It's officially been 20 years since our hiking and camping brand, Quechua, was born. Quechua is our original and first mountain sports brand, which has now branched into several brands tailored to each custom sport - Forclaz for backpacking, Simond for mountaineering, Wed'ze when it comes to snow.
To celebrate our anniversary, we're looking back and cherishing the major milestones that brought us to our success today. We thank all of you for your support, and hope to continue making outdoor sports more accessible and affordable to everyone. As we continuously design quality, innovative gear meant for every trek, camp story, and sunrise, we encourage everyone to send us their input and feedback so we can bring you gear of the future.
Timeline
1997
A dozen employees leave the premises of Lille to come and settle in Haute-Savoie, in an apartment converted into an office, to create the Decathlon mountain sports brand: Quechua.
1998
The first Quechua branded products arrive in the stores. Less than a year later, in the spring of 1998, the group’s mountain brand offers its products in all Decathlon stores. Designed and tested on the premises, in the Mont Blanc massif, Quechua products were, from the very beginning, impregnated with a very pronounced mountain experience.
2003
Quechua enters the top 10 outdoor gear brands in the world. After only 6 years of existence, Quechua joined the group of the 10 leading outdoor gear brands worldwide.
2005
Launch of the 2 Seconds tent.
"I dream of a tent that I throw into the air and then pitches itself "
says a user tester in 2003. Challenge succeeded, thanks to long months of work carried out by the Quechua teams.
2007-2009
Wed'ze and Simond are added to the family for further specialty focus.
2018
Quechua arrives in the USA!
Innovation at our core
In 2002, Quechua engineers imagined the Air Cooling concept for optimal carrying 
comfort. Thanks to its structure with tensioned netting, the back remains ventilated and dry, regardless of intensity and temperature. The current Forclaz Air + backpack range was developed in 2014 with a distinct male and female model adapted to each body shape.
Arpenaz 10L backpack
Dating back to 1996, this pack quickly became a classic. Designers and engineers 
worked constantly to minimize the number of stitching panels per pack, therefore lowering production costs and increasing affordability. You can read more about this innovation here, and as a fun fact, our fabric was inspired by origami! Its ability to fold in several places proves to be simple, yet effective.
Forclaz 50 fleece - men's and women's
Since 2012, the Forclaz 50 fleece has been composed of a material made from
recycled plastic bottles and is guaranteed 100% recycled. This represented 32,000 1L plastic bottles recycled in 2014, or 2,000 tons of waste for the planet. Compared to the fabrication of the old model, 43% water and 58% energy is saved. This represents a 54% reduction in CO2 emissions.
At the end of each day, our Quechua team, based in France, makes it their #1 goal and priority to simplify the lives of hikers. As we turn to to the future, Quechua promises to...
Never stop innovating.
Reduce environmental impact.
Preserve our planet (our playground).
Understand the needs and wants of hikers better, through intensive product testing.
