brainchild of Gerry and recording artist Kathy Lowe as a vehicle to showcase Gerry’s studio for potential recording artists, and to thank past artists who had already done an album (or two, or three) at this heavenly studio, complete with a concert grand Steinway piano, and Gerry’s masterful abilities to engineer top quality albums.
As the night wore on, and most of the day’s musicians had headed home, brothers Walt and Nick Kutylowski, also known as “Fat Hands” sat down and started to do a few numbers unplugged. (The day is usually fully “plugged in”). Then, Putnam pulled up a chair and started picking his classical guitar. Gerry not only recorded and mastered Fat Hands’ two albums at Cedarhouse, but ended up playing lead guitar on them as well. Enter drummer extraordinaire Dana Flewelling, (from Night Kitchen) who usually has a whole “trap set” in front of him. He sat down with a djembe and a set of brushes.
Small but appreciative audience
My wife Amanda and I, Walt Kutylowski’s partner Christy, Mike Heffernan and Kathy Lowe were all that remained of the audience. The rest of the party-goers had all headed home in the cold night air.
The music and energy that happened was nothing short of way cool. They must have played for an hour or more, and we, the privileged few, just sat there taking it in.
Fathands has a few upcoming **gigs but we’re threatening to kidnap them and take them to New Zealand the next time we head down under, and from the sound of it, they might be willing go. Meanwhile, we (at Mountain Spirit Institute) will most likely be offering to put on a house concert or local venue concert for these guys if they’re up for it. They deserve to be heard. Check out Fathands, and Gerry Putnam’s Cedarhouse Sound and Mastering through the links above.
* This is a scientific study about the healing power or music, by the BBC.
** Deerfield CoffeeHouse, NH, April 10 2010, with Gerry Putnam & Kent Allyn
Musterfield Farm, New London, NH USA June 19th, 2010
Thanks to Mike Heffernan for getting his camera out to capture the moment.
Tags:CedarHouse Sound and Mastering, Dana Flewelling, Djembe, Fat Hands Music, Gerry Putnam, House Concerts, Mountain Spirit, Music, Music Healing, Music Therapy, New Hampshire, New London, Nic Kutylowski, Night Kitchen, Sunapee New Hampshire, Walt Kutylowski
Posted in Health, Holistic Living, Inner Work, MSI News, Music | 2 Comments »
18/09/2009
Lebanon NH, A top Ten City to Raise an Outdoor Kid,according to The Outdoor Foundation and Backpacker Magazine.
Magazine says Director Heath's Rec. Dept. gets the job done
MSI Director Cindy Heath who has also headed up the Lebanon City Recreation Department in New Hampshire for 26 years, has received notice that her city has received the tenth slot in the USA of the nation’s top 25 place to beat nature deficit disorder. Heath’s recreation department has focused on providing outdoor adventure opportunities for its youth for years and receiving recognition at the national level continues to inspire the department. Whether it’s engaged in actively leading residents into the outdoor adventure playground that surrounds the town, providing maps to conservation lands or offering advice to families getting started on their own, Heath, wants to motivate residents to use and enjoy what the region has to offer.
MSI Director Cindy Heath
Cindy Heath also serves on the board of directors at Mountain Spirit Institute. When asked about the #10 position in the poll, Heath said, ” We’re excited about what we’ve accomplished in the community. We have a solid program of diverse activities from rock climbing and hiking to snowshoeing.” She added, “Our goal is just getting people outside, and the poll confirmed that we’re on the right track”.
Editor’s Note: Pop Quiz – Name the peak and in what mountain range it is located, which is featured on the cover of Backpacker Magazine above. The first one to guess correctly receives a copy of the Peruvian Folklore band Chimu Inka CD “Fusion Etnika” sent by mail to their address.
Tags:backpacker Magazine, Lebanon, Mountain Spirit, Nature Deficit disorder, New Hampshire, Outdoor education, Richard Louv, Top Twenty-Five place's to beat nature deficit disorder
Posted in Climb/Ski/Mntneering, Experiential Education, Focus on MSI People, Holistic Living, Inspirational People, Leadership, Mountain People, MSI News, Service | 2 Comments »
05/07/2009
Reconnecting with a Mentor
By R. Richards, MSI Founder
Screen Shot of "American Bedouin"
According to an excellent 2007 Aljazeera Feature video, Erga Rehns has been living the life of a Bedouin in the desert with the Bedouin tribes of Wadi Rum for seven years. I’m not sure if she still does though. I’ll have to do more research in order to contact her again. The last, (and first) time I saw her in person was in 1981, when we first met at her little art studio and home in Obidos, Portugal.
