Black Diamond, Inc. (NASDAQ: BDE) is a developer, manufacturer, and distributor of climbing, mountaineering and backcountry ski equipment. The company was formed out of Chouinard Equipment Ltd., and is currently based in Holladay, Utah, near Salt Lake City.
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Black Diamond was founded on December 1, 1989 when the assets of Chouinard Equipment Ltd. were purchased by a group of former company employees that included Peter Metcalf, Maria Cranor, Meredith Saarinen, Hong Kyu Kwak, and a few outside investors. Birth of the new company was facilitated by Yvon Chouinard, who extended deadlines until financing could be arranged.
During the late 1980s, Chouinard Equipment Ltd. was the target of several liability lawsuits, mostly the result of non-climbers who alleged not that the equipment was defective, but that there was insufficient warning of the dangers of climbing. Yvon Chouinard placed the company in Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early 1989.
On founding, the company was located in one end of the Patagonia warehouse in Ventura, California. The company moved from Ventura to the Salt Lake City, Utah, area on September 1, 1991.
Black Diamond manufactures part of its line of climbing gear in a Utah facility (including carabiners and climbing protection), but has most gear manufactured to specifications outside the US, mostly in China, and distributes Fritschi Diamir backcountry ski bindings in United States. Black Diamond purchased Bibler Tents and Ascension Enterprises to add to their line of mountaineering and backcountry skiing products.
In May 2010 Black Diamond was acquired for $90 million by Clarus Corporation, a shell company run by Warren B. Kanders, previously chief executive of Armor Holdings, a maker of bullet-proof vests and related equipment. The surviving business entity following the acquisition will be publicly traded under the name Black Diamond Equipment.[1]
Clarus Corporation also acquired Gregory Backpacks in a separate transaction with the intention of merging the two.[2] Clarus renamed itself Black Diamond, Inc.
Climbing products produced by Black Diamond include carabiners, harnesses, climbing protection including both active- and passive protection, belay devices, chalk bags, helmets, ice axes and ice tools, crampons, ice protection, and bouldering pads. They also sell a line of backcountry skis and ski boots. The third major class of products they sell are mountaineering products such as tents, trekking poles and packs.