Even as the head of one of the largest retail companies in the country, JanSport co-founder Skip Yowell's life has always been about the outdoors.
"I knew I really wanted to be in the mountains," Yowell said about starting the company. "We didn't want to get a real job."
Climbing mountains and exploring the world was the subject of The Skip Yowell Story, a short film that was accompanied by a post-film presentation by Yowell and six other short films brought to State College from the Telluride Mountainfilm Festival on Tuesday night in the Forestry Building.
While the other films ranged from stories of an animated owl to a documentary on extreme "street unicycling," the JanSport film explored how Yowell and a group of friends combined their love of backpacking and climbing with a need they saw for stronger backpacks.
Yowell said his company was the first to put zippers on packs and that the company really took flight in 1971 when on a skiing trip, he and his fellow creators built a tent based on the dome idea of Eskimo igloos.
"They just blew out of the door," he said of the prototype's success. "That product was responsible for putting us on the map."
Yowell attributes the company's success to his and fellow creator Murray Pletz's passion for the outdoors.
"It wasn't so unusual to have a vision back then," he said of their early days of traveling in the '70s. "What's amazing is that we remember it. Even though we've grown quite a bit, we still have fun and enjoy everything we do."
The film, along with the personal photos Yowell showed after, also depicted a lifetime of travel throughout the world to places including Bhutan, Tibet and Nepal.
"I travel 130 days out of the year," Yowell said. "I'm fortunate enough to be able to travel the world and I still enjoy it. You are never too old to learn."
While Yowell has climbed both Mount Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro, he said he has climbed Mouth Rainier 21 times and each time is a different experience.
"To me, everyday is a bonus, and I'm taking it one day at a time," he said.
Andrew Hess (junior-electrical engineering) said he attended the event because of his curiosity about Yowell.
"I thought it was interesting that the president of JanSport would speak about his career and how it developed," Hess said.
Nate Bovard (senior-recreation, parks and tourism management) said he was fascinated by Yowell's story as well.
"It was good to see someone so involved in the outdoors," he said. "It was really cool seeing him go from shops to a multi-million dollar industry."
Other students were interested in the film festival selections.
"I'm interested in ecological issues and movies," said Sunny Zhu (junior-film). "Anything that occupies my passive mind."
