Are you passionate about an adventure sport?

Are you the kind of individual worth shouting about?

Interested in boosting your sporting profile in the UK with regular, free promotion?

We are launching our Ambassador Programme for 2010 and are looking for enthusiastic sportspeople to be the face of their sport on The Conch.

All the chosen candidate needs is to be sociable, have some cool pictures/videos to show off and to be active in their sport, that’s it! It’s a great opportunity to get free promotion in your spare time.

To register your interest, please contact us with your name and sport you’d like to represent.

On Wednesday 28th January 2010, someone’s life changed.  They just don’t know it yet.

Rather than just drawing the name out of a hat I enlisted the help of my local Ultimate Frisbee Club to help pick a name at random.  If the gods of video editing were smiling on me, I would have a video to post here right now.  But they’re not.  So the video will follow.

The Draw

The winner was determined by a small frisbee accuracy competition.  We had a cone placed at one end of a sports hall, and my frisbee team (DUFFA) at the other.  During two rounds of 5 people, the 2 discs that landed closest to the cone went through to the final.  The other 3 members were eliminated. 

In the final, the disc that landed closest to the cone would be the winner of the 5K Giveaway.

How it went down

It has to be said, for a frisbee club, the accuracy was shocking.  I was expecting discs to be piled up on top of each other next to the target.  Still, they all got fairly close.

Round 1 (Eliminated) -

Lunaeventer/ Heather Thomson

adventuress/ Kay Dinsdale

Torijames/ Tori James

Round 2 (Eliminated) -

michellekarlden/ Michelle Harris

schoolboy/ Jonathan Wood

tessadarley/ Tessa Darley

The Final

Eliminated:

elllani/ Gareth Banda

hunnylamb/ Vanessa Cagnayo

bekkistanyer/ Bekki Stanyer

So we have a winner! 

Congratulations go to Shestyles/ Izzy Brittain.  You are the 5K Giveaway winner!  We’ll be in touch very soon to find out how you want to spend the money.

A massive thank you to everyone who took part and to all our brand partners and supporters.  Make sure you watch this space to see how £5,000 worth of adventure can change someone’s life.

But the sea doesn’t always play ball.

Better luck next time James!

Think I might resurrect the format, starting now.

Classic Pro Cycling Shots

If I were this good a cyclist or photographer, I’d be a richer man than I am, in more ways than one.

- Cycling Info blog

It Never Rains in Margaritaville

Some incredible standup paddle surf photos.  Please summer, hurry, HURRY!!!

- from Surfing Sports Blog

Nike SB ‘This Is Qatar Video

Refreshing skate video that tries to get a a deeper connection with Quatar and it’s people.  Ok, so the interviews are in Spanish but the skating translates pretty well

- Huck magazine blog

Thanks to Think Empire for the heads up.

Since then, we started accumulating lots of followers and I got a bit over-enthusiastic with following other people until it was all too much for me to take in.  Without realising I began to use the service less and less.  For the last six months I’ve used it quite sparingly.  That’s about to change.

I’ve been doing a spot of pre-spring cleaning, unfollowing inactive or irrelevant users or those people I might get to know at a later date but not right now.

I’m also splitting my use of Twitter between The Conch account (@shellshocked) and my personal account ( @simonjermy).  Please feel free to follow whichever you like.

If you’ve survived the cut…congratulations.  You must be incredibly interesting, talented or downright gorgeous.  I’ll let you decide that for yourself.

Tweet you later!

Obviously The Conch doesn’t approve of skiving off work to enjoy the snow….and while I’d like to finish this paragraph to explain why, I’m afraid I can’t. 

I have a date with a snowboard and my local park.

Happy Snow Day!

The highlights included a long-distance bike ride on the Transpennine Trail, some birthday wakeboarding, and a charity fundraiser that saw me attempt 50 adventure sports in 50 hours.

This year, I’m taking the pledge again and inviting you to do the same. 

Sack off the usual promises of LESS.  Why not start the new decade with a resolution to do MORE, have MORE fun and meet MORE people.

If that sounds like the kind of 2010 you want to have, copy the pledge below and paste it (with your name inserted) to the comments at the bottom of this post.  Then, tell your friends by pasting it into your Facebook status update.

Join with me and let’s make 2010 the most adventurous year yet!

The Pledge

I, [SIMON JERMY] pledge to spend the next year as if it were my last.  I will explore my own boundaries and challenge myself to be venturous.

• - This is my time; the year to try new things; to meet new people who share a passion for adventure and the outdoors…AND TO HAVE FUN!!
• - Friends!  Take the pledge with me - http://blog.theconch.com/2009/12/31/the-conch-resolution-2010-take-the-pledge/   

Happy New Year, from everyone at The Conch!

Adventure Travel Live is for anyone planning an off-the-beaten-track travel adventure. Whether you want to photograph Polar Bears in the Arctic, trek over the High Pamirs of Tajikistan, take your family to Vietnam or even to change your life by volunteering or taking a career break, Adventure Travel Live is where your big trip begins.

Simon Calder will be opening the show, interviewing Ben Fogle – TV presenter, explorer and adventurer; Alain de Botton – philosopher, broadcaster and author of The Art of Travel; Sarah Miller – Editor of Conde Nast Traveller and Will Whitehorn – President of Virgin Galactic, the world’s first spaceline.

To celebrate the fact that The Conch is making some pretty cool friends in the adventure industry, we’re going to try and help you do the same.  If you’ve ever been in a training meeting at work, you may be familiar with the dreaded Icebreaker. 

We don’t go for corporate lingo so how about this…introduce yourself and you might win stuff.

We’ve created lots of new groups on The Conch, dedicated to the whole range of adventure sports and activities.  To be in with a chance to win the Adventure Travel live tickets, simply introduce yourself with your name and your dream adventure for 2010.  Here’s an example:

I’m Simon Jermy

In 2010 I plan to take my first proper holiday in four years, with two weeks in Kandersteg, Switzerland - mountaineering, ice climbing, whitewater rafting and more. Can’t wait!

That’s it. 

Just log into The Conch, join a group that interests you and introduce yourself.  At the end of every week, up until the 22nd January 2010, we’ll pick the best introductions to win a pair of tickets for Adventure Travel Live.