Jen's Journal March 2024

Hi Friends,

March winds to a close, and with it, so does the end of true winter in Alaska. We’ve entered the series of false Springs, breakup, and wondering what activity is right for the conditions out there! Crust skiing and crispy bike rides are still possible, but so too are slushy runs, post-holing, and maybe some sticky heavy turns in the backcountry (or corn snow!). Ahead of us we have April, and a TON of events, being kicked off by our Women in Leadership in the Outdoor Industry gathering that we are hosting on April 3rd as a pre-conference opportunity in conjunction with Confluence the conference hosted annually by Alaska Outdoor Alliance on all things relating to a regenerative outdoor recreation economy. We cap off the first week of April with TWO first Friday events, one we are hosting at Anchorage Museum, this event is an Outdoor Business Showcase, featuring brands and organizations inspired by Alaska’s lands and waters. Come visit, meet founders, shop and enjoy the museum’s First Friday offerings. The event is 5-8pm, and open to the public with free admission from 6-8pm. We are also hosting first Friday at our Alpine Fit shop co-located with AK Cycle Chic at 908 W Northern Lights Blvd from 5-7pm with live music The Jake Legs, refreshments and art exhibit with Scott Clendaniel Real Art is Better.

But! This post is supposed to be about what happened in March!

In the past month the clocks changed and the days are getting much longer! We have light after work for evening activities outdoors without headlamps!! What! Amazing.

We celebrated Pi Day with no less than a berry pie, rhubarb pie, key lime pie, savory pies for lunch and a big salad to round it out. We had 40 people come by and enjoy a slice in our annual pie making tradition as a customer and community appreciation event. It’s Jamie’s favorite holiday. Save the date 3.14 for next year! 

We worked on a ton of product development for futures seasons, we did a small run of a new color in our Nordic Anywhere Merino Wool Hat to test out before producing a bigger batch (coming soon), we made more award winning Men’s Treeline Long Sleeve shirts, we offered a gift with purchase from our neckwarmers that we make by diverting would-be waste from the production of our Mountain V Merino Wool and Fleece Lined neckgaiters (this is still going, enter code GIFTNECKWARMER at checkout on orders $99+ until April 7th)!

We also participated in an epic giveaway with Garage Grown Gear and The Trek, with over $8000 in prizes and 32 awesome niche and cottage outdoor brands that ended March 27th (sorry if you missed it!). We also crossed the 10,000 followers mark on social media! A strange milestone to celebrate, but kinda a big deal when we work super hard to organically grown brand awareness of this small outdoor gear company in Alaska!

AND, guess what? I was named one of Alaska’s Top 40 Under 40 for this year!! Whoo hoo. Thank you ADN, Alaska Journal of Commerce and the friends and community members who nominated me and wrote letters of support! 

This is me (below) after going to the Top 40 Under 40 photoshoot that will be featured in their special print edition featuring this years cohort. The photoshoot was inside the super cool Akela space downtown. Following the photoshoot I walked over to the Anchorage Museum to get things organized for our upcoming Alaska Inspired Outdoor Business Showcase, free admission at the museum Fri April 5th 6-8pm, see you there! 

Now on to our April events and dreaming of Spring and summer adventures ahead! 

-Jen Loofbourrow + the Alpine Fit Team