The Ragged Mountain Story
If you were a serious climber in the Northeast in the late 70’s, you probably saw Rob Nadler selling his innovative chalk bag out of the trunk of his car. Its forward-thinking design was a hit at cliff faces and mountain bases throughout New York and New England. Rob’s bag worked for technical climbers better than any other product on the market because it was White Mountain Tested. Born on hard rock and developed in unforgiving conditions where reliability is everything.
The evolution of these bags, along with Ragged Mountain Equipment’s own line of gear slings, climbing harnesses, gaiters, and backpacks were soon popular sellers in outdoor specialty shops and sports equipment retailers throughout the region.
By 1985, popular demand was enough to drive opening our own retail store in Intervale, New Hampshire with on-site repair center and expanded manufacturing facility now producing technical apparel and functional outerwear using primarily US-manufactured textiles. Our early relationship with Malden Mills - now Polartec - provided RME the unique opportunity to introduce WindblocTM and PowerstretchTM fabrics to contexts the clothing industry had never seen before. Ragged Mountain products are hand-assembled start to finish by one highly skilled stitcher, each the quality equivalent of a custom made garment.
Keeping our headquarters in the heart of the Mount Washington Valley is about access - not only to the largest hiking trail network and highest peak in the northeast, the headwaters of three of New England's largest rivers, and some of the best rock climbing and ice climbing in the country - but to the climbers, hikers, and skiers who take outdoor recreation seriously and are literally living on the edge with our products. Constant feedback on design and styling informs all of our new products and design improvements. This fanatical community of our friends and customers is how our products continue to be White Mountain Tested every day in some of the most extreme environments possible.
Today Ragged Mountain Equipment’s retail store is one of the White Mountains’ most prominent outdoor specialty stores, carrying telemark skis, alpine touring and backcountry touring skis, outdoor clothing, and backpacking gear. Our own line of manufactured outdoor sports products uphold traditional New England craftsmanship while pushing the technology of advanced fabrics and technical garment design.