Maddie is a Field Training Officer in the Australian Antarctic Division. She is also an a Outdoor Ed teacher, skier, surfer, paddler, walker and lover of being warm.
To the Mont Team,
This is unadulterated fan mail. I hope you get lots of them! I have worn and used Mont clothing and equipment for over 15 years of recreation and work in a range of environments across Australia (and the world). Whether I have purchased them new or second hand, been issued them through my workplace, snagged a bargain on a sale rack or snaffled them from a lost and found bin. I have had overwhelmingly wonderful experiences with Mont over the years- including your customer service. I had thought about writing a letter like this some time ago now, but I hadn't because it just didn't really seem like my kind of thing to write a love letter about gear.
My first Mont purchase was a blue and grey Tempest Jacket which my parents lent me some money to buy at the beginning of my Outdoor Education course at Bendigo. It was the most technical and sturdy piece of outdoor clothing I had ever owned and probably also the first piece of gear that made me feel like I was really on the path to outdoor 'professionalism'. That jacket kept me dry, warm, and looking like I knew what I was doing even when I was mostly lost and scared in a proper lightning storm on the side of Jagungal, 2 days into a three-week walk towards the Snowy's.
I found a second-hand Moondance 2 for sale on Gumtree, and with it my first taste of home-ownership (this may still actually be the closest I will get!). I was still a poor uni student at the time so couldn't afford a new one, but the tent was in good condition and I immediately enjoyed how quick and easy it was to set up; how I could use just the fly and stay dry while I packed up the entire tent from within it; how the internal pockets were just the right size and in just the right spots for my book, choccy, maps and sunnies, and how well it withstood the snow and rain that spewed down on me.
I loved how secure it felt in the wind, and how the free-standing design and small foot print made it easy to find somewhere to sleep the night. I love that it's just the right size- 2 people can sleep friendly inside when you need to save weight or if somethings gone awry (or if you just like to cuddle), but mostly I use it just for me and find the extra space so valuable for sorting gear, patching myself up, pouring over maps or doing some stretching after a long day wrangling year 9's through the bush.
I love how, after countless days and nights of relentless sun, rain, and being scrunched up inside my pack or left too long on my verandah while 'drying out', I was able to repair the expected small rip that appeared on the fly with the only thing I had on hand at the time- some sports strapping tape- and that held for another 3-4 years without trouble. Every time I looked up at that bit of tape I felt a small surge of pride at this scrappy little tent that just seemed to put up with all the tough love I put it through.
I love my Moondance- so much- thank you for making it.
Last year I spent 12 months at Casey Research Station (head south from Perth for about 3,500kms and you'll get somewhere close). Most days during winter it was about -15 to -20, sometimes -35 outside, but with near constant winds, the wind chill was almost always lower than that, -40 or -50 some days. Needless to say, really bloody cold. Luckily, I had been issued with my 'Icicle on steroids'- the bright yellow jacket affectionately known as the bumblebee (I wonder whether that is something you all came up with or is that an AAD term?). I wore that jacket every day; whether I was just trying to get from the accommodation building to my office in the field, and the store down the road, in 10kts or 70kts, or whether I was riding a quad bike out on the sea ice in the dark 20kms away from the nearest hut.
I also had the matching bumblebee down pants, which I keep stored in my SAR kit bag in case we need to quickly deploy to a deep field location and then sit around on the Antarctic plateau for an unknown period of time. These pants are so warm. Too warm, really, for most activities, so for the most part they remain a 'just in case' item- with one exception! To celebrate mid-winter and the return of the sun, it's tradition to cut a big hole in the sea ice and take a plunge in the -1.8 degree ocean beneath. It's not the below-zero water that gets you, it's the -20 degrees you get out into, dripping wet and still in shock whilst the water freezes your hair and eyelashes and you lose the ability to remember your own name. Not me- I had my big puffy jacket and pants ready to hop into after my swim (swim is a generous term for this brief and painful immersion) and thankfully they had me warmed back up to room temperature in no time!
After wearing this lovely puffy jacket everyday over winter, I came back to Hobart and immediately went out and bought my own Icicle Jacket. I think I wanted it partly because after experiencing the instantaneous warmth that they provide, a lesser down jacket just didn't seem to cut it, but also because it had become such a feature of my daily existence that I just didn't feel quite complete without knowing I had that kind of wearable comfort on hand at all times!
This season, my boss ordered a bunch of Guide Hoodie Jackets for the Field Training Officers to trial, as we have been requesting for some time now that a primaloft jacket to be added to all expeditioners clothing kitting in lieu of one of the two layers of fleece they are currently provided. I opted for one of the mens jackets as I like a roomy fit, and even though I have to roll the sleeves up a little at the end, I think it's worth it for the bit of coverage over my hips and bum and room to move around inside. I own a few of these types of jackets, including the Arcteryx Atom which has been my go-to mid-layer for many years, and I really really love it. However, every morning when get up and get ready for work, I find myself reaching for this lovely, warm, roomy, bright red Guide jacket! I have worn it almost every day since I got it over 2 months ago, both in Hobart and now in Antarctica. I wear it to breakfast, I wear it to the office, I wear it skiing on the cross country trail out the back of station, I wear it digging snow, I wear it when I would have previously worn my shell jacket over a mid-layer when I'm out and about working in the field. It has absolutely become my most worn and favourite jacket, when I thought I had already found that in the Atom years ago. Thank you for these excellent jackets!
Long story short, I love my Mont stuff. I love that an Australian company makes the best, highest quality gear that I own and use, in some of the coldest, driest, windiest and harshest environments on earth.
Thank you Maddie for sharing your Mont story and love of the gear, it made Monty and the Teams year!
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