[pct-l] Outdoor Industry in retrospect

[ned at mountaineducation.org]

History is always interesting, especially the older I get.

I became involved with The North Face in 1972 when I started looking for 
sponsors for my PCT thru hike in 1974. Hap Klop and Jack Gilbert were 
running it. When I met them in Berkeley, Jack became my sponsor contact and 
gave us sleeping bags, clothing, and tents for our adventure (which it still 
was back then). Jack, again, sponsored my CDT thru in 1980.

However, per the article, I guess it was in '88 that Jack and Hap had 
differing views on where the company was going, Hap wanting to manufacture 
in bulk overseas and Jack wanting to keep the company's product line smaller 
and high in quality, more to its original intentions of marketing to the 
quality and longevity-conscious climbers and hikers of the '70s. Thus, the 
split and Jack went on to create Mountain Hardwear a few blocks away.

Jack remained our sponsor over the years of MH's growth. We still have their 
original black and white newspaper-sized catalogs from their early years in 
the '90s! They focused on quality vs. quantity of well-made clothing and 
equipment, some of which Mountain Education still uses today, 22 years 
later. This plan, to make quality gear for mountain climbers and hikers was 
the intent of many now-famous designers and builders like Kelty, 
Mountainsmith, Gregory, Great Pacific Iron Works, Sierra Designs, and many 
more from the '70s. Few are still in the hands of their original owners, 
having been bought up by bigger corporations like Columbia.

When Columbia bought up Mountain Hardwear (at a time when MH was going 
strong), most of the staff jumped ship. The new owners did not have the same 
vision. When we began seeing their new, main-stream designs, we, too, 
decided to discontinue our nearly 40-year relationship with Jack Gilbert's 
creations and seek sponsors of similar gear and clothing that held the same 
intent of outstanding designs, quality, and longevity. They are out there, 
but few and far between.

Rather than make products designed by hikers for hikers, stressing practical 
design and the above three, most outdoor gear and clothing manufacturers 
today simply copy each other and market to the masses. Appearance and 
Fashion are becoming the mainstream rather than function and durability.

Now, this is not true of our new, garage-industry designers and 
manufacturers we see at places like the Kickoff. They were born out of this 
demand for practical function lost by the big boys. If you are a mainstream, 
average outdoor enthusiast, you will probably look in the mass-marketed 
places for gear and clothing made in its bulk way, probably overseas. You 
don't yet know what to look for in terms of quality, so you will buy what 
out there, go use it, and probably be fine for that once or twice a year 
outing. But for thru hikers who sleep 165 days in a sleeping bag, pound down 
2,500 miles of trail, or wear the same shirt for 5 or 6 months on a single 
trip, most mainstream gear and clothing simply won't survive that kind of 
use (abuse?). It used to though...

I'm sure there are many more of the "old guard" out there who can chime in 
on this one!



"Just remember, Be Careful out there!"

Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
South Lake Tahoe, Ca. 96150
    P: 888-996-8333
    F: 530-541-1456
    C: 530-721-1551
    http://www.mountaineducation.org
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tortoise" <Tortoise73 at charter.net>
To: "Pacific Crest Trail List" <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2012 5:00 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Business booming for once-troubled North Face | Full Page


> Interesting article in today's San Francisco Chronicle on North Face.
>
> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/08/BUSK1NVGDT.DTL&type=business&ao=all
>
> -- 
> Tortoise
>
> Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution 
> inevitable
> President John F Kennedy,  1962
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