The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society has recently launched a video contest to Celebrate Canada’s Parks, with tons of great prizes!

See, birds do it, Caribou do it. Even you do it. Enjoy National Parks! (What were you thinking?)

To celebrate 125 years of national parks in Canada, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society is inviting you to create a short video about one of Canada’s national parks.

Tell the world why you think the park you’ve chosen is so amazing – and you could win great prizes!

What kind of awesomeness can you win?

The spectacular grand prize is a trip for two to Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Northwest Territories. There are also other fab prizes like a Flip camera for 2nd place and a $100 Mountain Equipment Co-op gift certificate plus a one-year Parks Canada family or group pass for 3rd place. And there are Bonus Prizes and Weekly Prizes: the maker of the top-voted video for each of the 42 national parks will receive a one-year Parks Canada individual pass and each week, one lucky entrant will be chosen randomly to win a $50 gift certificate to Mountain Equipment Co-op.

It’s easy-parksy to enter! So just record a video!

For all the information you need (including how tos and resources) see: celebrateparks.ca

Tags: Celebrate Parks,Video Contest
Categories: Contests
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Vancouvertrails.com has launched a Hiking Photo Contest with a killer prize pack:

Vancouver Trails Launches Hiking Photo Contest

Vancouver BC, July 7, 2010 – The next time you lace up your shoes to hike BC’s pristine wilderness, don’t forget your camera! Snapping a shot of your walk, hike or camping trip could snag you the distinction as the winner of Vancouver Trails first-ever photo contest.

The contest, created by Vancouver’s preferred hiking site vancouvertrails.com has started and runs until October 4th 2010. Over the next four months, hikers who snap their photos while in BC and submit them online could win a number of superb prizes. Prizes for the contest were generously donated by: Momentum Watches, Keen Footwear, Lowepro, Mountain Equipment Co-Op, Mountain Hardwear, Icebreaker, Osprey, and Joby.

Photos can range from a quiet path to a hardcore hike; a still BC summer sky or a thunderstorm a top a mountain; tranquil lakes or cascading waterfalls. Full contest rules and submission details can be viewed at vancouvertrails.com/contest/rules. Submitted photos can be viewed in the photo gallery on the website and visitors can leave comments on their favourite entries.

“The key to the popularity of vancouvertrails.com has been collaboration,” says Vancouver Trails founder Michael Chang, “The biggest benefit of coming to the site is mapping out your next hike and hearing first-hand the experiences and shared stories of other hikers. Sharing photographs is just another way that we can enhance the user experience and share stories about hiking in and around Vancouver.”

Vancouver Trails is the definitive online guide to hiking trails in and around Vancouver. Since 2007, the site has provided visitors and locals with reviews, maps, elevation and
conditions of local trails. Visit vancouvertrails.com to map your next hike.

Contest opened June 1 and ends October 4, 2010 at 6:00pm (PST). Winners will be notified November 1, 2010 and winners’ names will be posted on the Vancouver Trails website November 8, 2010

Submit your photos at: vancouvertrails.com

Tags: Photo Contest,Vancouver Trails
Categories: Contests, Hiking
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Camping season is well underway and Kmart wants to know How do you get outdoor ready? Their camping website offers some great tips on camping Do’s and Dont’s and a handy checklist you can use to prepare for your trip.

One of the essentials for any car-camping trip is a good lantern. Kmart has kindly offered to give away a LED rechargeable battery lantern to one lucky reader of Outdoor Vancouver!

4D LED Rugged Rechargeable Battery Lantern – $37.99
-          Ultra bright – 190 Lumens(*)
-          Includes 6V XPS Rechargeable Cartridge (120v adapter for home and 12v adapter for car or boat are also included)
-          Three position switch – choose from high, low or off settings
-          Lifetime bulb – LED never needs to be replaced
-          Durable – Water and Impact resistant
-          Flexible Power – Easily switch to operate on standard disposable batteries (using 4D Battery Cartridge, sold separately)

To enter the contest you can do the following:

1. Post a camping photo in the Outdoor Vancouver Flickr group (1 entry)
2. Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
3. Post the following on Twitter (1 entry):

Win a Coleman LED Rechargeable Battery Lantern from @karlwoll http://ow.ly/24Rl9

Do all 3 for a maximum of 3 entries. Winner will be drawn at noon, July 16th. Good luck!

Update: Contest is now closed, congrats to @TylerIngram for the winning tweet!

Categories: Camping, Contests
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Last week I posted about the upcoming MEC Paddlefest, which is an annual celebration of canoeing and kayaking.

Taking place Sunday, June 20 at Jericho Beach, Paddlefest will feature dryland presentations, water clinics, speakers, a wide variety of exhibitors, and new this year, a paddleswap!

In promotion of Paddlefest, MEC is offering a contest where you can win a spot in the clinic of your choice:

• Guided Tours
• Intro to Kayaking
• Bracing & Edging
• Towing
• Basic Rescue
• Intro to Rolling
• Surf Ski / Paddling Fitness
• Kids Kayaking
• Stand Up Paddle Surfing

To enter the contest you can do the following:

1. Post a kayaking or canoeing photo in the Outdoor Vancouver Flickr group (1 entry)
2. Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
3. Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

Win a free pass for a @MEC Paddlefest clinic of your choice from @karlwoll http://ow.ly/1NcfZ

Do all 3 for a maximum of 3 entries. Winner will be drawn at noon, May 27th. Good luck!

Visit the Paddlefest website for details on vendors, clinics, and speakers.

Tags: MEC,Paddlefest
Categories: Contests, Events
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Thanks to the fine folks at the Capilano Suspension Bridge (to be specific @Capsuspbridge on Twitter) I have 4 tickets to give away! If you’ve never been to the Suspension Bridge, or if its been a while, you’re missing out.

Your pulse quickens as you step onto the swaying planks of Vancouver’s first visitor attraction. Breathe in the cedar-scented rainforest air as you make your way across Vancouver’s famous landmark. Only minutes away from downtown Vancouver, Capilano Suspension Bridge takes you to the natural splendor of rainforest trails through magnificent evergreens and the unique perspective of Treetops Adventure, a walk high in the trees.

But rather than just give the tickets away, I’m going to make you work (slightly) for them…

In the comment section below, I want to know why you love the outdoors. Just a short comment, for example, on what was your first, or your favorite, ‘outdoor’ experience that got you hooked? Maybe you have a favorite place around Vancouver you go to ‘get away’? What is the one outdoor activity you can never get enough of, why?

Or maybe you hate the outdoors? (But still want to go to the suspension bridge for some reason). Why?  You can’t stand the bugs? A bad experience with ticks? An ill-fated step twisted your ankle miles away from civilization? You can share your outdoor  ‘horror’ story as well.

Pretty simple right? For now I’m going to leave the deadline open, until there are a decent amount of comments. Then I’m going to pick one at random, or if there are some really good stories maybe put it to a reader’s poll. We’ll see, just comment below for a chance to win the tickets!

Tags: Capilano Suspension Bridge,Contest,Tickets
Categories: Contests
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