This is the guy you see when no one else can fix your pack, tent or other outdoor gear

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After I noticed the mountaineering backpack that had been my journey companion for greater than 30 years wanted some restore — if it could possibly be repaired, that’s — my coronary heart sank.

That basic blue and crimson Lowe Alpine pack was crammed to overflowing with recollections of moonlit high-altitude bivouacs, magical backcountry hut ski journeys, and greater than two months on Mount Everest within the Eighties. It wasn’t merely a chunk of utilitarian gear, it carried deep sentimental worth.

A chunk of plastic had damaged, so the shoulder strap harness couldn’t be anchored correctly to the pack. Given its age, discovering a substitute half appeared extremely unlikely. Determined for an answer, I attempted two mountaineering retailers. The primary one appeared extra keen on promoting me a brand new pack. The second, Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder, didn’t have an answer however advised I strive a store in Outdated City Lafayette known as Naked Boulder Design & Restore.

“If anybody can repair it,” the person at Neptune mentioned, “they will.”

I went straight to Naked Boulder, at 409 S. Public Highway, the place proprietor Eli Shirzadian assured me he knew simply the right way to repair it. He calmly defined how he would take away the damaged plastic piece and sew the shoulder straps on to the pack with reinforcing materials. I used to be overwhelmed with a way of reduction. He mounted it for $100 — most likely lower than a 3rd of what it could have value to switch it — and since then I’ve introduced him two ski parkas that wanted restore.

Not solely does he do nice work, he’s additionally an amazing story. Shirzadian immigrated from Armenia within the Nineteen Nineties along with his mom, a brother and a sister following the loss of life of his father as a consequence of a coronary heart assault at age 40. Shirzadian was 18. They settled in Boulder, the place he had an uncle.

“It was scary,” Shirzadian of shifting 6,500 miles as a teen and having to study a brand new language. “However it’s thrilling on the similar time. It’s been a blessing. I name this dwelling. I really like the individuals right here. They’re very supportive.”

He went to Entrance Vary Neighborhood Faculty to learn to design and develop merchandise that required experience in stitching, however following his dream wasn’t straightforward. He’d rise up at 3 a.m., borrow his uncle’s automobile and ship the Boulder Each day Digital camera newspaper earlier than going to morning courses. Then he’d work full-time at King Soopers from 1 p.m. till midnight, get a pair hours of sleep and do it over again.

He discovered graphic and prototype design, then went to work for a neighborhood firm that makes delicate tops for Jeeps and automobiles, changing into an skilled at stitching. Later he began his personal enterprise designing and creating merchandise — backpacks, tents, sleeping baggage, purses — for main corporations and startups.

“You’ll not study a lot at school about such a commerce,” Shirzadian mentioned. “To start with, it’s a must to prefer it, which I do. I really like creating merchandise for different corporations. I understand how to design and I understand how to stitch. That makes my job a lot simpler than the one that solely does design or stitching. If you understand how issues are alleged to go collectively as a designer, and you understand how to stitch, it simply makes your job a lot a lot simpler designing a product.”