Feathered Friends

Happy Labor Day! We're currently out exploring, but will be back at the shop on Tuesday. Well, our staff – not the goats. 🐐⁠
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What did you get up to over the long weekend? ⁠
Awesome photos by Liam Doran (.doran.10)

Local guide, Jared Drapala, recently shared a photo of the view from his Vireo bivvying up at Fisher Chimneys on Mount Shuksan. Would you sleep here?

Get ready to keep the summer stoke alive with the It’s Still Summer Giveaway, presented by The Trek, Hammock Gear, and Minus33 Merino Wool! 🏕️

We’ve joined forces with 26 of your all-time favorite outdoor brands to bring you a giveaway like no other, and trust us, it’s HUGE! 💥Over $15,500 worth of outdoor gear and goodies are up for grabs, including ultralight essentials and cozy campsite luxuries that’ll make your outdoor adventures even more memorable.

To get the full scoop on how to snag one of the TEN prize packages up for grabs, visit https://thetrek.co/its-still-summer-giveaway-2024/

August is finally here and you know what that means... Refuge Outdoor Festival is back for its 7th annual celebration! 🏕️ 🎉 🪩⁠
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Join us August 16-18 for an unforgettable three day camping experience designed to celebrate and uplift the BIPOC community in the great outdoors. There will be music, workshops, silent discos, and more. Whether you're a nature novice or an outdoor enthusiast, this festival offers something for everyone. All are welcome!⁠
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📅 August 16-18 ⁠
📍 Tolt-MacDonald Park in Carnation, WA.⁠

🎟️ Don't have tickets yet? Click here to get yours before they sell out: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-refuge-outdoor-festival-tickets-830580878767?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

Built for low temps in high up places. Don’t miss the sale on our super warm, super packable Helios series.

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🚨 SPEAKER EVENT: Imaginary Lines 🚨

In 2023, Michael Telstad was a complete novice when it came to climbing in Alaska. After two seasons, he wouldn’t consider himself an expert in the Alaskan range, but he has successfully completed some climbs he’s quite proud of. Come hear stories from his ‘23 and ‘24 seasons, his new routes in the Kichatnas and Ruth Gorge, and the lessons he’s learned along the way. Michael will also be discussing his strategies for finding and choosing new routes in unfamiliar places.

This is gonna be a good one, so don’t miss out! RSVP at the link below, share it with a buddy, and screenshot the event details:

📅 Wednesday, July 24th
⏱️ 6:30 PM (Doors at 6 PM)
🎟️ Free admission!

📍 Feathered Friends Seattle
263 Yale Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

RSVP at: https://forms.gle/vqe8bg8WcGQYt6cJ9

The Bight: Summit Stories is right around the corner! We’ve got some stellar folks presenting stellar stories this Monday July 1st. Our amazing presenters are going to be sharing everything from local tales of Mt. Adams to Mt. Goode and one story of a big kite-skiing adventure at the summit of the world…Greenland! As always, we’ll be doing a raffle to support a local organization, and this round we are supporting the Washington Trails Association. Come on down, win some great gear, hear inspiring stories, and support your local community!

📅 Monday, July 1st
⏱️ 6:00 PM (Doors at 5:30)
🎟️ Free Admission!

📍 Feathered Friends Seattle
263 Yale Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

RSVP for the event here: https://forms.gle/iLNXyy49VN8LkM729
Can't make it? Share with a friend!

Do you have a summit story to share with our community? We want to hear about how you reached a really tall point and got back down! You do not need to be a professional to submit a story – just a person who has at least tried to climb to the top of something!

Here are some ideas of stories to get the wheels turning: getting to the top of a bucket list peak and bringing along a German chocolate cake because hell yeah, summiting a volcano to catch the sunrise, taking your kid on their first climb and experiencing climbing in a whole new light, etc. Every once in a while there’s an adventure from outside of the area that draws our attention, so even though we’re looking for stories based in the PNW, don’t hesitate to submit a story outside of Cascadia.

PRESENTERS WILL BE SELECTED ON FRIDAY, JUNE 14TH so get those submissions in ASAP! Click here to send in your idea: https://forms.gle/Gu5Dv3grNHyPScUXA

Don’t have a story to submit? Send it to a friend!

