It Snow is Peaking

By Jo Phillips

When we think of camping we think of luscious green hills in maybe Scotland or vast sprawling greenery in The New Forest, but what may not come to mind is mountains and grasslands in Japan. Worry not, Japanese brand Snow Peak is here to change all that.

A family-run company with a name originates from the famous Japanese mountain, Tanigawa, where the current CEO’s father (Tohru Yamai), Yukio Yamai, founded Snow Peak,

Based on his personal experiences, in 1958, Yukio Yamai sought to create innovative mountaineering equipment which utilized the highly skilled metal processing technology in nearby Tsubame Sanjo, so he incorporated this metal technology into the outdoors brand he built.

By the 1980s, the company evolved by shifting its focus from mountaineering equipment to camping equipment. An auto-camping boom was sweeping across Japan enabling the company to add a series of radically innovative products that focused on quality, functionality, timeless-durability and considered design.

Added to this for the first time the granddaughter of the brand has bought in the first clothing line. Having studied fashion but also with her family links and connections to the outdoors the adding of a clothing line was an obvious step.

Now the brand has opened its first stand-alone store in Regents street London. as calming and zen as would be expected the three fo=loor store offers everything from tents to equipment to food implements and of course the sumptuous new clothing line, which is as much about beautiful clothes that you would desire to wear anywhere as it is about practical beautifully crafted outdoor wear.