Pit Viper is a ski and snowboard brand founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2012. It is headquartered in South Salt Lake, Utah.
Pit Viper's first customers paid in car rides. Chuck Mumford painted military surplus ballistic frames in loud neon pinks and greens and, Utah Business reports, traded them for rides to ski resorts. He was working in a Salt Lake City ski shop at the time. The name came from skiing. "We'd hit jumps and it would be like 'pit viper style,'" Mumford told the magazine.
Mumford was in Chris Garcin's garage spray-painting sunglasses one day when Garcin made his pitch: "Dude, I know how to build a website." The two launched the brand in 2012 and bought about 10,000 more surplus pairs, until the wholesaler told them, "You guys bought us out." A 2014 Kickstarter pulled $38,649 from 508 backers and paid for frames of their own. Garcin quit his job. A few months later he sold his house.
Its frames carry a limited lifetime warranty against defects in materials or workmanship. The company is privately held, and headquarters is on Haven Avenue in South Salt Lake. Garcin says Pit Viper now sells nearly 500,000 pairs a year, which is a lot of rides to the resort.
Pit Viper's Cinnamon Toast Crunch sunglasses sold for $119.69 with spoon-shaped earpieces and a box of the cereal packed inside.
Who doesn't love a good pair of Pit Vipers on Gaper Day?
Alex
