Specialty Outdoors

Well, let's see...I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, and moved to California in '72. My first real backpacking trip was into the Yosemite backcountry; a week long spring XC-skiing trip in the Tenaya Lake area, with my soon- to be hubby, complete with full moon and snow cave.

I have lived in a few different places: Bay Area, Sierra foothills, Denver area, rural Wyoming, and now Washington state. I enjoy all sorts of outdoors activities: hiking, camping, backpacking, rafting, and I am crazed about skiing and mountain biking. My mountain bike page has lots of area biking photos of me and my pals, the trails we ride and other fun bike stuff.

Family Portrait: Snowpocalypse 2009. Photo courtesy Barbara Chase Photography

I juggle my business, Specialty Outdoors with being a wife to a wonderful guy, Craig.We have been together for 29 years. We spend lots of time camping , rafting, and skiing in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. Here is one album of  whitewater adventures- He's an expert Class V catarafter, and boats all over the region. In the summer of 2000, we were very fortunate and were invited to join some friends on a permit on the Tatshenshini River. This is an amazing 160 mile wilderness float trip through the heart of the St. Elias Range in Alaska... visit the album if you like.

Or, Middle Fork Salmon, June '06

When the weather is nice, you might find Craig on a river, the boys may be hiking or climbing; I'll on my mountain bike somewhere. Biking is my real passion. I love to ride singletrack, get new riders out on the trails, and build trails with the mountain bike club I've helped found, Fat Tire Trail Riders

We are involved in a community liasion program with Fairchild AFB. We get to do cool stuff like this:

KC 135 fueling flight with volcanos and f 15's

 We have lived in Spokane since 1991, and we love it here. We have great access to the outdoors, good schools and a great community. Craig is a hydrogeologist (CSM '84)and a licensed Professional Geological Engineer in 4 states. He owns his own company, Schwyn Environmental Services, LLC. He specializes in remediation, groundwater issues and permitting.

Our idea of a RV

I get asked a lot about how I got started in my repair business. I have been sewing since I was a child, and have sewn professionally since 1983, when I worked as a sewing and quality control supervisor for Mountainsmith packs. I have completed most of an apparel design degree, and I have also worked as a design assistant doing "fairy tale" bridal for several years, in addition to having a custom dressmaking business. When we relocated to Spokane in 1991, I left the bridal behind. As any one who loves to sew for themselves knows, there is a lot of satisfaction in making one's own gear. Many years ago I was approached by a ski patrol buddy of my husband's, who commented to me that I should start a repair business.  The last guy in town who had been doing repairs had left to be a DeadHead. A week later, I ran across a great deal on an industrial machine, and well, the rest is history! It was very natural for me to take everything I have learned over the years and apply it to outdoor clothing and equipment.

Things have changed a bit. This site gets about 100 or more visitors a day. I have a client base that is nationwide, and I've done work for (last count) 30 out of 50 states, plus Canada, UK and Asia. It feels pretty good when someone tells you they heard about your service while talking to some other big mountain climbers in a pie shoppe in Kathmandu!