Five years ago, I was involved in a hit-and-run accident. After three months in the hospital and 13 surgeries, my left leg had to be amputated. It felt impossibly hard at first, and I didn鈥檛 have a positive outlook. Who would? At age 25, I had just become disabled. It wasn鈥檛 until I started climbing at my local gym that things began to change. For one birthday, my brother took me on an adventure where we did a bunch of activities, including climbing. Climbing was all I could think about the next day.

Almost instantly, I was hooked, and it became my life. I even started to compete regularly. By 2018, I was ranked second in the nation in my adaptive category. Climbing helped me realize that I was more than my disability. I was still capable of anything鈥擨 just had to adapt.

Losing part of your body can make you feel less than human, like you don鈥檛 really belong. I especially felt that I didn鈥檛 belong outdoors. Nature鈥檚 uneven terrain was tough on my residual limb. It blisters, swells, and sometimes bleeds. However, I was in love with rock climbing and I knew聽that if I wanted to be great at it, I had no choice but to get out there. My gear now included walking sticks and blister bandages, but I was doing it. Still, I didn鈥檛 feel fully embraced by the larger outdoor community and industry. I couldn鈥檛 find brands that were making products for the differently abled. I also didn鈥檛 see much encouragement or interest in our community. It felt like no one was looking out for people like me.

Beyond issues of inclusivity, this lack of attention is also a missed business opportunity. According to the Social Security Administration, in 2014, 85.3 million people living in the United States had a disability; 55.2 million of those had a severe disability. The National Organization on Disability estimates that Americans with disabilities represent more than $200 billion in discretionary spending.

The fashion industry has already started targeting this market with several clothing brand collections. Recently, Tommy Hilfiger launched a full line of adaptive apparel featuring adjustable hems and swapping buttons for Velcro and magnets, making it easier to put on and take off clothing.

The outdoor industry should also be part of this movement. As a climber, I know that companies like Evolv Sports*, Petzl, and The North Face have started taking initiative. These companies are collaborating with differently abled athletes to create products like adaptive climbing feet for leg amputees and ice tools for one-handed climbers, and partnering with nonprofits like Paradox Sports. And they鈥檙e creating lifelong customers along the way.

These brands are doing far more than expanding business options: more importantly, they鈥檙e empowering a big and often disempowered community. We鈥檙e asking for a seat at the table, a place at the crag, and a spot to set down a tent. The right gear isn鈥檛 the only thing we need鈥攂ut, along with access, it鈥檚 a start. And for many differently abled people, that first barrier is the biggest one of all.

*The author is sponsored by Evolv Sports.聽

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Everyone knows that some of the outdoor industry鈥檚 top brands are led by strong females鈥擱ose Marcario of Patagonia, Sue Rechner of Merrell, Donna Carpenter of Burton, Rue Mapp of Outdoor Afro, Amy Roberts of Outdoor Industry Association, Deanne Buck of Camber Outdoors, and Marisa Nicholson of Outdoor Retailer. But in celebration of International Women鈥檚 Day, we sought out a selection of smaller companies that you may not have heard about or may not have realized are headed by equally amazing gals.

The Rad Women

Shelma Jun, Flash Foxy Founder

At the end of March, more than 300 women will gather in the rocky foothills of Bishop, California, for a weekend packed with climbing, panels, and clinics as the first of two events in the third year of the Women鈥檚 Climbing Festival. Shelma Jun is behind the fest and the online platform Flash Foxy, which celebrates women getting outside with other women. Jun is a current Access Fund board member and often speaks about the importance of cultivating a climbing community that welcomes everyone who calls themselves a climber.

Kristin Carpenter-Ogden, Verde Brand Communications CEO and founder

With multiple offices throughout the Rockies, Verde Brand Communications is a PR firm that represents outdoor-focused clients like Gu Energy Labs, Gregory, and Petzl, among others. Led by Kristin Carpenter-Ogden, the firm is a member of several outdoor, environmental, and socially responsible organizations. Carpenter-Ogden is also the personality behind the Channel Mastery podcast.

