Immersion Research 2010 » Planet Roger

Roger checkin in from the outside

rloughney — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:43:47 +0000

So life on the outside is treating me pretty well. Definitely a million times more stressful than the kayak industry, but it is funny how consulting with a surgeon during a difficult surgery is just like kayaking. You know that feeling you get when you are putting your skirt on before peeling out in something big, and you know you’ve got the skills, but are still white knuckled? Well, that’s pretty much the feeling I get during a complicated procedure, and thinking of all those paddling moments makes it all good.

Anyhow, in other news, I recently got engaged during an amazing ski trip out to Telluride and Silverton, CO.

Jess looking down on Telluride at the top of Milk Run

“Girl Jess”, as she is affectionately known, due to the abundance of Jess’s and Jesse’s in my world (Jesse Becker, Jesse Wittemore (IR peeps), Jess Hartmann, Jesse Wilson and Jesse Shimrock (local paddlers), is now stuck with “that stinky dude”, her name for me as we met teaching skiing, and I have this aversion to washing my gear.

Hiking up to Iron Bowl, Palmyra Peak. Both of us are rocking thick skins!

Many thanks to Cari Mackey and Erik Dalton from The Jagged Edge shop in Telluride for rolling out the red carpet for us! Got to also give a shout out to Stan Prichard, a local paddler in Telluride/Silverton who was our guide for an epic day at Silverton.

The Crew, thoroughly stoked after a day at Silverton

Roger Update

jharmon — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:36:21 +0000

Man Sweater

After kayaking with Ben Lediwitz (center) Sunday afternoon he filled me in on Rogers Sweater party. The picture above of Roger, Ben and Ben displays the influence of Holiday Spirits. Clearly the sweater party was a success and Roger is doing well. Happy Holidays from IR!!

THANK YOU!

rloughney — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:11:05 +0000

After close to 7 years of being fortunate enough to have worked here IR, a new and exciting opportunity will bring my tenure here to a close October 2. I will still be working part time and on as needed basis after that. This new endeavor is something that has been brewing for over a year now, and during that year, IR and I have been working on the best way to smooth the transition. There are a million things that I will miss here at IR, especially the people, and my departure is on the best of terms. If you would like my personal email address, please email me at my IR email address: roger@immersionresearch.com
It has been my utmost pleasure working with everyone in the paddlesports world, and the greater outdoor industry in general. I would like to thank all of you for making the last 6 plus years exciting, interesting and at times hilarious. A special debt of gratitude to my co-workers and John and Kara Weld for hiring this wayward raft guide who at the time sucked at kayaking!
As a special parting gift, here is a video of my first day on a skateboard, a few weeks into my gig here!

New York, New York…Be a Part of It

rloughney — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:10:31 +0000

The last 10 days of August had me out on the road, and while life on the road isn’t for the faint of heart, it can be pretty dang fun. I lost my wallet in Manhattan, which led to a series of exciting events, not the least of which was forgoing the cab and subway rides for my bike. Riding in Manhattan is both exhilarating and scary, given my new found affinity for collisions with vehicles. Anyhow, if you find yourself in Manhattan, you’ve got to go Primal.
Eric Stiller, who in addition to running Manhattan Kayak Company, is also one bad dude when it comes to personal training. Rumor has it that he is 50 plus, but he routinely kicks everyone’s butts, including this guy. I would consider myself to be in pretty good shape, but I met a worthy adversary in Primal NYC.

Primal takes place in Central Park, and not only were we crawling up stairs backwards with pushups in between, sprinting in place, jumping up hills backwards, squats, bounds, pull ups in trees and shuttle runs from light post to light post, we were also the spectacle that tourists in Manhattan come to see. I can safely say it was the first time I’ve ever had a workout of mine filmed! I wish I would have had my camera as well. Not only was this a very intense 2 plus hours, rumor has it that Eric gave a little extra just to kick my butt, but it was an interesting way to spend a hot and humid evening in NYC. More info at http://www.primalnyc.com/
After a few days enjoying some sea kayaking on Long Island, I headed up to the Adirondacks, where I was greeted with crisp temperatures and some rain. Rob and Chris from Mountain Man had the day off, so we headed out for some Bottom Moose, one of my favorites, and a new creek for me, Woodhull. Enjoy.