Episode 2 of the Bight is brought to you by Feathered Friends x Washington Trails Association.

The Bight: Summit Stories Caption

After receiving such amazing feedback from Episode One of The Bight, we’re stoked to announce that it’s time for Episode Two: Summit Stories! This next installment is all about stories where the peak is the goal.

Join us in kicking off the month of July with exciting stories about the shenanigans, sweat and tears involved in getting to the top of a pile of rocks and then coming back down! We’ll begin seating at 5:30 and presentations will start promptly at 6. The evening will end with a raffle benefiting our partner organization for the event, the Washington Trails Association. WTA is a local nonprofit mobilizing hikers and everyone who loves the outdoors to explore, steward and champion trails and public lands. If it’s anything like Episode One: Spring Ski & Ride Stories, we’re in for another fun night full of storytelling, community-building, and *cough* GREAT raffle prizes *cough*.

To learn more about the event, click here: https://featheredfriends.com/blogs/feathered-friends-blog/the-bight-episode-two-summit-stories
To learn more about Washington Trails Association, click here: https://www.wta.org/our-work/about

📅 Monday, July 1st
⏱️ 6:00 PM (Doors at 5:30)
🎟️ Free Admission!

📍 Feathered Friends Seattle
263 Yale Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

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The Bight: Adventure Stories is inspired by the magical Stoked Spoke Adventure Series by our friends at Swift.Industries.

Melodie at the top of Kilimanjaro. 🏔️ What are you climbing this weekend?⁠

Pack light, go far — Get your Eos jacket for 25% off while supplies last.

Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket | Ultralight & Ultra Warm The award-winning Eos Down Jacket has been amazingly popular since the beginning. When you feel how lightweight yet warm the jacket is, you'll quickly realize why. Unlike most down sweaters that are extremely thin, the Eos packs some serious warmth thanks to high lofting 900+ fill power down.

IT'S FINALLY THAT TIME OF YEAR! Swift Campout 2024 is here!⁠
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Swift.Industries Campout is the annual, global call to go bike-camping to celebrate the summer solstice. For the tenth year in a row (a whole DECADE of rad-ness!), adventurers will pack camp gear on their bicycles and head out on June 22nd and 23rd to kick off summer with a bike-overnight.
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To celebrate a decade of Swift campouts we are inviting you to join the Campout Video Challenge. Capture your campout in a 90 second video between June 22-23rd. iPhone is cool. Pro gear is cool too. We're looking for creativity, hilarity and meditative scenic inspiration. Surprise us! Juried by Swift Industries x Bikepacking.com. one winner will receive The Grand Giveaway (over $3000 in prizes)! ⁠

For more info on how to enter and to check out the AH-mazing prizes you could win, click here: https://swiftcampout.com

We can't wait to see how you all get out and chase the solstice this year. Join the Fun! 🚲️ + 🏕️ = 😎

The award-winning Eos Series is made to keep you big time warm on all of your big time adventures. Shop the Eos Jackets and Vests for 15% off while supplies last!

https://featheredfriends.com/collections/eos-ultralight-down-jacket

REMINDER - We're still accepting gear donations for the Glacier Peak Institute annual gear drive through the end of this week! Swing by any time during the shop's open hours to support GPI's amazing programming.

We're stoked and honored that the Egret 20 UL has once again been rated the #1 Sleeping Bag for Women by OutdoorGearLab! To learn more and grab yours before you hit the trails this year, click here: https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topics/camping-and-hiking/best-sleeping-bag-womens
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A big thank you to OutdoorGearLab! Make sure to give them a follow for all things outdoor gear. ⁠

📸 Connor Burkesmith

THIS THURSDAY we’re launching the first episode of The Bight: Spring Ski & Ride stories! If you haven’t already, please click here to RSVP: https://forms.gle/HggEYXDsG6FYCt9F8

An RSVP is NOT mandatory to attend, but it gives us a good idea of how many folks to expect for the evening. It’s going to be an awesome night featuring amazing raffle prizes benefitting Cascade Backcountry Alliance, cool merch, good brews, lots of friends, and inspiring stories. Click here to learn more about CBA: https://www.cascadebackcountryalliance.com/about

Here’s a sneak peek of the stories you’ll hear on Thursday evening:

Little Tahoma and Big Tahoma in a Day by Kyle McCrohan
The story of a massive day out trying to ski both little Tahoma and Big Tahoma (Rainier) in a single day, facing exhaustion and terrible conditions.

