THIS IS EDDIE BAUER
Nine decades ago, Eddie Bauer was founded as an outdoor brand. We built gear made for the mountains, the rivers, and the wilderness. Series by series, we have returned to our roots of building premium gear designed for the landscape that resonates deep within our character.
We started in 2009 with First Ascent, an entire line of award-winning ski and mountaineering gear built by a team of world-class guides and athletes. Then in 2012, we returned to our roots as outftter and shopkeeper with Sport Shop, the most technical line of wingshooting apparel available. Next on our list was trek and travel, so we launched Travex in Spring 2013 with a focus on intelligent, adaptable gear built by our new team of global adventure travel guides.
With each step forward, our efforts were rewarded with accolades and respect. And now we’ve worked to infuse that outdoor, active vibe into everything we stand for as a brand. We’ve backed up our words with action, images, stories, and product innovations straight from the heart of the outdoor experience we all live for. Even our Outdoor series is rooted in this ethic, inspired by adventure but guaranteed to perform in diverse everyday environments. The adventure is on, we’ve built the foundation, and this is truly Eddie Bauer.
MOONLIGHT MADNESS
KATIE LAMBERT AND MASON EARLE FREE CLIMB THE TOWERING SANDSTONE CRACK SYSTEM ON ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST AESTHETIC BIG WALL OBJECTIVES
In the big wall free climbing world, the aesthetic sands tone crack system on Moonlight Buttress stands as an iconic line on nearly e very climber ’s life lis t. But for Eddie Bauer free climber Katie Lambert, one milestone on that multi-pitch testpiece elevated its significance to something greater and much more personal than just a single potential tick on the resume . It was Kate Rutherford and Madaleine Sorkin’s first all-female free as cent of Moonlight Buttress in 2006 that opened her e yes t o the possibility that two women of equally high caliber could be good climbing partners.
Lambert had never climbed in Zion National Park, but arrived this past spring to tackle Moonlight Buttress. Climbing with her husband Ben Ditto, she warmed up on Bits and Pieces, then teamed up with Sandra Horna for an ascent of Shunes Buttress IV 5.11c. The pair made a first attempt on Moonlight, but a crowded wall forced them to turn back after the 7th pitch and a family emergency sent Horna home earlier than planned. Lambert then linked up with Eddie Bauer teammate Mason Earle, and while the story played out differently than she originally envisioned, the climb was a success.
FIRST ASCENT
GUIDE BUILT. GUIDE TRUSTED.®
Perfection through minimalism was our guide team’s goal from day one, which is why we shaved weight, bulk, and overkill to create a series equipped with every essential—but not one ounce of excess. At every stage of product development, we integrate the elements our guides demand, from function and features to the precise location of every stitch and seam, until every product passes their ultimate test. The result of these efforts lies in the 10 Best in Class awards Eddie Bauer has received for innovative designs, just four short years into our First Ascent mission.
TRAVEX®
MADE FOR TREK & TRAVEL.
Our exclusive series of gear and apparel. Built with our adventure travel guide team, every item is intelligently designed and readily adaptable to perform in any climate, culture, or environment. The entire series combines technical performance attributes, such as breathable, packable, easy-care fabrics with UPF sun protection and flexible active stretch to keep you completely comfortable during long days of foreign or domestic travel.
JULIA DIMON TRAVELS TO PUERTO RICO TO EXPERIENCE THE CULTURAL AND ACTIVE IDENTITIES OF THE COMMONWEALTH
Adventure travel and epic journey are terms that are often intertwined. Yet for travelers constrained by time and distance, a destination often overlooked for its higher-profile neighbors is the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Sitting at the historical intersection of Caribbean and Atlantic island culture, Puerto Rico represents a fusion of Latin and American influences, as well as an entire island ripe for exploration. Eddie Bauer adventure travel guide Julia Dimon explored the island through environments that range from the culture and cuisine of Old San Juan to the natural wonder of Rio Camuy cave system, the luminescence of Bio Bay, and the enclave of El Yunque National Rainforest.
During her circumnavigation of the island, Dimon sleuthed out remote waterfall swimming holes, paddled out by kayak into the natural phosphorescence of Bio Bay, and rappelled into Rio Camuy, the third-largest underground river system in the world. Yet the lush, green landscape of El Yunque made the strongest impression, revealing a stunning biodiversity of wildlife, including tropical Puerto Rican parrots, more than 400 species of native plants, and predictable afternoon downpours in a rugged location that can receive more than 200 inches of precipitation per year.
PACKED: ONE DRESS FOR PUERTO RICO
“Puerto Rico is great because it is so diverse. You have so many activities you can do here, and it really is a playground for the adventure traveler. You have everything from spelunking in caves and rappelling down waterfalls to gorgeous beaches and cool local culture, where you can taste traditional Puerto Rican cuisine,” Dimon says. “And you also have a ton of history, with great colonial cobblestone streets and beautifully painted colonial buildings in the Old Town of San Juan. So Puerto Rico really does offer a lot for the adventure traveler.”
