Mountaineering experts work with Eddie Bauer
Eddie Bauer has joined up with a team of mountaineers and Dave Hahn, to build a new line of outerwear and gear called First Ascent.
The First Ascent Guide Team is led by Peter Whittaker, son of acclaimed mountaineer Lou Whittaker and nephew of Jim Whittaker, who wore Eddie Bauer gear on his historic first American ascent of Everest.
Also part of the team is Ed Viesturs, the only American to summit all fourteen 8,000-metre peaks without bottled oxygen, and Dave Hahn, who has summited Everest ten times, more than any non-Sherpa. Joining the team are three accomplished guides from Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. (RMI), the Melissa Arnot, Seth Waterfall, and Chad Peele. Lou and Jim Whittaker have acted as advisors to the team.
"The role of the guides in the development of this line is unprecedented," says Peter Whittaker, co-owner of Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. and Whittaker Mountaineering. "Combined, we spend more than 1,200 days a year in the high mountains. We know what gear works best out there, and what it takes to be prepared. We designed it. We built it. We live in it. And nothing goes to market until we literally sign off on every detail. We put our names on it, right down to the hangtags."
The team built the line from the ground up, leading the design and development process with rigorous field tests on expeditions of Rainier in Washington state; Ecuador's Cotopaxi, one of the world's highest active volcanoes; and Aconcagua in Argentina, the tallest mountain in the Americas. The team is preparing for an Everest expedition in April. The guides built the First Ascent line as a complete system, from baselayer to insulating layers to softshell and hardshell outerwear. Each piece is designed to work with every other piece in the system to offer good fit, comfort and performance. The line also includes backpacks, tents, knives and other essential gear.
"Our approach to First Ascent is to keep the product pure, focusing only on what you need," says Mr Viesturs. "The guiding mantra has been about simplification, functionality and performance. That's why we say it's everything you need, nothing you don't. It's that simple. And simple is better."
Ms Arnot adds: "There are a lot of dangers up there. Things we can't control. But one of the things we can control is the quality of our gear. Our lives depend on it."
