Marmot

One of the world's most highly respected adventure gear companies, Marmot started in 1971 when two students from the University of California Santa Cruz, in Alaska's Juneau Icefield for a Glaciology project, came up with the idea of a Marmot club.

The name Marmot refers to a group of squirrels that live in mountainous areas. These squirrels were very social, hence to become a part of the Marmot club, you must climb a glaciated peak with another Marmot. There were few rules to the club, one of them being that everyone was President, and the rest apparently revolved around certain bodily functions.

Over the next two years, the founders of this club, from their dorm room, began making their own down products, starting with a vest, parka, sweater and three down sleeping bags. It was in spring of 1974 when Marmot the company was born when the club founders rented a retail and rental premise and soon after had a large order of jackets to be used int he 20th Century Fox film called The Eiger Sanction with Clint Eastwood.

The next big event in the Marmot story is their association with W.L. Gore & Associates in 1976 when they tested and liked the performance and use of Gore-Tex fabrics in their sleeping bags. They immediately switched production to use Gore-Tex products for everything in their product line. Today, Marmot remains the oldest customer of W.L. Gore & Associates.

The brand has since expanded significantly from their small beginnings to include a huge range of tents, apparel, sleeping bags and accessories and are committed to designing and producing the highest quality adventure products.