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Marmot Mountain Works GOING OUT OF BUSINESS
- Amar Andalkar
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Very unfortunate news, I've gotten a lot of great ski mountaineering service there over the last 15+ years. Tried my best to support them, bought at least 3 pairs of skis and AT bindings over the years there. This will leave a big void in the local backcountry ski community.
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- Randito
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- flowing alpy
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- ski_photomatt
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- Jim Oker
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- trees4me
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- davidG
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I bought my first Goretex jacket from him in that early store, a Marmot Alpinist (with the fishnet liner). There were two carousels of clothing in the store - that's all, and he was the only employee. Later, BackPacker Supply was my second home, as it was a valuable asset to many here, too.
Lock would be the first to tell you that times change, and on-line buying trends is part of that. Again, you get the world you bargain for when you open your wallet. I doubt he's bitter about it - he's had a great run, and there may even be more chapters. Anyway, I hope someone with a priviledged insight is able to bring out what would no doubt be an interesting story.
And if you happen to read this, Lock, thanks for your focus and efforts to bring us the best gear, advice and service possible.
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- Andrew Carey
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- Chuck C
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- flowing alpy
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- MarmotMountain
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Many of us, including myself, remember our early days of adventures in the local mountains of the amazing Pacific Northwest and beyond, involving those first or last minute trip(s) to Marmot for those all important mission critical items that we absolutely had to have for our trip. No matter whether you needed a good lightweight rain jacket for a friend that was here from out of town for a “casual” day trip outing that you had been planning for “3 months” where the local weather forecast had “not turned out as planned”, or you needed something for “attempting” a new “ski” “descent” in the Cascades…Marmot was the place to go… While there was never any guarantee (ha!) that your last minute trip wish would be fulfilled (custom boot-fit tweak by Eric, esoteric broken binding part cannibalized out of store stock for you by Dave, specialty lightweight crampons that no one else had in stock custom fit to your boots after hours by ?)…whatever...Marmot was the most likely place that could make it happen for you. And if they couldn’t make that wish happen for you this time, they definitely always remembered you and endeavored to make that same wish happen for the next person that came along. What an amazing community resource that Marmot has been…and it has been a joint effort…no one single person…not me…nor anyone else, can claim credit for what Marmot Mountain Works has meant to our local backcountry community.
Lock Miller, founder of Marmot Mountain Works, certainly deserves most of the thanks for enabling many of us over the years at Marmot Mountain Works to be able to do what we do…to enjoy what we ourselves are passionate about doing, while being passionate about helping you to do it too... thanks Lock! While Lock and myself have chosen to be relatively quiet in forums like this over the years, we certainly really do appreciate all of the love and support shown by many of you in our community…
…it is with great sadness and many heartfelt tears that we all bring this local iconic backcountry shop to it’s close…
- David May, store manager at Marmot Mountain Works
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- TN
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The Marmot brand became an industry innovator and leader back when. And, with the store's support of other top brands, Marmot helped fuel the backcountry skiing stoke from its infancy.
I believe Lock once told me that he was one of the original Sunnyside Sliders at Crystal Mt. Those guys ROCKED! I used to watch Sliders tucking it from the top of chair two, just to get proper speed to hit Sunnyside with!!!
A big thank you to Lock, Eric, Dave and all the others at MMW over the years!!!!!!!
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- haggis
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Shame.
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- JimD
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Like Haggis, Marmot has always been my go to place when my wife had to hit the mall. I was first attracted to the extensive climbing department and customer service from fellow climbers and skiers who didn't just work retail, they lived the life. As a retired P.E. teacher I know the importance of life long sports for physical and mental health. Marmot has been an integral part of supporting that for the local outdoor community, and provided a real service and great hangout. Thanks to Lock, David, and all the employees, especially Eric, who has been the heart and soul of the shop for so long. We should have a big party on the last day!
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- silaswild
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- Marcus
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- Charlie Hagedorn
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A big thank-you to everyone at Marmot -- you have changed a lot of lives and made a lot of people happy!
Marmot's summer touring ski rentals, in particular, have opened many eyes to the possibilities in the Cascades.
What will the great people Marmot has retained for years do next? Lots of great possibilities, in Seattle and beyond.
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- Garth_Ferber
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- Lowell_Skoog
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Marmot has been serving backcountry skiers (and doing it well) since before backcountry skiing was cool.
One of the things that has impressed me about Marmot is how knowledgeable the staff is and how long most of them have been working there. I've never worked in retail, but my impression is that high turnover is the norm. It speaks volumes for Lock Miller and Dave May that they've retained such a great staff for so long. I always feel like I'm visiting old friends there.
The closure of Marmot will leave a hole in our local scene that will be hard to fill.
Thanks, Marmot, for all you've done for the community over the years.
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- RonL
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- GerryH
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- JKordel
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Eric was always especially helpful and supportive of me in the early years of telemark when the sport was evolving and the gear was not very robust. On more than one occasion he helped me through the waranty process coming good with replacements for broken Tuas and Merrell Supercomps. Thanks Eric!
Marmot stayed true to ski touring and climbing through the years and will be greatly missed.
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- Steve C.
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One thing I know for sure: Marmot was dedicated to AT equipment before any shop in the US and I'm talking about the 1980's. Neptune was a close second. I believe Lock was the sole US importer of Dynafit bindings and Pomoca skins before anyone in this country knew of those brands. Marmot is responsible for a lot more than just servicing this community, they introduced the US to backcountry skiing on equipment other than telemark through their widely-mailed catalog which "got hits" from all over the country. And when I say "they" I'm really talking about Lock-he was the one with the foresight to visit Europe and choose the right gear to import for his customers who lived all over the country. The term "Pioneering" is too weak. It's more like this: Marmot did to AT skiing what the Rolling Stones did for rock and roll.
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- gregL
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Best wishes to Lock, Dave, Eric and Francis wherever they may find themselves.
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- Doug Hutchinson
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Echoing what everyone has already said - the employees have always been knowledgeable and without attitude. Thank you Marmot - you will be greatly missed!
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- Bill G
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Thank you to all the Marmot staff that have helped me out through the years.
Bill G
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- andybrnr
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Andy
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- wolfs
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Remember when Swallows Nest closed many years ago, a similar bummer for the scene, although in that case the real hardcore had already written them off after their move out from under the bridge. Losing MMW feels like more of a loss to me than that, both of resource and for the loose concept of a ski community esp over on the eastside.
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- Griff
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So it is 1985, and I ask for technical ice tools for Christmas. Only place you can buy them is at Marmot as back in the 80s many times Marmot was your ONLY choice for cool gear, no one else had it.
So for dad goes and buys me two ice tools, and then crosses the street to Bvue mall to shop for my mom. Well, the store has no bags (why would they) and he heads to the mall carrying around two ice tools.......in a suit and tie. How silly that must have looked. LOL.
Thank you Marmot for helping me to get in to AT in 1984.
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- lernr
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I used to hit the website when I was still in FL. Moving to Bellevue several years ago I was so happy to be able to just drop in and chat with Eric and Francis whenever - certainly when I need anything AT and climbing related but also just to kill time while family is at the mall. My wife thinks I've bought a lot from MMW but clearly not enough...
Best wishes to everyone and thank you for the years of service and friendship
Ivo
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