Here鈥檚 how bedtime in camp goes in your mind: After a long day exploring some beautiful, wild place, you settle in around the campfire, favorite beverage in hand. Your eyes get droopy as you watch the sun set and stars begin to blink on. Finally, you snuggle into your cozy sleeping bag, yawning once before dropping off to sleep immediately for nine straight hours of deep, uninterrupted slumber.

Here鈥檚 how it actually goes: After a long day exploring some beautiful, wild place and watching the stars come out, you snuggle into your sleeping bag and鈥othing. You toss and turn as the minutes tick by, trying to find a comfortable position. You stare at the tent ceiling, but sleep won鈥檛 come. Maybe you鈥檙e too hot, or worse: too cold, despite the rating of your sleeping bag. Maybe you can鈥檛 relax and stop listening for approaching bears. Or maybe you just can鈥檛 get comfortable on your pad. You finally drift into fitful sleep, but when morning comes too soon, you鈥檙e cold, more tired than ever, or dealing with a cramp in your neck.

Sound familiar? You鈥檙e not alone. But your camp nights don鈥檛 have to be this way. Two seasoned sleep experts are quick to offer key advice: Beyron Zecher, backpacker and nurse practitioner at St. John鈥檚 Health Sleep Disorder Center in Jackson, Wyoming; along with Barry Robertson, Sea to Summit鈥檚 Perth, Australia-based Minister of Education, who have your new gameplan on sleeping better outdoors.

Dial in Your Gear

Comfort plays a huge role in a good night鈥檚 sleep, so don鈥檛 rely on the absolute lightest or cheapest gear if you struggle for your Zs. Choose a stable, well-constructed sleeping pad that鈥檚 not too narrow or too short, and that offers enough insulation for the conditions ahead. Your sleeping bag should match your sleeping style: If you snooze sprawled out on your stomach, for example, your bag should be wide enough to accommodate. Make sure the bag is rated warm enough for the weather; on colder nights, wear thick base layers and a hat to bed. Consider a sleeping bag liner for a thermal boost to easily up the performance of your bag. And always pack a decent pillow. Bring one from home if you鈥檙e car camping and get a lightweight, inflatable one for backpacking.

Prep Your Campsite

The princess couldn鈥檛 sleep with a pea poking her under the mattress, and neither can you: Take the time to clear all twigs and stones from under your tent site before setting up your shelter. Make sure your site is as flat as possible; if it鈥檚 slightly tilted, sleep with your head on the uphill side. At higher altitudes, you鈥檒l also need to factor wind protection. 鈥淚f it isn鈥檛 windy at the moment,鈥� Robertson adds of mountain camping, 鈥渋t will be when the katabatic effect comes up early in the morning.鈥�

Preserve a Bedtime Buffer

鈥淕ive yourself ample time to wind down,鈥� Zecher says. 鈥淎void vigorous exercise three hours prior to bed because exercise can increase your body temperature and make you more alert.鈥� That cutoff means finishing hiking well before bedtime so you have a few hours to set up camp, eat, and chill. Stop consuming caffeine at least four hours before bedtime. And stay away from screens, including tablets and phones, for two hours before you hit the hay. The lights emitted by screens can mess with your body鈥檚 melatonin production, Zecher explains. Darkness kicks off your body鈥檚 production of this hormone, which 鈥渢ells your brain it鈥檚 time to get ready for bed.鈥� Also skip alcohol: Though this common depressant may help you fall asleep, metabolizing it during the night will disrupt sleep quality and make night wakeups more likely.

Eat Up

Robertson revels in the simple joys of one-pot cooking, using bowls to keep multiple ingredients warm. It ultimately takes less time (especially at altitude) than freeze-dried fare, 鈥減lus there鈥檚 the primordial satisfaction of cooking your own food, then there鈥檚 the closure feeling you get as daylight fades.鈥� Enjoy the magic of that caloric warmth, being well-fed and increasing blood flow as you digest and ready for sleep.

Change Clothes

Make this one change before you settle into your sleep system. Too cold to strip down to base layers? 鈥淚t鈥檚 too cold to change out of damp base layers,鈥� Robertson argues. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l work as evaporative cooling in your sleeping bag. Strip everything off and put on dry base layers.鈥�

Maintain Consistency

Stick to your regular bedtime routine as much as possible, whether that means sipping hot tea, reading in bed, or stretching. 鈥淩outines help the brain wind down through all these different cues that it鈥檚 time to go to bed,鈥� Zecher says. That includes bedtime. If you usually go to bed at 11 p.m., stay up until 11 even if it gets dark at 8.

Get Up To Pee

鈥淚t won鈥檛 go away or get better,鈥� Robertson says. Set yourself up so it鈥檚 not a big deal or a disruptive exit. When sharing a tent, he always makes a get-up-and-go kit (with TP, hand sanitizer, pocket trowel, plus extra headlamp), hung by the tent door.

Create a Peaceful Atmosphere

Environmental stimuli鈥攆rom summer鈥檚 lingering sunsets to fellow campers rustling to twigs snapping in the woods鈥攃an disturb your precious sleep. Shut it all out with an eye mask (or bandanna or Buff) and/or ear plugs. Camp near a river or stream for natural sound-blocking white noise, or use an app on your phone for the same effect. Zecher suggests quieting the mind further through suppression exercises, like going through the alphabet backwards or naming all the state capitals in your head. Guiding yourself through imagery can have the same calming effect: 鈥淢ove through a sequence of things,鈥� Zecher says. 鈥淲alk the day鈥檚 hike from start to finish, noticing every bush and rock. It鈥檚 a form of meditation.鈥�

Speaking of walking, Robertson has one other hack for controlling exterior noise: Go farther from other human beings. If you can work harder to create more distance, take the opportunity and appreciate solitude that will pay off come nightfall.

is an award-winning manufacturer of innovative, meticulously engineered, lightweight gear designed for camping, backpacking, water sports, and travel. Their ethos 鈥榯o equip and inspire鈥� applies to adventures at every altitude, and this Western Australian brand is no stranger to some of the most remote places on this planet. Sea to Summit was established in 1990 and is currently distributed in over 73 countries, with offices in Australia, North America, Germany, and China.

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Sea to Summit, the legacy gear maker whose products span numerous categories including camping, watersports, and hunting, has a new owner as of today. The company this morning announced it has closed a deal to sell a majority of its shares to Sydney, Australia-based Five V Capital, a private equity firm and certified B Corporation. Financials of the deal were not disclosed.

“Sea to Summit has been on a pretty steep growth curve for more than a decade globally,” said Josh Simpson, Sea to Summit’s general manager for North America. “There comes a time when founders see that they have taken the brand about as far as they can without support.” For Sea to Summit, apparently, that time has come.

It’s been a busy few years for the brand by any measure. In 2020, the company acquired its own North American distribution rights back from the two individuals who have owned them鈥擜ndrew and Shelley Dunbar鈥攆or 22 years. Since then, Sea to Summit has appointed a new CEO, Greg Dupont, and “fine-tuned a lot of the global alignment and road map for the business,” according to Simpson. “We have a pretty clear and ambitious mission about where to head in the next five years,” he added.

