Tag Archive for 'Packs'

And the Winner Is…

December’s Good Life photo contest was a good one, competition and voting was fierce but in the end, Joe’s photo edged out the rest to win, securing over 100 votes.

It was taken this past September on a three night, four day trip covering about 25 miles.  After encountering rain, snow, sleet and hail, temperatures ranging from the 25 - 40 degrees, and wind gusts up to 25 mph, he and his wife made camp above tree line, falling asleep to the sounds of elk and snow falling on the tent.

This photo was snapped on the Continental Divide Trail between Knife Edge and Trout Lake.  That’s Joe’s wife, Erica, in the picture at an elevation of approximately 12,000 feet, rocking her Deva 60.  Luckily the weather broke long enough to get this great shot.  Congrats on winning December’s uber-exclusive prize, a Day and a Half pack from our Classic Series, currently available only in Japan.

Think you have a photo that’s a winner?  Lucky for you, January’s contest is on.  In honor of Winter, this month’s prize is a Gregory Drift (pictured to the right).

So head on over to the site, upload your pictures and start voting!  The photo with the most votes through January 31st wins.  Good Luck!

Published
by
Steph
 on January 7, 2010
 in Gregory world and Share Your Story
. 0 Comments

Gregory Gives Back to the Community

At Gregory we’re getting into the holiday spirit by reaching out to our local community here in Sacramento and helping a family in need.  About a month ago, our local bike cop (who keeps our hood safe and is often hanging around the office geeking out with us over new gear) told us about a program through the Robertson Community Center where you can adopt a family and help them during the holidays.  With Sgt. Valdez’s recommendation we decided upon a family with a single mom, 3 boys (ages 8, 6 & 4), and one more baby on the way, who were in desperate need of everything from clothing and food, to furniture and general household and kitchen items for their apartment.

So the Gregory Gives Back group rallied employees, our landlord, friends and family and started collecting everything we could (big ups to craigslist and everyone in the office with large enough cars and muscles to help move furniture).  In no time, an empty cube was filled up with tons of stuff to donate to this family, and we’ve been dropping it off as we obtain it for a couple of weeks now.  We were even able to get management to donate some ca$h to buy some of the items we couldn’t find, like new bedding, new clothes, some backpacks for school (obviously) and a brand new bike and helmet for each child.  Employees donated everything else you could think of - rugs, tables, lamps, beds, clothing, toys, groceries, kitchen items and even a stroller!  I’m so proud of everyone here for coming together and helping to make this great donation to a family in need.

And the giving doesn’t stop there.  We’re hoping that we can help this family out a few more times next year by allocating some of the funds we have in the Gregory Gives Back budget to them for any future items they may need.  We hope you all have a great holiday season and if at all possible, consider donating to those less fortunate.  Even the smallest item can go a long way to helping someone else out.

Published
by
Steph
 on December 21, 2009
 in Gregory world
. 2 Comments

Shuji Morohashi visits ‘Mr. Wayne’

We knew our founder Wayne Gregory was something special. But when Shuji Morohashi from Tokyo, Japan flew halfway around the world just to see our founder, we were blown away.

While planning his first trip to the United States, Shuji decided that a part of his adventure would be to visit Gregory headquarters in Sacramento after having met Wayne in Japan. When they met, Shuji told “Mr. Wayne,” as he called him, about his plans to visit to the U.S. to which Wayne offered, “if you’re coming to the West Coast, please come visit our office.”

A short time later, Shuji Morohashi landed on our doorstep. Well, sort of …

To properly understand why someone would travel halfway around the world and make a visit a backpack company part of the trip (albeit, we humbly submit, the best backpack company), you have to understand a little about Gregory and its reputation in Japan. Early in the company’s history, Gregory built a strong reputation among Japanese consumers, who are notoriously selective about buying products of the highest quality.

Over the years, that’s given Gregory the ability to not only to become known as the premier backpack company, but also to build a variety of other more lifestyle oriented products for a more mass-transit oriented culture. The line in Asia, while it shares many common products, is pretty different from the line in North America or Europe. This reputation has also propelled Wayne into something of a legend among Japanese and other Asian market consumers. When Gregory flagship stores opened in Tokyo and Seoul in the last year, Wayne was asked for more than few autographs.

