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PGM
Trad climber
BEND
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This is a bit long, but should you decide to read, thank you!
My first venture into Bugaboo was in the early 70’s when they were located on Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey. The founding owners were John Gottlund and I think Larry Ferderber. It was a tiny, narrow shop. Not long after they moved to Central Ave. in PG. If memory serves me, the address was 170 Central The front of the shop was retail and the back is where we had the cutting table, down room and industrial sewing machines.
My sewing days started at the early age of 8 years, so getting a job at Bugaboo when I was 17 was perfect for me since I was into rock climbing and mountaineering. At the time there was one cutter and 2 other seamstresses. One was Georgana Slagel, who went on to open her own shop, Custom Marine Covers, the other I can picture but don’t remember her name. Cutting at that time, was with a single hotknife, one piece at a time insuring that each and every piece of fabric was sealed, using masonite patterns. While John still owned the shop, this became a family affair for my family. My sisters, Jeannie, Henri, cousin Emily and brother Sammy all would work there.
When I started we had a line of 4 down bags, one or two jackets and one down vest. I would travel with John to Bellevue, WA to select the finest goose down available. I remember when we switched from 650 cubic inches to 750 cubic inches. We would go to seminars to hear about the latest demands of mountaineering, in awe of the famous presenters; we would visit Northface when they got their first modern pieces of technology for making patterns and transform cutting into the work of mass production.
This job went hand in hand with what I loved, the outdoors, backpacking, hiking, rock climbing and mountaineering. To stay fit I ran, I danced for flexibility and strength and for the plain love of dancing. At a crossroad to choose between pursuing dance and climbing and climbing won. My biggest passion was bouldering. When not in the Yosemite or somewhere in the Sierra’s or Pinnacles my daily routine was bouldering down the coast or on the PG retaining walls. The moves were etched in my mind. I would go over and over them until they were not only mastered in my mind but also on the stone.
So back to Bugaboo! At the time Yvon Chouinard had The Great Pacific Iron Works, pre Patagonia. I would see him and Royal Robbins often. I still have my original Great Pacific Iron Works t-shirt, not sure what happened to all of my pitons. When Therm-A-Rest known as Cascade Design started, we knew the creators. They came and sold their own product. We started carrying more boots and more gear. One time Ansel Adams came in to buy a pair of after ski boots, we didn’t have his size, so I told him I would order him a pair, “Just give me your name and number” He said, “Ansel Adams”. With pure joy, I grabbed his arm and started jumping up and down. He said, “now, now don’t do that, I get enough of that”. Next thing I knew I had a special invite to his beautiful home down the in the Carmel Highlands. Yosemite and the Range of Light was in production and was due to hit the market in the late 70’s. As soon as I had two copies, one for me and one for Jeannie, I was there in a flash.
John took on custom jobs. We made Sierra Survival Kits for the Naval Air Station - a waterproof bivvy sac, baffled down expedition parka, down footsack and down booties and/or down mittens, of course all made with .5 or .75 ripstop nylon all to be vacuum sealed and placed under their airplane seat, prior to deployment somewhere in the Sierra’s. Wouldn’ that be great to see a reality show back in those days? I once made a full length baffled parka made with a brown lightweight, cordura exterior and a fox tail lined hood for an Elk hunter in Montana, sleeping bags for one of the the Lowe brothers for a Russian expedition. Every item we made was made with care and if it didn’t quite pass our own internal quality control, it became a second! John would be smiling hearing of all this Bugaboo chatter. He was a good guy1
Barry Bates and I created a climbing school through Bugaboo. We advertised at the store and through the Herald. Attracting animal rescue, sheriff’s department and adventure seekers. We had liability waivers drawn up by friend who had put himself through law school as a butler at the White House. We did several weeks of training at down the coast, beginning with an introduction to basic rock climbing, knot tying and a slide show at my house in Skyline Forest, we celebrated at the end of the session with a trip to Tuolumne Meadows. Barry and I also gave slide shows at Bugaboo.
Yep, Rich and Shelley bought Bugaboo from John. Forest and the Barnyard came into existence. From there as mentioned, production methods and locations changed. Later they sold to the Forlizo’s. Tin Can Sports (not sure of the name and I actually later, in a different era worked there selling running shoes.
