Lowe Alpine

Lowe Alpine takes its name from the Lowe brothers, the founders of the brand. Greg Lowe, along with Mike and Jeff are a family of climbers and mountaineering enthusiasts from Utah, USA.

Lowe Alpine® started with humble beginnings. In 1967 Greg needed a better backpack for his climbing trips. The brothers were travelling throughout the USA developing new routes. In summer on the rock, and in winter, on snow and ice. During this time they pioneered the method of climbing we now call ‘alpine style’. This fast, lightweight approach to climbing does not rely on siege tactics and large support teams. Small, self-sufficient teams with minimal equipment move quickly and carry their own equipment. This required a new type of backpack, one that moved with the body and didn’t feel cumbersome.

Greg developed the first Expedition Pack in his Colorado work shed in 1967. It revolutionised backpack technology. Many of the innovations that featured on it later became standard on all backpacks. ‘The Expedition’ was the first-ever internal framed pack. It also included the first side compression straps, load stabilizers and sternum strap, all technologies we now take for granted. Further innovations followed, both in the mountains and in the workshop. The brothers developed a profusion of revolutionary climbing hardware, including ice axes, belay devices, ice screws and crampons.

Jeff Lowe went on to revolutionise rock climbing, mixed climbing and alpine style climbing in the USA, the Alps, and later in the Greater Ranges. Today he is recognised as the inventor of modern mixed climbing, also achieving notoriety with an unmatched high point on Latok’s North Ridge and the unrepeated route ‘Metanoia’, on the North Face of The Eiger.

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