Back to Shuji … so when Wayne heard that one of the brand’s fans wanted to visit Gregory HQ, he not only extended the invite, he picked up Shuji  at the airport and took him to lunch.

Shuji then got a personal tour of the Gregory headquarters and said he “fell in love with the working environment which was full of life. Everybody was kind, making jokes, and having fun.”

He regards his time spent at Gregory as a fantastic adventure and noted “I was sure that products that make people happy are born here.”

We sure like to think so.

Published
by
Lauren
 on July 1, 2009
 in Gregory world and Where's Wayne?
. 0 Comments

Gregory Goes on Dawn Patrol

The other day John, CJ and Mark, part of Gregory’s R&D crew, headed up to Tahoe for some early morning backcountry skiing.  They hit the trail at about 5:30 am, skinned up to Deep Creek, gained the ridge and descended a northeast aspect with some good powder.  The packs of choice for this endeavor were a Drift and a Z30.  All of this, and the guys still managed to be back at work in Sacramento by 10:30.  Well played. 

Published
by
Steph
 on March 31, 2009
 in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Sharing is Caring

Recently here at our office, we began a new committee for community outreach and volunteering.  Everyone has their favorite charities, organizations or causes to volunteer for and sponsor, and this group, named Gregory Gives Back, will take all employee nominated groups into consideration. 

The first official activity the committee will be engaging in (and asking all of us to help with), is a canned food drive.  We’ll have a bin here in the lobby of our office for collection and will be donating to one, or hopefully many, of the local shelters and food banks in Sacramento.  With the holidays fast approaching, food pantries will be going through more stock than usual, and will need everyone’s help to boost their supplies.  So if you’re in the Sacramento area, stop by the office November 1st - December 19th to drop off your canned goods, and if you’re not our neighbor, don’t feel left out!  Visit www.feedingamerica.org or www.findfoodbank.com to find a drop off location near you.

Although we sometimes forget that cold weather exists while basking in the warm and sunny California weather, there are many people across the nation that need coats for the upcoming winter.  In conjunction with News 10, our local news affiliate, we will be collecting new and gently worn coats for both children and adults to donate to our local Sacramento Coats for Kids chapter.  We will have a bin for this in our lobby as well and will be accepting donations November 1st-December 17th.  You can find out more about this organization, and where you can donate coats locally, at their website, http://www.coats-for-kids.org.

As the group meets more often, they’ll be coming up with more ideas, both local and national – maybe even worldwide), that Gregory wants to be a part of.  We’ll keep sharing our choices with you to try and spread the love, and if any of you out there have a favorite organization that you think we should know about, send the recommendation our way.  We’ll put it into the pool for our next meeting.

Published
by
Steph
 on October 22, 2008
 in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Next Up - A Mosquito Repellent Pack?

I wish.

But, if you can’t have a pack that instantly kills those pesky winged devils once they penetrate your personal space, then you might as well have a pack that’s ergonomically comfy and stays on your back when you’re swinging for the fences trying to escape from the torture of those worthless winged things. Since it covered my entire back, my Gregory Triconi 60 probably did save me from a few more dozen bites.

I should have known better though. Taking a four-day backpacking trip into Wyoming’s Wind River mountains in the beginning of July after a huge snow year is like going to your local blood drive - except you come away with 46 swelling bumps instead of feeling warm inside that you might have helped save someones life. The Winds in July equals Mosquitoville and my girlfriend, Genevieve, and I were held hostage.

Yes, our friends, sisters, brother-in-laws, crusty old retail gear shop guys and co-workers all told us the bugs were going to be bad. But really, how bad can it be, I thought? Bad enough that after every mosquito bite you got you wanted to name it after someone who told you not to go?

It was bad. Unbearable at times. And dousing yourself in DEET didn’t seem to do the trick.  Continue reading >>

Published
by
kcuz
 on July 8, 2008
 in Gregory Goes There, Hiking resources and Packs
. 0 Comments