About Us
In 1984 a small group of climbers from the world's flattest continent pulled off an audacious ascent of Mount Everest - they put a new route up the north face in lightweight style with no oxygen or Sherpa support. Six years later, one of the summiteers, Tim Macartney-Snape decided to return to Everest after he realized neither he nor any other person who had climbed the mountain had truly climbed the entire 8,848 meters, as that would have meant starting from sea level. That is, no one had yet climbed it from "sea to summit".
Tim Macartney
In the spring of 1990 Tim had a swim in the tepid waters of India's Bay of Bengal then set off on foot across the Gangetic plain toward the distant Himalayan foothills. Four months later, after climbing alone from Base Camp and without the assistance of oxygen, he set foot once again on the highest point on earth. Tim's solo ascent of Mt. Everest was named the "Sea to Summit" expedition.
Back in Australia, Tim joined forces with climbing friend, sewing enthusiast and design guru Roland Tyson to build a business that could make use of their knowledge of the outdoors to create truly ingenious, well-made but affordable outdoor equipment. They named their company Sea to Summit after Tim's expedition and the business prospered. Today the Sea to Summit brand continues to provide innovative gear and serves a growing band of outdoor enthusiasts all over the world.
The Headquarters
Our headquarters are in the most isolated capital in the world, Perth, Western Australia, a state that is more than three times the size of Texas or more than half the size of Western Europe.
The Philosophy
To equip and inspire
Our goal is to create such cool and useful gear that it motivates and inspires people to travel and lead an active, outdoor lifestyle. Every piece of gear is made to make you want to take it outside or travel with it, to make your trip lighter, to be more organized, more comfortable, more carefree so that no matter what the conditions, you can revel in being out there experiencing our wonderful planet.
Design and tech
As from day one, Roland still heads our design department. He has since been joined by designers from around the world with various backgrounds and skills, but who share a common love of outdoor adventure.
The design team work hard to create innovative, effective and relevant products for all manner of outdoor activities. We draw on our individual and shared knowledge and experience from more than a cumulative century of climbing, skiing, walking, and more, to know what athletes need and want, what will and won’t work in the field.
We work with a wide mix of techniques and technology, from pencil sketches, computer modelling, rapid prototyping, test rigs and getting out in the field. We work very closely with manufacturers and mills to create the fabrics and materials we need to make some of the best gear in the world. A product could go through many cycles of revision, scrutinizing individual details, scrutinizing it as a whole, and as a product range, until we’re content to unleash it on the world.