Design Philosophy
Why do we do what we do....
The ethos at Wild Country has always been to utilise the experience of the people ‘on board’ to design and build products that we know are of the highest quality and highly relevant to the climbers of the day.
There is a stringent ideal that Wild Country is not and never should be ‘ me too’ company which imitates or borrows from others but should at all times strive to innovate and contribute to the sum of climbers knowledge of how and why things work and use this knowledge to produce products which add to the climbers armoury.
Our design philoshophy allows to us build products which are important in adding to the armoury of those operating at the cutting edge like the new Helium Friend.
These ideals have been shaped from the beginnings of the company because of the incredible significance on the climbing scene of its first two products, Friends and Rocks and the curiously infective inquiring mind of its founder Mark Vallance to seek out new ways and means to make the best gear – see History for more details. It is the job of the present incumbents to keep this going and in some ways to be part of Wild Country is to be a ‘keeper of the torch’ and to make sure British climbing innovation, ideas and ideals remain at the forefront of the world climbing scene.
Therefore, every season whatever is launched should be able to be seen a step forward. Whether the step is a giant one; Friends Rocks Ropeman or a small one, which may be a clever twist on a theme Rockcentrics, Superlight Rocks, 10mm Dyneema, everything should be practical, purposeful and a step forward to the ideal of producing ‘the perfect rack…'
Making things better....
"It’s hard to improve on the best, but that’s what Wild Country constantly strives to do, to make things better. In 1977 Wild Country launched Friends and unleashed a wave of radical first ascents, not only on the iconic cracks of Yosemite and the renowned Gritstone crags of England, but right across the globe. Friends are a truly revolutionary product that had an immediate, far reaching and long lasting impact on climbing.
The longevity and popularity of Friends bears testament to the ground breaking original design, which has changed little in more than 30 years.
So as Wild Country takes the next step forward by launching the Helium Friend, the best Friend ever, the questions arise…..How do we improve Friends? How do you make the best better? We build on experience and stay true to the heritage that went before, not by making spurious cosmetic changes, but by adding functionality fit for a new generation of climbers going further than before. We invest in technology and utilize new technologies to improve products. We utilize Computer Aided Design, cutting edge hot forging and moulding technologies that allow a precision execution not possible before.
We constantly test, we set the standard. We implement industry leading quality systems and 3 Sigma rating. We constantly strive to raise the bar and be the best.
In short, you make the best better by doing what Wild Country have always done - for every product over 33 years at the top – by insisting that whatever bears our name is as good as it gets, every time!"
Martin Atkinson, Managing Director, Wild Country.
If you want to find out more about the guys and gals whose ideas and products you put your life on the line with you can see more here: The Wild Country Team
