Outfitting the great outdoors

After two decades of tromping around in the wilderness, Lon McRae decided to turn his passion into a career.

He opened Mountain Goat Outfitters on Broadway just east of Monroe, then expanded it two and a half years later into double the space at Sprague and Division. In his 6,000-square-foot, two-story shop, McRae sells equipment for climbing, backcountry skiing and mountaineering, as well as operates three outdoor-gear Web sites.

Though he competes with Spokane’s big boys of outdoor recreation, Mountain Gear and REI, McRae thinks he can carve a piece off the pie by specializing in “cutting-edge, lightweight gear,” keeping prices low and offering good customer service.

One of McRae’s pet peeves is the attitude of some employees he’s encountered at outdoor recreation shops. He talks to his employees about remembering what it was like when they first tried out the sports they love, when everything was a little intimidating, especially the complicated manufacturing terms associated with gear.

“My No. 1 rule is – be nice to the customer. It’s an epidemic in this country that high-end outdoor gear shops have snotty representatives,” McRae said. “There’s such a selection that makes it hard to make a decision as a consumer. There’s such a dizzying array of gear on the market.”

Mountain Goat is on target to earn more than $500,000 this year, he said, and he’s shooting for $1 million within the next few years. But he’s not trying to become the next REI.

“I want a small shop that’s self-sufficient that I can earn a reasonable income off of and retire from,” said McRae, who is 37 and shares office space with Ava, his 7-month-old English mastiff, and Ellie, his 3-year-old black lab.

McRae was born and raised in Spokane by parents who loved to camp. Twice a year, the family would head off to the Wallowa Mountains in northeastern Oregon. By the time he hit high school at Lewis and Clark, McRae and his brother were backpacking through the Olympics. The North Cascades, Yellowstone and the Cabinet Mountains followed.

While attending Western Washington University in Bellingham in the early 1990s, McRae’s interest in backpacking morphed into mountaineering. He met an accomplished climber who took him on his first trip up Mount Baker.

“After that, backpacking didn’t cut it anymore,” McRae said. “I liked to get high up above the trees.”

After completing his degree in environmental science, he went to work for the Forest Service as a field biologist and spent 50 hours a week in the woods mapping salamander and frog habitat and counting populations. But what may seem like a dream job for an outdoors enthusiast really wasn’t. The seasonal layoffs and lack of stability wore him down quickly.

In 2000, he moved back home to Spokane with plans to open his shop. He runs it with his business partner, Carol Dell, who handles most of the administrative side of things like bookkeeping and shipping.

McRae says he tries to compete by offering low prices on core items, such as carabiners and ropes. He also offers discount packages on things like avalanche gear, including transceivers, probes and shovels. Customers in his shop can try out harnesses by hanging from a rope secured on a beam or check out the holds on a small climbing wall. Many ultra-light tents cover the upstairs floor and sleeping bags hang in rows. Customers can also sell gear or find a bargain in section reserved for consignment.

At the request of friends, McRae made space for a rack devoted to disc golf gear. But word of mouth has made his selection popular as Spokane adds courses. McRae says he has to re-stock discs twice a month in the summer and once a month in the winter.

“When we’re burned out on climbing and skiing we go huck discs,” McRae said.