ACG FEATURE - PART TWO

MONTY MAYKO INTERVIEW

Did it occur to you that even though Nike was primarily into running that there was a whole outdoors field they could go after?
Actually Nike had just introduced the Lava Dome, Approach and Magma. I’d seen this product and I was saying ‘Wow, this is cool!’ It was the blend of a lightweight athletic running shoe with performance features. Up until then you were only able to buy heavyweight European hiking boots or classic marathon training shoes and this was that hybrid between the two.
After I started we changed the title from outdoor to emerging sports so there were four categories. Running and Court which would be basketball and tennis ‘cause cross-training or athletic training hadn’t been invented yet. There was Cleated which would be football and soccer, and then they had this one called Emerging which was the other category.

Does ACG as a category have a premise other than just outdoors as a generic term? 
The name All Conditions Gear means that you’re going to be able to do more than just a very narrow niche. We don’t make a rock climbing shoe. We don’t make a Telemark boot. I think some of our big breakthroughs were the areas where people had multiple needs. Did you ever drive down River Road in Moab where there’s all the rock climbing?

Sure did. 
Literally you can boulder from your car bumper. That would be one experiment where you don’t need additional gear but in many cases, you need to get to where you’re going to do your activity. Look at that K2 poster. That was ACG – getting to the mountain! You’re not going to wear those on K2 itself, but a lot of people overlook the fact that you need to get to where you’re going to do your thing if you’re a serious enthusiast.