The seeds for Montbell were first sown in 1969. Founder Isamu Tatsuno was the second Japanese man to summit the North Face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps, scaling the mountain’s treacherous slopes in a mere twenty-one hours. How? By strictly adhering to one key philosophy: light and fast.
An avid alpinist from a young age, Tatsuno had always dreamed of establishing an outdoor business and founding his own mountaineering equipment company. So, with one aspiration checked off following his ascents of the Eiger and later, the Matterhorn, Isamu Tatsuno started Montbell in 1975, at just twenty-eight years old.
Helped by friends Fumiaki Masaki and Sachiko Masuo, Tatsuno set about making the first Montbell product. Isamu’s first creation was a synthetic-fill sleeping bag. Not only was this as compressible as the down sleeping bags he was used to, it’d actually stay warm when wet. A crucial - potentially life-saving - quality, one that no one had really taken advantage of before.
The years since 1975 have brought many more technical innovations, but the objectives, and the stewardship of Isamu Tatsuno, remains unchanged. Not content to only produce the lightest, most functional clothing and equipment, Montbell is also committed to protecting nature and providing outdoor education through philanthropic causes.
