Spotlight on a Golden Business: Supertramp Campers

Every month, we’ll be highlighting a business here in the City of Golden.

Supertramp Campers

Tell Us About Your Business

Supertramp Campers (STC) originated from a passion to create the best truck camper on the market. Keith Panich went to purchase a camper in 2017 and was disappointed with the options available. The campers were heavy, unattractive, had dated interiors, commonly leaked, and did not include modern technology for the appliances. He decided that he could design and produce something better. Four years and three proofs of concept later, the Flagship LT was released. It is a fully composite camper using advanced VI manufacturing techniques, that is lightweight, includes appliances from the yacht industry, and is manufactured with the highest quality materials to ensure longevity for the product. Supertramp's campers are known for their spacious layouts and large windows. People love Supertramp units because they lift to standing height with the touch of a button. Supertramp's design is aesthetically pleasing so you will love having it on your truck and heading on your next adventure. Supertramp Campers is actively hiring talented and enthusiastic individuals for their facility here in Golden.

Why did Supertramp Choose Golden?

Keith and Kelsey Panich are both from the East Coast and would spend all of their vacation time coming out to Colorado to snowboard. After three years of coming out to visit, they decided to make the jump. They took the Coors brewery tour on one of their return trips to the airport and fell in love with Golden. They knew Golden was where they wanted to be when they moved out to Colorado. They packed up their two vehicles and headed west. Seven years later and after a ton of mountain biking, hiking, and river adventures they plan to have Golden as their longterm home. They purchased a home in Golden and wanted to ensure their team could sneak out for lunch rides during the day. Golden is the perfect fit.

Supertramp Campers recently received an Advanced Industries Grant from the State of Colorado. How Sumpertramp plans to use the grant:

This grant allows Supertramp to fundamentally change the industry by creating top-of-theline products that are reasonably priced to the mid-market through vacuum infusion (VI) with reusable vacuum bags here in Colorado. The industry standard is that campers are built using some combination of wood, aluminum, screws, and sometimes sandwich composite panels. These conventional materials do not withstand the challenging environments that truck campers are exposed to over many years. Over time the materials will rot or break down leading to a shorter lifespan of your investment. Supertramp's campers are built using a carbon fiber reinforced/epoxy composite. The company uses a process called vacuum infusion, which is usually reserved for the aerospace industry, to create the parts in-house. Supertramp's process is much cleaner than traditional wet lay-up and allows for us to create the highest strength-toweight ratio as desired for off-road vehicles.

Current Events in Clear Creek

For many years, Golden’s Clear Creek has been an attraction for anglers, tubers, kayakers and other recreational users. In recent years, the Creek has seen additional impacts to the health of aquatic life from higher water temperatures and lower than average stream flows. Golden recently commissioned a study to look at how these conditions affect the aquatic life living in the Creek, including brown trout, rainbow and brook trout, and several macroinvertebrate species such as mayflies, beetles and water mites. When higher temperatures are combined with lower seasonal flows and increased recreational use, fish and other species become stressed. Check out the study, which outlines several opportunities to manage recreational use of Clear Creek, on the City of Golden's website or on the Clear Creek Management Strategies page on Guiding Golden. Golden will continue to proactively monitor and manage the multitude of interests for both human and aquatic life to help maintain a sustainable ecosystem for the Clear Creek area.