Let’s be clear about one thing before we get to the crux of the matter: The Go There pants from SheFly would be great hiking pants for women even without their central feature. They’re flexible and durable, they have multiple pockets, they have an adjustable waist tie, they are compatible with climbing harnesses, they shed water, and they are comfortable.

But all of that would only make the Go There pants very good women’s hiking pants. It’s the subtle zipper that runs nearly all the way from the front to the back of the pants that makes these pants great. That zipper, opened wide, eliminates on of the women hiker, climber, camper, and general outdoors type person’s greatest pain points when in the wild: how to relieve oneself without essentially getting half naked in the process.

The SheFly Go There pants are one of those pieces of performance apparel that no doubt left thousands of people in the gear design space slapping their heads and saying: “Why didn’t I think of that!?” All we can say is we’re glad some people finally did. And Dad Gear Review spoke to one of those people, SheFly co-founder Charlotte Massey, to learn more about the brand behind the pants that have quickly become some of our favorite outdoor garb.

Founders Georgia Grace, Bianca Gonzalez and Charlotte Massey

What is your background in the outdoor/fitness space, both personally and professionally?

“I grew up mountaineering in Washington State and got my first ice axe at age 11,” Charlotte Massey said. “I've climbed every volcano in Washington as the only woman on my rope teams, and have experienced numerous inconveniences due to my gender. On the way down from the summit of Mount Rainier on an exposed and crevassed section of glacier, I desperately needed to go pee. I was fourteen and the only woman climbing the mountain. The men on my rope team were able to simply turn around and unzip their flies to go pee. By contrast, I had to fully remove my climbing harness and pull my pants down around my ankles which left me in physical danger of falling into one of the many deep gorges in the glacier around us with no way to climb out, and it also left my body exposed to dozens of male climbers on the narrow trail. This is not an uncommon situation for women to find themselves in.”

“Later, I was a guide for the Middlebury Mountain Club in college and spent 12 months traveling the world on a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship researching gender dynamics in the mountain guiding industry,” Massey went on, adding: “I've gone on expeditions with all-women teams in India and Argentina, and trekked with woman guides in Nepal, Thailand, and Chile. My co-founder, Georgia Grace, guided orientation trips at Middlebury College and was a Glacier Guide in Alaska during a summer in college.”

So, in other words, these women know mountains. And glaciers and woods and such. And that means they also know well the frustrations that come along with the majesty and wonder of such places.

What was the inspiration for the Go There pants? Was it a “light bulb” sort of moment or more of a slow, methodical development? And what was so frustrating about other options for women's hiking pants that you went ahead and started a company?

“The inspiration for SheFly came from that summer my co-founder Georgia Grace spent working as a glacier guide in Alaska,” Massey said. “She was one of the only female guides and had to trek across the glacier to find privacy, removing multiple layers in the freezing cold. A full summer of this inconvenience led her to cut her water consumption, and she thought there must be a better way for women to go to the bathroom outside. She prototyped numerous options. I joined up with her and our team refined the design into our current patented zipper.”