Saddleback Patch (Saddle Outline) — modern

A Saddleback patch, the same saddle-over-a-peak device stripped back to outline — brown saddle, white ground, black keyline, die-cut to shape with SADDLEBACK across the middle. Modern stitching, clean edges, never worn.

Cleaner than the version before it, with the tooling and the stitching detail stripped out and the shape left to carry it. That is almost always the sign of a mountain that has just hired somebody who went to art school.

Both versions are better than what most ski areas settled for. A literal object, drawn plainly, beats a generic peak every time.

The two of them together make a small case study in what happens when a ski area in the seventies decides it ought to look more professional, and spends money accordingly.

Embroidered, die-cut to shape. Modern production. Photos are the condition report.