Announcing Give-Back Grants from Mountain Hardwear and Montrail

RICHMOND, Calif. , Feb 17, 2010 -

Sister companies Mountain Hardwear, Inc. and Montrail® are pleased to announce the 2010 recipients their respective Gives Back Grant programs. For 2010, the Gives Back Board of Directors, all employees of the two companies, worked to narrow the focus of both Gives Back programs.

Mountain Hardwear Gives Back: Getting youth outdoors and fresh water.
Mountain Hardwear’s primary focus for the first half of the year is Helping to Create the Next Generation of Outdoor Enthusiasts. In the second half of the year, the focus will shift to supporting research about the fresh water crises occurring in mountainous regions of the world. Stay tuned…

For the first half of the year, Mountain Hardwear will once again focus on funding and raising awareness about organizations that provide opportunities for underprivileged youth to attend an outdoor camp. Ten camps across the country where chosen to be part of the program. In addition to receiving funds, the camps benefit from added traffic to their websites driven by Mountain Hardwear’s outreach and social media efforts. For every visitor to the Gives Back landing page and clicks on the Send a Kid to Camp button between now and April 15, 2010, Mountain Hardwear will donate one dollar towards the cost of camp for a youngster who would not normally have that opportunity, up to $40,000 total.

The following programs are part of the 2010 Send a Kid to Camp program:
Big City Mountaineers – Denver, Colorado
City Wild – Denver, Colorado
Girl Ventures – San Francisco, California
Kismet Rock Foundation – North Conway, New Hampshire
Outdoor Outreach – San Diego, California
San Jose Inner City Outings, Sierra Club – San Jose, California
St. Louis Inner City Outings, Sierra Club – St. Louis, Missouri
SOS Outreach – Avon, Colorado
Summer Search – New York, New York
Youth Enrichment Strategies (YES) – Richmond, California
Additional Mountain Hardwear Gives Back grants for 2010 are awarded to the following organizations:

Access Fund
American Alpine Club
American Mountain Guides Association
American Hiking Society
Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies
Conservation Alliance
Leave No Trace
Outdoor Industry Women’s Coalition
The Outdoor Foundation

More information about the Mountain Hardwear Gives Back program can be found at http://www.mountainhardwear.com/GivesBack.aspx

Montrail Gives Back: Healthy Lifestyles and Healthy Trails.
Montrail’s primary focus has been narrowed to support trail running as a healthy lifestyle choice. For 2010, the board recognizes a local need for support of community races and school running programs in Montrail’s backyard of the San Francisco Bay Area. Programs supported by Montrail for 2010 include:
Richmond YMCA Bayfront Run
Berkeley Athletic Fund
Richmond/Oakland area middle school running programs
Conservation Alliance
HERA Climb4Life Run

Montrail’s secondary focus on maintaining and preserving healthy trails was supported with a fundraiser at the Winter Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City, Utah in January. Montrail sold the Sabino Trail shoe to raise funds and awareness for wilderness designation of the Hardrock 100 Trail in Southern Colorado.

About Mountain Hardwear:
Mountain Hardwear, Inc. makes cutting edge mountaineering and outdoor equipment, apparel and accessories for ultimate performance in extreme conditions. Established in 1993 by a group of outdoor industry veterans, Mountain Hardwear is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Columbia Sportswear Company based in Richmond, Calif. Mountain Hardwear distributes its products through specialty outdoor and sporting goods retailers throughout the United States and over 40 countries worldwide. Mountain Hardwear has won numerous product and customer service awards since its inception, reflecting the company’s commitment and passion toward innovation. It’s our relentless drive to create the absolute best that makes us who we are. Mountain Hardwear. PERFORMANCE ELEVATED™. www.mountainhardwear.com
About Montrail:
Established in 1993, Montrail is a premium outdoor footwear brand known for its technical, high performance trail running and hiking footwear for outdoor enthusiasts. Montrail sells footwear to retailers in the United States and in 29 countries worldwide. In 1996, Montrail embarked on a mission to improve the standard for comfort and fit in footwear by creating IntegraFit™, its proprietary fit technology. To learn more about Montrail, visit www.montrail.com.

For Immediate Release

Mountain Hardwear Inc. Public Relations
Paige Boucher

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