Melanie Cox
CEO, Backcountry
The Basics
Company Name: Backcountry
Location: Park City, UT & Portland, OR
Founded: 1996
Full-Time Employees: 940
Products: Outdoor gear and apparel for skiing, snowboarding, camping, hiking, cycling, climbing, paddling, surfing, fly fishing, and powersports
Social: Backcountry Instagram // Competitive Cyclist Instagram // MotoSport Instagram
Claim to Fame: Backcountry.com began in 1996 with two guys, a stack of avalanche beacons, and a garage in Park City, Utah. Our roots were humble, and we've grown since then, but our vision is still clear: to provide the best outdoor gear—and to be the best at doing it. Even if you’ve never shopped at Backcountry, you may recognize our goat logo. We feel a deep connection to this goat because we’ve seen mountain goats in the craziest places and it generally takes an adventurous spirit to find yourself in the company of one.
The Culture
The best thing about working at Backcountry is:
The people—we work with some of the most passionate and knowledgeable people in the industry (including our customers!). There’s always someone to show you a new trail or skin track, share intel on a desert slot canyon, or just discuss your weekend plans to get outside over fresh coffee in the breakroom.
When we’re not working, we’re:
Outside. On the trail, on the skin track, on the river, at the crag.
What we’re reading:
Usually a worn-out paperback that fits nicely into our trail backpack
What we’re listening to:
The sounds of nature
If they made a movie about our workplace, it would be called:
Dare to Dream, The Backcountry Story.
Inclusion in the outdoors matters because:
The outdoors is for everyone, and currently the outdoor industry has not actively catered to the total community through messaging and representation. We are committed to ongoing efforts aimed at improving awareness, access, and an overall sense of belonging for communities that have been underserved and underrepresented in the outdoors. Inclusion leads to participation, which leads to a shared accountability for conserving the land we are all love to recreate on.
Five years down the line, it’s our hope that:
Backcountry has successfully fostered opportunity and change for inclusivity for all groups to engage in outdoor recreation. Our goal is to see representation internally within our organization at all levels and externally within our communications, our partners, and in all outdoors endeavors.