Cooped Up? Get Uncooped.

The annual Summer Outdoor Retailer Trade Show taking place August 3-6 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and I'm having a hard time containing my excitement. Not only is Summer OR the place for all of the best outdoor gear companies to show off their best and brightest new pieces for the upcoming year, it's also a showcase for new companies to start off with a bang, and one of the companies that I'm especially stoked about is Mile High Mountaineering.

Founded by lifelong buds Jeff Popp and Jordan Vecchiarelli, Mile High Mountaineering is a brand new company whose aim is to bring the outdoors to a younger crowd, an attempt which is readily apparent in the aesthetic design of the first line of bags coming out: the Flatiron 38, the Divide 55, and the Fifty-Two 80 all sport eye-catching colors and a flair that makes them stand out from the rest of the pack (no pun intended). 

As any gearhead knows, however, it's what's inside that counts. Fortunately, it doesn't look like the MHM guys slacked there, either. The bags all sports a wide range of features including multiple zippered access points to the main compartments, various pockets, ventilated backs, and fully adjustable dual swiveling hip belts, to name just a few. 

I look forward checking them out next month; if they perform as well as they look, MHM will be off to a great start. 

• Summer_OR
• gear
• backpacking
• packs
• Mile_High-Mountaineering