You are in:
Haglöfs extends its circle of friends
The importance that Haglöfs places on product development is second to none, and a clear example of this is their pan European team of 'friends', an informal yet highly qualified test team of extreme climbers, certified mountain guides, multi-sporters, elite athletes etc who all get to test out the product in the toughest conditions possible.
When the 'friends' are satisfied with a product, it's likely that the consumer will be too.
For 2008, joining the likes of Ola Skinnarmo, Alain Hubert and Claes Grundsten will be the following team of Haglöfs UK Friends:
Duncan McCallum - television presenter and journalist, covering events such as BBC Live Climbs, Ice World Cup, Tiree World Windsurfing Cup, World Champs MTB.
Duncan is a committed adventure sport exponent and an ex-competition rock climber, having made many notable first ascents in the late 80's and early 90's.
Duncan became known as a leading extreme cameraman shooting commercials, dramas and features world over, including the BBC's groundbreaking climbing series The Face and The Edge. This culminated in the extraordinary C4 TV documentary The Abyss that followed an expedition that completed the first (and only to date) descent of Low's Gully of Borneo's Mt Kinabalu in 1998.
Duncan also fronted the ambitious plan to develop a National Rock Climbing Centre for Scotland, and he single-handedly raised over £2.2 million pounds for the project.
Berwyn Evans - mountain guide and instructor.
Berwyn has been climbing and mountaineering for over 30 years and during this time has climbed grade VI ice and E5 6b on rock. He has been based in Snowdonia since 1983 and has worked as an outdoor pursuits instructor in centres such as Plas y Brenin (the National Mountain Centre). Much of this work was guiding and instructing in and around the spectacular Snowdonia National Park as well as training and assessing instructors of the future.
He qualified as a Mountain Instructor (MIC) in 1988 and as an International Mountain Leader in 1994; is a member of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors (MIA) and British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML). He also works as a part time inspector for the Adventure Activities Licensing Service.
www.berwynevans.co.uk
Bruce Goodlad - mountain guide and writer.
Bruce runs The Mountain Adventure Company based in Chamonix, a small mountain guide company offering a wide range of ski and mountaineering experiences. He has been climbing and mountaineering since leaving school and has worked full time in the mountains since 1995. Bruce has instructed and guided all over the UK, Europe, Russia, Nepal and Antarctica. His love for the mountains and mountain adventures embraces all aspects of mountaineering. In addition, he is a regular contributor to Climber magazine.
www.mountainadventurecompany.com G2 - outdoor activity company.
Collectively known as G2 are Nick Etheridge and Mike Gale, both fully qualified and highly skilled instructors who offer courses/activity breaks on a whole range of outdoor activities including: alpine skiing, telemark skiing, winter walking, hill walking, rock climbing, mountain biking, canoeing/kayaking and snow and ice climbing.
Based in Aviemore, Scotland, G2 has now developed to offer the full range of activities for people of all ages and all levels of experience, including an alpine ski school
www.g2outdoor.co.uk Kim George - specialist in telemark ski coaching.
Kim is an International Ski Instructor in both telemark and alpine skiing, offering courses in the Alps. In the Summer months he is director of Frontiers, an education program in wilderness and woodland survival. Kim has over 30 years of continuous professional experience of working outdoors.
Kim is also an avid mountain biker, working in Italy as a Maestro MTB designing and leading extreme MTB routes.
www.ski4real.com
www.frontiers.uk.net
James Thacker - mountaineering and climbing instructor.
Based in the Peak District, James offers courses on all aspects of mountaineering and climbing through his company James Thacker Mountaineering. James has been an active climber for over 15 years, many of his first climbing experiences being on the 'Gritstone' edges of the Peak District. James climbs frequently throughout the UK, and more recently in arctic Greenland, the European Alps, the Hebrides and Outer Isles. James holds the Mountain Instructor Certificate (MIC) and for the past 10 years has been an active member of Edale Mountain Rescue Team.
With such a formidable pool of experience to draw upon, Haglöfs will gain valuable feedback and maintain its position at the leading edge of product development - and consumer satisfaction!
