When Wild Rye launched in 2016 as a bike and snow apparel brand, initially with a four-piece bike collection and, a few months later, a base layer collection.
The brand quickly became known for its bike apparel, but the dream has always been to eventually have a snow outerwear collection. After three years in the making, that dream has become a reality.
“There are some really incredible women-led brands that are leading with more of a style lens, and we wanted to lead with a technical lens,” said Founder and CEO Cassie Abel, who said she’s been skiing for as long as she’s been walking. “Our whole team is filled with backcountry skiers and really avid freeriders, so we wanted to start with a pinnacle product that performs at the highest levels, just like our bike product.”
The new fall 2025/winter 2026 snow collection features the Heyburn kit for backcountry skiing, which includes a three-layer lightweight shell ($475) and a bib ($445), and the Butterfield jacket ($449) and pants ($375), which is designed for resort and micro-backcountry trips.
Technical Performance and Sustainability
Idaho-based Wild Rye is a certified B-Corp and its commitment to environmental sustainability and technical performance led the design process. The Heyburn kit takes an innovative approach to thermal regulation with a NASA-developed Trizar fabric, for example, and has enough stretch to allow free movement. The Butterfield kit has a premium Graphene tech lining that conducts heat, pulling it from the body and dissipating it through the garment.
Photo courtesy of Wild Rye.
Both kits were designed with BlueSign-certified, Oeko-Tex 100, and 100% recycled nylon fabrics. The face fabric on the Butterfield kit is Seawastex Recycled Nylon (GRS Certified), which is made from upcycled oyster rope and fishing nets in South Taiwan.
“We ended up finding some contract materials developers who have decades of experience in snowsports, and they worked with us to ensure that we were sourcing materials that were aligned with our values in addition to performing at the highest levels,” Abel said.
Women-Led Snow Brands on the Rise
In some ways, Wild Rye’s expansion into snow outerwear is happening now because, after years of work, it’s finally ready. After all, the brand launched its first offerings a few months after the team planned to launch them, Abel said.
But unlike so many outdoor brands, Wild Rye has had a good year. The brand will finish 2024 with a 40% increase in sales compared to last year, with growth in both wholesale and DTC. And the brand just hired sales reps in its key territories last year, and having them in place will be key. But the timing feels right for a few other reasons.
Outdoor participation is at a record high, for example, and there’s demand for flattering, fashionable and high-performing ski gear made by women for women. Abel said she sees Wild Rye’s snow outerwear as being complementary to recent offerings from emerging brands such as Halfdays and Seniq, which are also women-led, but are perhaps more oriented toward casual, resort days than backcountry ski adventures.
“We as women have settled for decades on the fit of our product, the colors of our product, the features of our product that weren’t built for us,” Abel said. “They’re mostly male-led brands that are designing ski apparel for women. There’s a lot of women who have come out and said, ‘We want something better.’”
Gen Z and millennials are demanding sustainability from the brands they shop at, too, and Abel said Wild Rye is meeting that demand.
“We’re really aligned with this younger generation of outdoor adventures and enthusiasts,” Abel said. “And I think our industry is ripe for disrupting.”
Kate Robertson can be reached at kate.robertson@emeraldx.com.