Roger Vs. Mack

rloughney — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:26:02 +0000

So, here is my side of the story. Basically, I am lucky to be alive after this model of truck hit me:

2005 Mack Granite

I was on my way to work, gradually climbing one of the many hills, on a chilly (32 degree), but sunny Friday morning, and I heard a truck behind, but thought nothing of it, as they usually pass me. Suddenly, this unbelievable force and sound of twisted metal broke the relative calm of the morning. I don’t remember too much, aside from the force and the sound, and then I was on the ground. I thought that I may have been dead, and then the driver came running over, calling 911. At that point, I realized I was alive, and simultaneously opened my eyes and wiggled my toes and fingers. I was a very happy man at that point, given all that had just happened. In an eerie coincidence, a brief thunderstorm erupted as I opened my eyes, and 3 bolts of lighting flashed across the sky. They wanted to fly me out, but the storm prevented that, so a long and bumpy ambulance ride ensued.

I spent quite a long time strapped to the backboard in and out of the CT Scan room, x-rays, blood and urine tests etc. Miraculously, everything came out negative, and I plan on having an MRI done soon. Update: Visited the Orthopedic Surgeon this morning. We are going to wait two weeks for an MRI, but upon further inspection, I have some fractures in my knee cap. 4-6 weeks in a knee immobilizer and crutches.
Here are some pics of my bike:

Yes, it is true, when you get hit by something that hard, your shoes come off. My bike shoes were ratcheted to my feet, and my left one is nowhere to be found.
In the end, I am very very very lucky to be alive. If 1,000 people were to get hit by a 20,000 pound truck at 40 MPH, 990 would be dead, 9 would be paralyzed and one would be alive. I am that one person. I am very happy to be at work today, albeit it in a modified workspace.

Dave Jackson in for a visist

This just in- Roger hit by a truck while biking to work

John Weld — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:10:34 +0000

What, me worry?

So, Roger bikes to work on many mornings, and usually its an uneventful affair. But this morning at about 9:30 am we received a call from an ambulance driver that reported that he had a Roger Loghney in the back, and he was on the way to the hospital. It turns out Roger was rear-ended by a tri-axle (read coal truck) while climbing a hill, and was sent sailing 30 feet off the road. The ambulance driver quickly followed up by saying that Roger was banged-up, but for the most part, he was OK. They were going to take him to the hospital for a once over, but he should be ready to go home in a few hours.

We are looking forward to a full report from Roger when he comes back, but in the meantime, we are really, really glad he is OK, and thanks goes out to the folks at Highland Hospital in Connellsville who took care of him, and let me take this rather candid picture of the patient.

Ah, Vacation Time!

rloughney — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:51:51 +0000

There is nothing like going on vacation to a place that has no email or cell service. In February, a solid crew from all over the paddling world met up at Tommy Hilleke’s house in Glenwood Springs. We loaded up 40-50 pound packs and headed into the Harry Gates Hut of the 10th Mountain Division Huts in the Sawatch Mountains, 15 miles northeast of Aspen. Our crew included some friends of mine from PA, John Grace and his posse from Asheville, Tommy, his wife and some of their crew from Carbondale.
We had the whole hut to ourselves, and it could not have been a more amazing trip.

Henry Gates at Sunest

The initial push to the hut was quite grueling, but then leveled our to a moderate uphill slog. In all, about 7 miles, with the crew taking about 4 hours to hike in. Pretty much just as you were totally over hiking, you were at the hut, so the timing was great. The snow was perfect, a foot of fresh the night before, on top of bottomless snow. We had the entirety of Burnt Mountain to ourselves for 3 days. Burnt served up endless blower powder runs, with sustained pitches of 30 degrees or more and about 2,000 vertical feet.

The Crew getting amped to drop in

The snow pack was also very stable, which took the edge of quite a bit. The approach to the summit was about 1.5 hours total, but you could turn off at any point and get amazing turns. There was one particular pitch we dubbed “The Assault”, as it was particularly steep and unforgiving. The Assault was about 50 minutes into the climb up and took no prisoners!

