Outdoor Industry CEOs

For six months, Cotopaxi’s founder hung out with past presidents in their presidential libraries.Davis Smith recently joined 240 alumni after graduating from the Presidential Leadership Scholars Program, and he says it has helped shape his view of dedicating his life to serving ...read more

Diversifying the outdoor industry is critical, says Jeff Wiguna—not only to sell more gear, but ultimately to expand the reach of its environmentally friendly, sustainable, and healthy-living philosophies. That’s the goal for Wiguna’s newly established Outdoor Diversity Coalition ...read more

There was no such thing as modern snowboarding before Jake Carpenter strapped into a novelty board in the late 1970s and felt the future. Today, that start has ballooned into a $400 million industry, and Burton Snowboards, which holds about half the market share, continues to ...read more

Oh, 2017 you were a wild one. The outdoor industry made a loud, cohesive stand for public lands, our trade show landscape got a major shakeup, women raised their voices on gender issues, and retailers across the country struggled to stay relevant in a world where consumers are ...read more

Eight years after becoming the first wool company in the world to incorporate traceability into its products (with its innovative “Baacode”), and just two months after announcing its acquisition by VF Corp., New Zealand’s 22-year-old Icebreaker turns the spotlight on its own ...read more

Brian Vargo has a thing for titanium. His love affair with the superlight, superstrong, and quite expensive metal began on the Appalachian Trail in 1995. He simply wanted a lighter load for his thru-hike. He began his quest for minimal weight by developing titanium tent stakes, ...read more

Scott Kerslake, CEO of prAna, will step down next week to take on a leadership position in an adjacent industry, the brand's parent company, Columbia Sportswear Company, announced Monday.Kerslake has been CEO of prAna since 2010, and was previously its president. The brand has ...read more

On July 5, Ibex CEO Ted Manning announced to company employees that fall 2017 will be the last season the merino wool outdoor clothing company sells product through wholesale channels. Ibex shifts completely to a direct-to-consumer model in spring 2018.“We’re pivoting toward our ...read more

Carsten von Birckhahn, the CEO and brand manager of Edelrid, died Saturday in a paragliding accident. Von Birckhahn was a “pioneer and a hands-on man, a mountain enthusiast and a gear innovator, according to a press release from Edelrid on Wednesday. He died after a crash landing ...read more

If you’re running a small to medium-sized outdoor brand today, there are so many competing forces trying to shape your business. It’s easy to freak out and be too scattered in your focus or retreat altogether and stubbornly stick to an old way of doing things. Neither approach is ...read more

One of the first things you’ll notice about Wes is that he’s a very affable guy. You can tell right away that’s he’s someone you can trust and I later came to realize how important this DNA is to the success of Sunlight. I had a lot of conversations with Wes, his wife Melissa, ...read more

It’s been at least ten years since I’ve been a proper outdoor consumer. I fell in love with ice climbing—and about a dozen other outdoor pursuits—when I was a freshman in college in 1994. I spent pretty much every spare dollar I had for the next decade assembling my stash of ...read more

Sue Rechner, who spent 10 years as CEO of Confluence Outdoor, has been named president of Merrell. She has a long history of building brands in the outdoor industry, and was president and director of Victorinox Swiss Army, Inc., before joining Confluence.“After conducting an ...read more

Take a look at the numbers: Outdoor recreation contributes $887 billion per year to the U.S. economy. But take a closer look, and you’ll see something staggering: Only 21 percent of that money is spent on the gear and apparel we’re producing. The rest? It’s spent on travel, ...read more

Bryan Timm, long-time executive of Columbia Sportswear, has stepped down from his role as president. It's unclear why he's left.CEO Tim Boyle said Tuesday in a press release that Timm, who started with the brand in 1997 as corporate controller, had "played an integral role in our ...read more

In January 2017, Travis Campbell took the steering wheel at Smartwool following Mark Satkiewicz’s abrupt departure. Prior to the move, Campbell served as the president and CEO of Far Bank Enterprises, an integrated manufacturer and distributor of fly fishing produces and owner of ...read more

Arne Arens is the new Global Brand President of The North Face. Arens has been with the company since 2010, first overseeing sales, marketing, merchandising, product development and direct-to-consumer activities in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In March, he became VP of ...read more

In his first interview as Mountain Hardwear's new president, Joe Vernachio talks about the brand's relationship with retailers, diversity in the industry, and a renewed focus on climbing. Industry veteran Joe Vernachio takes them helm at Mountain Hardwear this month. Vernachio ...read more

Joe Vernachio formerly served as VP of Global Product at The North Face. He will take the reigns at Mountain Hardwear next month. Parent company of Mountain Hardwear, Columbia Sportswear, announces a new brand president today. Joe Vernachio, who has served as global vice ...read more

Richard Krause succeeds Rechner as the next president and CEO of Confluence Outdoor. Sue Rechner, the longtime CEO and president of Confluence Outdoor, stepped down from her post this week. She will continue to be a major shareholder in the company, and will support the new ...read more

Ted Manning got an early start in the outdoor industry, first pinning on an Eastern Mountain Sports name tag at age 17. Now the CEO of Ibex, Manning’s a far cry from that sales floor-roaming kid, but he’s yet to forget his roots.In the past year, Ibex has worked to bridge the gap ...read more

Stritzke's letter is the latest in a stream of announcements from brands saying whether they'll attend or boycott Outdoor Retailer this summer. REI CEO Jerry Stritzke published a letter Friday on the Co-op Journal, asking the outdoor community to unite in attending Outdoor ...read more

Spaletto spent 19 years at The North Face before leaving last month. Todd Spaletto, former president of The North Face, has been named the new president of Wolverine Outdoor and Lifestyle Group, Wolverine World Wide announced on Monday. Spaletto left his position at The North ...read more