“Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute. Thought y’all were a bike brand? What’s with all the ski pics?”

Well, in the immortal words of Inigo Montoya “Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.”

For those with a keen eye that follow our Instagram account, you will have noticed that in the bio, it has always read, “Bikes and Beacons”. This was not a mistake.

You see, while making clothes for bike related adventures is what we began with from day one, making gear we can use on our true backcountry adventures was always the end goal. Our true vision and passion, (and I mean right at the gosh darn heart of it all), is making those products that transcend versatility and categorization, and simply become your standard layer. What’s that piece for you? I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.

OK, I’ll go first. Remember the original Ibex Woolies? The long sleeve base layer, thin but surprisingly durable. Super long in the body and just long enough in the sleeves. Binding at the neck opening and a next to body fit, remember that one? Still my go-to. Filled with holes after many years, but dang they nailed that one. Want another one? The SALTZMAN Jersey. No lie, why would I wear anything else? I love that thing, regardless of my bias. But here’s the thing, it’s a cycling jersey. Nothing wrong with that, it’s my favorite all-time cycling jersey, but I do so much more than cycle.

This really wasn’t a hard one folks. The response to the SALTZMAN fabric has been PHENOMENAL, but it can do so much more than just the SALTZMAN Jersey. Step one? Make it more versatile. Give me that Long Sleeve full zip that’s less fitted, squared off at the bottom and doesn’t have the cycling jersey pocket. Dress it up with a bigger zipper, a two way zipper! Give it a huge concealed back pouch pocket…just in case. This my friends, is my new back country ski layer, mountain bike/bikepacking layer, cool to cold do everything including travel layer.

SO, why the skiing pics? Well, we got our third round of protos in and we decided that the best way to test them was a hut trip. Just wanted to share some from four days in the Wallawas.

Oh, and did you like the sound of this? Want to know what it’s called? Glad you asked. I’m talking about the FL.5. Named after our cherished bit of single track up in Forest Park, Firelane 5. This is the shirt to get rowdy in, and when you’re up in the park, FL.5 is one of your only outlets for rowdiness.

Want one? Like, really want one super bad? Stay tuned, they’re coming.

Can’t wait that long. Shoot me an email, maybe we can make some pre-order magic happen.