Sport Chalet Mountaineering For '64 Catalog Vintage Gear

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Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 29, 2011 - 07:14pm PT
I just got this Sport Chalet catalog from 1964 and it provides a really interesting look into equipment available right about when rock climbing and moutaineering began to become popular.




Does anyone out there have one of the Longware Swivel Pulleys for show and tell?

This stainless steel ring angle turns out to have been made by none other than Douglas J. Black as described above. Eiger sold these also.


The entire range of Longware T-Pins!






Can't beat the selection of Bota bags!






Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 29, 2011 - 07:44pm PT
Did Norbert start this enterprise?
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 29, 2011 - 08:05pm PT
Very cool!

I would love to see a shot of that indoor ski ramp!

Thanks for posting that background material.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jun 29, 2011 - 08:09pm PT
So it occurred to me the other day that at this time the gear available to
climbers was little evolved beyond that which Mummery had yet we had 2000 mph
airplanes and would soon put a man on the moon. Wazzup with climbers?
Gene

climber
Jun 29, 2011 - 08:09pm PT
Thanks for the trip down {failing} memory lane. Three years after this catalog was released, I spent most of my summer earnings at Sports Chalet on a Kelty pack, Bluet stove, down bag, down jacket and 120 feet of goldline. A week later I took the first four items on my first two week walk in the Sierra. Little did I know that those purchases would start a life long gear addiction.

I still have the down jacket.

g
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 29, 2011 - 08:14pm PT
Did the logo on your down jacket look like the catalog logo?
Gene

climber
Jun 29, 2011 - 08:23pm PT
Steve,

The jacket was manufactured in Switzerland. The company logo appears to be EGGE, but it’s faded. The ‘modele’ is G. Rebuffat. I’ll put up a picture when I find my camera.

g

EDIT: Found my camera. The logo on the hood is very clear.
Mighty Hiker

climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Jun 29, 2011 - 08:35pm PT
A nice find, which reminds me of some old catalogues my father has around somewhere.

La Cañada - origin? And what about Ontario? Seems odd that there would be a Canada and an Ontario in the Los Angeles conurbation, even given the number of Canadians in the area.
jogill

climber
Colorado
Jun 29, 2011 - 08:55pm PT
Looks like state of the art to me!
Fritz

Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
Jun 29, 2011 - 09:17pm PT
Camp 7 was started in Colorado by George Lamb in the early 70's. My outdoor shop mentor Bruce Franks was their first sales representative and went to work for them in early 1974, covering the whole western USA.

Great company. Here's a link to some more history, including Sport Chalet acquiring them in the late 1970's.
http://www.oregonphotos.com/Alp-Sport1.html

Makes sense.

At that point the "look like a climber and wear down parkas" boom in college towns was over, and I heard George Lamb got bored with the details of running a factory in Longmount CO.

He did not make the cost-cutting transition to manufacturing in Asia that other outdoor clothing companies achieved in the late 70's, early 80's.
fosburg

climber
Jun 29, 2011 - 10:50pm PT
Classic! I like the Leeper "N" pitons.
frog-e

Trad climber
Imperial Beach California
Jun 29, 2011 - 11:09pm PT
Really cool Steve.
EdBannister

Mountain climber
13,000 feet
Jun 29, 2011 - 11:11pm PT
Ok Ok....

Camp 7 was started in Colorado about 1971 by George Lamb.
The Camp 7 rep for socal was Dale Raddatz
The North Col as produced in 1988 or so was one of the best bags of the time and perhaps ever. Every baffle was from a different pattern, and each was cut in a C shape to maximize loft and efficiency.. but alas, like othe rcompanies run by george, at some point it went belly up. Norbert bought the remaining inventory, and along with it got the logo and the precious patterns to the north col and Camp 7 camp7 bags.

Rick Carlson had charge of the now in house brand at the LaCanada office, threw away the patterns, not long after the rest went away, and Chalet deemed private label a bad idea. I was not there anymore...

LOWA,
the Deutsche Bergstiefel Manufacturer, german mountain boot manufacturer, was not founded, or ever owned by Norbert or Chalet, but .. Norbert had exclusive US wholesale distribution for Lowa Boots through the late 80s.
At which time the swith was made to hanwag and other manufacturers when Norbert opened his own import biz in Order to hire Mike Sturm, who had severed with Liberty Moutain Sports. That was the start of Pacific Mountain Sports, i wrote many boot orders for Mike. With his passing, Norbert sold PMS back to Liberty, then owned by Oli Steinhauser,
for whom Norbert suggested I work developing new product... but that is another story.

Norbert was honest, always fair to me, and among if not the best employer i have ever had.
the catalog, showed a lot of gear as imported by Mike Sturm at Liberty and purchased by Norbert.
Norbert was also a climber though we would call his exploits limited.

what I remember about him, is he cared, and worked effectively and very hard, and though most assumed him to be rich, he was never proud, most of the time he drove his wife's old car, a off white vw bug.

Mungeclimber

Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
Jun 30, 2011 - 01:36am PT
wow! real climbing gear. everything they sold in the 80s onward was chuff gear, never anything worthwhile.

cool to know.


my first and second (out of 3 total) competitions I participated in was at Sport Chalet. Watched a bunch of the best of so cal climbers kick ass on that shorty entre prises wall in the parking lot.
Barbarian

Trad climber
The great white north, eh?
Jun 30, 2011 - 01:45am PT
My first boots were a pair of Lowa Matterhorns. Solid as a rock and just as heavy.
frog-e

Trad climber
Imperial Beach California
Jun 30, 2011 - 10:57am PT
RE: posted by Ed Bannister

"Ok Ok....

Camp 7 was started in Colorado about 1971 by George Lamb.
The Camp 7 rep for socal was Dale Raddatz
The North Col as produced in 1988 or so was one of the best bags of the time and perhaps ever. Every baffle was from a different pattern, and each was cut in a C shape to maximize loft and efficiency.. but alas, like othe rcompanies run by george, at some point it went belly up. Norbert bought the remaining inventory, and along with it got the logo and the precious patterns to the north col and Camp 7 camp7 bags."

ED, I had a North Col. Mine was rated at 5 degrees (a 5 degree bag) but seemed more compact than that; it was purple. Spent the night out, in the open on the summit of San Jacinto in December...clouds whipping over - pretty chilly the thing was the bomb!

I bought my Camp7 North Col at Stanley Andrews main downtown store in San Diego, up in the loft where their original (and awesome) Mountain shop was...

1975, pretty sure.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 30, 2011 - 08:31pm PT
Baffle Bump...
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 2, 2011 - 11:35am PT
Nor-Bump!
Disaster Master

Social climber
Born in So-Cal, left my soul in far Nor-Cal.
Jul 2, 2011 - 12:39pm PT

Steve Grossman


Trad climber

Seattle, WA






Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 29, 2011 - 04:14pm PT

I just got this Sport Chalet catalog from 1964

WOW! I've heard of Snail Mail, but 48 years in transit?
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 2, 2011 - 12:49pm PT
Guaranteed delivery this century!!!
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