Part of Five V’s interest in Sea to Summit, according to Simpson, lies in the brand’s broad appeal and global reach. “I think Sea to Summit is unique in how diversified we are from a global business perspective,” he said. “It’s also a very approachable brand that aligns across a vast array of activities and consumers. We鈥檙e not just top-of-the-mountain, super technical gear.”

As for changes to the brand’s market strategy following the sale, Simpson says nothing major will be altered that wasn’t already in the company’s roadmap. “Five V Capital sees a significant opportunity to accelerate [Sea to Summit’s] global growth…including in key areas that can benefit from Five V鈥檚 omni-channel consumer, e-commerce, supply chain, and sustainability expertise,” the company said in a release Tuesday.

One change that will take place, which was already planned: the brand will overhaul one of its largest verticals鈥攄ry bags and stuff sacks, which it groups together in its “storage” category鈥攄ebuting new products at Outdoor Retailer in Denver this June. The new gear focuses heavily on sustainable materials, Simpson said, and also includes fun touches like new colorways that lean into the brand’s Australian heritage.

Simpson also said the brand has no plans to launch any new categories in the near future. The company’s last new-category entr茅e was into the backcountry tent market in late 2020. “Tents were a big lift, and that brought our category count to eight,” Simpsons said. “We have no imminent plans for new categories right now. Our ambitions are to renovate the existing categories we鈥檙e in for the next few years.”

Sea to Summit’s CEO, Greg Dupont, said in a release today that he “anticipate[s] this transaction to rapidly accelerate our brand and distribution-business growth domestically and globally,” thanks in large part to Five V鈥檚 “knowledge of the digital ecosystem, coupled with its demonstrable track record of international expansion.”

Simpson said the company plans to grow its global workforce following the sale. The brand’s headquarters will remain in Perth, Australia. Sea to Summit鈥檚 founder, Roland Tyson, will continue to advise the company on product design and marketing, and Sally McCoy, the brand’s executive chair, will step down from that position and become a non-executive director.

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Walking into Dongah Aluminum Corporation (DAC) feels like stepping inside the lobby of a grand hotel: the soaring two-story ceiling creates plenty of space around the large-scale paintings and sculptures in marble and bronze. It鈥檚 an art gallery, not the reception area you might expect in a factory that makes aluminum tubes and poles. And on all three floors, there are gardens filled with graceful bamboo, tranquil lilies, and apple trees that Jake Lah, DAC鈥檚 founder, planted in 1988 to commemorate his company鈥檚 launch. One garden even includes a koi pond with golden fish that shimmer in the sunlight, like DAC鈥檚 gleaming rods of anodized aluminum. Like the rest of the factory, located in Incheon, South Korea, these poles defy expectation, because they routinely solve problems that tent designers, including other manufacturers, once believed to be unsolvable.

鈥淚鈥檓 kind of a strange person,鈥� admitted the 67-year-old Lah, whose irresistible smile lights up his entire face. 鈥淢y wife kept telling me, 鈥榊ou are not a normal person,鈥� and just this last year I said 鈥榊es, maybe you are right.鈥� What I鈥檝e been doing just doesn鈥檛 fit into the normal sense of things.鈥�

But if Lah had made a habit of embracing norms, the tent industry would look nothing like it does today. Lah鈥檚 proprietary aluminum alloy鈥擳H72M, or 鈥淢鈥� for short鈥攎ade backpacking shelters lighter by allowing for thinner pole walls with no loss of strength. His aluminum pole hub revolutionized tent architecture and facilitated designs that have since become mainstays (see the REI Half Dome, to name just one). Lah also masterminded an array of other clips and attachment points that streamlined tents鈥� geometries and rewrote the rules for what aluminum scaffolding can do.

鈥淗e鈥檚 been the man behind the curtain in our industry for something like three decades,鈥� said tent designer David Mydans, who retired in 2017 after 28 years with REI. Lighter weights, bigger interior volumes, better ventilation鈥攁ll of these defining improvements to outdoor shelters have been fueled by Lah鈥檚 innovations, and still are. 鈥淥ver the past 20 years, there鈥檚 nothing that鈥檚 happened in tents that hasn鈥檛 been heavily influenced by Jake,鈥� said Michael Glavin, who鈥檚 designed tents for brands like Sierra Designs and GSI Outdoors since the late 1990s.

Indeed, Lah is much more than an expert in aluminum alloys and tent pole manufacturing. He鈥檚 also a talented designer in his own right who has solved myriad structural problems for the tent brands that are his clients. Some of those brands use entire designs that Lah created from scratch. 鈥淗e has far more tent IP than any of his customers,鈥� said tent designer Mike Cecot-Scherer, who started with Kelty in 1985 and now produces his own MoonLight series of shelters.

Rising from the Ashes

One sleepless night in 1990, Lah contemplated a high-stakes gamble. His father, who had funded DAC鈥檚 launch two years earlier, had died before the business had become self-sufficient. His mother, Oknah Kim Lah, urged him to abandon ship before it sank, taking him with it. 鈥淚f you stop now, maybe you can salvage enough for the rest of your life,鈥� Lah recalled her saying. She鈥檇 founded Korea鈥檚 branch of the Girl Scouts and devoted much of her life to volunteering, beginning during the Korean War. Lah valued her wisdom.

Besides, business was new to him: he鈥檇 studied history in college, and although he鈥檇 completed an MBA at the University of Michigan, he wasn鈥檛 an aluminum specialist or even an outdoorsman. 鈥淚t鈥檚 quite odd,鈥� Lah admitted. 鈥淭here seems to be no connection between my past and aluminum.鈥� But Lah is undaunted by foreign realms (after all, he completed his MBA not in Korean but in English, a language he barely understood when he began the program), and he saw a tantalizing opportunity in high-strength aluminum. He鈥檇 founded DAC because he鈥檇 learned (through his eldest brother, who worked in the sports industry as a distributor of baseball equipment) that there was just one major player, Easton, making tubing for outdoor applications such as camping and archery.

After that night of reflection, Lah walked into his factory the next morning and realized that the 50-person team he鈥檇 assembled had become as important to him as his birth family. 鈥淚 just couldn鈥檛 run away alone,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淩elationships are my life. So I said okay, let鈥檚 die together.鈥� He decided to invest all of his inheritance in the failing business.

He resumed his dedication to making his poles stronger, lighter, and more versatile than competing options. Lah had found a materials mentor in Dr. Robert Sanders, a developer from the aluminum giant Alcoa, a man he calls 鈥淵oda.鈥� 鈥淗e gave me my compass and map, and asked me to find a way,鈥� said Lah, who鈥檇 wrestle for months with alloy conundrums that Yoda could鈥檝e solved with one phone call. 鈥淚 think he intentionally watched me get lost in the woods. I鈥檇 ask, 鈥榃hy 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 you tell me?鈥欌�� But Yoda knew not only aluminum, but also the personality of his young apprentice. 鈥淵ou learn by yourself,鈥� Yoda replied.

