Sean Sudduth has been working in the mountain industry his whole life. His first job was in a ski shop at 15, and now, he is the proud owner of Carson City’s newest snowboarding shop, Mountain Cat located at 1815 N. Carson St.
Mountain Cat offers everything a snowboarder might need — whether they’re a seasoned rider, or just looking to get into the hobby.
Mountain Cat’s wares include boards, bindings, boots, jackets, accessories, art, and everything in between, but according to Sudduth, he’s very picky on what he offers.
“I definitely try to match the individual with the absolute best equipment possible based on riding ability, physical attributes, and what they want to accomplish with snowboarding,” Sudduth said. “I firmly believe if you have the right equipment, there’s no sopping what you can do.”
However, Sudduth said, that doesn’t mean the most expensive gear is necessarily the best. What Sudduth cares about is finding companies, especially for snowboards, that design and build their own products.
“The finished product is just so much better, because it’s more of a labor of love,” Sudduth said.
He said it’s important to source products from small companies who are more concerned with quality over something like a marketing budget.
“There’s a lot of stuff out there nowadays that I feel is priced high just to be priced high, but there’s really no justifiable reason for that price.”
As to keeping things in house, Sudduth also offers full services on board maintenance to binding checks and more, regardless of where the products were purchased.
He said it’s also important to him to teach people how to take care of their equipment, and he’s happy to show customers how to maintain their own board.
“If it’s something you want to learn how to do, then we can not only set you up with the equipment but give you some good information on how to attack that,” Sudduth said. “When you wax your own board, it’s kind of a bonding thing, and it gives you that much more of a special feeling when you’re out there on the board and going super fast. Plus, you can probably get to know your board more so that if there is something a little bit off, you’ll catch it while doing maintenance.”
Sudduth is originally from Ohio, and moved to the west for work. He said he found himself traveling to the mountains every weekend to board, and when he discovered Carson City, he immediately fell in love.
“I like the pace of life here,” he said. “A yellow light means slow down, not speed up. And I needed to slow down a little bit in my life. It’s perfect here; it’s quaint.”
Sudduth ran his own snowboarding shop in Ohio for 18 years, but when he wanted to open his new shop in Carson City, he needed a new name.
When you walk into the shop, you’ll first see the selection of boards, jackets, bindings and more, but the second thing you’ll notice is the selection of cats.
Cat streamers, cat stickers, cat curtains.
“I have a couple of kittens myself, a couple of brother rescue cats,” Sudduth said. “They’re just awesome, they’re amazing cats. I’m definitely a cat guy.”
The cats’ names, for the record, are Butch and Sundance.
That’s when Mountain Cat was born, combing Sudduth’s two loves into one business.
Sudduth said that he feels very fortunate to be able to open his shop in Carson City, and the people he’s met so far that have come in “have all just been awesome people.”
Mountain Cat is typically open from noon to 6 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The rest of the time, you can probably find Sudduth on the mountain.
“Every time I go up to the mountain, I’ve got to pinch myself and be like, this is real?”
You can learn more at his website here.
