Nevisport began life in 1969 when Ian Sykes and Ian Sutherland opened a wee climbing shop in Fort William High Street, in the shadow if Ben Nevis. They were a small, innovative organisation often coming up with new ideas; these knee length waterproofs being one of them. The logic was that you didn’t need full length waterproofs when you were wearing gaiters anyway. The big zips meant you could get the trousers on while wearing crampons and because less material was required, they were cheaper. Dating from the 1970’s when Gore-tex fabric had yet to be invented, these trousers are made from neoprene which is waterproof and very sweaty as it doesn’t breathe. This pair were kindly donated by Alex Gillespie, himself a former director of Nevisport. Nevisport continued to expand with over a dozen outlets in the 1990’s and whilst they kept the Nevisport name, a company called Trespass took it over in the early 2000’s.