People run into each other in Boulder. It’s a smallish town. And this is how I came to know Jason Olden, a 20-year veteran designer of outdoor gear who has worked with most major brands.

Hollis Carter, a friend of mine, met Jason randomly a few months ago, and became so fascinated by his effort to launch a new clothing company that he dropped everything and joined the team. Hollis then ran into me and mentioned that Jason was a big fan of OpenSnow and would love to chat.

I know a lot about weather, snow, and how to play in deep snow, but I know very little about the garment industry. As Jason and I were talking about our respective businesses, we realized that lots of people would likely enjoy hearing the knowledge and experiences we were sharing with each other.

So we each hit the record button on the Voice Memo app on our iPhones, and after a bit of light editing, created audio interviews covering many of the behind-the-scenes aspects of the weather business and the apparel business. The audio is available below.

For over 20 years, Jason has designed gear for other companies, and now he has started his own company, called Mountain Standard. As we were talking about the upcoming snow season, El Nino played a central role in our conversation, which led Jason to suggest that we should make a limited edition OpenSnow + El Nino hat to celebrate what could be a good snow year for many mountains. Heck yeah!

When you head over to this page made just for OpenSnow customers, you can enter your email address which will then give you access to a special code. If you do purchase an item, enter the special code at checkout and you'll receive 20% off your order PLUS the limited-edition El Nino hat for free! And even more, you'll be supporting OpenSnow as we will receive a few bucks from each purchase.

Ok, without further adieu, here is the audio interview with Jason, and a summary of the main parts below. 

00:10 Who are you and how many brands have you worked with to design gear?

00:57 How long does it take to bring a product from a concept to being in the stores?

02:10 Why does it take longer to bring a product to market if a brand does not sell direct to consumer?

02:30 Which countries have the most capable factories that can produce high-end technical garments?

03:44 Are factories controlled by a single brand, or do they work for many brands?

04:35 How long should our gear last? 

06:00 After 20 years working for other brands, why did you recently create your own clothing line?

08:15 How does starting your own clothing line compare to running the design agency?

09:10 Comments about a lot of clothing being “over tech’ed”

 

I hope you enjoyed hearing about Jason’s experience in the outdoor clothing industry, and please check out his new project at MountainStandard.com

JOEL GRATZ 

PS - If you’re interested in the interview Jason recorded of me, which talks about how I started OpenSnow, click here.