And so Lah tinkered through as many failures as successes with aluminum, copper, magnesium, and zinc, integrating occasional clues from his mentor until he finally struck upon the alloy that would establish DAC as an innovator in outdoor applications.

Lah鈥檚 first breakthrough was DA17, a softer alloy that could replace steel in the cabin-style tents common at the time. DA17 appealed to Japanese tent brands, and later to REI, which used it in a 1994 model called the Olympus. His second alloy, TH72M, allowed backpacking tents to reach new weight-saving benchmarks. 鈥淏efore M, the thinnest [pole walls] I could make were 1.62 millimeters, but with M we went to 1.6, then 1.55, and now, we鈥檙e at 1.4 millimeters,鈥� Lah explained.

DAC鈥檚 list of brand partners grew rapidly, as did Lah鈥檚 innovations. Around 1993, Lah developed an aluminum donut that revolutionized tent architecture. It wasn鈥檛 the first-ever pole hub (that credit goes to Bob Swanson, who developed a chunky plastic four-way connector for his Walrus tents) but Lah鈥檚 鈥渦ni-connector鈥� was stronger, tidier, and more customizable. 鈥淵ou could choose the [pole] diameter and angle, so tent designers got a lot more freedom in building the frame,鈥� said Lah. MSR ran with it on the Hubba Hubba, and 鈥淭he rest is history,鈥� said Glavin. 鈥淸That tent] redefined the space-to-weight relationship.鈥�

Breaking Down Walls

Hubs were just the beginning. More 鈥渢oys鈥� (as Lah calls his connectors) followed, including clips that don鈥檛 slide along the pole, allowing the fabric to contribute to the structure鈥檚 overall strength, and plastic 鈥渂allcaps鈥� that replaced the bulky webbing pockets where a tent鈥檚 brow pole clipped into the fly. One plastic connector stabilized poles at the corners and resulted in a 53 percent improvement in structural strength, according to wind-tunnel testing. Sally McCoy, then at Sierra Designs, nicknamed it 鈥淛ake鈥檚 Foot鈥� (it鈥檚 now patented as 鈥淛ake鈥檚 Corner鈥�). It debuted in Sierra Designs鈥檚 Hercules tent, which survived 100-mph winds thanks to the cupped plastic corners that grip pole ends more tightly than an eyelet.

Lah鈥檚 poles improved, too. DAC鈥檚 1998 Featherlite innovation addressed the weakness at poles鈥� connection points by eliminating a bridge tube and instead, nesting pole-ends of varying diameters, stacking them as you might stack drinking cups. Featherlite NSL poles allow the diameter to vary along their length, so that softer sections create a rounder arc while stiffer segments stay straighter. As a result, one pole can achieve multiple curves.

DAC鈥檚 brand partners quickly grew to include more than 45 companies, not only because Lah offered ingenious ways to push tents into new realms, but also because he scrupulously respected each company鈥檚 intellectual property, Mydans said. Thus Lah successfully walked a tightrope between serving all tent brands while protecting each brand鈥檚 innovations.

Often, Lah himself is the one serving up the breakthroughs to tent designers. The Copper Spur tent made by Big Agnes, for example, remained largely unchanged for five years while Lah mulled a way to improve on its minimalist design. Finally, he presented Big Agnes founder Bill Gamber with a solution to reduce the tent鈥檚 two hubs to just one, without sacrificing interior volume.

鈥淎lmost every time I try new things, I feel like I鈥檓 pushing against a wall, and that there鈥檚 nothing I can do,鈥� said Lah. 鈥淚 try, try, try, and finally, I might find a crack in the wall, or a small hole, and oh! Maybe I can find a way out.鈥�

Such dogged persistence not only helped him to revise the Copper Spur, but also fueled his development of more sustainable manufacturing methods, such as Green Anodizing鈥攖he moonshot innovation that DAC unveiled in 2008. Anodizing uses acids and other noxious chemicals to remove the oxidative film left behind on heat-treated aluminum; the process also preps the aluminum for dyes and seals it against corrosion (plus, users appreciate anodizing鈥檚 glossy finish). But Lah hated that the process released harmful chemical gases into his factory and endangered his workers, so he spent eight years seeking an alternative. He knew that no chemical existed that could polish the aluminum in a nontoxic way (even Alcoa and Yoda used phosphoric acid, which releases toxic gases and creates hazardous waste materials). So Lah looked at mechanical processes, and finally, succeeded in developing a machine that physically polishes the film off the poles. Now, almost all DAC aluminum uses the Green Anodizing process.

Lah rounds out that materials expertise with a knack for intuitive design and a passion for creating the best possible product. So brands that partner with him must share the driver鈥檚 seat. 鈥淗e always over- steps,鈥� Glavin said. 鈥淏ut you鈥檙e benefiting from the fact that he feels like [the project] is his. He would drive you crazy if he weren鈥檛 such a good, kind person at heart, because his intent is always positive.鈥�

Futuristic Vision

Lately, Lah has begun to step out from behind the curtain and claim space on the main stage. In 2018, he hired Glavin to help him start his own tent brand, and although the pandemic sidelined that effort for now, Lah continues to work on tent collaborations that credit him for his contributions. Sea to Summit鈥檚 ultralight backpacking tents, which hit the market to wide acclaim in spring 2021, advertise Lah鈥檚 role as codesigner with Sea To Summit founder Roland Tyson.

He鈥檚 also creating his own visionary structures. One recent masterpiece is a massive, wedding-style tent supported not with buckets of cement, but graceful arches of thumb-thick aluminum. Another Lah creation is a solo tent on stilts鈥攂ecause Lah doesn鈥檛 particularly like camping, nor sleeping on the ground. 鈥淭ents right now are used for sleeping only, but I wonder, what if they could be shelters that can use furniture inside?鈥� he mused.

Glavin explained, 鈥淭hese shelters aren鈥檛 about filling a market need. He鈥檚 creating pieces of art, as a design expression.鈥� If the outdoor industry maintained a museum, Lah鈥檚 avant-garde tents would deserve inclusion鈥攁long with his many best-selling hits. As Mydans put it, 鈥淛ake has perfected the art of designing with aluminum tubes.鈥�

Retirement, however, isn鈥檛 in Lah鈥檚 10-year plan. Before long, he says he鈥檚 likely to front-burner his plan to launch his own branded tents. He also plans to commit himself to lots of volunteering, particularly in disaster relief and nonprofit campaigns and events. (He inherited the passion for volunteerism from his mother, who passed away in August 2021 at the age of 103). And he continues to pursue more sustainable manufacturing: DAC completed the Higg Index to understand its environmental impact, and for NEMO鈥檚 2021 tent line, it adopted a recycled-fabric alternative to the polybags that its poles had always shipped in.

