Longtime Patagonia employee Peter Kinnoch Noone, who was known for his gruff exterior, sharp sense of justice, and down-to-earth style of the outdoor industry’s early days, died of recurrent cancer on July 9, 2018 at his home in Ojai, California. He was 75.

Noone's outdoor retail career began when he was a 21-year-old downhill and cross country skier, rock climber, and fly fisherman. Desperate for money, he went looking for a summer job in 1968 on Berkeley's University Avenue and walked into The Ski Hut. On the spot, he was hired for $2 an hour under George Rudolf, the first U. S. importer of European ski and climbing gear.

Noone quickly rose to general manager of the store's catalog and retail divisions until the business was sold at the end of 1982. But during that time, he and his lifelong friend Kate Larramendy created the model for the modern outdoor specialty shop by expanding offerings from hard goods and classic heavy woolen clothing to more unexpected items like snowshoe chairs, alpaca ponchos, Icelandic sweaters and colorful rugged sportswear, according to long-time friend, Vincent Stanley. --- This appeared on SNEWS Newsletter July 18, 2018