It can be rough out there. Cold, hail, rain, gale – the weather is as unforgiving as it is unpredictable.
The extremes of which are often deadly and debilitating and never to be taken lightly. It’s human nature, however, to play with fire and, with three other elements up for grabs; the outside world makes for a veritable theme park for those who dare to venture into it.
Only the foolish brave the meteorological merry-go-round ill-equipped and the wise and prosperous adventurer will always choose the best – the best being, of course, The North Face. For nigh on 50 years now, The North Face has been the world leader in outdoor equipment, apparel and footwear. Their crown is undisputed to the point of being default and their attire is basically uniform in all walks of life requiring resistance to cold, wind and rain.
The design of their jackets is so impeccable, so impeachable that their influence bleeds into the fashion world. Film crews, mountaineers and tastemakers alike will all attest to quality of The North Face’s jackets and their other pieces meet the bar with aplomb.
In 2014, The North Face announced the unveiling of a new take on its iconic Summit Series collection which, after a year-long hiatus, came back for sale October 15, reimagined with cutting edge innovation and purposeful design.
“We built this for ourselves, and our athletes, and were inspired by the creative path. We challenged ourselves, at every fork in the road, to take the path least travelled and in the end, this product is where we ended up, and we feel that we made a very compelling collection of products.”
Joe Vernachio, Vice President, Global Product, The North face
Launched in the Autumn of 2000, Summit Series has always been a collection of styles that represent the pinnacle of The North Face products. With new technologies and innovations developed by The North Face in the last few years the company saw an opportunity to revitalize the Summit Series collection by infusing it with cutting edge technologies. The collection, built by and for the core mountaineering and climbing community, will be available in limited quantity and for a brief amount of time.
In a world where inferior equipment can make for an icy grave, wearing the right gear is vital. When stepping out into the cold, you’re thrust into an arena – one that can throw all manner of obstacles at you. In such extremes, your clothing needs to meet each strike, blow for blow. It needs to be intelligent and The North Face now has the technology to make these seemingly sci-fi ideas a reality. Each piece sounds like it’s been cooked up in a lunar laboratory and to think so wouldn’t land you so far from the truth.
Take the Summit L5 Shell and Shell Pants, for example. It is the most advanced shell outerwear The North Face has ever built, utilising a waterproof, breathable DryVent™ 3L membrane. The shell and pant have localised FuseForm™ construction for targeted durability with minimal seams and were designed with articulated, one-piece construction for alpine mobility.
Their warmest synthetic mid-layer, the Summit L4 Jacket, is insulated with ThermoBall™, a synthetic, proprietary The North Face insulation that retains warmth when wet. The jacket’s minimal, unibody construction reduces seams and its quilt design prevents insulation migration and cold spots.
The collection was always created with the harshest of conditions in mind and has now been modernised to incorporate the most advanced technology available today. There are no shortcuts or compromises when scaling mountains or venturing into the tundra, neither should there be when choosing your equipment. It can be rough out there; don’t forget your North Face.
