Ballard Used-gear Consignment Shop Makes Outdoor Adventures More Accessible
Wonderland Gear Exchange opened last fall
By Kendall Upton December 27, 2019
This article originally appeared in the December 2019 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in print in the December 2019 issue. Click here to subscribe.
Washington’s trails and slopes can challenge even the heartiest adventurers—but the steep cost of new gear presents one of the biggest obstacles to getting out there in the first place. Making adventures more affordable is one of the tenets of Wonderland Gear Exchange, a consignment store for outdoor gear, from backpacks to snowboards to apparel, that opened last fall in Whittier Heights. Discovering used-gear stores in other cities inspired Wonderland owners Ben Mawhinney and Nate Seiberling to launch their own
They started by holding gear-gathering pop-ups in local breweries, during which they successfully persuaded Wonderland’s first consignors to put their old gear up for sale on the condition that they’d get it back if the store didn’t come together. After their first year of business, they’ve helped over 2,500 consignors earn cash and store credit from used gear that might otherwise wind up in landfills. And in the process, they’ve brought skiing, snowshoeing and other outdoor activities within reach of a broader audience.
Follow Us
A New Place to Ice Skate by the Water
Hyatt Regency Lake Washington’s dockside rink offers lake views and eco-friendly synthetic ice.
Skating season has officially arrived. There’s a particular joy in gliding—or trying to—on cold days. I always go for the outdoor rinks, especially the ones strung with twinkling lights. It can be so romantic. And this year, there’s a new place to lace up. A 71-foot by 38-foot covered Glice rink is up and running…
Bergen: Finding a Home, Abroad
A trip across western Norway reveals strikingly Northwest sensibilities.
A few months ago, we randomly walked into Wallingford’s Fat Cat Records. Greeting us, face-out by the cash register, was not Nirvana, not Soundgarden, but Peer Gynt Suite, by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg. Was this a Norse omen, a mischievous prank from Loki? For us, two Seattleites with a trip to Norway on the…
Hives Among the Headstones
Inside a north Seattle project reimagining cemeteries as sanctuaries for pollinators.
In many old stories, bees are more than just insects. They’re messengers—tiny intermediaries between the living and the dead. There was once even a custom in Europe and America known as “telling the bees:” When a family member died, or another significant life event occurred, someone would go to the hive to share the news….
Dispatches from Greenland, Part Two: Nuuk
An insider’s guide to Greenland’s mysterious, overlooked, and charming capital.
Greenland is too vast to take in all at once. Yet a few days in Nuuk—the island’s compact, curious capital, just a four-hour flight from Newark—offer a surprisingly complete portrait. Nuuk changes like the weather that shapes it: by turns wild and polished; intimate and bold. To Northerners, it feels as hectic as Manhattan; to…