Gear to Grow has gone from supporting six non-profits (such as SOS Outreach, pictured above) to supporting 25 in just six months of operation.
Playing in the backcountry has its price: trails deteriorate, high-use areas get littered and eroded, bolts at crags need replacing. To give back a little, Backcountry.com donates to nonprofits that help preserve wild places, advocate access to the backcountry experience, encourage people to get outside, and help ensure your safety when you’re well off the beaten path.
Want to get involved too? Have a look at what you can do to lend a helping hand.
Avalanche Forecast Center
A U.S. Forest Service program, the Utah Avalanche Center strives to educate the public on how to be safe in the winter backcountry through presentations, avalanche courses, a super-informative website, and daily avalanche advisories. Even though the UAC is part of the Forest Service, roughly 80 percent of its funding comes from county, state, and private donations.
Backcountry.com supports local Avalanche Forecast Centers (located in Logan, Moab, and Salt Lake City, Utah, and in Silverton, Colorado). Backcountry.com gave $5,000 to start the Know Before You Go program, has donated gear for auction fundraisers, and set up a toll-free number in Utah so you can get the latest forecast. Backcountry.com’s Green Team (a group of employees who lead company efforts to incorporate sustainable practices into all aspects of the business) continues to donate funds each year.
Get Involved: Go to http://utahavalanchecenter.org/ and follow the link to the Backcountry.com site to do your shopping—by going through the UAC web page, 10 percent of your purchase goes to the Utah Avalanche Center. Contact the Friends of Utah Avalanche Center for other ways to contribute.
More: Through the www.avalanche.org website, you can also link to avalanche centers all along the Rocky Mountains, in California, and in the East to make monetary donations.
Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective
Cycling gets you outdoors. Plus, it’s a sustainable form of transportation that keeps you and the environment in good shape. The SLC collective teaches safe riding skills and bike maintenance. The collective also provides community services such as access to bike tools and shop space, bike parking at the local farmers market, and the Earn-A-Bike program for kids.
Each year, Backcountry.com’s Green Team puts money toward the Bike Collective’s efforts to educate the community on sustainable transportation.
Get involved: The Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective needs people who are willing to fix and refurbish bikes, to volunteer as a bike valet, or to help with youth programs such as teaching kids about bike maintenance. No skills necessary—the collective will teach you how to work on bikes.
More: If your taste for biking runs more toward the muddy mountain variety, or you don’t live in Utah, join the International Mountain Biking Association to learn how to become a trail builder or a bike patrol volunteer in your home state.
Mountain Trails Foundation
Located in Park City, Utah, the Mountain Trails Foundation promotes and preserves trail access for all non-motorized users. This organization works to educate the public on land use, improve trail systems with signage and maintenance, and facilitate trail easements.
Backcountry.com is a gold-level sponsor for the foundation. BC donated 150 Stoic jerseys (worth $7,500) and provided another 150 substantially below cost for the Mid Mountain Marathon on Sept. 11.
Get involved: Doing trail maintenance is a great way to see the direct results of your contribution—the dirt on your hands is the evidence that you done good. If you live in Utah, contact the Mountain Trails Foundation for trail work opportunities (or to volunteer for the marathon).
More: For opportunities around the country, the American Hiking Society provides links to four- to ten-day trail work trips.
Conservation Alliance
The Conservation Alliance is a group of outdoor industry companies that collects annual membership dues from these companies and disburses them to environmental organizations that protect wild habitat, preferably where people recreate. The alliance has more than 170 members, including The North Face, Patagonia, Arc’teryx, and Backpacker Magazine.
Backcountry.com’s Green Team pays membership dues to the Conservation Alliance that go to local and national conservation organizations. BC employees have done trail maintenance days with local groups sponsored by the alliance.
Get Involved: Both outdoor companies and individuals can donate to the Alliance. Members can run to serve on the board or volunteer time to marketing and outreach programs. Check the list of grantees, and visit their websites for other opportunities.
More: If you live on the backside of the Wasatch, volunteer for the Summit Land Conservancy (which works in partnership with landowners to preserve habitats in Summit County, Utah—BC sponsors its annual film festival). For trail maintenance and habitat restoration projects, oil spill cleanup efforts, and other volunteer opportunities around the country, visit The Nature Conservancy’s site.
Gear to Grow
Backcountry.com is all for preservation, but what kind of gear company would we be if we didn’t work with organizations that donate gear? Backcountry.com helped found Gear to Grow, a burgeoning nonprofit that strives to get people outside. Gear to Grow brokers donations between gear retailers/vendors and nonprofit organizations that work to get people outdoors regardless of economic means or abilities.
As the founding donor, Backcountry.com has pledged to donate all non-resalable returns to Gear to Grow, which then provides gear for organizations such as Big City Mountaineers, SOS Outreach, Leave no Trace, and Bay Area Wilderness Training.
Get involved: You can support Gear to Grow with a monetary donation or, if you work for a gear retailer/manufacturer/distributor, you can make a tax-deductible in-kind contribution.
More: Donate your old gear—last year’s puffy, that third pair of ski gloves you own, or those socks you’ve never worn—to any nearby shelter or send it to Gear for Good, Bay Area Wilderness Training, or a local scout troop or veterans organization. If you happen to be heading to Nepal, you can donate trekking gear and sunglasses to Porters Progress.
Thanks once again for all the support the backcountry.com crew has given to the Utah Avalanche Center. These guys deserve a lot of the credit for the program we have built with their support and assistance. If you go out in the Utah backcountry in the winter, you owe them a hearty thank you. Stay on top.
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