Polartec Athlete Advisory Board

Polartec hosted an Athlete Advisory Board meeting June 3-5 at the Limelight Hotel in Aspen, Colorado. The team convened to discuss future fabric developments (2011-2014) and product testing results from samples that have been in the field for the past 9 months. Polartec sent a team of executives, product engineers and marketing staff to listen to feedback, test concepts and get outside for some fun.

Some of the new developments covered include Polartec Power Shield Pro (a new soft shell technology launching to consumers August 2010), new even higher-efficiency fabrics for base layers and insulation, wool/poly blends, recycled content fabrics and a bunch of stuff we can’t talk about yet.

During free hours, the group managed to fit in some climbing, hiking, trail runs, fly fishing, paragliding, and a few great meals (thanks to Cache Cache, Jimmy’s and Montagna). The scenery, gorgeous weather and quick access to world class recreation even inspired an ardent New Hampshire-ite to take back all the things she’s said over the years about Colorado (she will remain unnamed for her safety).

BBQ at Nate's house in Carbondale

Janet on Cryogenics - Independence Pass, Aspen, CO

Attendees from Polartec included Andy Vecchione (President), Jon Adelman (EVP Sales and Marketing), Steve Cuthbert, Nate Simmons, Karen Beattie, Allon Cohne, Jane Ruth and Ruthann Brown.

The full roster for the Polartec Athlete Advisory Board includes:

- Sari Anderson (30, Glenwood Springs, CO) is a national mountain bike champ, a world class adventure racer and randonnée ski racer.
- Antoine Barthelemy (54 of Annecy, France) is an accomplished alpinist and ski mountaineer.
- Bill Belcourt (45, Salt Lake City, UT) is a crusty alpinist and champion paraglider pilot.
- Janet Bergman (29, Madison, NH) is an accomplished all-around climber and consultant to outdoor nonprofit organizations.
- Gord Betenia (47, Vancouver, BC) is a talented ice climber, mountaineer and gear flogger.
- Kelly Cordes (40, Estes Park, CO) is a renowned alpinist, climber, writer and self-proclaimed dirtbag.
- Nick Devore (24, Aspen, CO) is a telemark freeskiing world champion and ski mountaineer.
- Doug Heinrich (47, Salt Lake City, UT, is a world-class all-around climber and multi-sport athlete.
- Mike Kloser (49, Vail, CO) is a world champion mountain biker, adventure racer and legendary multi-sport athlete.
- Laurent Valette (39, Rotherens, France) is an accomplished ultra runner and adventure racer.
- Michael Silitch (48, Chamonix, France) is a certified international mountain guide.

There was a lot of discussion about the location of the next meeting – Chamonix, Alyeska, Mt. Washington – we’ll have to keep you posted on that one.

Staying dry is the key to comfort year-round and base layers are the most critical layering choice in the winter. If your current clothing system isn’t keeping you warm enough, upgrading the fabrics next to your skin can be the most cost effective way to be warmer – this is especially true for start and stop activities where you sweat and then chill.

The main stage.

2nd Stage

Polartec receives yarn from one of its yarn vendor / partners, Unifi in North Carolina, on recyclable pallets. Trucks return to Unifi with empty pallets and also fabric scraps that can be recycled into new yarn. In 2009 30% of Polartec’s production uses recycled content yarn saving millions of pounds of CO2 emissions each year.

Dozens of spools of yarn feed into a circular knitting machine at Polartec’s main production facility in Lawrence, MA, USA. Different yarns and constructions can be combined to create hundreds of different fabrics with specific performance attributes. As the fabric is knit, it rolls up inside the bottom of the machine creating what looks like a giant terry cloth tube sock. Later this “tube sock” is slit down the middle to create flat fabric.

From the circular knitting machines, rolls of greige fabric await quality inspections before going to dyeing and finishing. These rolls look like giant terry cloth tube socks before the tube is slit to create a flat piece of fabric.

As greige goods come off the circular knitting machines, the fabric runs past a light for quality inspection. This happens before the fabric is slit, dyed, and finished.

Greige goods are dyed in “jets” that look like giant front loading washing machines. These jets apply heat and pressure to lock in color as well as performance enhancing treatments like odor resistance, anti-static, and wicking agents. New dye jets use 50% less water.

After the dye jets, a machine wrings out the fabric and then slits the fabric to create one flat piece which is then dried before finishing. Fabric next moves to be napped and then sheared in finishing.

Finishing the fabric is the process of the loops in the fabric and then shearing the yarns to an even height. This is a specialty of Polartec’s which creates long lasting, non-pilling fabrics. In this video, giant rollers covered with small wires break the loops in the fabric to create loft for warmth without weight.

Finished Polartec fabric is inspected for quality before it is shipped to apparel manufacturers.

A Martindale machine tests abrasion resistance on Polartec fabrics.

Pilling test for Polartec fabrics.

Update from Paul Romero, father of 13-year-old Jordan Romero…

A last minute postponement of the planned climbing trip to Indonesia (Summit #6) and we found ourselves instead at the Summer Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City then direct from the show to Washington state, home of one of North America’s prominent mountains, Mt. Rainier. Civil unrest in Indonesia near Carstensz Pyramid has temporarily halted all climbing in the area.

At 14,400ft., Jordan yells over the howling wind “3 down, 47 to go!” Jordan’s referring to his next mission to high-point the U.S. (standing on the highest point in each of the 50 states).

Jordan’s standing on top of Rainier, the massive free-standing mountain that commands tremendous respect and has claimed the lives of many who tried to reach it’s peak. So, though Jordan still sees it as training for the 7 Summits, he’s now bagged three of the U.S. High-Points; Washington’s Rainier, California’s Mt. Whitney and Alaska’s Mt. McKinley.

