Beringia: Bozeman’s only technical ski apparel brand

By Taylor Owens CONTENT MARKETING LEAD

Beringia, located in the new Wildlands commercial spaces in Bozeman’s Northeast Neighborhood, is a Bozeman-based apparel brand with a focus on the mountain experience that sells gear globally, with additional stores in Switzerland and New Zealand. 

“Our expertise is based on mountain experience,” Robert Bernthal, founder of Beringia, said. “So we have 30 years of building gear for a life in the mountains. And we source, I would say worldwide, the finest components, the best textiles.”

Beringia was founded by both Bernthal and Outi Pulkkinen in 2020. Beringia is defined today as the land and maritime area bounded on the west by the Lena River in Russia; on the east by the Mackenzie River in Canada; on the north by the 72° north latitude in the Chukchi Sea; and on the south by the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. 

Gear and apparel available at Beringia spans the gamut of what one would need to experience the outdoors from ocean landscapes to mountain tops, including base layers, jackets, shell systems and much more. 

“We want to build gear that people recognize the difference between what’s a Beringia product and a product from another brand,” Bernthal said. “And Bozeman is the best place to launch this brand from.”

Textile development is a key part of Beringia’s brand. The brand works with textile fabric developers around the world to create the highest performance, and most sustainable, fabrics one can find to create high-quality outdoor gear. 

“Quality, I’d say high quality was missing in the outdoor space,” Bernthal said. “I find there’s a lot of commodity brands out there that are just making products to hit a price point. I think the design inspiration is important because our gear allows you to engage in the outdoors, in the least mediated fashion. The product allows you to interact with your outdoor experience with the least amount of complications.”

Bernthal’s experience in the mountains, as well as prior experience working with other brands in the outdoor industry, has allowed him to funnel all of his accumulated knowledge into Beringia.

“Everybody working at Beringia does something in the mountains,” Bernthal said. “Most of them are either skiers or athletes that have had a career in high performance mountain sports. So if you’re a passionate alpinist or passionate skier, you’re going to look at gear you’ve used your whole life, you’re going to look at it differently than somebody who just decides ‘Hey, I want to start an outdoor brand.’ So we’ve lived this life before we’ve started brands. We lived in the mountains and did 25 years in Switzerland and worked for most of the biggest brands in the outdoor industry.”

Beringia is now a resident in the Wildlands commercial spaces, adding even more color and variety to the Northeast Neighborhood. 

“We’ve lived in this neighborhood for many years,” Bernthal said. “So we were super familiar with it. And this is our favorite neighborhood of Bozeman. It’s on the way to Bridger Bowl, which is the access point to where we recreate. And this location, this is where Beringia was born. This neighborhood is where Beringia was born from, the Bozeman North side, where we have lived within two blocks of where the store is. So this is as local as it gets.”

The cultural fabric of the Northeast Neighborhood has been distinctly art-focused with the number of galleries and studios in the neighborhood. Beringia seamlessly fits into this fabric by providing design-focused outerwear.

“We support a lot of local athletes and the local art scene,” Bernthal said. “We are big on design and style. That’s a very important part of the experience you have with what you wear, is the design of the product. It is all related. I think design, style, art, and quality all have to come together in a mashup and a collision. And that collision is what brings the feeling to the Beringia brand.”

Outside of apparel, Beringia is sponsoring a surf film, “Search for Volcano Island,” which follows a group of surfers that traveled to the most remote islands of the Aleutian Islands to explore the remote surf breaks. The film will premiere at the Emerson Center for Arts & Culture on July 18 at 7 p.m. 

“We also have some secret sneak peek ski footage that hasn’t been seen before by some of our ski film producers,” Bernthal said. “So we’ll have a small showing of some different ski footage, some of it is skiing in the Arctic that was shot last year and some historical stuff.”

“I feel that we can seamlessly connect ocean and mountain, which is part of the inspiration behind Beringia being the North Pacific,” Bernthal said. “The North Pacific is where the energy originates for most of our weather systems and influences. That’s where waves come from, that’s where our winter storms come from. The polar vortex kicks down these ocean currents that sends giant powder storms our way and swells to the Pacific. So that’s part of the Pacific energy that Beringia feeds off of.”

Beringia is set to open its doors during the Northside Summer Stroll on July 31. 

Find out more about Beringia at beringia.world, and visit the store at 610 N Wallace Ave. in the Northeast Neighborhood.