When Lah finally brings his own tents to market, he can test his creations in his very own wind tunnel, built in 2017. Much larger than the Kirsten Wind Tunnel at the University of Washington (the sole wind tunnel in the U.S. available to tent developers, it only accommodates small shelters), DAC鈥檚 version is designed specifically for tents. It鈥檚 an extravagant facility by any measure. Viewed from DAC鈥檚 parking lot, it looks like the space shuttle crashed into the side of the factory. Lah says he鈥檚 far from finished with his wizardry.

He has plenty more time, assuming he inherits his mother鈥檚 longevity. Still, DAC鈥檚 gardens remind him that nature鈥檚 seasons never dally. When Lah sees the apples on the factory鈥檚 trees turn from green to red, the change never fails to catch him by surprise. 鈥淎lready?鈥� he鈥檒l gasp. He must hurry to do all that鈥檚 yet undone.

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It 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 matter if they pulled up in a Subaru hatchback, a Prius, a converted Sprinter van, or a $300,000 EarthRoamer, attendees of Overland Expo West were part of one community. Set in Flagstaff, the second of three consumer-facing events this year drew an estimated 30,000 people to geek out over four-wheeler rigs, tires, tow kits, coolers, and all the accessories in between that people pack into their vehicles to enhance their outdoor experiences. Overland Expo Mountain West took place in Loveland, Colorado at the end of August, and Overland Expo East is slated for October 8 to 10 in Arrington, Virginia.听

鈥淥verlanders identify as so many different things,鈥� said Lindsay Hubley, who owns Overland Expo with her sister, Jessica Kirchner. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e campers, they鈥檙e offroaders, they鈥檙e adventure travelers. There鈥檚 so many different segments that pull people into the community.鈥�

The definition of overlanding has broadened over the years, but especially since the start of the pandemic as people sought new experiences in nature, Hubley said. While overlanding is self-sufficient vehicle travel, it also overlaps with consumers who drive Jeeps through the mud or ride motorcycles to campgrounds across the country. The market also intersects with anyone who drives a vehicle as part of their outdoor travel, such as vandwellers, rooftop tent and truck campers, RVers, bikepackers, and the weekend warriors who like to sleep under the stars as a family at their local state campground.

As expected, there was an area for the impressive showcase vehicles, savvy conversion businesses, and expedition tour companies. But out of 400 exhibitors, companies that most often overlap with the traditional outdoor industry were mixed throughout the show, including Sea to Summit, Snow Peak, Kokopelli, Luno, Gaia GPS, Camp Chef, and Dometic.

Sea to Summit traveled from Boulder, Colorado, for the weekend with sleeping pads and bags, compressible backpacks, tech towels, and more from its line in tow. Part of the brand鈥檚 display included a BMW motorbike with the company鈥檚 durable dry bags lashed to the back.

鈥淭here is a lot more cross pollination throughout it than you might think,鈥� said Barry Robertson, Sea to Summit鈥檚 minister of education. 鈥淭his is just an extension for us. It鈥檚 not a completely different market; it鈥檚 a different segment of the same market.鈥�

Bouncing between his brand鈥檚 booths, Matt Glass felt similarly. The WH Inc. (formerly Hayter Communications) senior account executive works with Dometic, OnX, Step 22, and iKamper, among other outdoor brands. He said the top trends at the show were innovation, technology, portability, and usability, which are all making overlanding easier and more accessible for all types of users.

鈥淲hile you might not think of yourself as an offroader or an overlander, there鈥檚 gear within this space for just about anybody who gets outdoors,鈥� Glass said. 鈥淪o while this has been its own segment for a long time, the fact is that a lot of people use their vehicles to get outdoors to do different activities.

For all exhibitors, the face-to-face time with consumers as well as other brands wanting to collaborate was invaluable especially after the 2020 events were postponed due to the coronavirus. Luno, which launched in 2018 with an air mattress that fits in the back of a vehicle, attended for its very first time after customers encouraged them to go.听

Said Luno founder Pete Ducato, 鈥淭he overland customer is the one who pushes our product the most. If we鈥檙e not designing it for them first, then it鈥檚 hard to kind of gain respect.鈥�

Allie Vaughan, head of product, added, 鈥淚鈥檝e heard so many people saying, 鈥業 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 know I really wanted it until I saw it in person鈥� or 鈥業 just needed to see it in person to really justify my decision.鈥� Especially for stuff like this with a high price tag, it鈥檚 super important to be able to see and feel and mess around with it in person.鈥澛�

Because the overlanding industry overlaps with so many other outdoor activities, it鈥檚 not easy to track the exact size of the market. But based on multiple sources collecting data on the greater outdoor industry鈥檚 growth鈥�7.1 million more Americans participated in 2020 than the year prior, according to Outdoor Industry Association鈥攖he overlanding segment is also poised for success.

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With global demand for outdoor products growing significantly since the onset of COVID-19, U.S. brands are eager to expand to new markets and boost their top lines.

Unfortunately, the barriers to global expansion can seem steep. From securing reputable trade partners to building brand recognition to understanding a country鈥檚 sales channels to (occasionally) overcoming a language difference, it鈥檚 easy to see how a brand鈥檚 efforts to gain footing on foreign soil could get lost in translation.

Mystery Ranch, the Bozeman, Montana-based pack brand, considered these pitfalls when it began looking to bring its outdoor products to Australia. The brand was already distributing its military products there but wanted to tap into the rising demand for outdoor gear, said the company鈥檚 VP of sales and marketing, Alex Kutches.

The company found a unique solution by contracting with the outdoor gear brand Sea to Summit for distribution Down Under. The idea of enlisting an experienced partner with a long history in the country was much preferred to going in green, and with Sea to Summit, Kutches said, Mystery Ranch secured 鈥渁 pretty comprehensive partner solution.鈥�

鈥淪ea to Summit has a great team, excellent resources, and coverage across the whole of Australia,鈥� Kutches said when the deal was announced. 鈥淭heir reputation as a brand precedes them as being fabulous to work with and their coverage of the Australian market is tremendous in specialty outdoor retail in addition to hunting, fire, and military.鈥�

This newly inked partnership is ideal for Mystery Ranch as the brand looks to grow its footprint without overextending its sales, marketing, and distribution capabilities.

The arrangement will have Australia-based Sea to Summit handle the heavy lifting as it brings the Mystery Ranch brand to consumers across the continent. The distribution model is nothing new, of course, but it is rare for a brand like Sea to Summit to handle all its own distribution, Kutches said. In early 2020, the company acquired the North American distributorship from Andrew and Shelly Dunbar, bringing it back under the global umbrella.

Hiring another outdoor brand鈥攁lbeit one that operates in non-competitive categories鈥攖o handle distribution in that brand鈥檚 home nation as part of a global expansion campaign was intriguing if not unprecedented, so we spoke with Kutches about the drivers behind the move, Mystery Ranch鈥檚 expectations in Australia, and his advice for others seeking a similar path. Here鈥檚 what he shared.

