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.
Company history
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. 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. 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