Mountain Rug - About Us

Our History - Our Mission

A number of years ago two friends, Mark LaMont and Rand Runco, spent a summer trekking in Nepal. They were very impressed by the natural beauty of this country, but more than that they were deeply moved by the generosity and graciousness of the people of Nepal. That summer they determined to return to Nepal and do what they could to address the needs they saw all around them.

They began with relatively small projects: delivery of portable stretchers to remote villages and water filters to orphanages. They sought and received support from the Sisters, Oregon, community where they are both school teachers, and began taking students and community members with them on their summer trips. Eventually they formed Ten Friends, a non-profit organization whose mission is to assist the people of Nepal. Their projects have expanded to include orphanage support and education for underprivileged children.

Mountain Rug, LLC, owned and operated by Mark LaMont, is one of the means by which Ten Friends assists the people of Nepal. First, purchasing these handmade Tibetan rugs to import into the U.S. provides income to the Nepali artists who create them and the merchants who market them. Then, the profits earned from sales in the U.S. are used to offset personal expenses related to Mark's work with Ten Friends. Nearly every dollar spent on a rug from Mountain Rug goes to support the people of Nepal.

When you purchase a fine handmade Tibetan rug from Mountain Rug you win in two ways:

• You get a very high quality authentic handmade Tibetan rug at a fraction of the cost from other importers.
  
  
• Your purchase directly supports efforts of Ten Friends to improve the quality of life for the people of Nepal.

All of our handmade Tibetan rugs meet these criteria for quality and authenticity:

• Himalayan wool only
• The wool is hand-carded, not machine-carded
• The wool is hand-spun into yarn
• Traditional natural dyes are used exclusively
• The rugs are hand woven on vertical looms
• All rugs are 100 knots per inch unless otherwise noted

In addition, we assure you that no child labor is used in making these rugs.