Season-spanning, All-conditions Gear Built to Outperform and Outlast
BY MIRA BRODY
PHOTOS BY MIRA BRODY & KENNY WILSON
It’s a Yosemite spring like the park rarely sees. Record snowpack in the Sierra Nevada and warming temps have released a torrent of water. The runoff gushes from the valley’s rim down both its famous waterfalls and new unnamed ones, pushed down crevasses and over cliff edges by the unrelenting force of gravity. The infamous Yosemite Falls sounds like a semi trailer lumbering down an interstate, the water eager to plunge into the Merced River below.
The anomalous snow year in the West is giving way to an intensely wet season of rebirth—one my partner Kenny and I have been fortunate to witness as we pass through the lower Rocky Mountains, red rock deserts, High Sierra and lush green and redwood-specked coast. From the 111 degrees we felt in Death Valley, to snowfall in Yosemite, to the dry 85 in the Grand Canyon and dense fog of the Mendocino Coast, we’ve both shivered and sweated, sometimes in the span of two hours and 200 miles.
On a trip of extremes, you wonder what kind of gear to pack without bringing a caravan to it. Truth is, I’ve been wearing Voormi® clothing for most of it. Between driving from Alabama Hills outside of Lone Pine, California, where high-desert temps and flowers were in full swing, to reaching the High Sierra and arriving during a late-season snowstorm in Yosemite Valley, I was comfortable with my minimal repertoire of their Easy Tank paired with the Chalet Pullover and knit beanie to stave the chill the dense coastal range clouds brought in.
That’s because Voormi as a company was founded on similar principles. Not only rooted in the region that contains the highest concentration of 14ers in the Lower 48, Voormi’s founders are outdoors people, guides and mountaineers. In fact, the idea for minimal but heavy-lifting clothing was inspired by a guide trip through Alaska.
Their River Run Hoodie base layer kept me warm when wind chills in Moab, Utah, dipped below 30 degrees, but also kept me cool when the sun rose above the red monoliths of Zion National Park to kiss the morning with warmth. Their Short Sleeve Tech Tee dried me when, in my haste to take my first shower in after five days, I had forgotten a towel. In all cases, it’s a t-shirt that goes beyond simply covering my body in moderate temperatures and has instead pulled its weight on trail runs filled with sunshine and red rock dust and even to that post-run beer by the fire.
Voormi’s home base is in a remote, rugged town nestled in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado just over Wolf Creek Pass, where mountain pursuits are a little more extreme and the people tougher. With stores in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and Bozeman, Montana, Voormi takes pride in producing a lifestyle-backed brand of clothing that is tough, tactical and looks great doing it all.
Voormi’s team thrives on the foundation of an industry-unique ethos: textiles are a technology that needs to progress like any other. The truth is, not much has changed since humans put a couple hides together to produce clothing over 10,000 years ago, something they’re working to change with the creation of Voormi’s proprietary CORE CONSTRUCTION® and other patented textile technologies. Uniquely, Voormi’s CORE CONSTRUCTION® allows the ability to insert advanced functional materials into the center of fabric – from integrated weather protection to printed electronic circuitry. This patented process changes the game when it comes to breakthrough performance in textiles, and when worn, remains comfortable and excels in extreme conditions.
Take the High-E Hoodie for example—it includes Voormi’s Surface-HardenedTM technology and is made with a durable 21.5 micron wool reinforced by an array of outer-facing nylon fibers. Finished off with a durable water repellent coating, it becomes a multi-use backcountry staple built to work on its own, or layered with your favorite shell.
Another great textile advancement in Voormi’s fleet is its PHASE S.C.TM concealment technology. Phase S.C. is achieved by coloring the textile down to the yarn level instead of using surface-printed camo. This eliminates the “synthetic glow” common to hunting in sunrise and sunset conditions with traditional synthetic camo.
With virtually unlimited uses, Voormi garments are cross functional in every sport, lifestyle and recreation type. These textiles work hard, are moisture- wicking when you start to sweat, insulating when the temps drop, and water repelling when it starts to precipitate — meaning there’s no need to change layers when the weather does. Voormi’s clothing is the first and last pieces you’ll buy for every single type of element.
Kenny and I end our trip on California’s Pacific Coast before heading home to Montana and are greeted once again by an abnormal but healthy wet spring. The fog is dense and the ocean waves along the beautiful Sonoma Coast crash into the sand, sending sea spray into the already-humid air. Although it’s chilly, my Chalet Pullover is impenetrable, making this and each adventure before it feel less biting, and instead more refreshing than anything.
Learn more and shop online at voormi.com.
Mira Brody is an avid runner and writer in Bozeman, Montana. She is the producer of Mountain Outlaw and content production director at Outlaw Partners.
