Meet An OGExpert: Josh Duncan

What’s an OGExpert? They’re the folks that huff and puff alongside you in the skin track, give you a yell from the lift, move that pad for you at the climbing gym, share their granola at the summit, or help you change a flat tire at the bike trail head. They’re us. We’ve done it all, and used pretty much every kind of gear along the way. We live, breathe, and recreate with the community.

NAME

Josh Duncan - he/him

AGE

31

HOMETOWN

I grew up in a small town in Central Massachusetts

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING AT OUTDOOR GEAR EXCHANGE?

Just about six years.

WHAT IS YOUR ROLE AT OGE?

I juggle a lot of roles here, but to keep things short, I am one member of the retail sales manager team.

WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOUR AREA OF OUTDOOR EXPERTISE?

I take a holistic approach to outdoor recreation. I started skiing around the time I started walking. I've been climbing since my early teens, and you may even find me clumsily riding some single track. The thing I'm best known for, though, is fitting ski boots.

FAVORITE PIECE OF GEAR?

At the moment, I would say my Merrimack Osprey fly-fishing canoe. It was in pretty rough shape when I got it out of a barn, but I spent my spring completely restoring it. Not only is it perfect for what I do with it, it's wide with a flat hull that makes standing up to cast with a fly rod easy, but I've also gotten a lot of satisfaction giving the craftsmanship that went into building the canoe a second life. A part of each of our adventure stories is the story of the hands that make our gear.

TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF.

Even though I would tell you I'm from central Mass, that's where I grew up, I was born in Rutland and have always had connections to that part of Vermont. That's probably part of the reason I ended up at Green Mountain College in Poultney studying Natural Resource Management. Even though I live in Burlington with Mount Mansfield in my backyard, I think my heart will always be in the smaller hills of Rutland County.

I filled my winters in between seasonal conservation jobs working in ski shops. I was lucky enough to spend a couple of those winters working for one of the best bootfitters in the world and sort of fell into an obsession with learning the craft. I wanted to work at OGE because it's so much more than a ski shop, somewhere I could work in climbing and paddling and camping. Nonetheless, the thing that defines and drives me here is being the best bootfitter and in particular the best bootfitter for backcountry and alpine touring boots in the Burlington area. Whether or not I've gotten there or not isn't for me to say, but I can't help but trying to learn a little more every time I sit down to fit someone for ski boots.