Why did Mystery Ranch choose Sea to Summit for this distribution partnership?

As you鈥檙e looking at foreign markets, you must be sure the people you work with have good relationships. Sea to Summit in Australia is quite a robust organization. They have a huge part of their business that focuses on the Australian market as a distributor. They sell to everybody down there, and they do an amazing job. I think they鈥檙e a gold standard and we鈥檙e excited to be working with them.

Why the distributor model there?

When you work with a distributor, you鈥檙e acknowledging that you鈥檙e leaving room for them to do their job and make money at it because they鈥檙e going to be better at it in their home nation than you ever would be. A distributor model can be a powerful thing. On the other hand, look at larger brands that have chosen to open subsidiaries in large developing markets like China. For that route, you need to create the subsidiary, open a warehouse, staff the business with salespeople, market your product there, and deal with the currency impact. The list goes on and on and on. It makes sense for them because they鈥檙e at that scale to go for it, whereas for us as a smaller brand, it doesn鈥檛 make sense.

What are Mystery Ranch鈥檚 expectations for the Australian expansion? Can you share specific revenue or unit sales goals, or is it more about exposing the brand to a new market?

There鈥檚 an old adage, 鈥淚f it doesn鈥檛 make dollars, it doesn鈥檛 make sense.鈥� We talk to each of our potential distributor partners in advance of signing any distributor agreement about the potential because, quite frankly, they know the market opportunity. They recognize the amount of work it鈥檚 going to take. With Sea to Summit, we talked about that with their team. Their general manager, Terry [Anderson], worked with his crew and came up with a plan. When you enter into an agreement like this, there are no guarantees, but we have a mutual understanding of working together so both partners can be as successful as possible.

Is this a path other brands should consider pursuing as they eye global expansion?

It depends if the brand鈥檚 ready for it and if the company handling distribution has the capacity to take on another brand and build it in that market. The timing of that, and the energy that goes into it, are not to be underestimated. You also need to understand your market position, how fresh your concept is, how strong demand for your product is. It can be a great opportunity, but you鈥檝e got to be ready to tackle it and to hit it right if you want to grow into a new market.

What is your advice to other brands looking to expand to a new global market when it comes to selecting a good distribution partner that also happens to be an outdoor brand?

It is a rarer situation than one might think to have a globally distributed brand that is also operating as a distributor in their home nation. The most important thing is arriving at a good fit for both businesses鈥� needs. The distributor would need to have a place in their portfolio for the brand鈥檚 product lines to be distributed. The brand would need to see that the distributor can meet its goals in selling, servicing, and marketing the brand in the distributor鈥檚 market.

Does Mystery Ranch believe it鈥檚 tapping into an ideal opportunity because of the COVID-fueled outdoor gear boom?

In the U.S., you鈥檙e seeing outdoor culture be embraced by the mainstream in a way that we saw running be embraced back in the 鈥�80s and snowboarding be embraced in the 鈥�90s. Outdoor growth is happening because people are digging these self-propelled activities and want to stay involved with them. The question now becomes, 鈥淗ow do we stay on top of it and keep fueling things?鈥� We鈥檙e seeing that not just in the United States but in other markets, too, that also have strong outdoor cultures. Because of the pandemic, people have been eager to go outside and participate in these activities, which is exciting. There鈥檚 a global explosion as people get outdoors鈥攁nd when travel bans are fully lifted, it鈥檚 going to be atomic.

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One of this season鈥檚 most-lauded new tent lines comes from a company that doesn鈥檛 do tents. Well, 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 do tents. Sea to Summit鈥攂est known for its sleeping bags, sleeping pads, and accessories like drybags and cookware鈥攑lanted its flag solidly in the tent category with the ultralight Alto/Telos series this spring. The series, which includes eight iterations with options for freestanding and semi-freestanding designs and one- to three-person sizes, was the brand鈥檚 longest and most expensive design project to date. Judging by the awards rolling in鈥攖he Telos TR2 won 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 Gear of the Year 2021 and Backpacker鈥檚 Editors鈥� Choice Award 2021鈥攖hat investment is paying off.

How鈥攁nd why鈥攄id a brand that 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 make tents at all enter the market with such a splash? (For the record, Sea to Summit did briefly offer tents a decade ago before deciding to back out of the shelter game for a time.) It all came down to seeing an opportunity to improve what was currently on the market, according to company founder and co-director Roland Tyson. 鈥淵ou set up camp and it starts raining, so everyone is going to disappear into their tents,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o be able to have multiple shelters set up and still be very social, playing cards or cooking鈥攚e started off with that goal. That鈥檚 what inspired us to start doing tents.鈥� That desire turned into the series鈥� signature 鈥渉angout mode,鈥� in which users can pitch the fly as a semi-open shelter from sun and rain.

As Sea to Summit鈥檚 designers dug into the ideation phase, the team “spent an amazing amount of time seeing what people 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 like about tents,鈥� Tyson said. Chief among the complaints: condensation, lack of ventilation, and the claustrophobic feel. Around this time, the brand struck up a conversation with Jake Lah, founder and head designer of pole company DAC. Lah (the “godfather of the tent poles industry,鈥� according to Tyson), known for his architectural design chops, had been developing a new pole configuration on his own. 鈥淗e wanted to share it with someone he thought could do it justice,鈥� said Paramjeet 鈥淧J鈥� Singh, Sea to Summit鈥檚 senior designer. The concept, called Tension Ridge, introduced V-shaped brow poles that let the designers tackle their major goals in a new way. Tension Ridge 鈥渋s like the key that unlocked all these other features,鈥� said Penny Sanderson, company co-director.

For example: the new architecture allows for near-vertical tent walls and plenty of headroom. It also lets Sea to Summit place large vents much higher up than other models, greatly reducing condensation problems. And then there are the details. Singh said the team obsessed over 鈥渟imple” things: “How do you attach your fly to your inner? Is it a single-handed operation? Will it break in five years? What if there鈥檚 a rock there when you鈥檙e staking out your tent鈥攊s the stake adjustable? When it鈥檚 windy, do the metal zipper pulls keep knocking on your fly all through the night? What do you do when you unpack your tent and you have two or three stuff sacks? Can we use them somehow, make them into storage buckets inside the tent?鈥� That attention to detail even extended into how the color of the fly affects the quality of light inside the tent in different weather conditions.

The Alto/Telos series could be just the beginning, Singh said. 鈥淥f course, when you鈥檙e entering into a category, you can鈥檛 just do everything. We had lots of further ideas, which are now simmering on the side.鈥� Sounds like Sea to Summit will have to get used to the idea of being a tent brand, too.

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Picture this: somewhere deep in the rugged and remote area of Kimberley, northwest Australia, a group of backpackers sits up into the wee hours around a waning campfire, talking about gear. They鈥檙e dreaming big鈥攚hat if sleeping pads were lighter and more comfortable? What if cooking pots collapsed flat? Wouldn鈥檛 it be cool if you could attach the tent fly to the tent with just one hand? Such conversations are probably familiar to any crew of gear heads, but usually, the talk tends to remain just that: talk.

