Why not resole?!

By Connie Schmidt

Last month I was walking in downtown Chicago when all of a sudden the sole of my treasured 15-year-old hiking boot began to flap wildly with every step, nearly tripping me as I crossed the street. (Quite the sight!) Anyway, thank heaven for bundles of Sierra Club pamphlets in my backpack, because the rubber bands were perfect to wrap around the toes of my boots for a quick fix, while rushing to the train. But alas, what about the boots, my old faithful friends that had accompanied me on many hikes, urban and wild? The uppers were fine! They didn’t even seem that worn, but both soles were broken loose from the toes to the instep and flapping like a lower jaw.

Well, first step was to head over to REI where I originally bought them, and ask about repairs. Nope. They do recycle, if you want to leave them there. That was good, but not good enough. The kind clerk sat with me and used his phone to begin the “Google search.” It turns out, only two entities in the country do this work, and I chose the smaller company, Rocky Mountain Resole. For $105, they are repairing my boots, and shipping them back to me. (I priced a comparable new pair, and it would be at least $250, and up from there!)

I was so impressed with this small business that I decided to look into it and share what I learned. Rocky Mountain Resole was begun in 2000, but that owner kept it only one year. The woman who was the owner’s secretary bought the business, and now her son, Cory Willoughby (Colorado Park Ranger by day), and his wife are the owners. (I was delighted to hear that occasionally their 2-year-old joins them in the workroom.)

This small outfit does mighty big work. They fix hiking boots, work boots, rock- climbing shoes, river sandals, ski boots--you name it--most any outdoor-related footwear, even cowboy boots! Any good-quality boot, where the uppers are in decent condition, can be resoled. They even do work on the uppers, too. The equipment used includes old-school cobbler’s machines as well as a state-of-the-art hydraulic press from Europe that compresses the soles to the boot shafts. Cory even explained to me that if boots come in too mangled to be repaired, they are kept for patching and pieces when repairing other projects.

Rocky Mountain Resole has been featured in both Backpacker and Outdoor magazine. This Backpacker Magazine quote is on their website: “Rocky Mountain Resole is one of the most respected boot shops in North America. It’s one of the few shops outside Italy that has the parts and special presses to repair the new molded-on sole units from Asolo, Technica, Vasque and others.” I’m just glad I don’t have to bid adieu to my old buddies and can keep stomping in them for another decade!