Ever been to a concert and bought a t-shirt that shows you were present for that one night of rock and roll heaven? It’s a little tattered and stained, but you cannot bring yourself to get rid of it. It’s a badge of honor. Every time your eyes pass over it you are reminded of something special. Plus, it lets others know you were there. Well now you will be able to show off your mountaineering feats in much the same manner.
Peak Patch, a Vail based company has designed a simple way to memorialize one of the most popular and iconic of all Colorado outdoor feats—summiting a 14er. Taking a page from an old European standby, patches to memorialize cities and mountains visited, they designed a stripped down version that has a mountain name in large font, and can be stacked on top of each other to create a growing list of peaks bagged. “I got the inspiration from seeing the chevrons on a Marine,” says Fritz Oettinger. “I wanted to create something that you could add to as you climbed more mountains.” Each one can be centered by a mountain range anchor patch that sits at the top of the growing stack of summits.
But the main reason for founding the company is to help the summits both Oettinger and co-founder Justin Carter love so much. “We both are avid hikers and climbers who spend as much time outdoors as possible,” says Oettinger. “We have seen the damage being done to the trails leading to the top of so many of these peaks and we wanted to help somehow.” So they decided to donate 14% of the upfront sales to the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative a non-profit dedicated to preserving one of the states most recognizable resources. A recently released report from the organization identified 42 existing trails hat need repairs and restoration that will cost at least $24 million.
Besides patches they also offer stickers and magnets with plans to expand into Oregon, Washington, and California in the near future. In the spirit of the holidays the company has decided to double down on their contribution by sending 28% of their sales to the group through December 28th. So knock out some holiday shopping early and order your peaks and those of someone on your gift list today. Visit peakpatch.com to place your order.
