Down suits that are made for going up

WE’VE ALL worn a pair of jeans two days in a row (okay, maybe three or four), but what if you had to wear the same suit for days and weeks on end? And then, what if it wasn’t only about wearing it while you eat, sleep, and go to the toilet, but also having to climb Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth, while you’re at it. Well, for four South African women, this scenario will become a reality as they trek up Mount Everest later this year, and the suit we’re referring to has been specially designed to help them face some of the most treacherous and extreme weather conditions you can imagine.

Alda Waddell, Lisa Gering, Deshun Deysel and Tumi Mphahlele head to Lukla, Nepal this month to travel to the Everest base camp. They will spend nine or 10 days there, getting used to the area and conditions before they start making their way up the mountain.

To accomplish their mission, they will need a suit that’s been purpose-built for the expedition, and that’s where Cape Union

Mart’s apparel brand K-Way comes into the picture. The South African manufacturer has come up with four bespoke climbing suits, all designed and manufactured at the factory in Ottery, Cape Town.

Boasting more than 35 years of experience in the industry, Stephen Hector is somewhat of a legend in the garment-manufacturing business. He has been with K-Way for the past nine years as the brand’s technical product developer. The chances are, if you own anything boasting a K-Way logo, Stevie, as he’s affectionately known, helped to conceptualise the piece.

Stevie says that the down suits were manufactured using cutting-edge innovation, advanced knowledge gleaned from industry experts, and impeccable design techniques. Each mountaineer was measured and remeasured, ensuring their suits are tailored to their specific body shapes.

The outer fabric used in the suits is Pertex Endurance, which is abrasion-resistant and offers outstanding protection from the elements. Each suit weighs in at around 2.7 kg, with a large proportion of the weight coming from the just-more-than-a

kilogram’s worth of 850 fill-power goose-down filling. If the design team had used a lower fill-power down it would have made the suits heavier, as more of it would have been needed. High-end down, on the other hand, gives the suits their lightweight property while ensuring the mountaineers stay just as warm.

‘The construction of specialised suits like these, is key,’ says Stevie. ‘The design had to ensure that there are no cold spots and that each segment operates like a box

– a carefully calculated box. If you put too much down into one segment, the area will attract dead air, and if you put in too little, you will get a cold spot.’

Throughout the year, weather conditions on Everest are highly unpredictable, and temperatures fluctuate drastically depending on the season. In January, the coldest month, temperatures at the summit can average -36°C, and drop as low as 60° below zero. In the warmer months, such as July, the average temperature at the summit is -19°C, which still brings with it an extreme risk of hypothermia.

Factoring in these conditions meant the K-Way team had their hands full coming up with unique technology to make sure that the climbers were nice and toasty in their gear. The design team used their ingenuity to eliminate cold spots by constructing a labyrinth of 86 stabilised, handfilled goose-down chambers. The collar is filled with down to prevent warmth from escaping from the suit and pinched-seam stitching has been used on the outside to minimise any possible snagging.

Some of the other cool features on the suits are insulated pockets, two large internal mesh water-bottle pockets, an adjustable internal suspender system, a variable baffled hood, abrasion-resistant shoulder- and waist patches, an innovative three-way front zip for easy toilet use and ventilation, and enhanced mobility so the wearers feel comfy in their onesies.

‘The last thing the climbers need is a failing zip at the wrong time, many thousands of metres above sea level,’ notes Stevie. ‘We looked at every possible way to make the suits as durable, practical and comfortable as possible.’

The gear has been made to the highest possible quality and standard, as it must perform at an optimal level to ensure the adventurers can push their bodies to the limit while remaining protected from the elements.

After his lifelong career in the garment manufacturing game, I think we can all rely on Stevie’s assessment when he says that the down used in the suits is ‘the Rolls-Royce of down’ available.

Above: Lisa Gering, Alda Waddell and Tumi Mphahlele are three of the four women that will make the trek up to the summit of Mount Everest.

K-Way has been involved in numerous mountainexpedition trips. All of the suits are designed and manufactured in South Africa and are considered some of the best extreme-weather suits in the world. Below: