In the rugged front country of Santa Barbara, California, veteran climber and search and rescue team member Jim Frank realized that with limited access to rescue equipment, many rescuers were still using climbing gear on missions. With lives on the line, Frank endeavored to make rescue safer and more efficient by founding California Mountain Company (later CMC Rescue, now CMC). Established in 1978, CMC began as a company that sourced and supplied specialized life safety equipment to the rescue community.
In 1982, as the market and technology began to evolve, Frank saw an opportunity to tap his background in engineering and established CMC’s manufacturing division, with the intention to design better equipment. Always adhering to rigorous design standards, exacting specifications and quality inspections, Frank and his team of engineers began to design and craft the CMC hardware, harnesses, straps, packs and belts that rescue and work at height professionals have come to trust for four decades.
Today, we are a globally recognized, employee-owned company that innovates life safety equipment with wide applications in rescue, rope access and other at-height scenarios. We proudly manufacture most of our products in the USA, with many of our goods assembled in our ISO-certified Santa Barbara facility.
