Garuda - Photos of venturing into the real world '93-97
Until more photos may be scanned & posted, thanks for your interest.
'93 to '96 were heady days - hewed a path, changed our world, enjoyed nice success with good people.
Pursuing the dream continued .... (regrettably, many photos made the trip to K2, considered "promotional materials"
as property of the sale, so I no longer have access to many of the slides provided by expeditions and travellers - sorry!)
'93 to '96 were heady days - hewed a path, changed our world, enjoyed nice success with good people.
Pursuing the dream continued .... (regrettably, many photos made the trip to K2, considered "promotional materials"
as property of the sale, so I no longer have access to many of the slides provided by expeditions and travellers - sorry!)
| Circa June 1994: Garuda's office and shop on Cloverdale St., 18 months in. |
| Outdoor Retailer Expo Conventions August '94 January '95 August '96 Next to Cascade Designs Winter Show Dana Design / Garuda Inc The Garuda team (below) in mid-'96! |
What happened in the later days...
Having founded Garuda to specialize in the original design and manufacture of state-of-the-art mountaineering and
backpacking tents, we built Garuda into the recognized quality and innovation standard in the industry - each major
outdoor company began developing or expanding their competing lines and materials.
I industriously created and grew every aspect of trend-setting Garuda by learning through hands-on, find-a-solution-
to-every-problem self-training:
Our distribution network grew to include at least one dealer in nearly every state, Canada, Japan, and entry into
Europe.
By the Spring of 1995, this led to a number of intriguing and immensely flattering conversations with Marmot,
Moonstone, Cascade Design, Quest, North Face, and other players in the outdoor industry. Again, an old dream
came to be an unexpected reality. The honor and privilege to be engaged by that stratosphere of folks was
unbelievable. I certainly wish I had been a better conversationalist at the time.
Following the sale of Garuda Mountaineering to the publicly held multinational corporation K2, Inc., the company
was re-named Garuda, Inc. and joined K2 sister companies Dana Design and Wilderness Experience, among
several others. I was retained as a Vice President to integrate the two organizations and initiate business and
product development; to train the K2 subsidiary management and production teams in all phases of the Garuda
business to ensure a comprehensive structure for continued development. Well, it all sounded so good....
As too many before me, selling my hand-built company was my most poorly executed phase of years of work. I've no
one but myself to shoulder the responsibility for the demise of Garuda tents. Not two years after I resigned,
Garuda's work was gone. Wilderness Experience preceded it, just barely. Only a few years later so was Dana
Design. And another few years saw it all pass under the Marmot umbrella when K2 purchased it.
So, what happened in the early days...
Starting off too ignorant to know better, and begun from absolutely nothing but an interest and the means:
Having founded Garuda to specialize in the original design and manufacture of state-of-the-art mountaineering and
backpacking tents, we built Garuda into the recognized quality and innovation standard in the industry - each major
outdoor company began developing or expanding their competing lines and materials.
I industriously created and grew every aspect of trend-setting Garuda by learning through hands-on, find-a-solution-
to-every-problem self-training:
- Doubled sales each year - 1996 Wholesale Oder Form
- Hired and trained all production staff to meet expanding demand
- Computerized all administration, production, sales and accounting functions
- Created and implemented marketing and sales programs
- Actively marketed line at national trade shows
- Hired independent sales representatives carrying complimentary product lines
- Generated, negotiated and managed all sale contracts
- Authored all text copy and created the technical graphics for product catalog and merchandising
- Retained and liaisoned with graphics and marketing firms to design and generate magazine advertising and
marketing materials
Our distribution network grew to include at least one dealer in nearly every state, Canada, Japan, and entry into
Europe.
By the Spring of 1995, this led to a number of intriguing and immensely flattering conversations with Marmot,
Moonstone, Cascade Design, Quest, North Face, and other players in the outdoor industry. Again, an old dream
came to be an unexpected reality. The honor and privilege to be engaged by that stratosphere of folks was
unbelievable. I certainly wish I had been a better conversationalist at the time.
Following the sale of Garuda Mountaineering to the publicly held multinational corporation K2, Inc., the company
was re-named Garuda, Inc. and joined K2 sister companies Dana Design and Wilderness Experience, among
several others. I was retained as a Vice President to integrate the two organizations and initiate business and
product development; to train the K2 subsidiary management and production teams in all phases of the Garuda
business to ensure a comprehensive structure for continued development. Well, it all sounded so good....
As too many before me, selling my hand-built company was my most poorly executed phase of years of work. I've no
one but myself to shoulder the responsibility for the demise of Garuda tents. Not two years after I resigned,
Garuda's work was gone. Wilderness Experience preceded it, just barely. Only a few years later so was Dana
Design. And another few years saw it all pass under the Marmot umbrella when K2 purchased it.
So, what happened in the early days...
Starting off too ignorant to know better, and begun from absolutely nothing but an interest and the means:
- Designed and engineered all prototypes, model lines and product upgrades
- Implemented CAD software and hardware to create designs, patterns, markers, assembly, documentation,
instruction manuals, and marketing graphics - Researched, sourced, negotiated, and purchased all equipment and materials
- Worked with vendors to develop new, industry-influencing fabrics specific to Garuda
- Created all manufacturing processes; designed and built manufacturing facility space
- Engineered and performed all aspects of production and manufacturing.
Garuda People Tent CAD Drawings Photos '93-96 Early Photos
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K2, Pakistan, Glacier & 2nd Camp after storm - Steve Untch; Antartica ? - Peter Cole?
North Cascades, WA - BCS