Delving Into Patagonia's Secret Gear Archive
Stories told through garments.
For adventurers and lovers of the great outdoors, there is a special relationship between them and the gear that keeps them safe. These garments are built to last, and over time they accumulate many marks that tell the tales of the wearer. For Patagonia, this has allowed the label to become the heritage brand it is now. Recently released is a look into the secret archive of the label, which gives us a nice look into the climbing gear used in the spring of 1979. Below is a story about a hand-embroidered dragon as told by John Wasson, the husband of Patagonia designer, Jocelyn Slack.
“In the spring of 1979, I was one of three kayakers on an American Sportsman trip in Nepal,” writes Wasson. “Two films would show a group of climbers making the second ascent of Ama Dablam, and then kayakers running the Arun River in western Nepal. The kayakers were invited to come to base camp and perhaps carry some loads higher up on the mountain. The day before we flew to Lukla, I got a guy in a small, dark shop in Kathmandu to put the dragon onto my pile. He literally ‘painted’ it freehand with an embroidery machine, changing thread colors in seconds.
“I chugged my way up and down the mountain mostly alone. The tricky parts all had fixed ropes. There was talk of a second summit team, but at the end there were only Doug Robinson and me interested in going higher. We met up at the highest camp and had an almost perfect summit day followed by a slow, headlamp-lit descent back to the tent. Naturally the Dragon Pile was along for the ride. Paddling the Arun was also great, but that’s another story.”
Head over to Outdoorsonline to see the full gallery.
