Mountain Side Gear Rental

What Mountain Side Gear Rental does

Mountain Side Gear Rental is a privately held outdoor recreation equipment rental company founded in 2010 by U.S. Army veteran John T. Hildebrandt and headquartered in Golden, Colorado. The company rents camping, backpacking, and winter sports gear to individual outdoor enthusiasts, families, international visitors, and youth/school programs, operating a usage-based model with tiered rental durations (1–3 nights through monthly). Its product portfolio spans complete rental kits for car camping (2–4 people) and backpacking (1–3 people), individual core items (tents, sleeping bags and pads, backpacks, cooking and lighting equipment), and seasonal/specialty categories (snowshoes, microspikes, trekking poles, fishing gear, packrafts, bouldering pads), sourced from premium brands including Big Agnes, MountainSmith, GSI Outdoors, Nemo, Marmot, and Alps Mountaineering. The company also sells gently used retired rental equipment at a discount.

The underlying technology is non-proprietary: the company runs a traditional retail and rental operation with a website, a third-party e-commerce rental storefront (rentmy.shop), and nationwide UPS shipping with flat-rate returns. There is no disclosed software platform, AI/ML capability, API, or app; technology investment is limited to standard e-commerce and POS tooling. Distribution is omnichannel at small scale — a single physical retail store in Golden plus nationwide direct-to-consumer shipping and an alternative 24/7 drop-off point. The company has built community-led growth through long-tenured partnerships with the Colorado Mountain Club (exclusive gear provider since 2010), Colorado Parks & Wildlife's SOLE Program (reaching 50 Colorado elementary schools), Jefferson County Open Space, and the Heading Home coalition. Mountain Side is a micro-business with 1–10 employees, no disclosed funding, no parent company, and no institutional ownership, and it reports having outfitted "thousands" of campers and trekkers over its 14-year operating history.

Name

Mountain Side Gear Rental

Legal name

Mountain Side Gear Rental

Website

https://mountainsidegearrental.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Mountain Side Gear Rental is a Golden, Colorado-based, family-owned outdoor equipment rental company founded in 2010 that rents camping, backpacking, and winter sports gear to individual outdoor enthusiasts, families, and school programs across the USA via a single storefront and nationwide shipping.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Outdoor Gear Rental

NAICS

Recreational Goods Rental (532284)

SIC

Services-Equipment Rental & Leasing, Nec (7359)

akta.pro primary industry

Camping, Hiking & Backpacking Gear Retail (CRAMAMAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Winter Equipment Rental, Demo & Repair (Skis/Boards/Boots, Tuning) (THAAAJAH), Tents, Shelters & Sleep Systems Retail (CRAMAMAH), Backpacks, Bags & Load-Carriage Retail (CRAMAMAI)

Keywords

• Outdoor gear rental
• Camping equipment rental
• Backpacking gear rental
• Winter sports rentals
• Used outdoor gear

Headquarters

HQ city

Golden

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Outdoor Gear Rentals: Rental of camping, backpacking, and outdoor recreation equipment including tents, sleeping bags, cooking gear, winter sports equipment, and complete kits. Pricing varies by rental duration (1-3 nights, 4-7 nights, 8-14 nights, 15-21 nights, 22-28 nights, and monthly). Revenue generated through recurring rental transactions.
2. Used Gear Sales: Sale of gently used and retired rental equipment at discounted prices through the Used Gear Deals storefront.
3. Shipping Fees: Flat-rate return shipping charges for nationwide delivery of rental gear.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Mountain Side Gear Rental rents outdoor recreation equipment, including complete camping kits, complete backpacking kits, individual tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, cooking and lighting gear, winter snowshoes and microspikes, fishing gear, packrafts, and bouldering equipment, on a duration-based (1-3 nights through monthly) basis. The company also sells gently used, retired rental gear at discounted prices through an online used-gear storefront. Distribution is via a Golden, Colorado retail storefront, a nationwide UPS shipping service, and a 24/7 drop-off point.

