Shopping Heaven or the End of the Universe

July 27th, 2026

I managed to complete my shopping list in just a few hours over two days. Denver really is the Mecca of outdoor gear shopping. You can buy, or even rent, just about anything you need, for just about any outdoor activity, in the Denver or Boulder area. If you just want one-stop shopping, you’ve got the flagship REI, which I’ve posted about before. It’s sort of like the Walmart or Macys of outdoor gear – multi-levels, with just about everything you could possibly need from rock climbing to kayaking. And with extremely helpful staff. You can even rent most of what they sell. And parking is free. Woo hoo. 

I’m attracted to that climbing wall, but I’d probably tear out my shoulder joints and a few muscles as well trying to get off the ground.

If you are looking for high end outdoor clothing and footwear, there are an incredible selection of manufacturers to choose from, all of which have large stores with most everything they sell. Kuhl, Fallraven, Patagonia, Arc’tyrx, Cotopaxi and much more – all carry a much wider selection than REI. And unlike the online Websites for these clothes, you can try the clothing on. I was really impressed with Fallraven – great service and they do in-store alterations for free (which they should given the price of the clothing). 

For rock and ice climbing,  REI carries a lot of gear, from ropes to anchors, but there are other specialized shops as well. Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder was around back when I was climbing. Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) used to have a large store in Denver, but they closed a long time ago. Another of my favorites in my climbing days, Forrest Mountainering, sold out long ago.

And of course you can find all kinds of stores that specialize in skiing gear (alpine, mountaineering and cross-country) – you’d expect that in Denver and Boulder since this is sort of the gateway to all the big ski areas across the state. Back when Jan and I first moved to Denver and used to ski every week during the winter, the Gart Brothers Sports Castle was the place to buy skiing gear, and people waited for the annual ‘Sniagrab’ sale (bargains spelled backwards…clever. Not really). They eventually sold out to the Sports Authority, which faded away.  

I was not planning to advertise for every shop in the region since I’m not getting paid for advertising in the blog. If you are interested in visiting Denver and are looking for gear, this article in Westword is a good starting point. 

The fun and very convenient part of searching for gear, is that many of the stores are clustered within walking distance of each other, and also close to brew pubs and restaurants. I mentioned in a previous post, finding Patagonia and Arc’tyrex across the street from each other in the RiNo district of Denver (River North). REI and FallRaven are across from each other, with a few other outfitters within walking distance. Plus, there is an ice cream shop across from FallRaven. I’m always on the lookout for those. The cross-street proximity made me think about the Lewis Black routine, The End of the Universe. Check it out on YouTube. One of the few times I’ve heard a routine of his without a continuous string of f-bombs.

After reading through this absolutely riveting post, I’m certain you must want to know what I was looking for on this shopping outing. Aside from my obsession with wandering through stores like REI, I’ve been searching for the perfect pair of hiking pants for years. That’s a lot like my search for the perfect camera bag. I must own a half-dozen hiking pants (and camera bags) by now, some of which are convertible (they convert to shorts, not to a sports car), some are heavy cloth, others light weight material. The problem is that every trip I go on has varying conditions – Iceland was cool and damp, but not always raining hard enough to pull on my waterproof shell. My first Alaska trip had the same conditions, maybe a bit cooler. Some of my upcoming trips will be cool and damp, and then there are all the cave trips and rock scrambling where you need more rugged material. I’d like to just have one or two pairs, not a half dozen. 

Before this trip, I had gone through the online stores for most of the major outdoor outfitters, and had picked four or five to look at on my shopping outing. Tops on the list was one particular model from Fallsraven – I liked the looks of it, with large sections of heavy nylon in appropriate places – water resistant and scuff resistant as well. This turned out to be the winner over Kuhl, Arct’yrx and Patagonia. I wound up buying two, one was a bit heavier, and better suited for my upcoming Patagonia trip, as well as the Iceland trip next year. 

Now I can pack up all the other pants I have at home, and give them away to a charity clothing collector. And try to stay away from REI and any other outfitter for a while. I need to keep repeating –  “I do not need any more gear”. I’ll let you know how that works. 

Peace