North Face Catalog # 1- circa 1968

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Messages 21 - 40 of total 51 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
Peter Haan

Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
Sep 14, 2011 - 01:58pm PT
Thanks Joe. Huge contribution, although I shudder to think how many cervezas had to die to get this think posted. There is always a dreaded cost, isn't there.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Sep 14, 2011 - 02:05pm PT
Dood, I've still got my 1970 NF sleeping bag. Just dry cleaned it, in fact -- still fluffy.
survival

Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
Sep 14, 2011 - 02:07pm PT
Super cool Guido!!

Way to scan bro. It's a lot of work and unfortunately underappreciated around here.

Thanks for posting up a classic.

Now do that a hundred more times and you'll be giving Grossman a run for his money!!
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 14, 2011 - 03:34pm PT
"Art and layout by Jim Berryhill.
All softgoods in the catalog, except those indicated are manufactured exclusively for us to our specification by Sierra Designs, Pt Richmond California."

During the 60s in the Bay Area there was a great deal of sharing in design talent, manufacturing and marketing between the key players of The Ski Hut, North Face and Sierra Design. That was before the competition heated up and things got weird.

Ah, the Golden Era of the Rag Trade. lol

Missing pages:


Ihateplastic

Trad climber
It ain't El Cap, Oregon
Sep 14, 2011 - 05:40pm PT
The NF Ibex... I had one of those for many, many years. Started to smell but always warm.
rockermike

Trad climber
Berkeley
Sep 14, 2011 - 07:54pm PT
speaking of old gear, my mother still has my old North Face Sierra tent. From the early '70s at the latest (goes well with her original issue Kelty pack). 10 guy lines to stake that tent out. Really fun in the wind and snow high on Mt. Hood in the winter (one of my first outings with it) ha Men were men back then. The gear didn't function worth sh#t (compared to new stuff), and weighed a ton. But some people got stuff done in spite.
Jan

Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
Sep 14, 2011 - 08:01pm PT
In 1968 I was in the middle of things at Bezerkley - the known center of the world for that era! Going to school and working and typing up the first draft of a budding scientist's physics dissertation - and peace demonstrating a little on the side.

When I climbed it was in Kronhofers and I still have most of the rest of the stuff in the catalog. Not only has it survived the years but being drug all over Nepal and back. They made stuff to last in those days.

Thanks for all your hard work Guido. I owe you some additional refreshments if we ever end up in the same place again!
local

Social climber
eldorado springs
Sep 14, 2011 - 08:22pm PT
I loved those Le Phoques. Best boots I've ever owned except for a pair of Val D'Ors from about the same time. We carried both brands for a while at the Gerry's store on 17th Street in downtown Denver. Both pair were stolen by a hard luck transient who slept in my basement one night. I've always wondered where they ended up. I suspect she sold them to someone in Boulder the next day on her way out of town.
Griddable

climber
Northern California, living abroad
Sep 14, 2011 - 08:25pm PT
What a beaut! The hand-drawn lines and headers give the whole thing a very crafted feel, along with those great watercolors. Not many companies put this kind of effort into their catalogs anymore. Was this originally in black and white? Would have loved to see the original colors of those drawings.

Man, those Summit shoes look like some serious wingtips for the up and coming white collar climber. From the boardroom straight to the mountaintops!

I wasn't even a blip on the radar in 1968, but thanks for sharing this little piece of climbing history with us young'uns.
Fritz

Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
Sep 14, 2011 - 08:38pm PT
This thread needs to stay on page 1 for a while.

North Face Elephant's Foot? I have one from about 1973.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Sep 14, 2011 - 08:56pm PT
Those NF triangular day packs, they must have been among the first. Holubar made one kind of like it but that was a knockoff with leather straps.
Darwin

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Sep 15, 2011 - 12:14am PT

OMG!

What a blast from the past, especially the boots. I could have sworn that they started in Berkeley, but I guess not (even according to Wiki). Now where is the first Sierra Designs catalog?
go-B

climber
Sozo
Sep 15, 2011 - 12:56am PT
Wow, I want the down beenie!
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Dec 24, 2011 - 01:13pm PT
Holiday Guido Bump!
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Dec 24, 2011 - 04:31pm PT
Thanks for the post Guido:

Those 'Cortina' boots look like a fore runner to the RR blue suedes.
I wonder if they were made by Galibier?

~~~~~~~~~

What ever happened to the 'Cagoule'?
I had a Patagonia FoamBack cagoule I loved for ice climbing.
It didn't breath at all so I never wore it on approach only once on a climb.
I would roll it all up like a pullover while climbing, then unroll it and camp out under my foam circus tent at belays.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Jan 26, 2012 - 09:13pm PT
Bump for the unmistakable smell of Funky Foamback!

It really should be a Patagonia Fragrance! Along with Teton Troutslime and Flaming Forge! LOL
S.Leeper

Social climber
somewhere that doesnt have anything over 90'
Jan 26, 2012 - 09:14pm PT
back in a simpler time
johntp

Trad climber
socal
Jan 26, 2012 - 09:33pm PT
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Seems like it was only yesterday I was a nine year old kid ogling that catalog.
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
Jan 26, 2012 - 10:20pm PT
Now, could someone please scan the Stephenson catalog? One of the spicier years?
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jan 26, 2012 - 11:03pm PT
The Terray's were the best all round boots I ever owned. Resoled about 8-10 times then converted into three pin ski boots for a season or two.

Still have and use a Simond Super D axe.
Messages 21 - 40 of total 51 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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