Take More Friends. Bring Back More Stories.

We've been going rogue for 40 years

Celebrating 40 years of Take It Easy living and you’re a big part of our story

From white water rapids to skyscraping pine trees, you take pride in your journeys—and we take pride in being your trusted sidekick. You’ve driven our racks through sunshine and snowstorms, truly living out not only the destination but also the journey. As badges of honor, we’re sure you’ve collected stickers along the way to tell your tales, and we want to hear about them.

 

Share your favorite stickered adventure with us in our Every Sticker Tells a Story Contest, and be eligible to win the grandest road trip prize package.

FROM MOM & POP TO MEGA-POPULAR
Our name is Native American for “full of life,” defining what action sports and weekend adventures are all about. From our early success with kayak foot braces still in use today, we’ve been inventing products that make lifetime memories. A new era in rackfulness dawned when outdoor fanatics Don Banducci and Steve Cole found Yakima’s soul as an innovator in multi-sport racks—beginning with our signature Gold Bars for cars, trucks, and whatever.
NEW WAVE & THE NEXT WAVE
During a decade that got Yakima bike racks into the ‘84 Summer Olympics with roof racks capable of carrying five bikes and 10 spare wheels, we answered the call when national road cycling boomed. Our 1A Raingutter Tower pioneered the multi-purpose rack free of roof rails or mounting points. Riding the popularity wave for action sports from windsailing to snowboarding, the SpaceCase cargo box became human’s best friend with big storage for small cars.
GRUNGE & ELBOW GREASE
Staying on track with recreation and automotive trends, Yakima’s Q Tower system revolutionized the way racks are attached and detached: the easy way. Giving cyclists a long-sought solution for their carrying needs, we introduced the tool-free, integrated locking bike ForkMount™. And for adventurers of all action-sport stripes, we launched the SKS (Single Key System) as the all-in-one locking solution.
Y2K & Y2K-PROOF CARGO BOXES
The iconic LoadWarriorTM basket off kicked yet another trendsetting decade, when the SkyBox™ expanded our cargo box offerings, and we expanded into 30 adventure-loving countries in just four years. With the FatCat™ mount, we nimbly responded to the craze for snowboarding and fat skis, winning the Men’s Journal Gear of the Year award. Playing as hard as we work, Team Yakima soared 62 feet to win the Red Bull Flugtag on Oregon’s Willamette River.
MYSPACE,
WIDE-OPEN SPACE
With the surge in stand-up paddleboard enthusiasts, we created the SupDawg™ mount just for them—responding once again with Take It Easy™ solutions for those who are born to roam. We also launched new, roomier editions of the intrepid SkyBox™ series of rooftop carriers. For fun, Yakima debuted what we believed was America’s biggest praying mantis at America’s biggest Cyclocross race.
SOCIAL CLIMBERS, TRAIL CLIMBERS
In recent years, our quest for playful yet practical innovation has led us to launch the aerodynamic Streamline roof rack system and the rugged-yet-comfy Base Camp SkyRise™ tent collection. Our RackPack Ambassadors Program inspires fellow adventurers with tales from the wild. To support growing demand from the 52 million pickup trucks on U.S. roads, 2019 kicked off Yakima’s Off-Road Rated Truck Bed Rack series.
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Bill Parks NRS

Legendary River-Runner Bill Parks & Yakima’s Storied Past

As you can see in this photo of a 1950s station wagon that I restored in the 1970s. I owned the prototype of the first Yakima BasketCase roof rack—and still do.

Bill Parks, NRS founder

Our EVERY STICKER Tells A STORY CONTEST

From Zion to Cape Cod, and wherever else you’ve traveled, you’ve probably collected commemorative stickers along the way. We want to see the souvenirs that now live on your Yakima racks or cargo boxes. Let’s hear all about that “one time” and how those souvenir sticker(s) earned an honored place on the proverbial mantle.

 

 

Walk us through your most exciting adventure, good or bad—along with a photo—and you’ll be eligible to win a Yakima 40th Anniversary Prize Package ($2,000 retail value) that includes a $250 VISA gift card, a $250 gas card, and your choice of $1,500 of Yakima products.

how to enter

Yakima Vintage

Upload your Photo

Upload a photo of stickers you’ve collected on your Yakima Cargo Boxes, Racks, or vehicle.

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Yakima Vintage

Tell us your story

Share your adventure tale and the sticker(s) to prove it

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Yakima Vintage

You & Yakima

Tell us how long you’ve had your Yakima Box or Rack.

Only legal U.S. residents 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter. The Contest begins at 12:00:01 AM PST on August 1, 2019 and ends at 11:59:59 PM PST on August 31, 2019. Official Rules & Regulations.

LET’S MAKE MORE OUTDOOR MEMORIES TOGETHER

Wherever your journeys have taken you, we are proud to have been at your side all these years. Thank you for the past four decades, and we hope to be with you for many more—riding, climbing, camping, paddling, and surfing new waves of adventure, on the road or off. Take It Easy™.

the STORIES SO FAR

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