Nestled in tall pines right off Main Street in Mammoth Lakes is an A-frame cabin home to Ridge Merino’s showroom: the Ridge Collective. The Ridge Collective is a full-service retail storefront where you can check out and try on all of Ridge’s products and snag other great gear from our partner brands.
Ridge Collective also happens to be located at mile 906 of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) – the 2,650-mile long trail that stretches from Mexico to Canada. Mammoth Lakes is a standard resupply and zero day stop for PCT hikers, and people hiking the John Muir Trail often spend time prepping or unwinding in Mammoth too. Many visitors to Mammoth Lakes only know Mammoth as a ski town, but there’s an amazing energy here in the summer with throngs of thru-hikers and day hikers exploring the town.
Ridge decided to call Mammoth Lakes home because of the incredible recreational opportunities here – both for fun and so we could test our gear in the wildest conditions. But the relationships we’ve built with thru-hikers has been an unexpected benefit of being based in Mammoth.
Every summer we set up a PCT corner in our shop and welcome thru-hikers to stop by to sign our log book with their trail names, have a photo taken for our wall and restock on any essentials that didn’t make it past mile 906… usually underwear, socks, sun hoodies, hats or sunglasses (we carry a variety of Sunski sunglasses).
In a town as small as Mammoth, we’re happy to provide an option for hikers to restock or upgrade their hiking clothes. Ridge gear is frequently recommended by gear guides for PCTers and other thru-hikers.
“There is no greater gear test than thru-hiking. Hearing about the gear thru-hikers love – and what holds up best for them over hundreds of miles – helps us continue improving our Merino wool gear. We’re grateful for the relationships we’ve built with PCT hikers.” - Jeff Russell, CEO of Ridge Merino
Ridge also has a leave-a-penny, take-a-penny style hiker box in our shop with outdoor gear, and we’re listed on FarOut, the trusted map system thru-hikers use for info about water caches, hiker boxes, current route conditions and more.
We love chatting with thru-hikers and recommending our favorite Mammoth restaurants, coffee shops and bars to help make the most of a zero day in our beautiful town. We’ve also been known to provide trail magic from time to time – follow our Instagram for announcements.
Every year we work with a few Pacific Crest Trail thru-hikers as ambassadors for Ridge. Meet Emily, a 2022 thru-hiker known as “Dim Sum,” and Laila, a 2023 thru-hiker known as “Damsel.” PCT hikers give each other trail names – scroll through the PCT Association’s 2,600 miler list to see tons of funny trail names. Check back later this summer to meet our 2024 PCT ambassadors.
We love hearing about our PCT ambassadors’ journeys and how our Ridge gear works for them as they wear it for thousands of miles. If you’re interested in applying to be an ambassador, email info@ridgemerino.com, and if you’re thru-hiking or section hiking near Mammoth, stop in and say hi!
