One of the outdoor industry’s leading pack makers, Bozeman, Montana-based Mystery Ranch, announced that two skiers will be added to the brand’s Mountain Ambassador Team.
Carston Oliver and Eric Balken both reside in Salt Lake City and both grew up skiing the steeps of Utah’s Wasatch Range.
“With the advent of our new ski and snowboard packs we’re excited to add both Carston and Eric to our Mountain Ambassador Team,” says Ryan Holm, Marketing Manager at Mystery Ranch. “These two will represent Mystery Ranch as they travel, ski, and work and provide us with feedback and inspiration to fuel further product development. Both hold down jobs and manage to get out daily to ski in the winter and play in the mountains the rest of the year. We love their work hard/play hard ethos and feel it truly reflects Mystery Ranch, which has long been the pack of choice for professionals.”
Eric Balken is as passionate about the southern Utah desert as he is about skiing. After earning a degree in Environmental Studies and Geography at the University of Utah, he started working for the Glen Canyon Institute. Now, a decade later, he is the Executive Director for the non-profit. “As the years go on, I value these places more and grow a deeper desire to protect them. I want to push myself to new places, skiing lines and mountains that test my abilities, and I want to push myself to reduce my impact and become a more effective environmentalist,” Balken said.
Carston Oliver mountain bikes in the off-season as hard as he skis during the winter. He has appeared in several ski films and in the pages of well-known outdoor and ski publications. A die-hard fan, Oliver has carried Mystery Ranch packs for years. He is excited to put the new 2017 packs to the test, especially the 21 Liter SADDLE PEAK, which was just awarded the Outside Magazine Gear of the Year award for packs.
Mystery Ranch’s new snow-specific packs range in size from the 15 Liter D-ROUTE to the 45 Liter PATROL 45 and are offered in men’s and women’s fit. Years of testing and countless face shots have dialed in fast, efficient ski, and snowboard carry, quick access to avy gear, snow-shedding fabrics, and multiple easy-access points. Whether for long alpine tours, local pow laps, or professional work as an avalanche forecaster, or patroller, Mystery Ranch snow packs are Built for the Mission.
Mystery Ranch says it is committed to building “the finest load carriage equipment in the world.” A product-driven company from the beginning, Mystery Ranch packs are built “for the job that needs to get done, for the people committed to doing it, with the best materials available and the most durable construction methods that exist,” the brand says.