A16: Andy Drollinger, began in Southern California in late 1950s. Mic Mead and his son have run it since about 1970. G

Akers of Maine, Alfa boots and more: I am including Leon Akers, (Akers of Maine) because he was one of the very first to popularize cross-country skiing in America; in 1967 his store was virtually the only place in the USA where we at the University of Oregon Outdoor Program were able to purchase the gear that allowed us to begin the cross-country ski program!.(interview with Bob Woodward).... Among those gear brands, and still existent today, is "Odlo" of Norway. Others were Jarvinnen skiis, and Alfa boots.

Alpenlite Packs: Don Douglas of Alpenlite Packs in California (may be spelled Don Douglass)...

Alp Sport/Alpine Designs/Camp 7: George Lamb, who worked with GERRY in the very early days and then formed three companies of his own (in order) Alp Sport, Alpine Designs, and Camp 7

Altra Kits: Jon (Jonathan) Hinebauch (not in the picture from the 2008 Reunion in Boulder). He formed the highly successful Altra Kits of Colorado.

Ambercrombie & Fitch: David T. Ambercrombie and Ezra Fitch: selling upscale camping gear since 1892. As the early Holubar gained a following around 1950, Roy and Alice Holubar received a letter from this company grudgingly admitting they were of good quality and allowing that they were gaining quite a following among climbers and backpackers! The original A&F company went under in 1977, but the brand was revived and revised in 1988 and now has little or nothing to do with camping and climbing.

Banana Equipment Company of Estes Park, Colorado.

Bibler Tents: Todd Bibler tents since 1977, I think originally from Colorado.

Black Diamond: it’s the employee-owned successor to Chouinard Equipment Company. BD formed Dec. 1989, after the original Chouinard went bankrupt.. (Go to: tents@bdel.com) G

Blue Puma, and the formerly tiny Moonstone Mountain Equipment, also of Arcata, CA.

Caribou Mountaineering. (10th listing)

Class Five: Justus Bauschinger of Ski Hut who went on to be a major part in the stories of several other companies such as first North Face and later, in 1971, Class Five

Carikits: the original name of the kit-making branch of Holubar Mountaineering of Boulder, Colorado. Later called just “Holubar Kits.”

Cosy Quip: Ocate' foam bags/CosyQuip.

Crescent Down Works of Seattle since 1973. G

Dana Designs/Kletterwerks: Dana Gleason and Renee' Sippel-Baker of Kletterwerks (1975), which then became Dana Designs (early '80s), which was the well-known predecessor of the current pack-making company "Mystery Ranch." G

DESCENT MAGAZINE: I think Warren Harding authored the short-lived "Descent" magazine, a notorious foil to the AAC's prestigous "Ascent" magazine, and perhaps also tongue and cheek about the long-lived "Summit" magazine (see "S" listings below). (AAC = American Alpine Club)

Dolt-ironware for climbing: Bill Dolt gear, and the Dolt Hut catalog of 1960.

Donner Mountain Company: Pivetta boots of Italy, such as the Pivetta 7, 8 or Eiger, imported by a Trailwise off-shoot called DMC, Donner Mountain Company

Downhome sleeping bags: tiny little custom companies like Down Home of Arcata, Calif. (later moved to Deadwood, Oregon) (Denice and Chuck Kennedy).

Early Winters: Bill Nicolai's "Early Winters Co." (his tent the "Light Dimension" in 1976 was probably the World's first tent utilizing Goretex, and his 1976 mountain shell parka is reputed by some to be the World's first outdoor product using Goretex). (20th listing)

Feathered Friends of Seattle since 1972, and still a wonderful company. G

Forrest Mountaineering: Bill Forrest, Boulder-area pioneer company

Frostline Kits: Dale Johnson, a long-time partner with Gerry Cunningham who formed his own highly successful kit company Frostline Kits in 1966.

GERRY: Gerry Cunningham of "GERRY" in Colorado (Penny Cunningham, daughter of Gerry, was at the conference but isn't in the picture). G

GoreTex: W.L. Gore and Associates (William "Bill" Gore and his son Bob, who created Goretex circa 1974-76) G.

Granite Stairway Mountaineering: also of Santa Barbara was Granite Stairway Mountaineering, which produced a good-looking clone of the Rivendell Jensen pack originals.

