The Montane Story- So British!

Two youthful men met during an passage in Chile in 1993. One made a jacket out of an old tent. Which makes the other laugh. Chris Roff and Jake Doxat both find that the gear available isn’t what’s demanded for
their adventures. Indeed before the trip, Roff had been making and modifyiny outdoor apparel at home at the kitchen table. Doxat’s career began went from studying business at Cambridge to brand director for notorious Scottish single malt whiskeys like Dalwhinnie, Talisker and Lagavulin.

Back from Chile, Roff innovated the Montane company in 1993. But things did not go so well at first. perhaps because Roff, while brilliant, was not a business man. In 1996, Montane went bankrupt and Jake joined his friend’s company and with 16 friends who raised £ 180,000 in investment, but Roff soon left Montane and emigrated to New Zealand.

Montane Featherlight.

The vision that Doxat and his team had and Montane still has is to produce extremely light and robust out-of-door outfit. When it came to the featherlight philosophy which was also being pursued by others at the same time, Montane was one of the pioneers. The Slipstream, a wind
jacket was created that, with its nearly 70 grams, transcended all jackets of the time. Other Montane highlights were the Extreme Smock, a sweater worn as a third layer by numerous scientists and” passage nesters” at the South Pole and Arctic temperatures of minus 50 degrees. It was unbeatably warm and comfortable. In 1999, Montane established itself as the originator of Featherlite™ clothing with the original superlight, inseparable windshirt. Then came products like nearly imperishable, extremely light backpack made of cuben fiber, the material from which the sails of contending racers of the Vende Globe Race yachts are made, also set up its way into the ultralight scene.

In 1998 it was still cult to wear Montane apparel, but by 2022 the brand
has long been state of the art in England. Montane has come synonymous with featherlight and permeable apparel and gear. The thing less is more moment’s outdoor consumers are adventure campaigners and driven by a multi-activity intelligence.
Montane users do not acquaint themselves to traditional style specifications, but look for their own way of moving in the great outdoors.

Montane’s design team develop products that work from trail runs to mountain hikes, the 1,000m big walls, anddemanding high- alpine undertakings to 8,000m peaks. The products are tested in these veritably
regions by mountain professionals like Jon Gupta, Simon Yearsly, Rebecca Coles, Andy Kirkpatrick, the German Jörn Heller and other top- class atheletes. In the Ultra division, prodcuts are tested and developed with Jenny Tough, Francesca Canepa, Marcus Scotney and Debbie Martin-Consani.

You can find Montane gear worn on the Patagonian Ice Cap, Mount Everest or extreme ultra runs. From the British Antarctic Survey to the
Alpine classics as Montane is the choice of numerous professionals who demand the best performance from their apparel and gear. But not only professionals swear by the British brand’s prodcuts such as
the super-light Trailblazer pack line, the Minimus jacket collection, the Phase jacket series and, for trail runners, the Gecko running vests are absolute bestsellers in their categories.

Commercial Social Responsibility

With Montane’s aim of creating the lightest, strongest and most functional products on the market, “Farther. Forever” is Montane’s sustainability platform and within it there are 4 pillars.
1. Built to Last
Continuity is the foundation of the manufacturing philosophy. By extending the life of the product, the impact
associated with product is effectively reduced by spreading it over a longer life.
2. Ethical Trade
Montane only works with manufacturers who admire both the company’s norms and the rights and wellbeing of the people who make Montane products. 3. 3. Commitment
Montane products are made for wild and extreme surroundings, so the manufacturer is committed to the survival and ongoing care of those wild places.
4. Sustainability
Montanestrives to use the most sustainable processes for manufacturing.

Montane ultra running events partner

Montane is known for sponsoring tough ultra running events worldwide. In 2008, Montane hosted the inaugural Lakeland 100 Race , which is now the UK’s most spectacular and largest endurance trail event. This was followed by taking over the main sponsorship for the Spine Race and the now annual Dragons Back Race . In addition, Montane has been the main sponsor of the Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra for many years , probably the coldest ultra event in the world.

In 2022, Montane was the main sponsor of the brand new Montane Lapland Arctic Ultra (MLAU), which takes place in the northern Swedish winter.

The Montane team continues to expand

Montane now employs around 50 people at its main office in Northumberland, UK . There are distributors in 40 countries worldwide. The brand can also be found in more and more mountain sports online and offline stores in Germany and Austria.