Not for this group. It鈥檚 the design team at Sea to Summit, out on one of its official wilderness trips; and when they get back to the office, they鈥檒l get to work turning those campfire dreams into real products. 鈥淎 lot of the innovation is from when we go away and do trips,鈥� said Roland Tyson, Sea to Summit鈥檚 founder and co-director. 鈥淚t keeps you fresh,鈥� added Penny Sanderson, co-director.

Sea to Summit has been around for three decades now, cranking out award-winning products all the while. There鈥檚 the Ultra-Sil Drysack, winner of a Backpacker Editors鈥� Choice Award back in 2006. And the Event Compression Drysack, which got another nod from Backpacker in 2007 and an Outdoor Gear Lab Top Pick in 2019. The year 2015 was a big one, when the Comfort Plus Insulated Air Mat garnered awards from five organizations and the X-Pot took home three. The list goes on, encompassing everything from cooking gear to accessories to sleeping pads and bags. This year, Sea to Summit added another string of accolades for its new foray into tents, the Alto/Telos line of backpacking shelters.

How do they do it? Simple, say the designers: actually get out backpacking, climbing, and paddling. We鈥檙e talking serious explorations, often into the Australia-based brand鈥檚 local wilderness and involving sea planes, paddling, and multiday trekking. The kinds of journeys that teach designers to prize lightweight, durable, versatile gear. And 鈥渋t needs to be dependable, because in the Australian outback there are no fallback options,” according to Paramjeet 鈥淧J鈥� Singh, senior designer and veteran of decades of the brand鈥檚 trips.

鈥淲hen we go on design trips, we鈥檙e sitting up until two in the morning talking about gear because we can鈥檛 help ourselves,鈥� Tyson said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a bunch of designers geeking out. When you get a group of like-minded people together, it鈥檚 so easy.鈥�

Case in point: the brand鈥檚 celebrated X-Pot, a collapsible silicone cooking pot. As the designers packed up their gear one morning on another foray into the Kimberleys, Tyson remembered, someone wished the pots could smush flat like the brand鈥檚 bowls did. 鈥淲hen we get back, we should see if we can put an aluminum base on the bowl and put it on the stove,鈥� someone else said. 鈥淏asically we go back and go, 鈥楾hat actually works, that鈥檚 amazing,鈥欌�� Tyson said. 鈥淗ere鈥檚 something we can solve.鈥� The X-Pot hit the market a couple of years later.

Sea to Summit鈥檚 six-person design team also holds itself to incredibly high standards, its members said. They don鈥檛 make a sleeping pad or a bag just for the sake of making one: 鈥淲hen we develop a product, it has to be the best,鈥� Tyson said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 our basic design philosophy. If we can鈥檛 come up with an idea that鈥檚 better than [existing products], then don鈥檛 do it.鈥� One tradition that helps set the bar: the brand鈥檚 dreaded Pit of Scorn. 鈥淚t鈥檚 where designers and other people sit together, and designers bring their ideas to the table,鈥� Singh said. 鈥淭hose ideas are ruthlessly, mercilessly scorned out. It鈥檚 a honing exercise, and where a lot of ideas find their grave. Everyone鈥檚 a bit wary of it, but we enjoy it.鈥�

Anything that makes it through the Pit of Scorn goes through an intensive design process, often lasting years. Sometimes Sea to Summit has to pioneer new materials to get things just right, which is made possible by the brand鈥檚 close relationship with its factories. Prototype after prototype undergoes testing on the design team鈥檚 expeditions. Only the best of the best actually hits the market. 鈥淎ny product that makes the grade to be a Sea to Summit product has to be totally innovative in some way,鈥� Singh said. 鈥淯nless you鈥檙e pushing the design limit, we don鈥檛 want to put the Sea to Summit stamp on that.”

It鈥檚 no wonder smart design is so prized鈥攁fter all, Sea to Summit was founded by a designer who started out in his childhood bedroom. 鈥淭he fact that Roland is a designer helps a lot,鈥� Singh said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not constrained. A company that is run by a designer is very different because you don鈥檛 make compromises.鈥�

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Way back when, in 1983鈥攂efore the Everest expedition and the winter traverse across the Himalaya, before the Sea to Summit company and the team of designers and the dozens of awards鈥擱oland Tyson was just a teenager with a secondhand sewing machine.

Growing up in Perth, Australia, Roland spent his childhood bushwalking (what non-Ozzies would call hiking), climbing, whitewater paddling, and caving. So, at 17, it wasn鈥檛 much of a stretch for him to start tinkering with gear designs. Turns out, he was good at it鈥攇ood enough to upgrade to an industrial sewing machine within a couple of years and start turning out serviceable gear. He considers a backpack his first real item, 鈥渢he first thing I made where I went, 鈥榊eah, that looks all right,鈥欌�� Tyson said. He couldn鈥檛 know then, of course, that that 鈥渁ll right鈥� pack was the ancestor of a long line of groundbreaking gear he鈥檇 design over three decades as the founder of Sea to Summit.

It wasn鈥檛 long before Tyson took his ideas to market. An early job in retail at an Australian outdoor chain had him doing gear repairs, which led to making stuff sacks, drybags, and other accessories to sell in the stores. In 1986, at 20 years old, Tyson founded his own business, Namche Bazaar, to handle the volume. The first people on the payroll? His grandparents and mother.

The Birth of Sea to Summit

As he built his business, Tyson kept pushing his limits in the outdoors, honing his big-mountain and climbing skills. That鈥檚 how he met Tim McCartney-Snape, one of the first two Australians to summit Mt. Everest (the other was his climbing partner, Greg Mortimer). McCartney-Snape was planning an ambitious next act: traveling from the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean to the top of Everest entirely under human power, a journey of more than 700 miles that would take him, literally, from 鈥渟ea to summit.鈥� He asked Tyson to make some custom gear that would serve him well on all stages of the adventure, so Tyson jumped in. He modified some existing gear to McCartney-Snape鈥檚 specs, and also created his own bags, medical kits, and other accessories. 鈥淎 lot of it was custom-made, stuff that he wanted uniquely designed and developed for that expedition,鈥� Tyson said. The famed mountaineer pulled off the successful expedition in 1990. And the gear? 鈥淭here were no complaints,鈥� Tyson said with a smile.

Upon McCartney-Snape鈥檚 return, he and Tyson teamed up to launch Sea to Summit, originally a sister company to Namche Bazaar that sold apparel. Before the end of 1990, though, the two brands merged into one under the new name inspired by McCartney-Snape鈥檚 expedition. With a designer-adventurer for a founder, it鈥檚 no surprise Sea to Summit was conceived as a brand that prioritized both innovative design and in-the-field functionality.

