Magazine stands across the United States currently have issues featuring Alpine Parrot and the Ponderosa Pant. How cool is that? The Ponderosa Pant was just awarded Outside Magazine's Editor's Choice Award in their Gear Guide, an incredibly high honor that also validates our point: these pants don't just look good—they're packed with features and technical specs to make your adventures all the better.
In celebration, we thought we'd take a moment to reflect on some other reviews and stories about the Ponderosa Pant and the Alpine Parrot story that have been published in recent months.
Outside Magazine 2022 Gear Guide: Editor's Choice Award
"But the real fit highlight is in the upper thigh. Many plus-size technical pants are cut too tight, so that the groin seam winds up falling several inches below your actual crotch, causing skin-on-skin chafing. The Ponderosa fit perfectly in the groin area, so you can say adieu to chub rub and excess saggy material."
Gear Junkie: Pants, Pants Revolution: Alpine Parrot Launches Plus-Size Hiking Line for Women
"If you’re female and you wear size 14 pants or larger, you’re not alone. More than 68% of American women are size 14 or larger. And if you are plus-size and have walked into your local outdoor store to buy hiking pants, you probably walked out empty-handed.
It’s not just that most outdoor retailers don’t carry pants larger than size 12. But despite the data, most outdoor brands don’t even make them.
Raquel Vélez, founder of Alpine Parrot, wants to change that."
The Wall Street Journal: Plus-Size Fitness Fans Call for More-Inclusive Sports Gear, Equipment
"Ms. Vélez said she went beyond enlarging the pattern for a pair of smaller pants. She chose an abrasion-resistant fabric to strengthen durability where a wearer’s thighs might rub, and designed a curved waistband for comfort when bending over."
Field Mag: How Alpine Parrot Is Promoting Inclusion & Equity With Hiking Gear
"The path to the final version of the technical hiking pant wasn't a simple one, however. Typically, when designing a garment, the maker will use a fit model, usually around a size six, to design the initial pattern. The measurements are then proportionally increased and decreased to create the other sizes in a process called grading. But by the time Vélez went full-time with Alpine Parrot, the pandemic hit. She found herself unable to leave the house, which meant the traditional path for creating clothes was out the window (although, she wasn't planning on following it anyway)."
Popular Science: The 100 greatest innovations of 2021
"Clothing companies typically approach plus-size offerings as simply scaled-up versions of smaller sizes, an approach that fails to recognize that a person’s proportions may not simply be a larger version of a size six. The Ponderosa Pants not only come in sizes 14 to 24, but offer two distinct fits for plus-size body types."
The Mountaineers: The Best Plus Size Outdoor Apparel
"Alpine Parrot is another really cool, small Latina owned business that launched with plus sizes up to 24W/3X. The great thing about them is that they made two different fit styles. For plus size folks this is HUGE because our bodies come in so many different shapes and almost no other company is catering to/recognizing that we need different cuts within the same sizes!"
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Outside Online: Outsiders of the Year
In April 2021, Vélez’s brainchild, Alpine Parrot, launched on Kickstarter. The brand’s Ponderosa pants promised well-crafted women’s hiking bottoms in sizes 14 to 24, and it reached its fundraising goal in just a few hours. Part of the buzz was due to Alpine Parrot’s radical approach to pattern making and fit testing. “When you get past certain sizes, the juicy bits are in different spots,” says Vélez, 36. “Some people have more in their belly, some have more in their booty.” She fit-tested the pants herself, then sent them to dozens of people across the country, resulting in two cuts for two different body types..."
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