Some people are lucky enough to be a primed for a turning point in their young lives, and come across just the right person at the right time that poses questions, and challenges one’s view of the world – who plants the seed for a paradigm shift. Most people aren’t’ aware they’re ready for that change, until years later, when they realize the shift was primed by those mentors. (more…)
Tags:Aljazeera, Alta Utah, American Bedouin, Chiusa Italy, Dexter Randall Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Erga Rehns, Ex Patriots, Experiential Education, Holistic Living, Jeanne Pickett, Klausen, Living abroad, Luciano Cappella, Martin Strolz, Materialism, Mentors, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Obidos Portugal, Peru, Simplicity, Spiritual, Strolz GmBH, Strolz Ski Boots, Sud Tirol, Sunapee, Sustainability, Travel, Utah
Posted in Conservation, Environment, Film/DVD, Holistic Living, Inner Work, Inspirational People, Leadership, Power of Place, Spiritual, Sustainable Living/Communities, Traveling | 10 Comments »
27/06/2009
Decisions, Decisions – Motorhomes or Going Light
" Capt'n Fast und Light"
Huge motorhomes rumbling down the Motorways and Interstates are proof that humans have entirely too many non-renewable resources at their disposal. What it takes to move these beasts of burden one kilometer in energy could light the two lightbulbs in my yurt for a week. OK, I actually owned a motorhome when living in Sedona Arizona, as an alternative to apartment living. We’d drive out into the desert at night and base there, while I led trips for Sedona Adventures. And yes, we drove it to Washington state, fully loaded for the Outward Bound summer season. If a motorhome is one’s main residence, it may be “going lighter” on the planet, (I think) – Maybe lighter than owning a MacMansion. If, however, it’s one’s vacation mode of travel, please read on. (more…)
Tags:12 volt showers, Captain Vancouver, Conservation, desert living, Dexter Randall Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, fuel ecomony, going light, Holistic Living, hot showers, Motorhomes, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, Natural resources, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Outward Bound, Peru, pulling boats, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability, Utah, vans
Posted in Conservation, Environment, Sustainable Living/Communities, Traveling | Leave a Comment »
16/06/2009
Bob Stremba
M.S.I. VP/Board member and fellow spirit adventurer Bob Stremba, EdD, is heading for Oregon and Washington State tomorrow to take a bit of time off between semesters running the Adventure Education Department at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. He’s also headed north to climb on Mt. Hood’s southern route again. He’ll be climbing the route with fellow board members of the Association of Experiential Education. Over the years, Bob has also summited Mt. Rainer twice, as well as Mt. Baker and Mt. Adams.
After his trip to the Northwest, Bob will be flying to Russia where he’ll be going into classrooms, facilitating group team building initiatives for Russian students. When I asked how his conversational Russian was coming along, he said he’ll have a translator. However he is working on the written language a bit, I assume so he can write a bit on blackboards and flip-charts. Stremba applied for, and was selected to be the lead (and solo) facilitator for this program. At program’s end, Bob will finish in western Russian – which is only a two hour train ride to Finland, so he figured he might as well leave Russia from the western border. If we’re lucky, we’ll get some updates on this blog during his travels. We wish him the best on his program and further travels to Finland after program’s end.
Tags:Association of Experiiential Education, Bob Stremba, Dexter Randall Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Finland, Holistic Living, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Peru, Russia, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability, Utah
Posted in Experiential Education, Focus on MSI People, Leadership, Mountain People, MSI News, Traveling | Leave a Comment »
07/06/2009
Tolle & Carrey Headline “The Global Alliance For Transformational Entertainment”
Eckhart Tolle, Jim Carrey and Friends Opt for Consiousness-Raising over Lakers
By Los Angeles Times writer James Rainey
Some might say that spirituality and Hollywood go together like sensitivity and pro wrestling.
- Eckhart Tolle
But that’s just the kind of habitual/stereotypical thinking that more than 500 entertainment industry types vowed to vanquish at a conference Thursday night as they came together for the first meeting of the Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment (GATE).
Spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle and movie star/seeker Jim Carrey headlined the more-than-three-hour session at an auditorium on the Fox lot in Century City. Along with singer Melissa Etheridge and several other speakers, they urged their colleagues in film, television, music and other media to transcend the tawdry and mundane with higher-minded fair.
It must have been important to those packed into the meeting. They missed the Lakers’ opening championship-round game to be there. (more…)
Tags:Dexter Randall Richards, Eckhart Tolle, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Groundhod Day, Holistic Living, Jim Carrey, Los Angeles Times, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Oprah Winfrey, Peru, Power of Now, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability, The Global Alliance For Transformational Entertainment, Utah
Posted in Books, Holistic Living, Inspirational People, Leadership, Spiritual, Sustainable Living/Communities | 2 Comments »
07/06/2009
Is there a link between Frozen Woolly Mammoths and Pole Shift?
When I first read parts of John White’s 1980 book, Pole Shift, what left an indelible mark on me, was reading the link between the green veggies found the stomachs of frozen woolly mammoths and possibility of relatively rapid shiftings of the earth’s magnetic poles called “pole shift”. Then again, maybe I didn’t read correctly, as the excerpts from an old nhne.com article indicate below, where White is interviewed by David SunFellow.
- Pole Drift
I’m not well versed on the subject, but from what limited knowledge I do have on the subject, I find the the correlations interesting. Also, the way that the poles are “drifting” more every year, (also according to NASA scientist turned author/mystic Gregg Braden) has my attention. According to Braden, airports are having to repaint their runway compass coordinates so often, that some have stopped the procedure. (Check out his books, two of which are The Isiah Effect and Awakening to Zero Point.)
Pole Shift Torpedoed by Author
By David Sunfellow
When John White first published “Pole Shift” in 1980, his book sent re-affirming shocks waves through the earth changes community. Many (including this reporter)
- White mentions Mammoths
believed White’s book “proved” that Edgar Cayce, and a host of others, had correctly foreseen a global catastrophe that would destroy much of the planet along with major portions of the human race. White’s book was particularly powerful because it was written by a man with serious professional credentials and, perhaps more importantly, because it seamlessly wed modern scientific data with contemporary psychics and ancient myths and prophecies. While White refused to say in “Pole Shift” that he was absolutely certain that a pole shift was coming, he left no doubt that he thought one might strike sometime near the year 2000.
Now, however, White has publicly said that he doesn’t believe there is going to be a pole shift — at least the kind of cataclysmic variety envisioned by Cayce, Gordon-Michael Scallion, and others. (more…)
Tags:Apollo 14, David Sunfellow, Dexter Randall Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Edgar Mitchell, Experiential Education, Frontiers of Consciousness, Frozen Mammoth, Holistic Living, Institute of Noetic Science, link to pole shift, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, nhne.org, Peru, Pole Shift, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability, Utah
Posted in Books, Climate Change, Environment, Glaciology | 1 Comment »
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