Grounded in 国产吃瓜黑料

Tyson 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 let his burgeoning business keep him from pursuing his outdoor ambitions, though. Making time to explore some of the wildest reaches of the planet was鈥攁nd remains to this day鈥攊ntegral to both his work and his life. Case in point: a bold plan to traverse the Himalaya in the winter. 鈥淚t was pretty audacious at that time,鈥� the early 鈥�90s, said Paramjeet 鈥淧J鈥� Singh, a friend who tackled the route with him (and is now a senior designer at Sea to Summit). 鈥淲e weren鈥檛 into big expeditions, which meant a lot of logistics and support. We were more into self-supported trips.鈥� After several attempts to cross the route鈥檚 skyscraping mountain passes on skis, Tyson, Singh, and three other fellow adventurers finally pulled off the traverse in 1991. 鈥淚t was probably the hardest thing we had ever done, in terms of seriousness and exposure in an unknown part of the world,鈥� Singh said.

Those kinds of expeditions translated directly into Tyson鈥檚 approach to the gear he made, most of which targeted the self-sufficient outdoor traveler. 鈥淩oland was inventing and reimagining pieces that no one else was thinking about,鈥� Singh said. 鈥淏ack in the day, the gear industry was concentrated on all the big things, backpacks and sleeping bags and tents. No one was really thinking about what else is required to make your trips easier to manage. That meant focusing on lightweight, weather-protective essentials that made backcountry travel smoother, 鈥渨hether you were touring or sailing or walking or going for expeditions in the Himalaya.鈥�

In those early years, Tyson also met someone who鈥檇 change the course of his business and his life: Penny Sanderson, a buyer for the retail arm of Australian Geographic. Her company was buying gear from Sea to Summit, so she traveled frequently from Sydney to Perth, and by 1993, she and Tyson were romantic partners and colleagues. 鈥淚 was in everything and anything,鈥� she remembered. 鈥淲e were so tiny, just three machinists and Roland鈥檚 mom. I used to do the books, and I was really good at collecting debts as well.鈥� As the business grew, Tyson and Sanderson set aside several months every year to go sailing, trekking, overlanding, and cycling, always testing gear prototypes and tweaking designs as they went.

Over the past 30-plus years, Sea to Summit has grown into an international brand with a team of six designers and a variety of outdoor products. It still focuses on carefully designed accessories, such as drybags, compression sacks, and travel bags, but the company鈥檚 scope has expanded to include kitchen gear, hammocks, sleeping pads, and sleeping bags, and鈥攏ew for this season鈥攗ltralight tents. Tyson鈥檚 products have garnered a slew of 鈥渂est of鈥� awards from outdoor publications like 国产吃瓜黑料, Backpacker, Gear Institute, and many more. He鈥檚 come a long way from the teenager who used to experiment with DIY gear in his bedroom, but one thing hasn鈥檛 changed: it all begins with his dual passions, great design and the great outdoors.

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A surging interest in outdoor activities has sparked one brand to venture beyond the general consumer marketplace and target a more niche audience鈥攐ne that would rather cook at a campsite than in a kitchen.

Oxo, known for a variety of kitchen utensils, office supplies, and housewares sold in stores like Target and Walmart, on Tuesday announced the launch of Oxo Outdoor. The brand will feature ten curated outdoor cooking and cleaning products, all sold exclusively at REI Co-op beginning this month and for the next two years. Once that two-year agreement has ended, Oxo said there is “potential to expand to additional retail partnerships in the future.”聽

Oxo is part of the Housewares division of Helen of Troy Ltd., the publicly traded company that also owns insulated bottle brand Hydro Flask.

Launching another outdoor product line makes sense given Helen of Troy鈥檚 recent quarterly performance. The company reported sales for its Housewares segment grew 12.1 percent to $162.5 million in the fiscal fourth quarter, adding that Hydro Flask is expected to 鈥渂enefit further as the post-pandemic landscape takes shape.鈥�

Now Oxo hopes to find similar success in that landscape alongside its portfolio mate. Oxo Outdoor is launching with a utensil set, grilling set, can and bottle opener, squeeze bottle set, cutting board, and cleaning brushes. Products coming soon include a French press, chef鈥檚 knife, and griddle turner.

鈥淎t Oxo, we鈥檙e always searching for ways to make consumers鈥� lives better,鈥� said Larry Witt, president of Helen of Troy Housewares. 鈥淥ur research showed that outdoor-focused consumers were not provided access to high-quality, functional cooking tools designed for the outdoors, and as a result, many used worn or retired tools from their homes. Oxo is creating better gear for better outdoor cooking and cleaning experiences, uniquely framed for campers and their needs. The creation of the new Oxo Outdoor line has broad and exciting implications for our brand鈥攏ew challenges to tackle, new experiences to improve鈥攁nother proof point of Oxo making every day better.鈥�

Oxo: 鈥淭he best of the indoors, outside鈥�

The camp kitchen category is a crowded one, and Oxo is joining such outdoor stalwarts as GSI Outdoors, MSR, Sea to Summit, Snow Peak, and others. But REI sees room on the shelf for the newcomer as demand for outdoor kitchen products continues to spike alongside demand for camping, backpacking, and RVing goods.

鈥淎s more people turn to the outdoors to reconnect and unwind with friends and family, we recognize the importance of offering products to help them elevate their experience,鈥� said Melissa Paul, REI senior merchandising category manager. 鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled to offer the Oxo Outdoor collection to our customers first, and we are excited for what鈥檚 next as we work together to solve a unique challenge in the camp space. It makes a lot of sense for us to partner with brands like Oxo, already known for designing great kitchen tools, to help us bring the best of the indoors outside.鈥�

Being a sister brand to Hydro Flask and launching a camp kitchen line aren鈥檛 Oxo鈥檚 only connections to the outdoors. The brand said it 鈥渂egan to prioritize the outdoors in March 2020鈥� when it joined 1% for the Planet. Through the nonprofit, Oxo pledged to donate 1 percent of annual sales to a variety of environmental causes.

Courtney Gearhart, an REI spokesperson, told 国产吃瓜黑料 Business Journal that Oxo鈥檚 partnership with 1% for the Planet wasn鈥檛 a factor in bringing aboard the new brand. Instead, she said the Co-op is eager to bring a curated collection of kitchen tools to a new audience while gaining insights into how these consumers use the products on adventures ranging from overnight car camping trips to extended backpacking treks.

According to a press release, 鈥淩EI and Oxo will continue to share insights on customer needs to improve the outdoor kitchen experience and intend to develop and roll out a thoughtful assortment of new, innovative tools for year two and beyond. Product development insights gleaned from REI鈥檚 co-op community of camping enthusiasts help to identify opportunities for better outdoor cooking tools and experiences through focus groups and rounds of hands-on testing at campsites.鈥�

Added Gearhart, 鈥淲e are most excited about where this collaboration can go and being able to blend our activity knowledge and access to customer insights with their problem-solving and design approach.鈥�

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Andrew Alexander King climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in boots he bought at Walmart. Now, his home is full of gear from some of the biggest brands in the outdoor industry like Black Diamond, Sea to Summit, and Mammut.

