This Western Colorado retailer is lowering the price of entry for fun in the outdoors.
In the Roaring Fork Valley, an average weekend may include any or all of the following activities: mountain biking, rock climbing, Nordic skiing, hiking, snowboarding, snowshoeing, backpacking, fly-fishing, or topping out on a fourteener. To keep up with all these adventurous pursuits, many local residents maintain an extensive personal gear closet. Purchasing new gear is expensive, however, and all too often, those shiny new toys end up in a landfill just a few years later.
As an answer to the cost and impact of overpriced and discarded gear, Ragged Mountain Sports was founded in 2011 in the town of Carbondale. A second-hand consignment store for outdoor adventure gear, Ragged Mountain meets real needs for the residents of the valley, offering gear they can afford, and a way to reduce their environmental impact. The shop takes good-condition, outdoor-adventure soft and hard goods for all ages, and its inventory turns over season to season.
Owners Steve Denny, Aisha Weinhold, and Tyler Vaughan enjoy helping the community by paying consignment dividends back to residents, and providing an essential resource for everyone living on a budget who still loves the outdoors—especially families with young children. They also support several non-profit organizations including Way of Compassion Bicycle Project (building and fixing bikes for third graders) and the Spring Gulch Nordic Center.
