Mountain Khakis® Welcomes Dale Bard to Leadership Team

(Jackson Hole, WY – April 18, 2012) Mountain Khakis®, a leading mountain-inspired lifestyle apparel brand, announces Industry-veteran Dale Bard has joined their leadership team as National Sales Manager.

On the eve of their 10th Anniversary year, Mountain Khakis has enlisted the talent and sales leadership acumen of Outdoor Industry-veteran, Dale Bard.

Dale’s winding path of working in the Industry began in the truest, most honorable way – as a dirtbag. A renowned climber and talented skier, he was a pioneer who challenged himself and his peers, and has a closet-full of tall stories to share as a result. An excerpt from his own story, “In the Dead of Winter”, published in the book, Yosemite Epics: Tales of Adventure from America’s Greatest Playground (and featured in Adventure Sports Journal), reads, “At this point, we were getting very close to not making it. We survived on one tea bag and half a stick of butter for three days.” Good stories always start with not enough tea bags and butter.

In Bard’s role as National Sales Manager for MK, he will focus initially on overseeing the Southwest, Northwest, Rockies, North Central and Great Lakes territories. “Dale is a major addition to our team,” states Ross Saldarini, MK President. “He is a well of information, and brings new ideas that will help us sharpen our blade in 2012. His objective, and ours, for the short-term is to grow sales in the West.”

Bard’s outdoor pedigree runs deep and wide… he has played an active role in the Outdoor Industry for over 35 years, in positions ranging from Sponsored Athlete, to Research & Development, to International Sales Manager, to Chief Operating Officer. He has worked with leading hardgoods brands such as Black Diamond Equipment, La Sportiva, Petzl, Five Ten, and, most recently, Ortovox. At Ortovox, Bard led the charge in establishing the company’s US distribution facility, and the brand’s foray into developing a softgoods program. Which is a perfect segue into Mountain Khakis.
“I have known MK for many years and have always appreciated the brand and the product,” said Bard. “I watched MK come out of nowhere to make a significant mark on this industry. I think I can bring fresh, new ideas to this growing company, and further drive brand penetration and expansion in US and Canada. Having arrived at MK, I feel this is a very positive and healthy fit.”

“I’m honored to have Dale on the team and to be able to bring another really talented professional and great person into the MK family. He’s our Olympian!” said Saldarini.

Welcome to the MK Family, Dale!

More About Dale Bard
“A fixture of Yosemite in the 1970s, Dale Bard became famous for both his bold climbing and his frugal lifestyle. Bard lived in a converted bakery van and sustained himself on peanut butter and potatoes for weeks at a time, earning kudos from Climbing Magazine for perfecting the “dirtbag” lifestyle. Though with first ascents of Half Dome’s Bushido and El Capitan’s Sea of Dreams and Sunkist routes to his credit, the climber wrote his name indelibly in the record book.” -As told by Adventure Sports Journal’s Matt Johnson
“Dale Bard was a valley fixture through the 70’s, spending his time both free climbing hard cracks and doing the big walls. Dale was one of the first people to seriously work on freeing the Nose, and spent much of his time in the Eastern Sierras working toward this goal. To many of us, Dale is best-known for his part in the video ‘Moving Over Stone’.” –As told by fellow climber, John Bachar
– First Ascents include: 1975 Wailing Wall, Tuolumne Meadows, CA, USA with Jim Bridwell and Ricky Accomozo
– Blues Riff, Positive Vibrations, Red Dihedral, OZ-Gram, Scorpion

About Mountain Khakis®
Rugged. Authentic. Reliable. Timeless. What started as a casual conversation at the Shady Lady Saloon in Jackson Hole, WY has become a top-performing mountain-inspired lifestyle apparel brand. Established in 2003, Mountain Khakis quickly became a staple in the wardrobe of everyone from ranch hands to golf pros, those who travel by jet, as well as those who travel by thumb. The Mountain Khakis brand story continues to resonate as it connects to the enthusiast who believes that freedom and rugged adventure is a way of life. www.mountainkhakis.com Follow MK! MK Facebook • MK Twitter • MK Livin’ Blog • ‘Team MK’ Facebook

Mountain Khakis® • Built for the Mountain Life® • Rise Above It™

For More Information Contact:
Jen Taylor, Director of Creative Development & Public Relations, Mountain Khakis®
(970)250-9682
jen.taylor@mountainkhakis.com

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