FREEDRY™ COTTON
EXCLUSIVE QUICK DRY TECHNOLOGY
FREEDRY is Eddie Bauer’s new exclusive line of moisture management fabrics. The natural example—FreeDry Cotton—utilizes microfiber technology that dissipates moisture and dries 50% faster than traditional cotton. The multi-component construction wicks moisture rapidly from your skin during heated activity to facilitate cooling, with yarn-specific properties that never wash out. This active transport also enables every piece constructed with FreeDry Cotton to shed moisture rapidly after a dip in the stream or a wash in the sink, making it the smart textile choice for extended trips.
SOLSTICE LINE
FreeDry™ technology plus our polyester/merino wool/spandex blend translates into a high-performing, easy-packing fabric. Ideal for travel or use in any culture, climate, or environment. Wrinkle-resistant, moisture-wicking, UPF 50+. Easy care. Hidden security pocket. Dress and tank are both shaped fit.
ECO DEVELOPMENT
THE AFRICA FOUNDATION HARVESTS ECO-TOURISM’S IMPACT TO CULTIVATE LOCAL ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY
Founded in 1992 in South Africa, the Africa Foundation facilitates socioeconomic development and the protection of Africa’s heritage in rural communities neighboring game reserves. In partnership with international donors, local agencies, and eco-tourism groups, such as founding partner &Beyond, as well as Wilderness Safaris, Singita, and Londolozi Game Reserve, the organization funds projects in 40 communities in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Kenya, and Tanzania in four key areas of education, health care and clean water, economic development , and environmental awareness. The Foundation was established and grown by Nicci Young Wiese, the wife of Eddie Bauer adventure travel guide Richard Wiese, who is now an ambassador for the cause through his Born to Explore TV show.
“I have always been a ware that other cultures around the world have challenges, and being American at birth has given me a leg up in life. But there have been several seminal moments that have had me look at things in a different way,” Richard Wiese says. “One is my wife Nicci introducing me to Africa Foundation projects that she worked on and getting to know local people in a meaningful, non-superficial way.”
SOUTHERN TRADITION
TIMELESSNESS MEETS CLASSIC HABITAT ON THE CUMBERLAND ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE WITH QUAIL HUNTS AT THE OLDEST PRIVATE HUNTING LODGE IN AMERICA
As the oldest hunting club in America, Cabin Bluff has operated continuously as a destination for sportsmen and sportswomen since it was founded in its Cumberland River, Georgia, location in the 1920s. With access to 24,000 acres of hunting that ranges from turkey and deer to wild boar, as well as inshore, offshore and flats fishing, the lodge has hosted guests from political leaders and famous writers to generations of influential families. But the biggest draw at this destination is not the coastal backdrop, the locally flavored cuisine, the sporting clays course, or the Southern hospitality, but the true, traditional Southern quail hunting.
Eddie Bauer Sport Shop guide Michael Pepi and Sport Shop expert Rebecca Etchen-Peters traveled to the palmetto, pine, and grass habitat of Cabin Bluff to experience its storied quail hunting history. “Southern Georgia epitomizes Southern plantation quail hunts and Cabin Bluff has that traditional feel,” Michael Pepi says. “This is a traditional wild quail area and Cabin Bluff is the same with the traditional feel to it.”
“Sport Shop is tough gear. It’s just tough and durable. There is a lot of gear out there that isn’t durable, that will fall apart on you and isn’t the most practical,” says Sport Shop guide Michael Pepi. “I’ve been on pro staffs before, but this is the first time I’ve had input on product. And the Sport Shop line includes all the little things—down to the right snaps and the right buttons that make things easier when you are out guiding. The legacy of a company: it stands for a lot. You can always count on something that has lasted.”
GUIDE’S DAY OFF
CHAMONIX GUIDE CAROLINE GEORGE TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE SHOULDER SEASON FOR DECOMPRESSION TIME WITH HER FAMILY IN THE FRENCH CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF PROVENCE
For UIAGM guide Caroline George, long seasons in the mountains are part of the profession. So when the off-season arrives, the Eddie Bauer First Ascent guide seeks rest, relaxation, and recharge with her family in locations geographically removed from their home base in Chamonix. One destination she favors is the southern France region of Provence, which provides not only a slower holiday pace and thriving cultural landscape but also backyard, bolted limestone climbing with convenient babysitting for her 2-year-old daughter at her parents’ countryside house.
“In the off-seasons, my family and I often travel down south because my parents have a house in Provence, so we are pretty lucky to be able to come here and recover from a long season in the mountains, enjoy the climbing on some white limestone, and most of all enjoy the culture,” says George. “The great thing about my parents’ house is they have a cliff in the backyard that we can go climb on when it’s in the shade, so we don’t have to rush out of the house. So we can just go get a few pitches in and go back and just enjoy life.”
INSIDE LINE
CAROLINE GEORGE ON PROVENCE
LES BAUX-DE-PROVENCE
Narrow white cobblestone streets, a ruined castle, and Renaissance architecture, but also Provence in a nutshell: little shops, little cafés where you can sip a drink while listening to crickets and smelling the scent of pine trees.
LE MARCHÉ DE ST. RÉMY
This Wednesday market is a senses overload, with local delicacies, and local patois being spoken by artisans and buyers alike, shouting to be heard o ver the band.
POPPY AND LAVENDER
Stretching out to where the land meets the sky. I love to bike and run along poppy fields, and disappear to endless rounded alleys of lavender.