The Rainier team consisted of Jordan, 13, soon to be in 8th grade at Big Bear Middle School, Karen Lundgren, team Mom and videographer, and Paul Romero, Father and team guide.

It was a gorgeous drive into the national park in our stealth black rental Dodge Charger, latte in the cup holder, windows down and the radio playing all the right 70’s sing along tunes that even Jordan’s knows. Check-in, permits, pack the backpacks and the mission is underway. The team set off from White River, the eastern flank of the Mt. Rainier National Park. It’s a fairytale start with flowing creeks and waterfalls of glacier water, wildflowers in full bloom, white puffy clouds and high spirits. The sun was just right. Things just clicked getting this trip started.

We’d been anxious to get some climbing in. Other than some local training hikes, Jordan had not been on the serious end of a rope since our winter ascent up the Mountaineer’s route of Mt. Whitney, one cold, snowy winter day in February. He’s been using his time wisely, diversifying his skills and life experiences with mountain bike racing, stand up paddling, kayak racing, multisport racing and back country skiing just to name a few.

A 5 hour approach to the high camp was a fair bit of work, our packs were busting at the seams with gear, food and water. Rainier has a fierce reputation and we came ready for anything. We start at 4400’ and climb 5000’ just to arrive at the camp. Our strategy is to bed down at sunset, sleep for a few solid hours and ‘pop up’ at midnight for the expected 7 hour summit push. Setting up the camp was a great test of teamwork and patience. Thunderstorms made their expected visit, and gusting wind made set up entertaining…for anyone watching. Karen leads the effort, Jordan holds down a corner and duck squats to hide from the ripping wind. Our shorts no longer warm enough, we crawl into our sleeping bags, thaw out our appendages, eat and set alarms for 1 a.m. Paul’s plan – midnight start; Jordan’s vote 6 a.m. start – – the compromise 1 a.m.

Sleep turns into only a bit of relaxation as 60 mph winds pound our tent and blow so hard the roof of the tent bows down to our faces. ALARMS!! gear on, and secure the tent so it’s there when we return.

Once outside the tent, we see dozens of lights climbing the face – climbers that were a little more eager and who now have at least a 1000’-2000’ jump on us. Like it or not the competitive nature in all of us surfaces and we feel like we need to catch up. It doesn’t take long and we’re making new friends and having chit chat in the darkness. In the past, Jordan was always greeted with astonishment at ‘the kid’ on the mountain. His recent growth spurt and with the typical mountain gear on, he looks like the average 5’7” ‘guy’ on the mountain. No special idle chat about his age or background. He was 12 years old 1 week ago, but at a glance those days appear years ago.

Jordan like any 13 year old would prefer to stay in bed and “sleep-in”. This morning he shows his maturity and ability to be a rock solid teammate. It’s up, packed and into the blaring wind we go.

Nearly 6000’ stand between Jordan and the summit of Mt. Rainier. Conditions- not optimum, the warmth has created tremendous melting and crevasses are prevalent. Jordan has plenty of respect for the situation, but our recent mishap at Everest just a few months ago drives home the point that every single crevasse deserves full respect and has the potential to end life. The focus is good, and the uphill movement is brisk and consistent. We’re roped together, walking onto the glacier in the dim, narrow glow of our headlamps. The scenery won‘t change till the sun brings us new energy and a view of where we’ve been and where we’re going.

The altimeter spins like a slot machine, we chomp away at the vertical feet, dodging crevasses, meeting and passing teams and thoroughly enjoying the predawn peace. Then, the dreaded visitors. The guys nobody likes – – the sleep monsters. It’s the twilight just before the sun officially pops up when we find these guys. Jordan occasionally comes to a crawl and I see him 40’ uphill of me shaking his head…trying to avoid nodding off. It‘s hard. Jordan says, “Dad, I’m super sleepy”. Paul’s not exactly ready for a round of Jepoardy and doesn’t have any brillant advice other than ‘just push on’. He turns to Karen. “What do you do in these situations?” To which Karen responds… “count to 50 steps, then start over and do it again”. Neither of our pearls of advice offer much comfort. It’s one of those things you gotta figure out what works for you and wait for the sun. We push on.

The route is twisty and turny and offers plenty of variety. Some dicey snow bridges, some exposed traverses and a few steep 50 degree faces… and always the crevasses – just enough to keep things interesting. The off/on thunderstorms, wind and dark clouds finally give way to an unbelievable blue bird morning. As glorious as it gets.

We approach 13,500, around 1000’ left to the summit. Like a spill gate opening, the weather hits the mountain with amazing force. We’ve heard about the rapid changing weather of Rainier but from this high up, you can see anything coming for miles. Now we know what they mean. It just happens, just appears. In minutes we are in the middle of pea soup thick weather, 30-50 mph winds and the temps are dropping. The summit is close, nothing treacherous between us as the summit except some additional vertical feet of climbing.

Suddenly we’re on the summit. We can barely talk over the roar of the wind. Jordan’s chattering about the remaining U.S. highpoints before we even have a chance to take in the current accomplishment. “Three down and only 47 to go!” he hollars over the wind.

P.S. I just looked and these are on sale right now – 30% off at the backcountry.com outlet.

P.P.S. I’ve got a sweet Polartec garment for the first person to guess where the brand name ‘Cutter’ comes from. Post in the comments section.

UPDATE- The Gear Junkie put the Cutter Knickerbockers through the ringer for 6 weeks and just posted a glowing review. Read it here.

Core Concepts Plush Pullover
Featuring Polartec® Thermal Pro® fabric, the Plush Pullover from Core Concepts provides lightweight, moisture-wicking warmth, making it the perfect insulation layer no matter what you’re doing – whether it’s a double diamond ski run or a double tall latte. MSPR $80.