My exit to the Bugaboo I knew, was in 1980 when I moved to Tahoe to work for Jim Bridwell, Dave Diegelman and AP Marsten as a designer and production manager for outer expedition wear. The business never got off the ground and eventually dissolved but I did make some cool gear. I moved to Maui in ‘85, back to the mainland in 2004 to Bend, Oregon...alive and well, peace to all in nature and love...
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BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
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^^^ say speaking of hawaii, do know Jerry Lopez up there in bend? i had a couple weeks of epic snowboarding with him and his Hawaiian Brudda's back in 92' He's a Dasigner! Amongst other things..;)
AWESOME!!!!
i love how when we start talkin bout a place and time, like santa cruz. The lurking locals start droppin in with golden nuggets...
i thought Paul and Sharma were the only climbers from SC. lol.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Phyllis,
how about the story behind the first ascent of the "Gary and Phyllis Headwall' on Bad Man Mezzanine at the Pinnacles? Was that the name you two gave the route?
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Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
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Phyllis,
Thanks for the tales. Keep them coming.
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PGM
Trad climber
BEND
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Don't know Jerry Lopez personally, but see him around. Our kids went to the same elementary school. He does the Big Wave Challenge every year at Mt. Bachelor. My son is is a Freeskier (pipe and slope) and on the US Rookie team (18 years old). He was born in Maui. Oh gosh, the Pinnacles! Ya that was Headwall, don't remember off the top of my head what we named it. I think it is noted somewhere.
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BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
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^^^Nice 8^D Congrats for rearing a rad kid!
i miss that place. You guys got it ALL goin'on up there!
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Thanks PGM.
There were a lot of cool manufactures then. BMW in Bishop, JRAT, Steve Komito. Good times.
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Weak-link
Boulder climber
Pacific Grove, CA
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Oct 22, 2016 - 07:24pm PT
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Grew up in Pacific Grove in the 90's. I loved that store as a grom. I still have a bonfire brand jacket I bought from there when I must of been 14-15. I remember digging through the topo maps dreaming of adventure. Used to boulder Lovers point almost daily back then. I think it was Jim? that worked at the store? anyone remember the holds under the bridge at del monte mall?
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Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
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Oct 23, 2016 - 08:12am PT
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Hey Weak Link,
I was the first guide at SRG. I taught at CSUMB and guided at the Pinns, J-Tree, Castle Rock and in Big Sur. Did we cross paths?
Brook
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Inventioneer
Boulder climber
Mountain View, CA
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Good to see that Phyllis is alive and well and up in Bend and no longer in the islands. Bend's a cool place, used to spend time there back in the 1990s. Do you know, Phyllis, that the mural on the side of the old Granary building in PG across from the old Bugaboo building is still there? Yep, it's fading but the owners of the building have never painted over it, which is way cool because it's a snapshot of Pagrovia's 1970s era when the town had promise of being a haven for alternative lifestyles. I knew all those Granary ladies personally, even dated a couple of them back in the '70s. One of my Monterey old hippie pals -- John McCleary, author of "The Hippie Dictionary" -- managed to lure all those gals back to PG 6 years ago for a photo of them standing next to their mural images from the '70s. John gave me an 8x10. It's a trip to see them in their late-50s/early-60s standing by their images from 40 years ago. Remember Tillie Gort's, just a few doors down from the Granary? John took all the annual photos of the Tillie's crowd that still hang on the walls there, photos going back to 1971.
I'm currently developing a totally new concept for a quick-insertion/quick-removal pro device NOT based on the cam concept. Simpler, as effective. I haven't climbed since the early-2000s but I still keep an eye on it. Do you still climb, Phyllis?
I live in Mountain View now -- Google's HQ -- because it's the center of the creative universe, but my dad still lives in PG so I go see him weekly.
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Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
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Dec 27, 2016 - 11:24am PT
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My kids ski pants homage
PGM, keep the stories coming. From a kid who moved to PG at 11 in 1980 and to Squaw in 1987, your stories are pure gold. Thanks.
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