"S" Couloir by Dan Bolliger
A saga about touring Alaska’s S Couloir, not without the shenanigans all fun trips include like sleeping in a U-Haul (we’ve all done that, right?!).

Acutely Painful, Existentially Dreadful by Olivia Leader
An inspiring story about touring Canada’s Spearhead traverse. Olivia opens an important dialogue about how folks with chronic pain enjoy the outdoors.

Untracked Alpental by AJ England
Chronicling a mini-quest to hit the best couloirs in Snoqualmie (Slot, Snot and Bryant) in perfect untracked condition.

Why I TAY (Turns All Year) by Andrea Gabor
Turns All Year is a movement where participants ski at least one time each month of the year. Stories about getting those turns in, even in hilarious and challenging conditions.

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📅 Thursday, April 18th
⏱️ 6:00 PM (Doors at 5:30)
🎟️ FREE Admission!

📍 Feathered Friends Seattle
263 Yale Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

Story submissions for the first installment of The Bight are open! Do you have a fun ski and ride story to share? Whether it’s an anecdote about a day trip adventure or a month-long mission, we want to hear about how you enjoy the spring snow! You do not need to be a professional skier or splitboarder to submit a story. You just need to be a fellow snow fanatic.

Here are some story examples to get the wheels turning...bringing your kiddo on their first-ever overnight tour, descending a bucket list peak by sticks/plank (e.g. Mt. Adams, Jack Mountain, Bootalicious peak), a traverse long in the making (e.g. Snoqualmie Haute Route, Tatoosh traverse, traverse de-Issaquah Alps), etc.

To submit a story (or two) and be a featured presenter for our April 18th kickoff event, click here: https://forms.gle/2vkfFqBW4wtLBw496
Prefer to spectate? Click here to learn more and RSVP: https://featheredfriends.com/blogs/feathered-friends-blog/introducing-the-bight-adventure-story-series

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Episode One of The Bight is brought to you by Feathered Friends x Cascade Backcountry Alliance.

Introducing The Bight: Adventure Story Series, a story sharing experience centered around outdoor adventuring from sound to summit! Each event will feature 4-8 presenters telling short stories about the night’s theme. Seasonal themes will range from spring snow sports to alpine climbing to thru-hiking, to name a few.

Episode One kicks off the series with…Spring Ski & Ride Stories!

Come hang out at Feathered Friends Seattle on Thursday, April 18th to be inspired by the many uphill, off-piste, and backcountry romps on sticks and boards. We’ll begin seating at 5:30 and presentations will start promptly at 6. The evening will end with a raffle benefiting our partner organization for the event, Cascade Backcountry Alliance. CBA is a local non-profit working to maintain, expand and educate around winter backcountry access in the Cascades and surrounding areas. Get ready for a night full of storytelling, community-building, and inspiration for your next trip.

To RSVP for the event, click here: https://forms.gle/vjDShv1NCxHWyY8z5
To submit a story, click here: https://forms.gle/uJqMPFc1co16iVRT9
To learn more about Cascade Backcountry Alliance, click here: https://www.cascadebackcountryalliance.com/about
To view the event on our blog, visit: https://jkd91xocypuoh3n4-14027915318.shopifypreview.com/blogs/feathered-friends-blog

📅 Thursday, April 18th
⏱️ 6:00 PM (Doors at 5:30)
🎟️ Free Admission!

📍 Feathered Friends Seattle
263 Yale Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

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The Bight: Adventure Stories is very much inspired by the magical Stoked Spoke Adventure Series by our friends at Swift.Industries. The last Stoked Spoke 2024 will be on March 27th at 6:30 pm, at the Rhino Room in Cap Hill. See you there!

