We recently went back and read some of the responses to our blog post about the transfer of ownership of Cloudveil. First, thanks to you all just for taking the time to voice your opinion. It speaks to your passion about the brand, and while some opinions were not so great, we think it’s a good sign that you care enough to express them.

In reading the posts, we thought it might be helpful to address a couple of recurring points.

Product availability and the web site — This is a major issue for consumers, pros and friends and family of Cloudveil. Here are a few facts about the spring situation:

• At the time we purchased Cloudveil, Spyder the previous owner, had sold all spring inventory of goods. As new owners there was nothing for us to buy for our own personal use. This has created a true shortage of product.

• For a variety of reasons, very little extra stock for spring was purchased back in fall 2009 (that is how long it takes to get product). This compounded the lack of availability for consumers.

• After April 1, the Cloudveil web site was not designed to sell online simply because there was nothing to sell.

The combination of these factors is why you can’t purchase anything for spring in the same way you have done in the past. Stock is available at select dealers, including online retailers listed on our web site.

So if I am excusing myself from the problems people are having on these issues, what are we doing about it? Fall 2010 will be shown on the web site in late summer. It will, as always, show product and help the consumer buy the product. When we come back, it will be with the objective to have a robust web site with great product at good prices.

Another major theme is Jackson, Wyoming:

The fall 2010 line, which will be available at retail shops and online in the fall, was designed, developed and tested in many places — including Jackson Hole — in early 2009. On our watch, the Cloudveil product plans are the same. We are dedicated and passionate mountain enthusiasts, and while we may not live in JH, we will continue the Cloudveil mission with a commitment to honest communication, innovation without excess, and quality without compromise. We’ll test the gear in Jackson Hole, and we’ll probably test it at your mountain, too.

And while the Cloudveil store in Jackson is closing, our gear will still be available to the Jackson community. The offices may have moved and the players may have changed, but the heart and soul of the brand will always be there, and over the coming weeks, we’re going to be figuring out what we can do to continue Cloudveil’s involvement in the community.

But it’s easy to put all this in a blog post. We know we’re going to have to prove ourselves and re-earn your trust and support, so we hope you’ll give us that chance. To you folks that are standing behind us, thanks. To our detractors, we are motivated to demonstrate to you how a brand can be successful with a business that makes sense and is sustainable.

Thanks.

(Photo by Chuck Fryberger)

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• Message from New Cloudveil CEO Jim Reilly (March 31, 2010)

As the season ends, and the roads become filled with gumbo mud, I always look at the year in a reflective way. Figure out what worked and what didn’t work for the season.

For one, my 360 landing most definitely did NOT work. I have the bruises both of body and ego to prove that one. But my pow skiing and my steep skiing, well, they did work well this year.

I also take stock of my gear from the past year and figure out what performed well and what will go to the back of the closet. There are certain things I really liked, such as a hood on my jacket to keep the spindrift and wind out on cold days. I like the weight of my Enclosure Jacket now for spring skiing; it’s light and not too much on the warm corn days. I love my RPK Pants and the seams that keep everything dry; even in wet, deep snow, I’m dry under the pants.

But the big standout for me was the new Tram Gloves I started wearing in the middle of winter.

The glove is roomy enough to wiggle my fingers when it’s really cold, and the leather on the palm is both tough and soft. Kinda like me, I like to think!

The color is cool and reminds me of the old work gloves I use in the summer, so it gives me that tough, blue-collar look on the slopes.

I’ve used them on -20 days and been warm, and on 40-degree bluebird and still been fine with the way they keep or move heat away from my hands. The photos are from a typical day in the mountains; I take the gloves everywhere and my dog LOVES playing tug of war with them.

Check them out for next season. I promise, they won’t disappoint.

Craig DeMartino is one of Cloudveil’s Inspired Mountain Ambassadors.

I am Jim Reilly, CEO and president of Cloudveil. I began my journey with Cloudveil in 2001, when a friend of mine returned from a ski trip to Jackson Hole. He had discovered a local brand that made great gear and wanted to tell me about it, as he knew I had been chief operating officer at The North Face. Through the next decade, my association grew with Cloudveil and its two founders, Brian Cousins and Steve Sullivan, working with them as partners and CEO of Cloudveil from 2005-2007. With the recent sale by Spyder, I am now an owner of the Cloudveil brand.

