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Nothing says, Skip Yowell, like the great outdoors. Skip along with two other colleagues founded JanSport in 1967, while in search of the perfect hiking pack. What began as a passion for climbing and hiking turned into the #1 selling day pack in the world. But Skip’s innovative ideas did not end there; he is also credited with creating the first dome tent, waist-suspension flexible frame pack, travel pack and the panel-load daypack. Today Skip holds the title of Vice President of Global Public Relations at JanSport and consults with JanSport international businesses in Europe, Asia and South America. Skip travels the world giving presentations and slide shows on the history of JanSport which include expeditions and adventure travel to Tibet Everest, Kangchenjunga, Kilimanjaro and many other destinations around the globe. Skip Yowell here, JanSport Co-founder. We’re all really excited to be launching this outdoor blog. The Brand was originally founded because my cousin Murray and I didn’t want to have to trade our outdoor haven for the usual 9-5 job so you can imagine my enthusiasm, nearly 43 years later, as JanSport continues its journey in the outdoors. I am also happy to say I’m still with the company and even more excited to share our passion for the outdoors with other enthusiasts.
To give you a sense of really how JanSport’s outdoor adventure began, it would be best to start at the beginning. The year was 1967 in Washington state. My cousin Murray and I had just graduated college and as I said earlier, we wanted to do anything but get real jobs. We both had a real passion for the outdoors; hiking, climbing, backcountry skiing, you name it. For both of us this passion started when we were kids and so we thought if we could build a business that fit our lifestyle, it would be a win, win.
After high school, Murray went on to major in Industrial Design at the University of Washington. One of his projects was to make something unique out of aluminum. Drawing upon his years of experience and his knowledge of hiking, Murray invented an adjustable aluminum frame for backpacking, one that allowed individual precision fitting and ended up winning him the award for best use of aluminum from the Alcoa Company. That was the moment it dawned on us: why not start a business making climbing and backpacking packs. But we needed a third person who was great at patternmaking so Murray asked his girlfriend Jan to create a backpack pattern for his new aluminum frame and promised her that if it was a success, he’d name the company after her. It was, he did, and so the JanSport brand was born.
To read more about JanSport’s beginnings you can check out my book here.
