 | |
| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Founder | Ron Gregg |
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington |
| Products | Apparel, Accessories, and Gear for Outdoor Recreation |
| Website | https://www.outdoorresearch.com |
Outdoor Research is a Seattle-based manufacturer of technical apparel and gear for outdoor sports, including alpinism, rock and ice climbing, backpacking, paddling, and backcountry skiing and snowboarding.
Ron Gregg was a nuclear physicist and mountaineer who left his science career in 1980 in order to join an expedition up North America’s highest peak, Denali. [1] After enduring an open bivouac at 12,500 feet with temperatures reaching -20 °F, Gregg’s climbing partner suffered from frostbitten feet and was subsequently evacuated by helicopter. [2] This event inspired and challenged Gregg to find a solution to cold, wet, and exposed feet in precarious mountain environments.
Gregg founded Outdoor Research the following year and released the company’s first product; the X-Gaiter. [1] In 1982, REI placed the Outdoor Research First Aid Kit on the back cover of its catalog. Within days, all 1,000 kits of the first order sold out. [2] By 1984, Outdoor Research had evolved into the space of protective handwear with the Modular Mitts, one of the first gloves utilizing a layering system with a removable inner liner and external hard shell. [2]
In 1986, Outdoor Research was included in Inc. magazine’s annual list of the 500 fastest-growing, privately held companies in the country. [2] The business explored new territory in 1993 with the production of their first apparel product, a pair of soft shell pants inspired by Gregg’s ascent of Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in South America. [3] Outdoor Research expanded even further in 1995 with the acquisition of their current headquarters at 2203 1st Ave South in the SoDo district of Seattle. [2]
On March 17, 2003, Gregg was killed in an avalanche while skiing in the Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park near Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. [4] This same year, Dan Nordstrom purchased the company with the intention to “build the company while at the same time retaining its reputation as an innovative maker of mountaineering equipment.” [5]
In 2007, Outdoor Research began its first foray into adventure culture community events with the sponsorship of Vertfest in nearby Snoqualmie Pass, Washington. [1]
In 2014, manufacturer of outdoor and athletic clothing Youngone Corporation acquired a strategic equity investment in Outdoor Research.
Outdoor Research offers a product warranty that covers manufacturing defects for the lifetime of the product. [6]
The company uses the real-world testing of a group of professional outdoor athletes and ambassadors to design their gear.[ citation needed ]
In 1997, the company began its ongoing product testing and development relationship with the American Mountain Guides Association.[ citation needed ]
Since 2011, Outdoor Research has received 23 awards from Outside Magazine, 21 awards from Backpacker Magazine, and numerous Gear of the Year and Editor’s Choice Awards from publications like National Geographic, Runner’s World, and Backcountry. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
Outdoor Research sponsors athletes and brand ambassadors that are professionals in the company’s core sports. [12] Examples include rock climber Beth Rodden, who is best known for her numerous first female ascents throughout the Yosemite Valley, including a redpoint of the 5.14c Meltdown. Hans Florine, also an Outdoor Research Ambassador, is one of the most accomplished rock climbers of his time, holding various speed records as well as over 100 ascents of The Nose on El Capitan. [13]
Also on the Outdoor Research Ambassador roster is professional skier and host of the hit TV series Tiny House Nation Zack Giffin, alpine and ice climbing guide Sarah Hueniken, and Swiss-American ski mountaineering guide Martin Volken.
Outdoor Research supports various environmental preservation, climbing access, and accredited outdoor guiding organizations. Example partnerships include those with the Access Fund, American Mountain Guides Association, Leave No Trace, The American Alpine Club, among others listed on their website. [14]
Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports in their own right. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering are also considered variants of mountaineering by some, but are part of a wide group of mountain sports.
Scrambling is a mountaineering term for ascending steep terrain using one's hands to assist in holds and balance. It is also used to describe terrain that falls between hiking and rock climbing.
Scott Eugene Fischer was an American mountaineer and mountain guide. He was renowned for his ascents of the world's highest mountains made without the use of supplemental oxygen. Fischer and Wally Berg were the first Americans to summit Lhotse, the world's fourth highest peak. Fischer, Charley Mace, and Ed Viesturs summitted K2 without supplemental oxygen. Fischer first climbed Mount Everest in 1994 and later died during the 1996 blizzard on Everest while descending from the peak.
Ski mountaineering is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipment used, free-heel Telemark skis and skis based on Alpine skis, where the heel is free for ascents, but is fixed during descent. The discipline may be practiced recreationally or as a competitive sport.