I have been asked many questions since the acquisition. Let me try to answer a few of them.

• Respect and maintain the brand — First and most important, Cloudveil will continue as a core outdoor brand with a specialty base of retailers. The newly formed Cloudveil team will be dedicated to making the great product that every Cloudveil customer knows. We will go further and make products that satisfy the demand for the brand and provide each user with a variety of styles, colors and price points.

• New consumers — We will market the brand to an audience that should know the brand but may not have discovered it. This will allow the company to become successful after many years of difficult times.

• Athletes, ambassadors and partners — Our following includes many dedicated customers, athletes, ambassadors and partners. We have begun and will continue the dialogue with key consumers.

• Cloudveil blog — The Mountain Murmur will continue forward and soon include entries from myself and other team members.

• Online sales and our Web presence — We have discontinued Cloudveil online sales in favor of a select number of online partners. This was based on our determination that Cloudveil as an organization must refocus on the wholesale distribution of our brand. This fall, we will resume servicing our pro accounts and friends and family through the Web site and direct communication. These programs will be reviewed in the coming days and be ready to supply great Cloudveil products in the fall. The community sites like Twitter and Facebook also will continue.

It has been my pleasure to be a Cloudveil consumer, manager and now owner, and I look forward to making the company a long-term factor in the outdoor business and fulfilling the promise of our brand with you the consumer.

Please continue to visit the Mountain Murmur, where we will feature a series of video vignettes that will follow the rebirth and new life of Cloudveil through the team working day to day to achieve this.

Thanks!

Jim Reilly

Update 4/26: The Cloudveil team has heard your feedback and responded with a new blog post.

(Hiking photo by Chuck Fryberger)

An early spring in parts of the Rockies means fishing season is here.

Here’s a rad little video Backbone made with the editors of Outside magazine.

This crew cleaned up in short order, outfitted in Cloudveil waders.

Click here for more on the angling collection and spring line.

Yesterday we awoke in Jackson Hole to fresh snow on the ground. It was actually a strange sight, after all the spring-like weather March has brought.

Last week, with the sun softening up corn on the slopes, Sarah, the winner of the Cloudveil winter 2011 jacket contest, made a tram lap in her bikini, as promised.

Her friend Sandy donned swim trunks and accompanied her as a wingman. The two “casually dropped trou” in Corbet’s Cabin atop the 10,450-foot summit of Rendezvous Mountain.

“When we stepped outside, we were both a bit surprised that it was actually pleasant outside (sans culottes),” she writes. “A guy named Larry took a mid-run picture for us, since neither of us had a fannypack for a camera. Because it was St. Patty’s Day, we celebrated the run with car bombs. Definitely worth a jacket.”

Sarah now has a toasty Hooded Inversion Jacket to keep her warm after her next bikini run.

Sandy gets extra props for wearing what appears to be an old Hartford Whalers jersey.

We’re still waiting on the video of Ashley, the contest runner-up from Aspen, boogieing down in that Sasquatch suit.

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• Meet Your Jacket-Winning Bikini Skier (Feb. 17, 2010)
• Time to Get Furry, or Nearly Naked. Or Hitched. (Feb. 16, 2010)
• What Would You Do to Win These Jackets? (Feb. 11, 2010)

Last night I walked into Teton Thai, a popular restaurant in Jackson, and found the place completely empty. Sam, the proprietor, postulated that his entire customer base had been wiped out by the afternoon’s Gelande Quaffing World Championships at Teton Village.

This was the third annual acrobatic chugging competition, sponsored by Cloudveil, which helped revive a tradition from the old Bear Claw Cafe.

Congratulations to the team from Storm Show Studios on winning the 2010 title. Maybe a plate of Teton Thai will help ease your hangover.

Photo by Rachel Shaver. For her video of the event, click here.

“Hope I get a (warm) bluebird day!” wrote Sarah from Jackson Hole, on finding out she won our Winter 2011 jacket contest. A 23-year-old Milwaukee native, she is spending more time on Nordic skis these days, training for the upcoming Birkebeiner 50-k cross-country race in Wisconsin.

