Consumer Catalog
Fall 2008
7,885 Words
Since I began working with the Jackson-based brand in 2001, I wrote every word of product and intro copy for their workbooks, catalogs and website. But after expanding to catalog editor, the 2008 book struck a different tone as I assigned and shaped seasonal essays by top-tier writers from Jeff Burke and Penn Newhard to Abby Sussman.
Link to full catalogQuiet time. Shoulder season is the quiet time. RVs have rolled up their Astroturf, half of town is off on some Lonely Planet trek and, like college on break or a boomtown gone bust, the air is almost too quiet. Summer intensity is cooling down and the powder panic is months away from heating up. For the mountain crowd, this feeling of daylight diminishing, winds shifting and clouds stirring is a sign to head for the hills. And this once-a-year stillness between storms provides both a point of reference and a point of reflection.
Ticking through my own list allows me to remember each transition one trip at a time. After a rookie season in Jackson, I took to the Teton Crest Trail to escape the summer crowds of the town square. Three days after the Twin Towers collapsed, the Highline Trail in the Wind River Range provided 10 peaceful days in a world gone mad. When Katie and I packed it into the U-Haul, San Juan solitude welcomed us home, and when we surfed Sayulita it was in the calm of fall. Two years ago—with grad school on her horizon—a sabbatical to the Methow, the Kootenays, and Rogers Pass eased us into a new adventure.
The Cloudveil catalog has also been through a decade of change. Since we fi rst opened our window on mountain culture, we’ve spoken with a singular voice. Yet this time around we are changing our story and asking four talented writers to speak from their own experience. With imagery from four quadrants they know like home, their stories remind us that fall is the time to both revisit and explore. And, these moments of departure, when we slip off into the hills, mark each new shoulder season with a sense of individual perspective.
Dan Kostrzewski has given soul voice to Cloudveil as its copywriter for the past seven years. His feature stories have also appeared seasonally in Powder, frequency, Backcountry, and Snowboard Canada. This shoulder season, he and Katie are celebrating their next trip with another adventure.
“...Maybe it’s the lack of oxygen, but silence becomes a source of energy and it makes me feel that much more alive…”
“...Although my family may not agree, I swear it is not my fault. I hang out with a good crowd, keep my mind sharp and get into the mountains as often as the slow creep of adult responsibility permits…”
“...Jacksonites make a game of seeing how many summer sports we can hold onto and how many winter sports we can start early. We keep bike shoes, ski boots, kayak paddles and skis at the ready…”
“...The final patrol isn’t so much to ready the wilderness for my absence as to ready myself for absence from this wilderness…”
As a backcountry ranger, my life hinges on the weather.
My season starts when the winter’s snowpack recedes to reveal avalanche lilies and releases slide alders, relieving them of their bowed posture. My term ends when the fi rst heavy snow accumulates and rocky edges of alpine tarns grow a thin lens of ice.
I have spent all summer in this map quadrant, checking permits, dismantling fi re rings and picking up Clif Bar wrappers. But the fi nal patrol isn’t so much to ready the wilderness for my absence as to ready myself for absence from this wilderness.
On a crisp, bluebird morning I wake to the crackling of heavy frost on my tent and a dusting of new snow on sharp ridges. The backpackers have completed their loops, the day hikers have gone home and even the best campsites are silently vacant.
A few remaining huckleberries are harvested for my oatmeal, and although they are mealy and have lost their sweetness, the fruit still holds the taste of sunlight. Uneasy winds stack clouds into the stratosphere and then scatter them suddenly in favor of blue sky, as I ascend the ridge to watch shadows lengthen in shortening daylight.
In the mountains, shifting seasons bring uncertainty. Freezing levels rise and fall on a whim, creeks swell with incessant rains and foot logs run rapids downstream. My trails—finally clean after a summer of housekeeping—are littered again with fallen branches. I, too, am in transition, my life a reflection of the wilderness I patrol.
While bears fatten up for hibernation, I line out my winter budget, tallying per diem and overtime, depositing a last paycheck only to make a withdrawal for a season pass. Vine maple leaves turn sunshine hues and drop to the forest floor, as I swap tank tops for a down puffy at the storage unit. Salmon swim upstream, returning home after a life at sea, half-dead and still fighting the current, while I book a flight for my own return trip home to the East Coast.