Looking down from half way up The Assault

After a few unbelievably rewarding days, we had one last hike up to the top, followed by an hour plus long descent back to the trailhead! Can’t wait to get back out there next winter.

Roger

It’s not all kayaking at IR

John Weld — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:45:27 +0000

We got about 6-8 inches of snow here this week, which means it’s backcountry skiing time. Here’s Roger, and Kasia (of Wilderness Voyageurs fame) out for a 7:30 am pre-work trek through the vast woods that surround Confluence and Ohiopyle.

Let it snow!

Halloween Off to an Early Start

rloughney — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:04:01 +0000

Here at IR we take Halloween pretty seriously. Being that we have all of the sewing machines, creativity, know how and fabrics, we have come up with some awesome costumes over the years. Here is my 2009 installment, unveiled this past weekend at my girlfriend’s family’s awesome Halloween bash. About 200 people showed up this year throughout the course of the evening, with the last revelers lasting until dawn. You have some time still to make yours.
-Roger

Git R Done

New England Sales and Paddling Trip

rloughney — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:31:04 +0000

The week of 9/8-9/13 saw the annual pilgrimage to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic EORA Regional Trade show . On the drive up, I made a pit stop in Brooklyn and went to this awesome joint call Black Betty. If you are in Brooklyn, stop in, it is in the Williamsburg neighborhood.

This year’s show was in Sturbridge, MA, which ended up being an ideal location, with good proximity to major airports, interstates and its central location. The bonus was that the hotel/conference center that we were in also had some lake frontage where the retailers and sales reps could demo all of the new boats. One evening, after an amazing round of extreme walking with Jimmy Blakeney, our new sales representative for New England, along with Impex and Riot Kayaks, and Yonton Mehler, of Astral fame, we decided to go for a quick cruise around the lake in some sweet Impex glass.

After a successful show, Jimmy and I went on a little sales and dealer visit tour. First stop was Rhode Island, where we visited with the fine folks at The Kayak Centre, and then it was on to Osprey Sea Kayak, a great outfitter just across the RI border in Westport, MA. Sam and Carl were kind enough to lend us a couple of boats, and Jimmy and I headed out for a late afternoon paddle. We got lucky and even scored a few surfs at a break called “Town Point”. It is amazing the waves that you can surf in an 18 foot glass boat.

Jimmy getting ready at Goosewing Beach, RI

After the paddle, Sam cooked up some spicy enchiladas, and Mike Simpson, an old friend, cooked up the idea for a moonlight paddle off of Sakonnet Point, RI. Mike and I headed out past the light house, through some islands, and we landed on West Island. West Island, aside from having 30-40 foot exposed cliffs on the eastern edge, also host the ruins of an early 20th century hunting camp that was destroyed by a hurricane many moons ago. This was an amazing paddle, and I must admit to being a bit tired after about 4 hours of sea kayaking in one evening.

Ruins on West Island under the moonlight

West Island Cliffs with Portugal way off in the background!

The next morning, we headed up the Cape, and after a few more visits in the Cape/Southern MA (Goose Hummock and Billington Sea Kayak), I headed up to Zoar in Northern MA to catch a Dryway release on the Deerfield River. Greg from Zoar, being the magnanimous manager he is, allowed Corey to leave the shop to show me the good lines on the Dryway. Corey isn’t even old enough to drive, but he has some skills in a boat. Corey also helped me out with some testing of our prototype materials for the future! It was my first time on the Dryway, and it is one busy and exciting stretch of whitewater.

Corey in the middle of Dragon's Tooth

Corey exiting Dragon's Tooth

I pulled through the drive home, about 9 hours, with no energy drinks, and I was feeling pretty good about that, but I was feeling a bit sore from all of the driving and paddling. I was planning on rest day on Sunday, but I got a call that there was some wakeboarding to be done on Yough Lake, just a few hundred yards away from IR. It had been a few years, but I got right up and even managed to land a few airs, but every time I went big, I ate it pretty hard! After I had thoroughly purged my sinuses, my girlfriend Jess gave it a whirl and on her fourth try, was up and giving ‘er. All in a week’s work!

Brad airing it out on Yough Lake