HMK

The Story Behind HMK

HMK owner and founder Kirk L. Zack was grown up in Prescott, Wisconsin. He spent numerous weekends riding his Suzuki Snowmobile with his friends as a kid. One fine morning Kirk decided his passion for snow sports would send him full throttle into sporting goods industry.

Kirk started to snowboard at the time when a pair of pack boots or snowmobile boots was the only option available for snowboarders. It was back in 1986. After that it only took a few years for the snowboard industry to explode with popularity and Kirk followed his interest for snowboarding.

In 1990 he moved to the west coast and began working with Kemper Snowboards. Four years later he joined in Nitro Snowboards as the Sales and Marketing Manager. Kirk noticed at that time Snocross riders wore snowboard boots while he was at the X Games in Mt Snow, Vermont. Kirk talked with some top guys of that time about what their dream boot would consist of, he then went home and with all his gathered experience and innovation he created the first HMK Highmark prototype. This innovative prototype had an ordinary look of a snowboard boot but was technically superior to the current snowmobile footwear.

More specifically the HMK Highmark boots were lightweight along with some advanced features like forward lean, great heel hold, extra Thermal Foam liner and aggressive tread pattern. As a consequence it instantly drew the attention of enthusiasts and they discovered that the boot really added to their riding performance. From then on it took a little time for the boot to get noticed amongst the outdoor sports industry.

Today HMK has stepped into producing outerwear; leveraging the brand value it had created by manufacturing top of the line footwear initially. While producing the outerwear the brand concentrates on the same quality and innovation that their boot encompassed. The brand takes pride in supporting enthusiasts with head to toe outdoor gear for all cold weather thus developing the sports we love.

HMK has got a vision to work on—to provide high quality gear for all riders in extreme cold weather. In terms of R&D Kirk has got the latest product development and testing system to surprise you!