Behind the seams with local outdoor gear and apparel company, Outdoor Research

Who looks outside on a rainy day and sees ideal weather? One group is WTA trail crews working on preventing erosion. Another? The gear and apparel designers and testers at Outdoor Research.  

This fall and winter, when you pass a hiker, trail runner or snowshoer, there’s a chance you’ll be sharing the trail with one of the people designing or testing gear for iconic Seattle-based outdoor gear and apparel company, Outdoor Research (OR). 

When testing apparel, the worst weather is more than welcome and a dog walk in the rain is really just part of a 10-person, 2 month fabric gear test. Photo courtesy Outdoor Research. 

“We know if our gear can withstand fickle Northwest weather and terrain, it’ll do the job just about anywhere,” said Dan Mayers, OR’s Brand Communications Manager, when we recently sat down to chat with the folks at Outdoor Research. The company has been a longtime supporter of Washington outdoor nonprofits and advocacy organizations, including Washington Trails Association, and we got curious about how being local might influence the people behind the storefront. 

A gaiter gear failure and the OR origin story 

In 1980, Outdoor Research founder Ron Gregg, a nuclear physicist by profession with a deep passion for the outdoors, watched his frostbitten partner get airlifted off a glacier during a summit attempt on Denali. 

“He'd spent months planning a new route in the purest style, skiing 100 miles from the road to the base of the climb,” said Dan. “Halfway to the summit, their trip ended because of the failure of a pair of gaiters. Stubborn to the end, Ron refused a seat on the helicopter and descended alone for two weeks back to his car, pondering what had happened. Somewhere along the way, he realized he could fix the gear problem. By the end, he knew one thing: He wasn't returning to his old job.” 

Back in Seattle, Ron created the X-Gaiter™, a functional, insulated gaiter, and a year later, he founded Outdoor Research. 

An early catalogue showing off the origin story. Photo courtesy Outdoor Research.

In the decades since, the clothing and gear Outdoor Research has created is as closely tied with the Pacific Northwest mountains, rivers and seas as that original gaiter was to the slopes of Denali. Anyone with a keen eye can spot local peaks or trails in the company’s marketing materials, but what’s harder to see is the work of the designers and testers out on trails seeking ways to solve problems and prevent gear failures.

Can you name the peaks in the photos of Outdoor Research materials, like this shot of Outdoor Research ambassador Max Djenohan climbing on Shuksan. Photo courtesy Outdoor Research.

From problem to lab to field testing prototypes 

It turns out, someone does read the comments, at least at Outdoor Research. 

Some of the designer team at Outdoor Research. Photo courtesy Outdoor Research

“We start each design cycle by addressing a need or problem people experience while on the trail. We get this info from focus groups, gear reviews on our site, comments on social media, and our employees and athlete team,” said Dan. “The real fun begins once we've figured out the direction to take a new product and our design team puts pen to paper.”

The designers create prototypes and send them into the field. And the Northwest is an ideal testing ground: having trailheads that access snow and glaciers, high desert, big wild rivers and oceans means that the designers can pressure test their prototypes in rugged conditions and get immediate feedback more quickly than they could if they were based elsewhere. 

From sketch to sewing machine to the side of a mountain, gear designers rely on months of real-world testing and feedback from people like mountain guide Emily Drinkwater to fine tune a design like the Helium Rain jacket. In the dry Seattle summer, sometimes they need to improvise. Photos courtesy of Outdoor Research. 

“We can anticipate how a specific fabric, zipper, or technology will perform based on previous lab and field tests — those things are pretty predictable. What we usually uncover in these tests is identifying use-case-specific adjustments — move this zipper just a bit to the right or add durability to this wear-prone zone here, or this seam feels a little funky here — to create gear that separates us from our competitors.”

Sharing a love for the Washington’s outdoors 

It’s no surprise that staff, designers and athletes, like the rest of the WTA community, are passionate about public lands, and not just in service of their jobs. They are people who value spending time outside and they don’t take trails for granted. 

“WTA's values parallel OR’s,” said Dan, explaining why they support WTA as well as many of our partners, like Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, Northwest Avalanche Center, local chapters of Access Fund and Big City Mountaineers. “Access and opportunity are two of the most significant barriers to overcome to grow the hiking community. The healing power of the outdoors is well documented — who doesn't feel better after getting out on the trail and hiking to a lake, summit, waterfall, or along the river for a few hours? Washington is full of amazing landscapes that are best experienced by foot, and we're incredibly proud to support a Northwest organization dedicated to providing sustainable access to showcase these magical spaces.” 

The staff are even more than happy to pick up shovels and help build and repair trails. Besides giving back to the places they love, it's an extra opportunity to put their apparel through the paces.

Staff from Outdoor Research spent a day working on the new Frog Mountain trail in the Wild Sky Wilderness. Photo by Joshua Orendorf. 

Washington Trails Association is proud to partner with companies, like Outdoor Research, that share our commitment to protecting trails and getting people outdoors. If your company or employees are interested in supporting our work, get in touch.