WAYNE GREGORY China Tour

The founder of one of the original backpack brands, Gregory, is visiting China on a shop clinic tour. Wayne Gregory will be in Shanghai and Beijing on April 16th and 17th to train shop staff on Gregory products as well as meet with Gregory fans and the Chinese outdoor media. CORA, as the exclusive partner for Gregory products in China , is organizing the training clinic and other events for Wayne 's visit. We are looking forward to bring Wayne closer to Chinese outdoor enthusiasts.

Please RSVP as soon as possible if you are planning on attending this rare appearance by Wayne in China .

Contact:

ADD ： Sanfo Outdoor Wangjing Shop Li zhe xi yuan 102, Guang shun bei Street, Chaoyang Beijing

Date ： April 16 th 10:00 AM

Tel ： 010-51286830    

(about Gregory)

Wayne Gregory founded Gregory Mountain Products in San Diego , California in 1977. Originally the fledgling company produced backpacks in the back room of Wayne 's retail store. Customers would stop by the store to talk "shop" and to share their experiences and ideas with Wayne , many of which were incorporated into new products.  

In 1983 Wayne merged his business with Bianchi International and moved the company an hour north to Temecula California , where it remains today. Bianchi's resources allowed Wayne to focus on new technology, and greatly expanded the companies' production capacity. Southern California's incredible climate, coupled with easy access to world class climbing areas like Joshua Tree National Park, Tahquitz and Suicide rocks, and the Sierra Nevada range, provide a great testing ground for new products and ideas.  

Over the past several years the company has grown substantially, and manufacturing has expanded to a second California facility in Calexico, east of San Diego , and also to China and Vietnam . Wayne continues to passionately focus on design and quality, but today he surrounds himself with a crew of talented associate designers that keep developing new and fresh ideas and technology.  

We have always been a company dedicated to backpackers, mountaineers, and rock climbers, but we have recently used our vast amount of experience to introduce new products that address the growing adventure race and multi-sport market. You can bet that we will continue to push the envelope, always keeping in mind Wayne 's over-arching passion for ergonomic, innovative design and quality.      

(about Wayne Gregory)

At age 14 Wayne Gregory designed his first backpack as part of a Boy Scout project. Shortly after this experience he met Andy Drollinger, the founder of San Diego California Adventure 16, at a boy scout camporee. Andy was impressed with Wayne 's design and over the next few years Wayne could be found hanging around the Adventure 16 factory, buying raw materials and tinkering with a variety of backpack ideas. He soon became the young companies second employee.  

In 1970, Wayne started his first company, Sunbird, with a goal to produce advanced external frame packs. Unhappy with the limitations of externals, he dissolved the company in 1973 and began working as a freelance designer (sleeping bags, tents, and technical apparel) for a number of the notable companies in the newly emerging outdoor specialty industry, including: Alpenlite, Gerry Outdoors, Frostline Kits and Snow Lion. Intrigued with new directions in soft packs and internal frame concepts he decided it was time to get back to his first love, designing backpacks, and in 1977 Wayne founded Gregory Mountain Products with his wife Suszy.

From his earliest packs, Gregory has been noted for innovation, ergonomic design, and an obsession with quality. Since Wayne found external frame packs too rigid to allow much flexibility, and internal frame packs too soft to adequately support serious weight, he put his mind to work to develop the Gregory Active Suspension System. This was a significant breakthrough because it combined the load support of an external pack with the flexibility and comfort of an internal pack.

Today Wayne is the Master Pack Designer and the mind behind all of Gregory's innovative technology. Along with a team of talented Associate Designers, he continues to surprise us every year with technology improvements and continued evolution in comfort, fit and durability.

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