If you're a devout mummy bag user, you might be wondering, "What's all this hubbub about the quilt?" ⁠
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There's plenty of reasons why you might add a quilt to your kit, but we think gearhead and explorer, Nick Bratton, said it best in his review for :⁠
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"As a traveler who journeys from the tropics to the Arctic and coasts to mountains, a sleep system that is comfortable in most of those environments is my Holy Grail, and the quest to find it ended with the Feathered Friends Flicker 20° sleeping bag. ⁠
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…The design differs from traditional mummies in that the zipper runs up the center of the bag (rather than along the side), and it has no hood. The innovative zipper negates the need for a draft tube, saving weight and bulk while retaining thermal efficiency."⁠
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Read Nick's full review here: https://expeditionportal.com/feathered-friends-down-field-tested

Already convinced? Grab your very own Flicker Quilt here: https://featheredfriends.com/collections/flicker-series ⁠
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📸 Sammy Spence

Join us for an exciting evening with Garrett Madison at Feathered Friends Seattle! Garrett is a world renowned, high-altitude mountaineer, guide, expedition leader, and founder of Madison Mountaineering. He will be sharing thrilling stories from his expeditions in the Himalaya. Don't miss out on this chance to be inspired by Garrett's passion for climbing and exploration!

📆 March 26, 2024 | 6:30 PM
🎟 Free Admission!
📍 Feathered Friends Seattle

RSVP at: https://forms.gle/SAdZYx9xB59SDFx47

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(Part 5/5) Thank you for being part of this story! Our two-week art expedition at Denali Base Camp was unbelievable. I feel strongly that it’s laid the framework for wilder and wilder experiences.

I recently returned from Antarctica, where I co-manage a NASA research camp from Oct-Feb every year. (Check out my cake series about Antarctic science on NPR if you’re interested in learning more.) My off-ice time will be short this year, as I’m spending April-May in Svalbard aboard a tall ship filled with artists and scientists as we sail through the sea ice on the Arctic Ocean. After that, I’m headed back to Alaska to make desserts in the Wrangell mountains, spend time with my favorite glaciers, forage for seasonal ingredients, and adventure with friends.

Stay connected at to see announcements for when the Creative Approach documentary will be coming out (and for teaser reels along the way)! And please reach out if you have ideas for ways to work together to communicate science and share stories about our natural world. I’m all ears.

Thanks to Feathered Friends for supporting this exciting project and for believing in the power of artists to help speak for our wild places.

// Follow along at
📸 Rachel Heckerman, Tim Wenzel, Arctic Circle, Tyler Watson, and Laura Cass

Thank you so much to Rose for sharing this awesome and inspiring story series with us! Please be sure to follow her page to keep up with her upcoming creative endeavors.

(Part 4/5) On May 31, 2023, for the first time in a decade, a plane was forced to overnight at Denali Base Camp after weather rapidly rolled in. There had already been so many weather days that climbers were starting to pile up at Base Camp – climbers with friends who’d been medevacked off the mountain, climbers with frostbite injuries, climbers whose food caches were starting to run real thin with long delays. Morale was low.

So I started digging out the cakes I had buried in a snow cave five days before.

After stacking and quickly decorating four tiers of brown butter juniper cake with salted honey buttercream, I protected it from the snow with a black trash bag and headed down the hill. Camp was silent and still. Klara walked from tent to tent, announcing that there would be cake in 5 minutes and to BYO bowl/utensil. I arranged the cake on a five-gallon bucket, nervous of what everyone would think. Soon, 75+ climbers, rangers, and camp staff emerged from their tents, confused, but with the first smiles I’d seen in a bit (I spied many Feathered Friends parkas in the mix). We took a core sample of the cake before slicing it up with a snow saw and dropping it into peoples’ mugs, bowls, gloves, and bare hands. People stayed out for hours afterwards, socializing and forgetting themselves.

In my journal that night, I wrote “I feel entirely overwhelmed by the joy of bringing a seven-year creative dream to fruition. It is always worth bringing your crazy ideas to life.”

