Switchback at TRE, December 2-4, 2025 in San Antonio, TX
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Switchback Spring, June 16-18, 2026 in New Orleans, LA
Bryant Helgeland has been the face of outdoor retail in Ashland, OR for decades. When I arrived in town in the early aughts, I was told to go to the now closed Ashland Outdoor Store and, “ask Bryant” over a dozen times for information ranging from what hiking shoes to invest in, to who to kayak with, to what maps to buy for backpacking in the Marble Mountain Wilderness.
He was already a go-to source of all things outdoors and outdoor retail 20-years ago and currently owns the premier local retail shop, Mountain Provisions. In his tenure as my town’s outdoor-retailer laureate, he has seen entire summers encased in wildfire smoke, ski seasons where our local resort never opened, and a global pandemic that shut down our town’s otherwise thriving tourist economy.
He has also watched significant growth in one very specific type of customer: PCT Thru-Hikers. Traffic on the Pacific Crest Trail has absolutely blown up in the past decade. The number of permits issued to thru-hike the PCT has grown from roughly 475 permits in 2010 to nearly 8,000 in 2025. Ashland is the furthest south town in sales-tax free Oregon and sits at mile 1,706 (for hikers headed Northbound) of the 2,650 hike—making it an ideal re-stock spot for the weathered hikers.
This growth has been great for business but has also offered unique challenges. Namely processing warranties on gear hikers use on-trail and need to replace ASAP. “When a PCT hiker wants to warranty a piece of gear, they bring it into the shop and need to be back on trail tomorrow,” Helgeland said. One specific warranty that has become a darling for PCT hikers is the unconditional lifetime guarantee of Darn Tough Vermont socks.
That lifetime guarantee proved irresistible to Pacific Crest Trail hikers. As the thru-hiking boom exploded, Mountain Provisions found itself at ground zero for processing it. “At the height of the season, we were warantee-ing about 50 pairs a week,” says Helgeland. “No other retailer in the country was even close.” The policy worked wonders for goodwill but wrecked his inventory. Each replacement came off his sales wall, leaving the store short on stock when locals or tourists wanted to buy.
Helgeland reached out to his contacts at Cabot Hosiery Mills, Darn Tough’s parent company. “We said, ‘We love this program, but we can’t keep pillaging our wall to make it work,’” he recalls. Together, they built the Trail Magic initiative—a separate, preseason purchase order of warranty-only socks shipped on extended dating terms. That gave Mountain Provisions the product and flexibility to serve thru-hikers without jeopardizing regular sales.
“We front-load retailers like Mountain Provisions before the hiking season,” explains Tressa Kreis, sales operations manager at Cabot Hosiery Mills. “They act as authorized warranty centers listed on darntough.com, so hikers know exactly where to go when they need a fresh pair to finish their hike.”
For retailers, the program functions like a miniature credit system: shops pay for the inventory later, once Darn Tough issues credit for the exchanged socks. “It recognizes the unique seasonality and cash-flow challenges of trail-adjacent shops,” Helgeland says. “And it means we still have something left to sell.”
Yes, hikers really do hand over the socks they’ve walked 1,706 miles in—though Helgeland insists they be clean and dry. Each replacement gets logged on a spreadsheet noting style, size, color, and defect before being reported to Darn Tough for credit.
Beyond the socks, those warranty visits drive broader sales. “They come in for a replacement but end up buying fuel canisters, sun hoodies, rain gear—whatever they need to get back on trail,” says Helgeland. “It easily turns into 40 percent of our summer business.” That steady stream of hikers also fuels a sense of community. Mountain Provisions dedicates part of its 3,800-square-foot downtown space to a PCT lounge where trekkers can drop their packs, charge phones, and reorganize gear. “It’s good for them, and it’s good for us,” Helgeland says. “They’re not cluttering the sales floor, and they feel welcome.”
From Darn Tough’s perspective, the economics still add up. “We stand unconditionally behind our socks,” says Michelle Zimmer, the company’s customer service manager. “If a customer manages to wear them out, replacing them is the best proof of quality we can give.” Thru-hikers have become the brand’s ultimate wear testers. “If you only need a few pairs for the entire trail, why would you choose anything else?” Kreis asks.
Their experience and the reliability of local partners like Mountain Provisions has helped make Darn Tough the unofficial sock of the PCT. Helgeland says the key lesson is to lean on your vendor relationships. “When you’re in a unique situation, talk to your brand partners and figure it out together,” he says. “Trail Magic didn’t come from a corporate memo. It came from two sides trusting each other and adapting to what was happening on the ground.”
For small retailers navigating volatile tourism, natural disasters, and shifting consumer habits, that trust (and a few thousand grateful hikers with fresh socks) might be the best kind of trail magic there is.
To learn more about Darn Tough Vermont and their Trail Magic initiative, visit the Darn Tough Vermont booth at Switchback at The Running Event, held December 2-4, 2025 in San Antonio, TX, or at Switchback Spring, which will be held June 16-18, 2026 in New Orleans, LA.