Grand Teton is the highest mountain in Grand Teton National Park, in Northwest Wyoming, and a classic destination in American mountaineering.
Backcountry skiing (US), also called off-piste (Europe), alpine touring, freeriding or out-of-area, is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas either inside or outside a ski resort's boundaries. This contrasts with alpine skiing, which is typically done on groomed trails benefiting from a ski patrol. Unlike ski touring, backcountry skiing can - and often does - include the use of ski lifts including snowcats and helicopters. Recent improvements in equipment have increased the popularity of the sport. As the sport does confront the individual practicing it with the dangers of natural, unprepared alpine terrain like avalanches, it is generally recommended to carry standard safety equipment and to learn beforehand how to behave safely under such conditions.
Royal Robbins was one of the pioneers of American rock climbing. After learning to climb at Tahquitz Rock, he went on to make first ascents of many big wall routes in Yosemite. As an early proponent of boltless, pitonless clean climbing, he, along with Yvon Chouinard, was instrumental in changing the climbing culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s by encouraging the use and preservation of the natural features of the rock. He went on to become a well-known kayaker.
Backcountry.com is an online specialty retailer that sells clothing and outdoor recreation gear for hiking, camping, road biking, mountain biking, rock climbing, winter sports, fly fishing, kayaking, rafting, road and trail running, and more.
Stewart Alexander Lowe was an American mountaineer. He has been described as inspiring "...a whole generation of climbers and explorers with his uncontainable enthusiasm, legendary training routines, and significant ascents of rock climbs, ice climbs, and mountains all over the world...". He died in an avalanche on Shishapangma, in Tibet. The Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation honors his legacy.
Steve House is an American professional alpinist and mountain guide, and winner of the 2006 Piolet d'Or.
David Allen Hahn is an American professional mountain guide, ski patroller, journalist and lecturer. In May 2013, he reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 15th time—at the time, this was the most summits for a non-Sherpa climber, according to Outside Magazine contributor and climber Alan Arnette. His record was surpassed by Kenton Cool in 2022. Among Hahn’s other notable accomplishments are his 39 summits of Vinson Massif, Antarctica’s highest mountain. He has reached the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest peak, 25 times over the course of 37 expeditions.
Eldorado Peak is a 8,868-foot (2,703 m) peak, and is the 25th highest peak in Washington. The mountain is located in the North Cascades of Washington, approximately 27 miles (43 km) east of Concrete. It is located in North Cascades National Park at the head of Marble Creek and just west of the Inspiration Glacier. Other glaciers in the immediate vicinity include Eldorado Glacier and McAllister Glacier; thus Eldorado is flanked by the largest continuous non-volcanic ice sheet in the lower 48 states.
Allen Parker Steck was an American mountaineer and rock climber.
Horse Camp is a property on Mount Shasta owned by the nonprofit Sierra Club Foundation. It is a 720-acre (2.9 km2) enclave within the Mount Shasta Wilderness of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California, United States. It is located at approximately 7,950 feet (2,420 m) elevation at the lower end of Avalanche Gulch, the most popular climbing route on the mountain.
André Roch was a Swiss mountaineer, avalanche researcher and expert, skier, resort developer, engineer, and author. Roch is best known for having planned and surveyed the Aspen, Colorado, ski resort, and also as an adviser on avalanche management whose expertise was sought throughout the world.
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures is a mountaineering school and mountain adventure company located in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. The company was founded in 1975.
Garrett Madison is an American mountaineer, guide and expedition leader. Madison began guiding professionally in 1999 on Mount Rainier and has reached the summit of Mount Everest 13 times. His company, Madison Mountaineering, specializes in climbs on Mount Everest and other high altitude peaks, operates on the highest peaks on all seven continents, and also provides training programs and summit climbs in Washington State.
RMI Expeditions, also known as Rainier Mountaineering Inc. (RMI), is a mountain guide company based in Ashford, Washington founded in 1969 by Jerry Lynch and Lou Whittaker. It leads mountaineering, ski mountaineering, and ice climbing trips on Mount Rainier and the Seven Summits.
Mountain Madness is a Seattle-based mountaineering and trekking company. The company specializes in mountain adventure travel and has a training school for mountain and rock climbing.
Eddie Bauer was an American outdoorsman, inventor, author, and businessman. He founded the Eddie Bauer company to sell tennis-related items in Seattle, Washington in 1920. From a rented workbench inside another man's shop, it grew to become an international brand outfitting mountaineering and scientific expeditions with down-insulated garments and sleeping bags.