The Grenfell team recently toured to enjoy the early Autumn transition in Gstaad, Canton of Bern in SW Switzerland. The draw of the British to the Alpine regions has been going on for over a century, indeed the Alpine Club was founded in 1857, as the world’s first mountaineering club. The beauty and enormity of the landscape soon reveals why pilgrimages for both religious and personal achievement have been undertaken for centuries. Grenfell clothing, with its revolutionary new cloth, replaced Burberry as the chosen climbing suits for expeditions from 1933 on Mount Everest. It was lighter and offered superior weatherproofing against the most adverse weather conditions on the planet. In fact, it was so versatile that it was even used for tents on Everest, providing the highest ever habitation at that time.

Other styles under the microscope were the Scafell parka and Bowfell jacket ensuring we had adequate styles to test in such a lofty environment.