King will use the gear to achieve some grand goals like becoming the first African American to climb the Seven Summits. But here鈥檚 the thing: King isn鈥檛 your typical pro athlete who grew up learning to climb. He鈥檚 a freelance program manager who has worked for companies like Live Nation, Lego, and the New England Patriots.

So how did he become an athlete ambassador in the outdoor industry?

King was raised in poverty in Detroit and moved to Hawaii as a teen when he was adopted by his grandparents. It was there that he dove into the outdoors and taught himself to climb and surf. When George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery were killed last year, soon after his great grandmother died from COVID-19, King sought the one place where he felt safe.

鈥淢other Nature’s not trying to kill me. The outdoors was the safest space in my head,鈥� King said. 鈥淎fter George Floyd, my protest was going to the mountains and into the ocean. If you’re going to kill me for being Black, then you’re going to have to find me in the middle of the ocean or at the top of a mountain.鈥�

For years, King had been climbing around the world and volunteering and donating in communities he visited through his social awareness initiative, The Between Worlds Project. When he decided in 2020 to climb the Seven Summits, it was around the time that outdoor brands were spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement to reexamine their roster of athletes and take notice of the overwhelming lack of diversity. Many reached out to discuss partnerships with King, but he was mindful about how he entered the athlete ambassadorship space.

鈥淲hen you look at mountaineering, it is a colonial sport. Most people who are getting publicity are of Caucasian descent,鈥� he said. 鈥淚’m going to do this climbing goal in a way that’s breaking through glass ceilings and learning about issues in different communities along the way.鈥�

King estimates that it will take $190,000 and ten years to complete his goal of climbing the Seven Summits. He will soon climb Denali in June with 国产吃瓜黑料 Consultants. While most of his time is spent training for this endeavor, he found a moment to speak with us about how he鈥檚 holding brands accountable for how they work with and represent athletes of color.

How are you changing the way athletes work as ambassadors with brands?

I knew about athlete ambassadorships because I was a D1 track athlete at the University of Maine, and when you work for corporate spaces, you understand the economics and the contracts of what it means to be an ambassador. I think that’s what freaked out a lot of brands when they reached out this summer. They were like, 鈥淭his guy understands media rights contracts, like how much his image is worth. He’s not just going to take gear.鈥�

I don鈥檛 just want free gear because I know, when you put my face on an ad, how much it’s going to be worth over time. It’s very rare to have an athlete that’s not a pro athlete come in and be like, 鈥淵ou can have my photos for one year. Any time after that you have to re-sign or go through contracts.鈥� If you put my face up in 2023 without my consent, you’re profiting off that, which is exploiting my story and my culture to benefit your profits.

I’ve been working in the corporate space and know that every brand needs to have core values to keep them in line with what they’re doing. If your core values don鈥檛 align with mine, then I know you’re not going to be a good fit.

I tell outdoor brands, here are my core values: Can you leave a place better than when you found it? Do you empower people of color in that community, so they feel like you’re helping them? Do you give back to nonprofits? Do you establish some kind of ambassador program that lets people of color speak about their struggle and not take that struggle and profit off it? Can you show me your diversity and inclusion initiatives and how you’re going to elevate that over time?

I challenged the brands. I’m not putting any clothes on, I’m not tagging any photos, I’m not putting anything out, if you do not sign me with a contract because we’re in this together. And if you sign me, I’m not just going to take photos on top of a mountain. I’m going to talk about world issues, openly and publicly, and if you’re not comfortable with that, then we shouldn’t work together.

I’m trying to set up a place for athletes of color to really feel included. I think a lot of brands realized that I鈥檓 changing the way we think of activism and athletes in the outdoor space.

How did the brands respond?

The only brand that really got me was Black Diamond. Tyler Wicutt, sports marketing manager (who has since left the brand), heard about what I was trying to do with The Between Worlds Project and how I鈥檓 making sure I understand the people and their issues in local communities and bring them forward as I climb. Wilcutt said, 鈥淭his is bigger than climbing mountains. This is actually pushing things forward.鈥�

They started loading me up with gear. They were followed by other brands over time, like Hoka One One and then Sea to Summit. Some people were pretty apprehensive because Black Diamond was tied up in the bad publicity with their parent company [who sold body armor, riot gear, and tear gas] used during the George Floyd protests. I met with them, we all sat down, and I said, 鈥淣one of us are perfect. I’m not perfect, you’re not perfect. But this story is about progression. If we’re going to do this, let’s build it together.鈥�

There are other brands that are in the outdoor space that gave gear and stuff, but when we sat down and I really pushed those core value questions, they couldn鈥檛 answer them. You鈥檒l put a [Black Lives Matter] posts up, but are you going to really start diversifying your portfolio of athletes? Can you tell me how you’re going to pick your athletes?

How can other athletes better navigate the ambassadorship space in the outdoors?

Find mentors and reach out. My mentor is Melissa Arnot Reid, the first woman to ascend and descend Everest six times. She already knows what it is to be a minority in a very male-dominant sport, and she did it on her own terms. Finding mentors that help you articulate what you’re trying to be and understanding your value really does help.

Secondly, understand from a corporate standpoint what your value is by knowing who you are.听 A lot of individuals just take the gear, because they break through the glass ceiling, and think, 鈥淚’m just taking anything I can get.鈥� You have to ask, how do you keep this going?

Can you explain why you started The Between Worlds Project and what you do with it?

Every time I go somewhere and climb, I give back to a nonprofit that is pushing through the glass ceiling, so we can stand above it collectively and diversely, to make a better place for the human race in the outdoor space. That鈥檚 The Between Worlds Project.听

I look at the region and I see what they鈥檙e really struggling with. Then I look for a nonprofit that is not heavily funded or funded by an individual. I reach out and say I’m looking to come and learn about their struggles and issues and help elevate it. Plus, I donate up to $200 of wishlist items to them. In the Dominican Republic, Charlie鈥檚 Foundation needed school supplies, so I donated face masks and up to 250 school supplies like construction paper, glue sticks, pencils, chalk, and white boards.

For Denali, the issue I’m going to tackle is racism because it鈥檚 one that’s close to me, and something we struggle with in America. I am going to donate $1,000 to Kai Lightner鈥檚 nonprofit, Climbing for Change. I don’t want to do just a monetary band aid, but I know for him, he needs it because he gives that money to other individuals and provides them the chance to buy gear. If I have enough, I want to donate $500 to the NAACP chapter within Minnesota for George Floyd.

I’ve always paid for The Between Worlds Project for the last six years. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to go to school, earn two degrees, and work for Fortune 500 companies. This is how I wish to give back on my journey.

What will you do after you summit the Seven?

When I’m at the top of Everest, I’m walking away. I’m going to go back to helping nonprofits, be an old guy surfing. It’ll be someone else’s turn. For now, I鈥檓 setting up structures with certain brands, so individuals, like women and men of color, really have an opportunity to speak and tell their story with brands that will help them.

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