// Follow along at
📸 Rachel Heckerman and Klara Maisch

(Part 3/5) MADE AT DENALI BASE CAMP: Ice Core Lollipops with a layer of charcoal-cardamom “volcanic ash” trapped inside (crafted in front of Begguya / Mount Hunter where ice cores contain local climate records from the last 5000 years). Erosion Scratch Cake, teaching us how to read historic evidence of glacial movement. Crevasse Candy Bars that break down the layers within dramatic cascading ice falls. Tootsie Roll Knots, a delicious tool for learning mountaineering skills and maxing out our calories for the day. A Mini Cake Demo showcasing how fluffy snow compacts into dense glacier ice. Ocean Acidification Eclairs, tubes of acidic citrus curd to raise the conversation around more freshwater being introduced into our ocean systems with increased glacier melt (these were a blast to make but failed in the field; I have hope for round two). And a Climate Change Baked Alaska – a flambé – to illuminate the impacts of increased forest fires on our cryosphere in a warming climate.

These desserts were never tested before making them at 7,200’. The fat contents of traditional ingredients were wildly different and inconsistent in powdered form. I had to constantly move the desserts outside to colder temps, under a trash bag so the wet snow didn’t impact the recipe or texture, or into my -40 sleeping bag so things would warm back up in the morning. I had to pivot and adjust more times than I had expected. When I caught myself in frustration with this process, I remembered my friends who were simultaneously stuck at 17,000’ camp for 7 days, having to pivot their summit plans due to weather, cold injuries, etc.

Things rarely go exactly as expected – no matter how much intentional time you’ve put into your own training, preparations, and skill set – whether you’re putting up a new route climbing, skiing, or making desserts in the mountains.

// Follow along at
📸 Rachel Heckerman & Klara Maisch

(Part 2/5) In addition to all the standard outdoor/mountaineering gear, I needed a lot of pastry equipment. My pack was filled with 4 tiers of cake (plus extra), I had another large duffel filled with baking supplies, and a 5-gallon bucket full of fuel canisters.

I don’t want to assume that I’m the first person to bring a balloon whisk, rubber spatulas, a sieve, stainless steel mixing bowls, flammable booze, two blowtorches, 3 lb. of butter, 6 canisters of fuel, two JetBoil stoves, and fondant to Denali Base Camp — but if anyone else has, I sure want to meet them because it’s one hell of an ordeal. The dream of the “Pastry Harness” in the previous post was years in the making.

I spent over a month developing, planning, and batching out recipes that would best explain my favorite aspects of glacier science. I weighed out ingredients and created comprehensive bagged kits so that I had exactly what I needed when I got up to base camp — no less but also certainly no more. I relied on snowmelt to activate the specialty dry ingredients I’d ordered (heavy cream powder, egg yolk powder, etc). And in order to leave as little of a trace as possible, I cleaned my pastry dishes by adding more water and a tiny splash of whiskey to make dessert hot toddies. Highly recommend.

// Follow along at Rose McAdoo

(Part 1/5) The idea for the Creative Approach art expedition was born on the banks of the Matanuska River, packrafting the glacial silt water as Alaska’s chilled fall came to an end. Nine months later, I put my money where my mouth was and flew up to Denali Base Camp to make desserts in my JetBoil that communicated glacier science on top of the longest glacier in the Alaska Range. 44 miles long, the Kahiltna Glacier oozes down from 20,310’ Denali, between Foraker and Hunter, and served as supreme inspiration for these seven inventive cryodesserts.

I wasn’t alone in my efforts. Klara Maisch planned to paint her largest-ever canvas on-site – an immaculate portrait of Moonflower Buttress – and beta-testing a newly developed system for packing and constructing this XL stretcher bar frame in the field. And Rachel Heckerman was getting a crash-course in alpine snow camping and cold management while capturing countless hours of footage for an upcoming film about this wild endeavor.

Together, we comprised Creative Approach – where we were pushing ourselves and each other to reach an artistic summit. With poor weather, little to no visibility, limited art equipment, and all the standard hiccups one comes to expect in a remote environment, it was the creative challenge of a lifetime.

// Follow along at Rose McAdoo