By Andrea Romano / September 7, 2017
One company has solved the age-old packing problem for forgetful climbers in Colorado by opening a pop-up shop 300 feet above the ground on a steep cliff side.
The Cliffside Shop has opened its “doors” on the Bastille cliff at Eldorado Canyon State Park. Unfortunately, you already have to be an experienced and skilled climber to get to it.
The shop was created by 37.5 Technology, a company that creates outdoor wear specifically for regulating body temperature and repelling odor.
A representative of 37.5 Technology, Christy Raedeke, told Travel + Leisure that the idea for the shop came from the company’s ad agency, WIP.
“We have a lot of employees who climb…WIP devised a clever idea [for a shop] that was remote in access rather than remote in geography,” Raedeke said. The company has pulled out of an Outdoor Retailer show in response to Utah Governor Hebert’s plan to rescind national monument status, so the company felt this was a great way to raise awareness for the protection of public lands and climbing access.
“We teamed up with the Access Fund, the American Alpine Club, and the Action Committee for Eldorado. We donated $5,000 each to those organizations and had them with us at the base of the climb to drive membership,” Raedeke said.
Because the company’s main goal is to raise environmental and cultural awareness, all stock in the pop-up shop is given away to climbers, and never sold. “We were more interested in getting climbers to feel the wider range of comfort that 37.5 technology provides than making money on transactions,” Raedeke said.
And Colorado is the perfect location for a quick, last-minute stop for an extra bit of gear. With the changeable weather, climbers may not always be able to predict what gear they’ll need on a climb.
“Within minutes you can go from 95 and sunny to hail or torrential rain. When you climb you can’t carry much more than you wear, so it was the perfect sport to support with gear at the last pitch of the climb,” said Raedeke. “A base layer is incredibly important in any outdoor situation, and the Rab merino wool with 37.5 base layer is one of our favorite pieces on the market.”
The shop is manned by one of the company’s most experienced climbers and VP’s, Dave Bywater, who has served about 70 people, according to Lonely Planet.
