Outpost n. an outlying settlement or position.
It was March of 2014 when Jane came up with the name of the company. We were both in Florida, riding our cruiser bikes along the side of the road. We agreed that the name should revolve more about the experiences and amenities that Jackson Hole offered than the home itself. But, we struggled to find the exact word.
I had suggested “base camp.” It was a term I had read over and over again as I was in the midst of reading the book Into Thin Air, a personal tale of the 1997 Mount Everest disaster. I thought it would be a good candidate for naming a property management company because of the way people here in the valley use vacation homes. We have found that people spend little to no time in their rentals during the day, only using it as a launching pad for their daily adventures. What people are essentially paying for is a comfortable place to come home to in the evenings and to spend the night.
However, “base camp” just lacked polish — if that makes sense.
Back in high school, Jane had spent a couple summers up in the Canadian wilderness at a camp called “Keewaydin.” As a ninth grader, she joined a small group of girls lead by someone barely out of their teens. It’s crazy to think this person lead the group through the lakes and forests of Ontario in hiking, paddling, and portaging! About three weeks into their six week trip, they came upon Keewaydin’s Outpost, a tiny cabin located on Kawaweogama Lake in Western Ontario, where they stopped to restock on food and supplies, and muster the strength for the next several weeks of adventure in the wild!
Outpost made perfect sense. It was a more polished version of “base camp” and had captured the meaning we had aimed for. It felt rustic, but yet also sounded like it could be used to describe a more luxurious property.
That’s how we came to the name and we certainly are happy with it. The question is, when we launch our new product, will it still be appropriate or will we need to separate the two businesses?
Time will tell.
We’ll soon release more details on the new product, I just want to be certain we will launch as planned. In the meantime, did you know the Outpost logo was designed to look like the Moulton barn? Shout out to local artist Tim Tomkinson and his wife Kate for all the help they have provided in our designs and marketing materials.