Product overview

Mountain Side Gear Rental is an outdoor recreation equipment rental company based in Golden, Colorado, offering a comprehensive portfolio of rental products and curated kit packages for camping, backpacking, and winter sports. The company operates as a single-location physical store with national shipping capabilities, providing equipment across five primary categories: (1) Complete Rental Kits (Camping Kits for 2-4 people and Backpacking Kits for 1-3 people), (2) Individual Core Rentals including tents, sleeping gear, backpacks, and cooking/lighting equipment from premium brands like Big Agnes, Mountainsmith, GSI Outdoors, Alps Mountaineering, Marmot, and Nemo, (3) Winter/Snowshoe Rentals, (4) Specialty Rentals including fishing gear and packrafts, and (5) Gently Used Gear for sale. The company ships rental equipment directly to customers nationwide via UPS with flat-rate return shipping, and maintains a physical retail location in Golden, CO.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Complete Camping Kits
• Complete Backpacking Kits
• Tent Rentals (Camping and Backpacking)
• Sleeping Bag Rentals
• Backpack Rentals
• Cooking and Lighting Rentals
• Snowshoe and Winter Gear Rentals
• Fishing Gear Rental
• Packraft Rental
• Bouldering Gear Rentals
• Camping Essentials and Accessories
• Rovr Cooler Rentals
• Maps
• Gently Used Gear (Retail Sales)

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Heading HomeminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2017Mountainside Gear Rental partners with Heading Home, a coalition of non-profits and government agencies including Jefferson County Libraries and Social Services, for the annual Gear & Coat Drive for the Homeless. The event started in October 2017.
• Colorado Mountain ClubcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Mountainside Gear Rental partnered with Colorado Mountain Club in 2010 as a corporate sponsor. The CMC was founded in 1912 and has a rich history aligned with the company's values of adventure, education, and preservation of Colorado's outdoors. MSGR is the exclusive gear provider for CMC and their events.
• Colorado Parks and WildlifecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMountainside Gear Rental is the exclusive partner of the Colorado Parks & Wildlife SOLE (Schools and Outdoor Learning Environments) Program, which serves elementary students in 50 schools across Colorado. The company supports the program by providing a 26-person snowshoeing event, multiple Family Nature Nights at metro area schools, and an annual fall event.
• Jefferson County Open SpaceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMountain Side Gear Rental partners with Jeffco Open Space each year to bring at least 24 people to each of the five trail clean-up days scheduled throughout the year. As a Jeffco-based business, the company is committed to preserving and keeping local trails clean.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Backcountry: Large online outdoor gear retailer carrying many of the same premium brands Mountain Side rents. Not a rental competitor but a major benchmark for customer expectations on product breadth and pricing in the outdoor gear category.
• Decathlon: Global sporting goods retailer with growing U.S. presence, including outdoor gear rental pilots. Represents a potential longer-term competitive threat as it expands its rental and used-gear offerings.
• Moosejaw: Outdoor specialty retailer carrying camping, backpacking, and climbing gear from overlapping premium brands. Comparable end-customer and merchandising approach, though focused on sales rather than rentals.
• REI Co-op: National outdoor co-op offering gear rentals at many store locations plus retail sales. Competes for the same end customer with a vastly broader footprint, brand, and inventory depth; Mountain Side competes on curated expertise and shipping convenience.

Regional players

• Christy Sports: Colorado-based ski, snowboard, and outdoor gear retailer and rental operator. Overlaps with Mountain Side's winter snowshoe/microspike rental offerings and shares the Colorado outdoor customer base, though it is much larger and more ski-centric.
• Sun Sports Plus: Colorado outdoor and winter sports rental shop serving the Denver/Front Range market. Direct overlap with Mountain Side's winter snowshoe and seasonal rental category in the same geography.

Direct peers

• Outdoors Geek: Outdoors Geek operates an online platform renting camping and backpacking gear shipped nationwide. Directly comparable to Mountain Side's core e-commerce rental model and target customer base, though without Mountain Side's Colorado physical storefront advantage.
• Lower 48 Gear: Mountain West-focused outdoor gear rental service with a similar catalog (tents, sleeping bags, backpacks) and shipping model. Closest peer by geography and product mix in the camping/backpacking rental category.

Emerging players

• Arrive (formerly Pickle): Rental platform offering outdoor and lifestyle gear with nationwide shipping. Comparable business model (D2C rental by mail) and customer base, but a broader category scope that includes non-outdoor items.
• Gearo: Outdoor gear rental marketplace that connects consumers with local rental shops. Indirectly competitive as it can route customers away from Mountain Side's direct rental channel to alternative local providers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/RentCampingGear
• Facebookfacebook.com/MountainSideGearRental
• Instagraminstagram.com/mtnsidegearrental
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mountain-side-gear

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mountain Side Gear Rental