Sally Bergesen, Oiselle founder and CEO

Oiselle, a French word for bird pronounced wa-zelle, is a Seattle-based athletic apparel company binding women together through run groups and giving back through various programs. Sally Bergesen started it in 2007 with the goal of making a well-constructed running short, but her original vision has blossomed into a sisterhood for women of all ages and running abilities.

Alyssa Ravasio, Hipcamp founder and CEO

Born out Alyssa Ravasio鈥檚 frustration over finding an ideal campsite to watch the first sunrise of 2013, Hipcamp was founded in San Francisco, revolutionizing and streamlining the experience of booking an overnight spot in nature. The travel service covers all national, state, regional, and Army Corps Parks in all 50 states鈥�5,756 parks, 13,421 campgrounds, and 329,567 campsites.

Teresa Baker, founder of the African American National Park Event

The African American National Park Event founded in 2013 by Teresa Baker of California, engages communities of color in nature and encourages outdoor entities to prioritize diversity. Several events are held across the country every year. Baker also is an Outdoor Afro leader and blogs about her love of the outdoors at African American Explorations.

Katy Hover-Smoot and Cassie Abel, Wild Rye founders

Wild Rye, a technical apparel design company launched in 2016, makes women-specific pieces in soft fabrics and colors鈥攆rom a pale aqua merino midweight to a cozy pair of pineapple-colored leggings鈥攖hat are meant to be worn in the wild. Katy Hover-Smoot and Cassie Abel are avid outdoorswomen who can be found crushing on trails oftentimes in Tahoe, California.

Chris Ann Goddard, CGPR founder

A seasoned PR guru with decades of institutional knowledge of the outdoor industry, Chris Ann Goddard leads the 25-year-old agency CGPR. Her team represents multiple big-name outdoor brands such as Kelty, Adidas, Merrell, Vibram, and Winter Park Resort.

Sarah Castle and Alison Wright, The Cairn Project founders

Founders Sarah Castle and Alison Wright met in Boulder, a mecca for outdoor exploration. Their organization, The Cairn Project, nurtures and empowers girls to be self confident in the outdoors mountain biking, backpacking, mountaineering, and more.聽 They’ve provided $50,000 in grants to eight different partners devoted to expanding access for underprivileged young women.

Jen Gurecki, Coalition Snow CEO

The skis on the market didn鈥檛 cut it for Jen Gurecki and other women she heard from, so in 2013 she ventured out to design a series of skis and snowboards specialized for women, by women鈥攏ow known as Coalition Snow. Gurecki has a varied background as founder of Zawadisha, a Kenyan-based social enterprise providing small loans to rural women, and is formerly co-owner of a white water rafting outfitter based in Lake Tahoe.

Alison Hill, LifeStraw managing director

LifeStraw does much more than make water filters.聽The technology introduced in 2005 as a personal 鈥渟traw-like鈥� filter was designed for people in developing countries without access to safe, clean water. Led in part by Alison Hill, the company under health group Vestergaard has delivered more than 10,000 products.

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We, the independent specialty retail shops, did all the legwork to create these customers. Without us, these companies wouldn’t be here. I鈥檓 not sure there are many vendors that could survive without us, so I鈥檓 trying to help vendors balance capitalizing on the opportunities that direct-to-consumer sales have without undermining our ability to build that relationship with the consumer and profit on our inventory.

What outdoor specialty does the best is introduce people to products. You have consumers who don鈥檛 know anything about a new category, if they鈥檝e invented a new kind of shoe or a new old fabric in the case of wool from Icebreaker. It took a tremendous amount of work on the part of a big retail network in America to put Icebreaker products into people鈥檚 hands and help people see the value in it. Growing a brand from its infancy to the point where it has relatively broad market awareness is something that retail stores are still going to do better than selling direct to consumers online.

