How very lucky we are to deal with some of the very best brands around. And by best, we don’t just mean most beautifully designed or most aspirational or most covetable or even most practical, sometimes we mean most fun and most generous. Of course it really, really helps if a brand ticks absolutely all of the above boxes. Step forward Snow Peak.
The lovely Emily, Snow Peak’s British sales manager, has had a long relationship with The Hambledon. When she extended a very generous invitation to the shop for a little Snow Peak camping trip (in deepest darkest commuter Surrey, not far from the backwoods venue of Godalming) there was an understandable flurry of interest. Snow Peak has piqued (if you’ll excuse the pun) the curiosity of not a small number of Hambledon staff. And turns out we are a shopful of enthusiastic campers.
Snow Peak's journey began in 1958, when founder Yukio Yamai, an accomplished mountaineer, created his own line of superior climbing gear. The company is based in Sanjo City, in the Niigata Prefecture, which is famed for its mountains and rich natural environment as well as being known locally as the hardware town for its history of fine crafted metal work (ideally situated for production of climbing gear). For the people born and raised here, nature is a part of life and continues to inspire all Snow Peak’s products. Their central mission is to bring people closer to nature; that by spending time out of doors we find our humanity. The company is still family owned, run by Yamai’s son, with the introduction of apparel (of which more later) being overseen by Yamai’s granddaughter Lisa.
Jasper, Sim and Joe were the multi tasking boys for this particular job (we absolutely didn’t intend this to be a boys only trip but Annie and Lara, both seasoned campers, had last minute dog sitting and house moving). The hard work involved seems to have been putting up Snow Peak tents (which, it turns out, is a beautifully clear, albeit exacting, process. The Japanese are quite precise when it comes to guy rope tension), chopping vegetables (on a folding chopping board which neatly houses a knife), eating and drinking (keeping the beer cool in a thermally insulated cup) and taking copious photographs. This was one of the sunniest days of the year. Where better to spend it, than around a firepit, sitting in a comfy chair at an IGT table (iron grill table since you ask with all sorts of tessellating elements to minimise clutter)?
Camping is all well and good but much of it depends on the victuals. The boys arrived to a fire pit lunch of hot dogs and skewers (no lobster and oysters sadly as hot weather precluded seafood). The afternoon segued into preparations for supper with a Katsu curry (God bless the fire pit) and rice. Congratulations to Joe whose rice was deemed superior to that of the Mr Porter team (yep, The Hambledon, competitive to the last, even when we’re talking cooked carbs). And the following morning kicked off with full English breakfast prepared in all manner of Snow Peak pots and pans. Turns out the insulated cup for keeping your beer cool, will also keep your coffee piping hot.
Huge thanks to Emily and the team at Snow Peak. What a perfect mini break.
