Mountain Hardwear Restructures Philanthropic Giving Program

Mountain Hardwear Inc., a leading brand in the mountaineering and outdoor clothing and gear industry, announced today that the company has restructured its philanthropic giving program. The new program, called Mountain Hardwear Gives Back, has five arms designated to reflect the company’s priorities:

Environmental Partners – Organizations and programs dedicated to keeping wild spaces clean, healthy and accessible.

Outdoor Community Partners – Organizations which develop opportunities for others to learn about and partake in outdoor sports as well as organizations which support the communities to which Mountain Hardwear’s customers travel to explore, trek and climb.

Recreation Partners – Organizations that develop and maintain or support a specific region or aspect of the outdoors for recreation or preservation of culture.

Industry Partners – Industry organizations which facilitate Mountain Hardwear’s success in the industry which in turn furthers the company’s ‘Gives Back’ efforts.

Employee Partners – Encourages the company’s employees to be proactive in practicing and supporting the Mountain Hardwear Gives Back program with paid time off for related volunteer work and an internal grants program.

“Protecting the wild spaces of our earth and helping more individuals to get out recreating and playing in those spaces have been priorities of the management and employees of Mountain Hardwear since the company started twelve years ago,” said Paige Boucher, spokesperson for the new program and an original employee of the company. “For 2006 we have restructured the program so that it has a more directed focus, clearer guidelines and a board of directors to oversee it,” Boucher continued.

Mountain Hardwear encourages all interested parties or organizations to download our grant guidelines and application for its 2007 grants program. The 2006 grant recipients, grant guidelines and an application can be found after February 8th, 2006 at www.mountainhardwear.com/givesback. Questions about the program should be addressed to givesback@mountainhardwear.com.

Mountain Hardwear designs, sources and markets high-end mountaineering and outdoor equipment, apparel and accessories. Mountain Hardwear was established in 1993 by a group of outdoor industry veterans and is based in Richmond, Calif. The company distributes its products through specialty outdoor and sporting goods retailers in the United States and 25 countries worldwide. Mountain Hardwear has won numerous product and customer service awards since its inception. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbia Sportswear Company. For more information about Mountain Hardwear, visit the company’s Internet home page at www.mountainhardwear.com.