Everest has long been the world’s biggest marketing tool. From cereal giant Post, which still proudly claims that fueled Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay鈥檚 first ascent of the mountain, to Kobold’s controversial wristwatch that contains actual pieces of rock taken from near Everest’s summit, companies can鈥檛 resist the allure to聽align their brands with the Himalayan giant.
Now comes a company called, which is marketing onto which it鈥檚 stitched a diagonal swatch of a red Eddie Bauer First Ascent down suit that’s been worn to the mountain’s summit. “I wanted to create something that only a few people could have and even less could afford,” wrote the company’s founder, Micah Dyer, in a press release.
Alpinists and Everestphiles will recognize that the smiling mountaineer pictured on Young & Brash鈥檚 site is David Morton, a highly respected mountain guide and photographer who has reached the summit of Everest six times. Morton gave Young & Brash one of his old suits in exchange for a $1,000 donation to the , the organization he and and fellow alpinist Melissa Arnot founded a few years ago to to provide support to individuals and families left behind after mountaineering accidents on Everest. That鈥檚 the extent of Morton鈥檚 involvement with the company, although Dyer did inform us that, after further discussions with Morton, he鈥檚 decided to donate a percentage of the tie proceeds to the Juniper Fund.
That鈥檚 unquestionably a good call, but we鈥檙e not sure it鈥檚 enough to make us want to buy one. But, hey, if you want to pay $400 for a tie, go for it.
$400,