MOUNTAIN KHAKIS - Built For The Mountain Life Blog

Nick Troutman Ties For First at Paddling Life Invitational

MK Ambassador Nick Troutman is coming off a successful weekend in Steamboat Springs, Colorado by ending up in the first-ever tie for first place at the Paddling Life Invitational.  The event drew some of the best men and women kayakers in the world to Steamboat to compete in this one-day, two-event competition.

Nick, a member of Team Jackson Kayak, finished 6th in the creek race and 1st in freestyle to tie him for first place with Andrew Holcombe.  They shared the money and played Rock, Paper, Scissors in order to fairly split the other prizes.

Nick has a full summer of competitions ahead of him, including the Teva Mountain Games and FibArk Festival, both in Colorado.  Good luck Nick!!

10 Days, 2 Continents, 2 Pairs of Pants

MK Dealer Services rep Joey Norman reports on his recent international study trip to Chile:

First of all, Chile is an amazing country, with wonderful people and beautiful sights.  I got to spend 10 days in Santiago, Chile doing humanitarian work for Un Techo Para Chile, studying the Chilean economy, and rock climbing in the Andes.  Luckily the good folks here at MK let me go as long as I blogged about my experience.  So here goes...

In total 15 of us from the McColl Graduate School of Business participated in this trip.  We spent two days in Penaflor, a small village outside of Santiago, where we built houses with Un Techo Para Chile.  Un Techo is a great organization that works with people living in campamientos to find them temporary shelter first and then permanent shelter.  Along the way these families are required to seek eduacation and better themselves.  My Original Mountain Pants performed especially well here, from climbing the roof to digging the foundation.

Just Announced - Jackson Hole Music Festival

To many of us, summer would not be complete without attending at least one outdoor music festival.  As they say, summer is festival season, and now festival season has come to Jackson Hole in a new way.  Just announced, the first annual Jackson Hole Music Festival will take place August 16th and 17th at the base of the Bridger Gondola in Teton Village. 

Produced by The Festival Network, who also produces the Newport Jazz Festival and other jazz festivals around the country, the JH Music Festival includes big names such as Wilco, Medeski Martin & Wood, Kaki King, Black Crowes, Avett Brothers, and more.  Artists are still being added.  We'll keep you posted, so check back soon.

New River Rendezvous - Recap

The 6th annual New River Rendezvous was a true success and MK was thrilled to be on board as a sponsor.  We started off Thursday night with some fierce and hysterical competition - The Pants Olympics!  Thanks to emcee Jay Young and some often pants-less competitors; it was a riot.  Friday brought some wet weather, with plenty of festival-goers and climbers.  Saturday featured gorgeous weather and great competition - from sport and trad to bouldering and top-roping.  The Gorge handled the traffic well, and climbing stories were shared well into the night.  The crowds rocked out to Odub, devoured Dessert-a-Palooza, smashed into Crash Pad sumo wrestlers, perused the sponsor tents and cheered on the Dyno competitors.  We had great traffic at the MK booth and loved seeing all of the faithful volunteers in their Alpine Shorts and Cargo Capris.

The No-Waste Initiative was a huge success and we must applaud bothe the organizers and the participants for drastically reducing waste produced by the festival.  I would have to say it was kind of chic to carry around your reusable utensils and plates and pack in as many carpoolers as possible.  Great job NRAC, Water Stone Outdoors, and all who participated.  We hope to see you there next year!

SGB Inaugural 40 Under 40 Awards

Congratulations to our very own Ross Saldarini, CEO of Mountain Khakis, for being named a finalist for the first ever 40 Under 40 Awards by the Sporting Good Business (SGB) Group.  The finalists were honored by their peers as the best and brightest of the next generation of industry leaders.

The finalists represent a diverse group of the market from retail, outdoor, footwear, team sports, apparel and golf.  The awards coincide with the 40th birthday of SGB magazine.  Congrats Ross!

(Photo stolen from the Saldarini Flickr album)