Who doesn't love the Olympics and the Olympic fans?  In case you couldn't make it out to Vancouver for the 2010 festivities, here's a photo recap:

First off, Canada takes the Men's Hockey gold in an epic ice battle against the USA team:

Flip out about the Men's Freestyle Aerial Finals:

See China's Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo make a comeback with a Figure Skating Pairs gold medal performance:

Another beautiful performance by the first black pair, Vanessa James and Yannick Bonheur of France:

Here's American Short Track Speed Skater Apolo Ohno looking extremely excited to hold the most individual medals in history (who wouldn't be!?):

Go the Bobsleigh way with the Women's Finals:

Take a moment and enjoy the Norway Curling team with their argyle pants taking center stage:

A mozaic of Sweden's Charlotte Kalla and Anna Haag celebrating after their medal winning Team Sprint Free:

What does an Olympic Gold Medal look like?  Here's a close up:

If you can't get one of the medals, bask in the glow of the Olympic Rings:

Enjoy Ilanaaq, the inukshuk:

And remember to give the Vancouver Olympic Mascots a hug:

Way cute, eh? Meomi is the talented creator of those adorable mascots.  She also designed the iGoogle theme, Tea House.

The 2010 Olympic show is now over but we hope you're inspired to acheive your personal bests this month and next with Skimble!

Many San Franciscans made it out to The North Face after hours last night.  Upstairs we all gathered around to meet Daniel Mazur, an incredible mountaineer and guide!  Dan's best known for leading Greg Mortenson's K2 expedition in the novel, Three Cups of Tea, as well as rescuing Australian climber Lincoln Hall during a summit attempt up Mt. Everest.  When you meet him in person, you'll soon realize he's a humble yet lively man who simply explains that you may have to make hard (life & death) decisions up at 20,000+ ft elevation.  He's fortunate enough to have survived countless summits while enjoying nature and trying to leave no trace.

Dan shared many fun, funny and enlightening stories about his first and impromptu rescue expedition up Mt. Everest.  I won't spoil them here!  You'll just have to meet him at another talk.

Before the night ended, we all got to play with some mountaineering tools that have been to Everest and back!  Here's a fun pic of Dan, myself and the ice axe:

And at 29029 ft in elevation, you may just need some air:

No time to get lightheaded though.  The interactive talk supported the low-income mountain families of Nepal.  The Mountain Fund is currently building a 300-person school in the Nepalese mountain range where there is no government support.  They are also working to provide basic health care for the area.  Realizing that basic needs are not met in these remote areas, Dan and SummitClimb guides are helping to raise awareness and collect funds for the cause.

With that in mind, the SF people opened up their checkbooks and some even did a little swiping.

Randy Reddig from Square was on site to swipe credit cards through their new payment device to instantly donate to The Mountain Fund.  Here are a few pics of some successful transactions:

Last weekend, Skimble attended Macworld Expo 2010 in San Francisco.  Sophia Brueckner and Maria Ly of Skimble (and ex-Google girls) are Apple junkies.  They certainly felt at home exploring the expo.  Here's a little recap:

Complimentary Macworld Portraits!  Here are some Skimble action shots taken by the amazing photographer, Asa Mathat:

Back to the expo floor, these were the action-oriented tools & gadgets that we love:

Dots: The iPhone Glove that feels Gloveless

credit: JD Lasica's telefingers

These gloves keep your hands warm while enabling you to tap and touch away.  They are so awesome that most of their gloves are currently sold out.  Who wouldn't be thrilled to sport stylish DOTSgloves while skimbling on cold days?!

Joby: Flexible tripods and mobile device holders

These guys were a lot of fun at the expo, providing us with free pics using their new Gorilla Camera App for the iPhone!  The picture above hits home - their tripods are ideal for impromptu action shots when you're, you know, just hanging out of a limb.  They're really rugged and definitely capable of keeping up with you!

URBAN TOOL: Fashionable & functional tech carrying solutions

It was fun discovering this female-led company located in Austria.  Finally, a company that offers innovative and stylish carrying solutions that fit your iPhone, iPod, digital camera, wallet, keys, and water bottle.  What's more is that they've kindly supplied us with several awesome pieces for our Skimble Contests, including the crossHOLSTER and hipHOLSTER!  More details about next month's prizes coming soon.

There's a lot to celebrate...be happy :)

Today MSN Canada features Skimble in their latest Tech & Gadgets roundup,

The Best Sites to Better Yourself:

1. The Happiness Project - the book & tools to help construct your "happiness project"
2. Skimble - that's us!
3. The Extraordinaries - do or create missions, help others from the comfort of your home
4. iTunes U & other open courseware sites - education adventures and video lectures
5. Livestrong - for health, fitness and lifestyle goal-seekers, a Lance Armstrong brainchild!
6. London Word Festival - Once a day for 31 days I will: ______________

MSN Canada: thanks for the northern discovery!  Tell your friends down south and come visit us in SF sometime, eh?

Women 2.0 and VidSF recently caught up with Team Skimble at the gym - watch as Maria Ly Makes the Climb:

Gabe and Maria would like to give a special thanks to Women2.0's Emily Goligoski, VidSF and Mission Cliffs for kicking tail and their continued support!

