In the event of a loss of market share, break glass

[pozorvlak]

Quite an uplifting story:

In 1957, Yvon Chouinard bought a coal-fired forge second-hand, and started making hard-steel pitons for use in Yosemite Valley. Between time spent surfing and climbing, he sold pitons out of the back of his car to support himself. The improved pitons were a big factor in the birth of big-wall climbing in 1957-1960 in Yosemite. The success of his pitons caused him to found Chouinard Equipment for Alpinists (CEA), Inc.

...
Around 1970, he became aware that the use of hard-steel pitons made by his company were causing significant damage to the cracks of Yosemite. These pitons comprised 70% of his income. In 1971 and 1972, he introduced new aluminium chockstones called Hexentrics and Stoppers, along with less successful steel Crack-n-Ups, for climbing, and committed his company to the advocacy of the new tools and a new style of climbing called "clean climbing". This concept revolutionized rock climbing and led to further success of his company, despite destroying the sales of pitons, formerly his most important product.

It's good to read about someone taking a gamble and doing the Right Thing rather than continuing with their damaging but lucrative behaviour. But there's probably a more general lesson: if you do something useful but damaging, then there would probably be a market that's at least as big for something that fulfils the same purpose and is less damaging. And maybe you're the one with the expertise to invent it.

CEA no longer exists, sadly: they were hit with a load of liability lawsuits from non-climbers who claimed that they were not warned sufficiently of the dangers of climbing (er, it's a vertical wall of rock hundreds of feet high, guys, did you really think there was no possibility of injury?). This probably explains the fearsomely comprehensive disclaimer of liability that now comes attached to every nut, quickdraw and carabiner. The guts of CEA survive, though: the company's equipment was bought by the employees, who then went on to form Black Diamond Equipment. Chouinard himself founded the clothing company Patagonia in 1972.

Comments

[necaris.livejournal.com]

That is a nice story :-) tainted though it is by American litigatory idiocy...

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

Yep :-) I believe that frivolous lawsuits are like terrorism, in that the fear of them does vastly more damage than the actual problem; but as this story demonstrates, they do happen, and can be very damaging. It worked out OK in the end, though: Black Diamond are still going, and highly respected, and Chouinard's still with Patagonia, who seem to be doing pretty well for themselves (and are apparently a great company to work for, and have high ethical standards).