Before snow settles in, I will turn in my badge and nametag, trade starchy green uniform pants for off-duty jeans and trek out of this wilderness for the last time. When I come back in spring—if my position is still funded—snow will shrink from my meadows as I plan campsite restorations and report trail conditions. And the cycle will resume.
On the fl anks of this crevassed volcano, her upper reaches obscured by clouds, I hoist my pack for the hike out and double check that I have not left a sock hanging or a tent stake in the ground. Turning to the trail, I pause, and like a parent closing the door to a sleeping child’s room, take a last glimpse at my charge before walking away.
—ABBY SUSSMAN
Abby Sussman is a writer and ranger based in Glacier, Washington. She’ll spend this fall inhabiting a backcountry cabin on Mt. Rainer’s Wonderland Trail and sharing huckleberries with the neighborhood bears.
RAYZAR PANT
From dawn patrol to last lap, this soft shell pant keeps legs comfortable when working hard for each and every line. Schoeller® Dryskin Extreme sheds weather, flexes freely and breathes deeply in the uptrack, while also repelling seasonal grime and constant wear due to Nanosphere® technology. Removable suspenders shed quickly, double-layer knees prevent pads from rubbing material raw and a tough instep patch repels edges or points. style: 9309 weight: 25oz size: s-xl color: black Check this out: A higher back prevents snow from finding its way south.
KOVEN PLUS JACKET
Our premium shell—and reigning Outside Gear of the Year champ—utilizes hidden-stitch construction, engineered biometrics and high-performance materials. Stretch EV3™ fabric seals out precip, while even stretchier Schoeller® C-Change™ in the shoulders, elbows and sides changes form to become more breathable as body temps rise. Internal bio-mapping keeps the spine warmer, the shoulders drier and the pits vented, while a stretch skirt, pit zips and a helmet-friendly hood equip it for any alpine use. style: 4601 weight: 23oz size: s-xxl colors: jet/cadet, leek/greenbriar, mecca orange/dark shadow Check this out: Technology even our sales reps don’t fully understand.
ENCLOSURE JACKET
Packable Primaloft® One and a slick nylon face make this puffy ideal for casual town rambles or extended backpacking trips. Compressible 100-gram loft allows it to cram in a pack until a rest break or be worn under a shell to conserve warmth high on the glacier. Waterproof knit underarm fabric acts as an active stretch panel and a passive pit vent, while synthetic fi ll traps heat even during damp strolls through town or at sleety preseason bonfires. style: 9312 weight: 16oz size: s-xxl colors: cadet/jet, lark/fl ax, black Check this out: A super-uber-sick puffy that you’ll never want to be caught without.
LODGE CREW SWEATER
Mellow enough for lagging with the regular crew, this smooth sweater also has game for scoring a number at the bar. The fine balance of wool and acrylic keeps it warm without leaving the blend vulnerable to shrinkage in the wash. Contrast-color elbows and rib-knit underarms style it out, while spandex helps hold its shape when worn week after week in shoulder season. style: 9348 weight: 13oz size: s-xl colors: flax/tarmac, olive/tarmac, chocolate/bootstrap Check this out: Natural wool fibers won’t stink as quickly as fleece layers.
WILSON JEANS
Raw, unwashed denim makes these jeans half the basic uniform of every guy at Cloudveil HQ. Crisp organic cotton breaks in easily and is dark enough to hide even seven straight days of dirt and grime. The relaxed fit strikes the right tone for casual workspaces, weekends away or road trips with the infamous crew. style: 9177 weight: 25oz size: 30-40 (even) colors: cadet Check this out: A classic pair of jeans without the emaciated rock-star attitude.
LAUNCH On- or off-piste, layering strategy seeks to add warmth without bulk. The Launch styles are perfect for this common objective since they utilize Polartec® Classic 100™, which traps heat without retaining moisture. Power Stretch® at the collar and cuffs maintains shape, while rich heathering adds characteristic style when resting in the lodge or reclining at the cabin.