We sell consumers on the brand, but we have a very limited assortment of it because it鈥檚 hard for small retailers to pioneer a brand and you can鈥檛 buy all of the available products and colors. So you introduce people to this new brand and eventually they go, 鈥淚 wonder what else there is?鈥� And that consumer ends up going to their website to look at the product breadth that we don鈥檛 have.

Immediately after consumers engage with their website, vendors hammer that consumer with email blasts and specials like free shipping and throwing in a pair of gloves or a free hat. They really work to steal that customer away from us.

Ibex is another serious offender. We essentially create the brand disciple and they steal them. I don鈥檛 think a company like Ibex could survive without direct-to-consumer business, but I also don鈥檛 think they ever would have been able to get off the ground by only doing direct-to-consumer business. We鈥檙e not going to win every battle, but if Ibex continues to do business that way, it鈥檚 going to be harder and harder for retailers to support them.

I recently threatened to drop Scarpa, one of the most important brands in backcountry skiing. By far, Scarpa has been the best telemark and alpine touring boot manufacturer to work with in my career, so why would I sever the relationship? Vendor partners are now our fiercest competitors. This year, it started with a free hoody if you bought boots from them, some free freight promos and then the now-common 鈥渇riends and family pro sale.鈥� In the days leading to Christmas, a group of vendors opened up the pro sales departments and wholesale pricing to all friends and family of legit pros. Scarpa, along with 33 other vendors, including Osprey, Cascade Designs, Rab, La Sportiva, Petzl, MSR, BCA, Mountain Hardwear, and Sierra Designs participated in this sales extravaganza run by Outdoor Prolink.

Outdoor Prolink’s homepage. (Screenshot: Todd Frank)

When I asked Scarpa to give me a reason why they did it, the simple answer was 鈥渕oney.鈥� They primarily sell a product that needs to be custom fit by a professional with the tools to do it. We have done thousands of boot fittings here over the last 18 years, and we are pretty good at it. Why would I want to do business with a brand that actively sells a product that needs my expertise to fit properly when that business aggressively under cuts what I can sell it for? Five years ago, I would have howled and said because they have the best boots. Now, there are seven or eight other vendors that have absolutely amazing product, too. (Editor鈥檚 note: To Scarpa’s credit, since receiving similar feedback from several retailers they have committed to no longer doing friends and family promotions.)

If we all have to pay the price of a problem equally, it will stop vendors from pushing direct-to-consumer sales and taking business away from us. They鈥檙e always going to have a better assortment than we do, and they can鈥檛 really fix that piece of it. But what they can do is work with us to make sure we can sell the product we stock profitably throughout the whole season. So I鈥檓 asking the vendors to come to us with creative ideas.

I just had an experience with a major vendor in the apparel industry who went off price on their web direct-to-consumer business in clear violation of their own policy that said 鈥淲e鈥檒l hold price until this point in time.鈥� For reasons that are all legitimate, they couldn鈥檛 wait. I went to the vendor and I said, 鈥淚 think you owe me some markdown credits. You didn鈥檛 go by the policy you鈥檙e asking me to go by.鈥� They were pretty happy to do it. That needs to happen on more levels.

Until a vendor is affected by the final transaction with the end consumer buying their product, they鈥檙e not going to change the way they do it. So I鈥檓 looking for more partnerships with vendors who are willing to do things like manage excess inventory, share costs, take product back, trade product out, use markdown credits, or simply guarantee a sustained margin. The only way we鈥檙e going to change vendors鈥� behavior is with our checkbooks, so I can鈥檛 keep saying to people, 鈥淵ou have to change the way you鈥檙e doing business,鈥� and continue to buy 10 percent more than I did last year. At some point I just have to get up from the table and say, 鈥淲e鈥檙e done.鈥� They鈥檝e got to feel the pain a little bit, and until they feel the pain, there鈥檚 no motivation for any change in behavior.

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