Check out L.L.Bean’s free adventure lecture series

L.L.Bean recently released an exciting schedule of talks that will be running every Friday evening, January through March, at the L.L.Bean Flagship store in Freeport. The line-up of guest speakers includes experienced mountaineers, endurance paddlers, long-distance hikers and adventure racers. And it looks like they have some epic stories to share.

These talks are free and are scheduled from 7 to 8 p.m. each Friday.

LLBeanLectureSeries

Here’s a rundown of the upcoming talks in January, taken from descriptions posted online:

Jan. 13: Speaker Ty Gagne presents “Trouble in the Presidentials: What a Mountaineering Accident Can Teach Us About Decision-Making and Managing Risk”

Although strikingly beautiful, Mount Washington and the surrounding Presidential Range hold the dubious distinction of having “the world’s worst weather.” The Presidential Range is also world renowned for the challenging terrain it provides for alpinists, and as such it has been the scene of hundreds of mountaineering accidents over the years. Ty Gagne will provide an in-depth analysis of a recent tragedy on the range and discuss lessons learned above tree line, extending them into everyday life.

Jan. 20: Speaker Brad Krog presents “The Yukon 1000: an Epic Endurance Paddling Event”

On July 18, 2016, competitors from Germany, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States began the 1,000-mile unsupported paddling race from the city of Whitehorse in Canada’s Yukon Territory to Alaska’s Dalton Highway Bridge, 135 miles north of Fairbanks. This presentation is a glimpse of a journey of a lifetime, racing down the Yukon River through some of the most isolated, yet breathtaking, areas in North America. Brad Krog of Bowdoin, Maine, is an avid outdoor enthusiast with over 25 years’ experience in downriver and flatwater canoe racing.

Jan. 27: Speaker Anne O’Regan presents “Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail”

In 2010, Anne O’Regan left her home in Boston and traveled west to do what, on average, only 300 people accomplish each year. Starting in Campo, California (on the Mexican border), she backpacked north for 2,650 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail. Traveling through California, Oregon and Washington, she completed her thru-hike five months later in Manning Park, Canada. O’Regan shares her tale in her book “Tamed: A City Girl Walks from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail,” and at L.L.Bean, she will offer a unique visual presentation gleaned from more than 3,000 photographs.

For more detailed descriptions of the February and March programs, view the L.L.Bean Freeport calendar at http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/1000001704?nav=bc. The schedule is:

Feb. 3: Speaker Scott Andrews from the Ski Museum of Maine presents “Maine’s Nordic Skiing Heritage: 1870-Present”

Feb. 10: Speakers Karrie Thomas, Collin Blunk, Laurie Chandler and Chris Gill present “The Northern Forest Canoe Trail: A Thru-Paddler Panel Discussion”

Feb. 17: Speaker Bruce Rueger presents “Geology and Topography of the Southern Berkshires: Impact and Implications on the Transport of Cannon from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston, 1776”

Feb. 24: Speakers Kate and Cliff White present “Finding the Limits and Pushing Beyond: Adventure Racing from Maine to Ireland”

March 3: Speaker Jonathan White presents “Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean”

March 10: Speaker Bill Yeo presents “Film Screening: Bike-Packing Ladakh, India’s Himalaya”

March 17: Speaker Peter Robbins presents “Traveling the Silk Road from China to Italy by Bicycle”

March 31: Speaker Pat Gallant-Charette presents “World-Class Open Water Swimmer”

Aislinn Sarnacki

About Aislinn Sarnacki

Aislinn is a Bangor Daily News reporter for the Outdoors pages, focusing on outdoor recreation and Maine wildlife. Visit her main blog at actoutwithaislinn.bangordailynews.com.