Between preparing for the marathon and work at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, she saw the photo of the Women’s Hooded Inversion Jacket and jumped at the chance. “It looked like a really pretty jacket, and I wanted it,” she said.

She has skied in a bikini before, when she was a freshman in high school on vacation in Telluride. She and a friend were inspired by a men’s thong contest to be held the next day.

This time, Sarah’s roommate may accompany her on what she hopes will be a sunny run from the 10,450-foot summit of Rendezvous Mountain all the way to the base. “If the conditions are right, she’ll do it,” she said.

Our runner-up, Ashley from Aspen, is a great sport and has volunteered to don the Sasquatch suit on the dance floor at The Regal and film it, anyway. We have prizes for her and third-place finisher Tina from Wisconsin, and we’ll have video for you of Sarah’s ski run and the furry boogie night in the weeks to come. Again, thanks to everyone who participated.

OK, readers, now it’s up to you to decide: What would you rather see someone do to win a Winter 2011 jacket from Cloudveil?

The judges have narrowed the nearly two dozen worthy entries to three finalists:

1) Sarah from Jackson Hole, who is promising to do a tram lap in her bikini;
2) Ashley from Aspen, who will don a custom-made Mongolian Sasquatch suit and the jacket on the dance floor at The Regal and bust some serious moves despite sweating profusely; and
3) Tina from Wisconsin, who would travel to Sedona with her fiance and get married wearing the jacket atop Bell Rock, where they were engaged last fall.

Vote in the poll at right. Voting will close at noon MST Wednesday, Feb. 17. The winner will receive a 2011 Women’s Hooded Inversion Jacket, which ought to make that Sasquatch suit extra-toasty. Runners-up may receive consolation prizes as well.

Finalists, remember, you are going to have to film the activities in question to prove to readers you deserved to be styling in plush downy comfort.

Thank you again to everyone who entered. For those who pledged death-defying feats like rappelling over a waterfall or swimming the icy James River, we salute your spirit — but concern for your welfare outweighed our desire to see you suffer. For those who offered to take their clothes off, do so anyway!

Most of all, thanks for sharing your stories of how much Cloudveil gear helps you enjoy the outdoors and pursue an adventurous lifestyle. That’s what keeps inspiring us.

(Caption: This is part of an entry from “No Pants Rachel” that rated high for artistic merit, but narrowly missed the cut. She offered to get breakfast at Pearl Street Bagels in Jackson sans pants.)

Thank you to everyone who entered the 2011 Winter Jackets contest. The judges are sorting through the dozens of entries and will pick three finalists soon.

We’ve received some really funny — and dangerous — propositions.

Check back later to begin voting in the readers’ poll!

(Photo by Paramount Pictures, via AllMoviePhoto)

It’s not really a question of whether you want next winter’s jackets from Cloudveil. We know you do. You’ve told us. You’ve practically begged us. The question isn’t do you want them, it’s HOW BADLY do you want them?

Just because we are sharing the LOVE, from now through Valentine’s Day show us WHAT YOU WOULD DO for these jackets by posting photos, videos, written submissions, haikus, soliloquies — anything you think it takes to convince us and your fellow Cloudveil fans that you should be the lucky winner. We will pick three finalists on Monday and have readers vote to pick our winner.

The Women’s Hooded Inversion and Men’s Stettner jackets (size medium) are part of Cloudveil’s Winter 2011 line, which features warmer and even more breathable fabrics. New colors and designs make this your chance to stand out and sizzle on the slopes.

Submit your written entries right here in the comments; post links to videos on YouTube, Vimeo or other sharing services; or e-mail photos to jstanford@cloudveil.com.

Anything goes (please use your brains on appropriateness here, folks). You can elicit the help of anyone you’d like and can submit as many ideas as you can think of. Just BE ADVISED: If you are chosen as the winner you will be asked to do whatever you promised and document it for us, so all of the other participants who won’t be styling will know you really earned it. Get to thinkin’, get creative and GOOD LUCK.

For example, sometimes here at Cloudveil’s p.r. firm, Backbone Media, to get yourself a piece of one-of-a-kind schwag from our incredible clients, you have to put your dignity on the line:

(Naked photo by Christoph Bangert for The New York Times.)