Early Winters, Ltd. of Seattle, Washington, United States was founded in 1972 by William S. Nicolai, who formed the company after creating a tent called the Omnipotent.
[1] Early Winters was the first company to create and sell a consumer product made with Gore-Tex laminates produced by W. L. Gore & Associates in Elkton, Maryland.
Over a two-year period, Tanner had made numerous sales calls and had been turned down by companies such as REI, Eddie Bauer, and The North Face.
In fact, the timing of Tanner's visit was fortuitous since Early Winters had a lightweight, single-walled tent design for which they were seeking a waterproof and breathable fabric solution.
After learning about the product, Nicolai, Edwards, and Zimmerman requested sample material for experimentation, and in Winter 1975, they produced a prototype tent that they subjected to testing in extreme outdoor conditions.