 According to Parsons, the changes cost the family-owned business over £1 million by completion, but left Karrimor at the start of the 1990s as "the industry's most significant supplier", and it continued to win awards and renown.Karrimor's pre-receivership highlights included the 'Alpiniste' backpack of the 1960s and purple 'Haston Alpiniste' pack of the 1970s – described as "dominating" the decade in terms of climbing packs – leading to Chris Bonington's team in their well-publicised 1975 ascent of Everest's south-west face using Karrimor equipment (Peter Habeler likewise used the same brand three years later for his oxygen-mask-free ascent, as did Junko Tabei, Everest's first female climber ); Ks-100e, a pioneering waterproof nylon-based fabric invented in 1973; a British Design Award in 1991 for the Condor backpack; the design of the ubiquitous 'SA' backpack support system; and pioneering development within lightweight fabric/suede footwear (the "footwear revolution" of the 1980s) with the KSB range.Backpacks at that time were often made from heavy fabrics or with a solid external frame; the Alpiniste and its relatives were was the first 'modern' non-frame backpack, in the sense of being lightweight with the weight transferred to an integrated hip belt via a close-fit back support system.