Early Winters, Ltd. of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, United States was founded in 1972 by William S. Nicolai, who formed the company after creating a tent called the Omnipotent. Early Winters was the first company to create and sell a consumer product made with

Gore-Tex Gore-Tex is a waterproof, breathable fabric membrane and registered trademark of W. L. Gore & Associates. Invented in 1969, Gore-Tex can repel liquid water while allowing water vapor to pass through and is designed to be a lightweight, waterpr ...

laminates produced by W. L. Gore & Associates in

Elkton, Maryland Elkton is a town in and the county seat of Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,443 at the 2010 census. It was formerly called Head of Elk because it sits at the head of navigation on the Elk River, which flows into the n ...

. The first product made with Gore-Tex fabric debuted in 1976 and was a streamlined, two-person tent called The Light Dimension. The tent was created by Nicolai and William H. Edwards and was marketed by Ron Zimmerman. In 1975, Gore salesman Joe Tanner introduced Early Winters to the fabric product, which at that time was still without a name. Over a two-year period, Tanner had made numerous sales calls and had been turned down by companies such as REI,

Eddie Bauer Eddie Bauer, LLC is an American clothing store chain headquartered in Seattle, Seattle, Washington. Eddie Bauer sells its merchandise via retail stores, outlet stores, and online and via phone, with a call center in Groveport, Ohio. Its flagship ...

, and

The North Face The North Face is an American outdoor recreation products company. The North Face produces outdoor clothing, footwear, and related equipment. Founded in 1968 to supply climbers, the company's logo draws inspiration from Half Dome, in Yosemite ...

. Early Winters was the first company to realize the significance of Gore-Tex fabrics for outdoor applications. In fact, the timing of Tanner's visit was fortuitous since Early Winters had a lightweight, single-walled tent design for which they were seeking a waterproof and breathable fabric solution. When Tanner showed Early Winters the product sample, the Early Winters staff tried it out by using a rubber band to secure a sample of the fabric over a coffee cup filled with boiling water. This allowed visible steam to pass through the Gore-Tex fabric, but when the cup was turned over, no liquid was claimed to come through. This consumer demonstration became known at W.L. Gore & Associates as the "Z Square" test, named after Zimmerman. This "coffee cup" demonstration has become well known in the outdoor industry because it is an effective way to convey the concept of fabric that is waterproof, yet breathable. After learning about the product, Nicolai, Edwards, and Zimmerman requested sample material for experimentation, and in Winter 1975, they produced a prototype tent that they subjected to testing in extreme outdoor conditions. After success with the prototype tent, Early Winters became the first commercial company to place an order for Gore-Tex fabric. Early Winters introduced The Light Dimension tent in May 1976. This tent, along with other items made with GORE-TEX fabric, debuted in the first official Early Winters catalogue.Early Winters, Ltd., 1976; Woodward 2008 Early Winters approached $20 million (USD) in annual sales, mostly through catalogs, before being sold to the

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company in 1984. It was later purchased by the Norm Thompson group in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. In 2004, Norm Thompson renamed the company Sahalie who still sells Early Winters branded clothing.

Footnotes

External links

www.gore-tex.comSahaliePicture of Early Winters spire in the North Cascades of WashingtonThe Most Influential Gear of All Time, Outside Magazine, May 2012
{{Climbing navbox Camping equipment manufacturers Companies based in Seattle Sporting goods retailers