Welcome to Thunder Mountain Alpacas Website

Thunder Mountain Alpacas is raising suri alpacas and having their fiber turned into fine suri alpaca fabric. We are working with some other suri breeders to obtain a volume of fiber enough to have it processed into 100 percent North American suri alpaca fabric. Please visit our Products page to see a sample of the gorgeous suri alpaca fabric, some samples of shawls made from suri alpaca yarn and links to other web sites that have alpaca products. Visit our Alpacas For Sale web page to see the suri alpacas that we currently have for sale. If you like pretty animals, do not miss going to Our Alpacas web page to see the variety of colors and looks that suri alpacas come in.

Alpacas come in two varieties: huacaya and suri. The huacaya alpacas look like teddy bears on long legs and produce a very springy and warm fiber. The suri alpaca look like they have "dread locks" as their fiber usually is curly and hangs down the sides of the alpaca. Suri alpaca produce fiber that looks more like silk than wool and is cool and smooth to the touch. Thunder Mountain Alpacas is breeding and raising suri alpacas with low micron counts and high luster. Our goal is to produce fiber good enough to make fine alpaca fabric for the high fashion circuit out of our suri fiber.

Like Silk on the Hoof

Why suri alpacas?

Alpaca fiber, sometimes mistakenly referred to as alpaca wool, is sorted into 22 distinct colors, ranging from blacks through browns and whites, and including subtle shades of maroon, peach and grays. Alpaca fiber can be blended into an infinite array of natural colors, including combinations that do not occur naturally. Alpaca fiber takes and retains dyes very well.

Alpaca fiber has little to no guard hair and no lanolin. It is unusually strong and resilient. Fabrics made of alpaca fiber are unusually easy to care for and long-lived. These and other qualities make alpaca fiber a sought out commodity in commercial textile houses. Alpaca fiber offers the following benefits and qualities

• Alpaca fiber is extremely fine with little guard hair
• Alpaca fiber is compatible with either the woolen or worsted systems
• Alpaca fiber has excellent insulate or thermal qualities
• Alpaca fiber has a rich silky sheen which has high visual appeal in the apparel industry
• Alpaca fiber is warmer than Merino wool
• Alpaca fiber is more abrasion resistant than Merino wool
• Alpaca fiber has a higher tensile strength than wool
• Alpaca fiber contains no grease, oil or lanolin and does not smell
• Alpaca fiber does not retain water and can resist solar radiation
• Alpaca Fiber is rare - supply cannot keep up with demand for fine quality fleece
• Alpaca Fiber can be carded and blended with other natural and/or synthetic fibers
• Alpaca fiber can be easily dyed any color without losing its sheen

Besides the wonderful characteristics of all alpaca fiber, suri fiber has some characteristics that puts it into a different classification as the huacaya fiber. Suri fiber has a fine smooth silky feel to it. It feels cool to the touch and has a slick feel. Suri fiber when used in garments, drapes rather than "puffs out". This drape along with it's natural luster, makes suri garments look very glamorous. Suri fiber is closer to silk than wool in its look and feel and can compete very well with other exotic fibers such as cashmere.

A Special Thanks

We wish to thank Alpacas of Tualatin Valley, White Dog's Alpacas and Angelic777 Alpacas for their help and support in starting this new adventure.

Email: Tmalpaca@aol.com
Phone: (360) 666-4553

Member of the Ideal Alpaca Community

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