Product Feature

Looking Back on Summer 2021

Sheila Raff — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 15:44:18 +0000

Looking Back on Summer 2021

Posted in

Product Feature

Post date

Fri, 04/01/2022

Author

Sheila Raff

Looking back at Mount Olympus, the highest point in Olympic National Park, was the highlight of a week- long backpacking trip I did last summer. This meadow was my favorite section of the trip; no people to be seen and on high alert for bears. The meadow seemed to be untouched by humans. In preparing for my trip, I made a conscious effort to use at least one product from each of the brands the Alta Group represents. Typically, it is easy to use products from our brands during individual activities; Petzl for rock climbing, Primus for camping, Crazy Creek for stadium seating, Mazama Designs for mountain biking, Oboz for hiking, Adventure Ready Brands for emergency preparedness and Nikwax for cleaning and conditioning my technical apparel. From the minute I decided to make the trip, I planned out what product from each of our brands I would use during the trip.

I started off by using Nikwax Tent and Gear Solarwash and Tent and Gear Solarproof to clean and condition my backpack and tent. At the beginning and end of each season, I clean and condition my gear to prolong its life.

Next step was to review the Mountaineers 10 Essentials. The widely respected safety and packing system, dating back to the 1930’s, was my checklist for packing. The 10 Essentials answers 2 basic questions: 1) Can you prevent emergencies and respond positively should one occur? 2) Can you safely spend a night or more outside? As I went through the 10 Essentials, I kept in mind product from our brands. It was easy to pack multiple items from each brand.

Mountaineers 10 Essentials:

Navigation
Headlamp
Sun Protection
First Aid
Knife
Fire
Shelter
Extra Food
Extra Water
Extra Clothes

In my gear pile I threw in the following from of our brands:

Petzl – Actik Core Headlamp, Core Battery, and Noctilight
Adventure Ready Brands – Mountain Series Backpacker Medical Kit, Counter Assault Bear Spray, Stoke Field Knife with tinder cord and flint fire starter, Slim Rescue Howler Whistle, and Deluxe Map Compass
Primus – Lite + Stove, Fuel, Trek Pot, and Long Spoon
Oboz – Arete Mid Bdry
Crazy Creek – Hex 2.0 Original Chair
Mazama Designs – Intake 2 Liter

I packed the suggested gear and felt ready to spend multiple nights backpacking. Each of our brands makes quality product for adventures. It was gratifying to use our products firsthand. Aside from having to eat powdered peanut butter on my last day, the trip was a success and one to remember. Can’t wait for this summer.

In the Field: Petzl in Hollywood

Greg Houston — Sat, 05 Mar 2022 13:42:24 +0000

In the Field: Petzl in Hollywood

Posted in

News

Product Feature

Post date

Sat, 03/05/2022

Author

Greg Houston

Today was an interesting day of learning about how some of our Petzl product get used in really cool alternative markets and applications.

Today’s adventure took me to HOLLYWOOD with our good friends at Ver Sales Inc! The job for today was to inspect, evaluate, and relocate fall protection lifelines within a Hollywood Studio set. Just to bring you up to speed; Television and Movies sets are typically constructed inside a giant warehouse (also known as a sound stage/ studio. Workers are hired by the movie and TV production folks to assemble realistic building interiors and sets within these very large, enclosed buildings. Often these sets are constructed and attached (or hung) to the buildings rafter beam system by stage rigger personnel and doing so places these folks in a potentially dangerous work at height situation. My good friends at Ver sales are contracted to maintain safety lines within the rafters of the Studio’s buildings to allow the working personnel in the rafters of a sound stage to clip themselves safely into a system that will protect them from potentially falling and getting themselves severely injured.

This was a great opportunity for me to get to use Petzl’s rope access and fall protection gear, and also use Petzl’s amazing range of headlamps; it’s somewhat dark way up there…and max light is needed! Our job today was to insure all of these safety lines visually and physically were in good operation and up to code so as to keep everyone safe.

Selling Petzl’s innovative PPE gear and lighting is super fun…but getting to use it in a real-life application is the BEST!

Oboz Arete: Boot Fitter Approved

Steven Masters — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 00:20:00 +0000

Oboz Arete: Boot Fitter Approved

Posted in

Product Feature

Post date

Tue, 01/04/2022

Author

Steven Masters

Ahh, Spring 2020. I remember it like it was a decade ago. In addition to having a lot of adventures planned for that year, I was psyched to get my feet into the newly launched Oboz Arete. The boot was getting a lot of attention that spring, including landing on the cover of Backpacker’s Gear Guide. I was sold on trying a pair once we had samples in hand the previous summer. While there’s a lot of great Oboz styles that I believe in, I’m certainly picky about what I actually wear. My selectiveness is undoubtedly rooted in my 10+ years as a retail boot fitter. There were only two thing I always advised customers they should consider the weight or price of: footwear & packs. If either of those didn’t fit properly, your trip will suck.

While the launch of the Arete ended up in the shadows of the pandemic, I was stoked to get mine out of the trail. The Arete Low went on ~450 miles of the PCT through Washington in 2020 and 2021, and the Arete Mid BDry went through Hell (literally, Hells Canyon…oh the foxtails) and all the other wet month adventures. I’ve confirmed they’re the right fit for my foot, and the quality and performance haven’t disappointed. If I had to pick a boot to hike the PCT tomorrow in, the Arete would be it (Bushido II would be my 2nd choice). But just because it was a good fit for me, doesn’t mean I would blindly recommended it to someone else (I don’t need the bad karma of someone cursing my name on the trail as their feet ache.) I bemoaned every time a customer came to the shop demanding a pair of shoes based on some online review.

Boot fitter to boot fitter though, the Arete is an awesome shoe to have on the wall. It fills that niche of folks who want the agility and weight of a trail runner, combined with the durability and pedigree of a renowned boot company. It offers the signature Oboz fit: roomy toe box, good retention in the instep and heel, and of course the insoles. The uppers on the non waterproof feature an open weave to maximize ventilation and dries quickly, while the tight weave on the waterproof is perfect for DWR to prevent saturation and maintain breathability. The outsole is tuned for lots of miles on trail, featuring softy sticky rubber for traction and deep lugs for extra milage. A rock plate in the forefoot adds to overall comfort and ensure repeat big milages days. In summary, I think it checks all the boxes for customers wanting a light, nimble hiker.

Crazy Creek makes sitting anywhere fun!

Steven Masters — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 12:13:26 +0000

Crazy Creek makes sitting anywhere fun!

Posted in

Industry

Product Feature

Post date

Wed, 10/27/2021

Author

Steven Masters

Interview by Steven Masters

When Alta Group was approached in 2020 with the opportunity to work with Crazy Creek , my brain said “Sweet, Crazy Creek makes legendary chairs!” But my body chimed in “you know you’re not in your 20s anymore, do you really want to sit on the ground?” Mind over matter though, right?

The past year was a blast sharing the fun and excitement that is Crazy Creek, and hearing stories from both dealers and customers about their favorite Crazy Creek memories. There is truly nothing better than working for family run companies. This month I sat down with Forrest Rogers, President of Crazy Creek, to provide a glimpse into what makes Crazy Creek the best way to sit anywhere!

Q: Tell us a little about yourself, and what brought you to Crazy Creek?

A: Born and raised in Arkansas and North Carolina I was lucky enough to meet and marry a Montana girl whose family were avid lovers of a little town called Red Lodge. After getting married here 18 years ago, we set a goal in our lives to live in Red Lodge, raise our kiddos here and be a part of a small community. The owners of Crazy Creek were friends of my father in law and for 8 years we begged them to sell Crazy Creek to us…nothing like a world pandemic to make people want to retire! So in June 2020 our dreams came true and myself and my brother in law Karson were able to buy the brand.

Q: Crazy Creek started making chairs in Red Lodge, Montana in 1987. Take us on the time warp from then until your arrival.

A: From 1987 to 2000 all Crazy Creek’s were made by hand here in Red Lodge. What started with two sewing machines in the basement downtown to at one point 40 sewing machines cranking out 120,000 chairs a year in our current warehouse. But as the world economy changed, along with the inability to find labor to sew chairs in a resort town in Montana….Crazy Creek went overseas. All Crazy Creek Products are made in Nike Spec facilities in China and Indonesia, but are shipped to Red Lodge and distributed to North America from here. Even though we are 35 years old, we are just now setting up distribution and sales in Europe and other parts of the world, of which that product will never make it to Red Lodge, as we’ll ship direct. A fun story starting with Rob Hart and 1 employee to at one point employing over 50 people to today, we run Crazy Creek pretty lean with just 5 employees.

Q: What makes Crazy Creek a great brand?

A: We invented an entire category of outdoor products- the legless chair! Over the years there were at least a dozen other brands knocking off the Original Crazy Creek, all but one have faded away! Why? Our brand is strong ands the warranty and construction are stronger. We were invented by a prolific mountain and ice climber, the original sewing/build process was built to withstand countless trips to the top of Everest, K2, McKinley, the North & South Pole…you name it a Crazy Creek has been there all over the world. We build them to the same specs and design today as we did 35 years ago. We’ve got millions of chairs out there, yet we spend more on plow truck gas than we do on our lifetime warranty annually.

Q: What are you most excited about in the next few years?

A: Growing the brand to its peak, all over the world. There are over 6 billion butts in this world, they all gotta sit somewhere! We’ve cleaned up and gotten rid of all slow moving items we had, focusing truly on just the chairs. We have several new products coming in 2022 (hopefully) that compliment the line perfectly, really can’t wait to share those new products with the world! But ultimately we want to build a brand strong enough that our kids can take the company over and have it thrive for at least another 35 years.