Field NotesPartnerships

Rob Peterson from our Big Agnes team, sat down with SOS to share why we believe their work is more important than ever.

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (July 29, 2020) – Big Agnes Inc., the Steamboat Springs, Colorado-based outdoor equipment brand recently announced two new distribution partners in Europe.

Our product designers and developers, our product-testing ambassadors and many of our other employees have traveled the CDT and have been inspired by star-filled nights dreaming of ways to evolve camping gear.

You probably know that the Continental Divide Trail is close to our hearts, and geographically it’s located right in our backyard. We found ourselves recreating on the CDT through enough summers to wonder how we could help maintain it.

At Big Agnes, when we say we sleep in the dirt, we mean it and we do it. There’s no better way to develop and test product, no better way to walk the walk of an outdoor gear brand than to immerse ourselves as much as possible into the trails, campgrounds, and amazing public lands that surround us here in Northwest Colorado and beyond.

"At CDTC, we are blessed to work with such passionate and supportive companies and partners. Big Agnes is one of those companies that not only provides support, but they also roll up their sleeves and literally dig in the dirt."

Pizza. Pizza was the first thing on our list as we rolled into Leadville. Being the eighth leg of the Big Agnes/Honey Stinger CDT relay meant we were meeting Section 7 participants at the trailhead to hand off the baton, and their very specific pizza orders from Mountain High Pies in Leadville.

As you can imagine, relocating 14 miles of a National Scenic Trail onto public land that doesn’t currently exist is no small task. First, we have to think about where the CDT could go – how to get from point A to point B if it wasn’t on the road, based on scenic views, natural resources, property boundaries, terrain, water sources, and more.

Our first annual Bob Swanson Memorial Grant recipient, Casey Sheppard, fulfilled her dreams of riding her bike across the north and south islands of New Zealand with the money awarded to her from this grant. Watch her trip documentary in our blog, and read more about who Bob was and what he meant to us here at Big Agnes.

Trail adoption is critical to the long-term sustainability of the CDT. Once any trail is built, that is only the beginning of a long-term commitment to the trail.