Kenneth Hap Klopp

Among his many exploits, Hap was the founder of The North Face, where he served as President and CEO for 20 years. During that time The North Face was honored with many awards for being the best managed company in its industry, including being lauded by Business Week Magazine for providing one of the highest quality products of any company in the United States. Mr. Klopp led The North Face to its position as the largest and most successful company in its industry and one of the largest privately held companies in the San Francisco East Bay. Adventurer and executive, Hap Klopp has run numerous companies and spoken around the world on adventuring, leadership, entrepreneurship and the human side of management. Among other achievements, he established the mountaineering and backpacking industry through the development of his own company, The North Face, and along the way was highlighted on national television and in such publications as BusinessWeek, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, Success, and San Francisco Focus Magazine. After selling his highly successful company, he began an international management consulting firm with offices in Berkeley, CA and Tokyo, Japan. He has simultaneously participated in a number of entrepreneurial ventures and orchestrated the takeover of the world's leading rugby company, Canterbury of New Zealand (based in New Zealand). Concurrently he has written the highly acclaimed book on leadership called: THE ADVENTURE OF LEADERSHIP: An Unorthodox Business Guide from the Man who Conquered The North Face, published in both hardcover and paperback. He combines all of this with his ongoing sporting and adventuring activities. "Life is a series of linked recoveries, elegantly described in retrospect as a plan." - Hap Klopp