The North Face

   An outdoor-products manufacturing company that was founded in San Francisco's North Beach district as a small mountaineering shop in 1966 by American Doug Tompkins. Initially it offered only backpacking and climbing equipment but, in 1968, Tomkins and his wife, Susie, sold the company to the VF Corporation and the product line expanded to include a line of performance apparel. By the 1980s, the company added skiwear and it designed, manufactured, and wholesaled its own products to stores worldwide. The North Face wear-tests its newest innovations using some of the world's most famous athletes. It sponsors major events within the performance-apparel industry—ranging from climbing expeditions and extreme ski, snowboard, and cross-country events, to bicycle treks and dog-sled expeditions. The North Face has been firmly committed to environmental causes, beginning in 1975 when it inaugurated the Ice-9 Award, a prize for the entity that contributed most to the ecological destruction of the earth (the first recipient: the Atomic Energy Commission). In 1989, it cofounded the Outdoor Industry Conservation Alliance. In 2001, it introduced the Met5 Jacket, utilizing Intelligent Garment Technology; the company is known for identifying and satisfying the clothing needs of the serious outdoor sports enthusiast. Its logo consists of its name plus an image of the famous half Dome Rock formation at Yosemite National Park. The North Face brand logo is highly counterfeited throughout the world.