The History of Adventure Alan & Co

This website was founded by Alan Dixon in 1999 to document and teach what he knew about ultralight backpacking. Ultralight techniques were new and relatively unknown at the time. Good information was siloed and difficult to come by and ultralight gear as we know it today was widely unavailable. Alan set out to change all of that through knowledge sharing.

The growth of Adventure Alan and the popularity of ultralight backpacking follow the same trajectory. To-date, millions of people have visited to read gear reviews, discover high routes, and learn more about ultralight technique. Much of the ultralight gear you’ll find on lists from other gear review websites was first discovered and popularized here.

Our all-time most popular post is Adventure Alan’s famous 9 Pound Ultralight Backpacking Gear List.

Spring of 2023 was a new milestone, marking team growth, a change in website ownership, and an evolution of the brand into Adventure Alan & Co. Alan himself took a step back from web management, allowing him to spend more time actually hiking, and less time writing about hiking. He is still involved as a gear editor and technical advisor.

AdventureAlan.com is now owned and operated by Alan’s friend, colleague, hiking partner, and fellow ultralight backpacker Jaeger Shaw. As the managing editor, Jaeger (pronounced Jay-ger) is thrilled to continue curating gear lists, promoting cottage brands, reviewing new hiking products, and preaching the gospel of ultralight farther and wider than ever before. 

We hope you’ll follow us on this new journey as we continue to introduce more people to ultralight backpacking in new and exciting ways. Happy hiking!

-Adventure Alan & Co

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The technical elements of this website are maintained by Industrial Marketing Agency.