The Snow Peak Way was meant to come already to the UK essentially, but COVID has prevented that. We’re hoping that this summer we’ll do our first one, but it’s just so difficult at the moment with COVID and social distancing. Yes, we do have one in the pipeline for the summer, which we’re really hoping is going to go ahead and we would love to eventually have a campsite of our own. In Japan we actually partner with the government on campsites, so we go into areas where there’s traditionally low tourism out of season. We go into a lot of ski resorts put build campsites that are open during the summer to create jobs and employment in those areas.
On a Snow Peak Way you really get a feeling of a shared experience and it is wonderful to feel connected to nature. I think for me, that’s why I love the brand so much. So much of the outdoor industry, first of all, is male-led, we have a female CEO, which we’re absolutely thrilled about. Also, a lot of it’s about climbing the highest mountain, doing it the quickest and it’s really competitive. At Snow Peak, we’ll just say, “What we’re about is just connecting to nature and making it as comfortable as possible when you do that.” I just love that ethos. I find it really refreshing and quite exciting.
We were started by Yukio Yamai, who is Lisa, our current CEO’s grandfather, and then the company was passed down to Tohru Yamai, Lias’s father, who’s still very active in the company and currently president. Yukio loved mountain climbing. When you look at history actually we made ice packs and crampons, and he was basically a wholesaler of these metal goods so they’re built up this connection within Sanjō City of all the metalworkers.
When Tohru was a child his dad said to him, “You’re too reckless to go into the mountains. I’m banning you from the mountains. Go and find your own connection to nature.” That’s exactly what Tohru did. It was actually when he was studying in the USA, it was his lecturer introduced him to this new idea of essentially camping out in the back garden and enjoying time in the back garden.
That really stayed with Tohru. Essentially, he took back that concept to Japan and basically, created car camping in Japan. The pack and carry fire pit actually it’s just set up in my garden just here. I’m looking at it thinking, [chuckles] wonder if I’ll use it tonight. I take it with me when I go and see friends. I went to St Ives on holiday and I took it with me and we used it in the garden of the place we were staying.