Gregory Packs: Wayne Gregory founder, formerly founder of “Sunbird” in 1970. G

Hilleberg Tents: On the other side of the Atlantic, in Europe, I include Hilleberg Tents of Sweden. (Bo Hilleberg, founder in 1970-73, with first production tent, the Keb, in 1973). This family business has greatly expanded, with son Rolf now running most operations in Europe, while daughter Petra Hilleberg has moved to the Pacific Northwest and is running most US operations. I have met Petra personally. Key innovations have been the connected inner and outer tents, and the use of a new silicone-coated fabric that is six or seven times stronger than most usual tent fabrics (trade name is "Kerlon"). G

Himalayan Industries, of Monterey, CA. on Cannery Row. Packs. It is made of aluminum with cast magnesium lugs glued together.  I believe they were used on a number of ascents on Everest, wrote one correspondent.

Hobie Cat: Noah Lamport of Hobie Cat fame was a major supplier of the ultra-light nylons that began to revolutionize backpacking in late 1950s and early 1960s. I spoke with him shortly before his death. (30th listing)

Holubar Mountaineering, Alice and Roy (LeRoy) Holubar of Colorado (pictured is Jim Kack, who bought Holubar from the founders in the late Sixties and turned it into a huge business success; Linda Holubar, their daughter, helped me write my History of Gear book about Holubar. G

JanSport: JanSport, orginated near Seattle, founders Jan Lewis and Murray Pletz-Murray McCory, who slightly later added in Murray’s cousin Skip Yowell. G

Kelty Packs: Dick Kelty of California, begun in the early 1950s in California. G

Life Link: the Carmans of Life Link in Jackson, Wyoming. G, probably

Marmot Mountain Works: Eric Reynolds and his designer George Hundley of Marmot, originally based in Grand Junction, Colorado. G

Moss Tents: in the Northeast (Maine) since 1975, let's not forget Bill Moss and Moss Tents-- Moss is the artist-engineer-architect guy who invented the first "Pop-up" tent in 1955, but now his firm has moved on to "Tensioned fabric solutions," a new Moss catch-phrase that marked their move out of the retail tent business in the mid-90s. G, but no more backpacking tents

Mountain Master packs: Denali/Mountain Master packs

Mountain Products Corporation (MPC) of Wenatchee, Washington.

Patrick Smith of Mountainsmith packs and sleds, originally in Colorado. G

MSR: Larry Penberthy's Mountain Safety Research (MSR) of Seattle. (40th listing). G

Noall Tents: Steve Noall of Noall Tents of California, begun about 1983.

North Face: Mark Erickson, Head Designer for many years at The North Face in the San Francisco area of California. G

Plain Brown Wrapper Kits

Powerhorn Mountaineering of Jackson, Wyoming, begun by John Horn, who was friends with Bob and George at Sierra Designs in the very early days.

Rivendell: (RMW) One of my own personal favorites among the classic companies was Rivendell of Idaho/Wyoming (Larry Horton and currently Eric Hardee). G, only custom packs

Shelter Works: Bob Gillis of Shelter Works in California. G

Sierra Designs: Bob Swanson and George Marks of Sierra Designs; G

Sierra West of Santa Barbara, CA, which Dick Kelty's son Richard Kelty tells me was co-founded by he and Rick Scott in 1971 (both men also part of "Big Dogs" company);

Snowlion: main founder was Bill Simon, Berkeley, California. Early-on was named "Snowline."

Sling-Light Chairs: by Stephen Wheeler at Freeform R&D, for decades in Newport Beach, Calif. I got mine in 1976 and it’s still going strong.

Summit Magazine: published from 1955 to somewhere around the mid-late 90s. Long-time editor John Harlin, last known address Hood River, Oregon. (50th listing)

Synergy Works: Daniel Sherman's Synergy Works of Oakland,CA, later sold to Ken Koerwitz.

Trailwise/Ski Hut: George Rudolph and designer Allen Steck of Ski Hut/Trailwise in Berkeley, Califorinia; I think defunct since about 1983 or '84.

Warmlite: Jack Stephenson of Warmlite in California/New Hampshire. G

Western Mountaineering: since maybe 1976; don't forget Western Mountaineering, which still makes wonderful “Made in the USA” down bags and other gear out of San Jose, California. G

Wilderness Experience: (WildX) of Chatsworth, Calif., founded in 1973 by the brothers Jim and Greg Thomsen, re: WildX the very good news is that Jim has put together a history website about his company, click to visit his pages.

Yak Works: Yak Works of Seattle (Don Wittenberger, who’s also the current owner of Rivendell). (58 total listings)

Bruce B. Johnson, April 16, 2010