Winter 2020 - Inside Outdoor Magazine

Inside Outdoor | WINTER 2020 31 By Martin Vilaboy Mystery Ranch Celebrates Design Team for Platinum Anniversary B ack in 1995, when Dana Gleason and Renee Sippel- Baker accepted an offer to sell venerable backpack brand Dana Designs to K2 Corporation, and seemingly walked away from a life of corporate meetings and agendas, they thought the years ahead would be filled with backcoun- try adventures and tales of business deals past. Fast forward, and Mystery Ranch, the company and community they’ve created in Bozeman, Mont., is celebrating its 20th anniversary. At a time when acquisition is the prevalent exit strategy and the thirst for digital attention is insatiable, Gleason and Sippel-Baker have been rather quiet up in Bozeman, busy building a business and community (known affectionately as The Ranch) and fo- cusing on what they know best: load bearing technology. Rather than chase increasingly volatile consumer and retail markets with its pack technol- ogy, Mystery Ranch chose to look for use-cases where its expertise in load carrying and transfer applied and then offer those users hand-built quality and innovative use-specific designs. Today, the independent brand manufactures packs and load carriage systems for customers including military, wildland firefighters, law enforcement, ski patrol, hunting, mountaineering and outdoor. For its 20th, Mystery Ranch is celebrating its community of employ- ees, or the folks that make up what company executives describe as “a culture forged by shared experiences, bringing together individuals from all over to create something more than just great packs.” At the Outdoor Re- tailer Snow Show in January, Mystery Ranch will display and auction off iconic packs hand-built and sewed by a handful of employees. “These one-of-a-kind heritage packs exemplify the story and au- thenticity of the brand and the in- dividual flare of each pack maker,” said Mystery Ranch. Funds raised by the pack auction will go to Sta- tion Foundation, which supports the warriors and their families who have served in the United States Special Operations Command [USSOCOM], including those who’ve endured the ultimate sacrifice of losing a family member. Mystery Ranch pack design- ers, it should be noted, still sew their own prototypes on sewing machines located right next to their computer stations. Those prototypes even can be a hot commodity among foreign buyers interested in Mystery Ranch gear that is made in the USA. The brand will officially celebrate 20 years at its booth on the afternoon of Day One of the show, where visi- tors can pick up a copy of the “20th Anniversary Brand Booklet.” Also at Outdoor Retailer, Mystery Ranch is hosting the premiere (on Thursday, January 30) of full-length film “FACETS: a Parallel Passions Film.” The film follows Mystery Ranch ski ambassadors Carston Oliver and Eric Balken, brand ambassador Mat- thew Irving, photographer Jay Beyer and “ranchers” Ben Nobel and Tim Gates as they navigate the develop- ment stages of Mystery Ranch ski packs and then on to Alaska to test the final designs. Upon arrival, they are confronted by a few days of bad weather, only to come out on the other side to an unstable snowpack. Stick- ing to safer aspects and elevations, the crew still, perhaps, pushes it too far and is left with questions about risks and rewards. “FACETS will give you a glimpse of the parallels between Mystery Ranch product development and ski- ing the backcountry and the process of problem-solving, navigating failure and traversing the unknown,” said the company. Here’s to 20 more years. m BrandWatch Mystery Ranch designer John Graham built a Naya Nuki ski pack for the OR show giveaway.