Hey Skimblers,

Get updated with Skimble's iPhone app v1.1 release!  The 2010 launch of our initial iPhone app was very exciting with over 20,000 downloads.  This month, we've released even more awesomeness in:

English

& French

That's right, Skimble's gone global and released some pretty neat features with its latest update.

New Features:
· Twice as many activities: dance, martial arts, aerobics, horseback riding, inline skating, volleyball, ice hockey, field hockey, ice climbing, and more
·  Discover and track nearby runs, rides, hikes and more - saves your battery!
· Improved swimming tracking: track sets and laps
· Post your activities to Twitter and Facebook
· Nearby updates: see what people nearby are tracking
· Be active for a chance to win this month's contest prize: $50 Gift Card from REI or MEC

New PRO Features:
· Offline Mode: Track your activities with no internet connection and upload them later (great for the wilderness and iPod Touch owners)
· Even more progress charts and statistics broken down by activity

TechCrunch Europe gave us some founder love over the weekend alongside the international launch of TheFunded Founder Institute in Paris (and Singapore, LA, Denver).  Skimble is mentored by an incredible roundup of world class mentors:

· Aaron Patzer, Founder and CEO of Mint.com
· Philip Kaplan, Co-Founder of Blippy, Founder of Adbrite and F’d Company
· Alain Reynaud, Founder of FairSoftware.net

and the list goes on!

In addition, we've received more Skimble iPhone App love including great reivews by:

· Cult of Mac Favorite: Skimble Tracks ALL of Your Active Life
· TechTarts - Skimble: The Ultimate Companion to Track Your Activities (and get back into your skinny jeans!)

Keep it coming and please let us know how we can continue to make Skimble the ultimate companion for your active life.

Be active to win big (in more ways than one)!  This month, Skimble will be giving away Skimble Action Packs including your choice of Skimble t-shirt and a $50 Gift Card from REI or MEC:

What do you have to do to get the goods?  Just be active with Skimble.  Each day in February that you track at least one activity on Skimble, you earn one contest entry.  At the end of the month, winners are randomly chosen from these entries.  That's pretty much it so get on it and be active!

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Need some motivation?  Invite your friends and follow some people who got their 'action' on last month!  Congrats to the Skimble Leaders of January 2010:

• Sebastien V is an advanced ashtanga yoga instructor with a pretty impressive video on his profile...just saying.
• Matt Y is an all arounder who likes running, biking, rock climbing, yoga, and gym fitness.
• Tony M swims like a dolphin but prefers ninja-fighting pandas (refer to profile pic)!
• Inuk S - In oder Aus in Switzerland: pilates & aerobics indoors, biking & hockey outdoors.
• Sean N is enjoying his personal-best triathlon w/ his favorite activities: hiking, cardio and yoga.
• Cedric M keeps fit in the city by playing basketball and lifting weights.
• Dan C tracks his urban and adventure hikes all around Taipei, Taiwan.
• Katie J spends her time learning yoga and hiking around New Mexico.
• Gian F is a trooper road bike riding long distances on cold mornings in Florida.
• Chris B achieved his personal best while mountain biking pretty damn hard.

Think you're adventurer?  We sure hope so!  And we all know adventurers love hearing about and being inspired by other adventurers.  This year @NatGeosociety releases their Adventurers of the Year:

Khadija Bahram, Educator
Stephen Bouey + Steven Shoppman, Road Trippers
Maya Gabeira, Surfer
John Grunsfeld, Astronaut
Marc Hoffmeister, Veteran
Albert Yu-Min Lin, Explorer
Dean S. Potter, Sky Flier
Louie Psihoyos, Filmmaker
Diane Van Deren, Ultra Runner
Katey Walter Anthony, Scientist

It's OK, we didn't make it either!  Not to fret - stay active and have fun getting on Skimble's Learderboard.  Track and share your activities and adventures around the world.  Our January Leaderboard results are in and we'll tell you this week who made the list and why you'll want to get on it too.

Half dome is gorgeous piece of granite rock, prominently located in the valley of Yosemite National Park.  Many people come year after year to hike its 16.5 mile roundtrip hiking trail.  You think you can just scamper up it?  Sure, you may have the sheer willpower but do you have the permit power?

Here's the latest news straight from NPS.gov on Half Dome Permits:

Permits to hike to the top of Half Dome are now required on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays when the cables are up.  This is an interim measure to increase safety along the cables while the park develops a long-term plan to manage use on the Half Dome Trail.

This year, NPS is limiting the number of people to hike up it to 400/day, which will reduce that ominuous backlog at the cables during the final haul up to the top...and hopefully it'll prevent or reduce injuries and accidents along the way.  You can get your permit from one week out to four months in advance only through the National Recreation Reservation Service.  Don't try to simply get these once you're the park - the rangers will not be amused.

If you're wondering if this extra bit of Half Dome planning is worth it?  Most definitely.  Back in 2008, Gabe and Maria rock climbed the Snake Dike route on Half Dome while our friends hiked up it.  We met at exactly the same time on top: