Early Winters

Early Winters, Ltd. of Seattle, Washington, USA was founded in 1972 by William S. Nicolai, who formed the company after creating a tent called the Omnipotent. Early Winters was the first company to create and sell a consumer product made with Gore-Tex laminates produced by W.L. Gore & Associates in Elkton, Maryland. The first product made with Gore-Tex fabric debuted in 1976 and was a streamlined, two-person tent called The Light Dimension. The tent was created by Nicolai and William H. Edwards and was marketed by Ron Zimmerman. In 1975, Gore salesman Joe Tanner introduced Early Winters to the fabric product, which at that time was still without a name. Over a two-year period, Tanner had made numerous sales calls and had been turned...