This episode is part of the Meet the Maker series where we highlight an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers. If you’ve ever wanted to hear the story behind some of your favorite – and soon to be favorite – products, that’s what today’s conversation is about.

We’re doing this because we believe that thoughtfully-designed gear is more than the sum of its parts: they are crafted by folks who have decades of experience in the sport, are refined through countless iterations and testing, and brought to life with genuine passion to solve real problems. 

Said another way, these folks represent the heart and soul of product innovation.

Doug is the the Founder of Aniiu, which makes technical ice climbing gloves.

Doug is a longtime Salt Lake City climber, route developer, and alpinist, among many superlatives. He’s also the VP of Product Development at Black Diamond. What do you get when you combine 30+ years of ice climbing experience with technical chops? 

Listen to the episode to find out.

Doug is generously offering a few pairs of their Viinson™ Short gloves to listeners.

Here’s how to enter:

In the conversation with Doug, be on the lookout for the answer to the following question:

• 👉 Takashima, Aniiu’s partner, and perhaps the premier technical glove makers in Japan, are now under which generation of family ownership?

Once you have the answer to the question:

• Follow @aniiu_gloves and @ice_ice_beta on Instagram
• DM the answer to the question to @ice_ice_beta
• Comment on the giveaway post on our Instagram: “#yourfriendinthecold” once you’ve sent in your answer
• Share the giveaway post to your story for an extra entry
• Winners will be randomly selected from submissions that meet all the rules on Monday, December 2!

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

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