SW Colorado’s premier guide service to use Outdoor Research gear for rock, alpine, ice and backcountry skiing guiding, instruction.
Seattle, WASH., and Ouray, COLO. – In a new partnership with one of the country’s leading mountain guide services, Outdoor Research, the independent, Seattle-based manufacturer of outdoor apparel and accessories, will team up with San Juan Mountain Guides. The long-standing, southwestern Colorado guide service recently expanded, giving it the largest amount of guidable terrain in the state. In addition, San Juan Mountain Guides is the the official Ouray Ice Park concessionaire, and the leading service for guided ice climbing in North America.
Moving forward, Outdoor Research will supply all of the uniforms for San Juan Mountain Guides, including apparel, gloves, hats and accessories for climbing and backcountry skiing.
In addition, San Juan Mountain Guides will provide feedback to the Outdoor Research product development team on an ongoing basis. Already, San Juan Mountain Guide Mark Allen is an Alpine Climbing Ambassador for Outdoor Research.
“At its core, this relationship is about us working with a committed gear manufacturer that we know builds the kinds of products we need to do our jobs. It’s a very natural and complementary partnership,” said Nate Disser, owner of San Juan Mountain Guides and a board member of the American Mountain Guides Assocation (AMGA). “We look forward to being a part of the feedback loop that helps Outdoor Research continue to innovate.”
Based in Ouray and Durango, Colo, San Juan Mountain Guides is an AMGA-accredited guide service, and offers guiding and instruction with AMGA- and IFMGA-certified alpine, rock and ski guides in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, as well as select domestic and international climbing and skiing destinations. San Juan Mountain Guides services terrain from Ouray to Silverton, Durango, Ophir and Telluride. The service offers guided rock, ice and alpine climbing, backcountry skiing and avalanche safety instruction, as well as guided backpacking and canyoneering.
Outdoor Research products that will be used by San Juan Mountain Guides include the Havoc, Alibi and Centrifuge jackets, the Cirque and Trailbreaker pants, and the Stormtracker gloves, among others.
“Southwestern Colorado is very clearly one of those core mountain places that attracts core outdoor people, and it’s one of the most unique places in the world to ice climb, so the opportunity to partner with the premier guide service in the region made complete sense for us,” said Dan Nordstrom, CEO of Outdoor Research. “We’re very committed to this region, other core mountain areas like it, and our retailers in those places.”
The growth of San Juan Mountain Guides results from the merging of two independent guide services. Disser, who owned Southwest Adventure Guides in Durango, merged his outfit with San Juan Mountain Guides in Ouray, earlier this summer. The larger outfit moves forward under the name San Juan Mountain Guides, with the largest permitted terrain for mountain guiding in the state. This month, the company also debuted a new web site offering information on San Juan Mountain Guides’ trips and instruction offerings, as well as information on local conditions in and around the San Juans.
Outdoor Research is sold through several outdoor specialty retailers in the San Juan Mountains, including Backcountry Experience,Ouray Mountain Sports, 2nd Avenue Sports,and Pine Needle Mountaineering.