A Visit to the OR

Last week, we traveled to the Outdoor Retailer at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. It’s the outdoor industry’s largest event for buyers, media, and others to gather, place orders, and show off new products. More importantly, it’s an opportunity for the outdoor recreational community […]

Riders: how long will we be relevant?

Like any other niche community, us horse owners and riders know what we like. We gravitate to anyone or anything that speaks our language. We can spot each other a mile away. In my neck of the woods, the ‘I get horseback’ uniform is: Long, […]

OR Highlights

Recently, we traveled to Denver to visit with folks at the Outdoor Retailer. Held at the Colorado Convention Center, the event attracts some 6,000 vendors and over 30,000 attendees. Yikes! Think Mall-on-Christmas-Eve frenzy. The OR, as it is widely known, gives us a chance to […]

OR Swan Song in Salt Lake

Last month, we headed to the Outdoor Retailer, held for the last time at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City. Why was this the final episode of a decades-long run, drawing tens of thousands to Utah and generating millions of dollars for […]

Hasta La Vista, Utah

The Outdoor Retailer, the multi-million dollar exposition force which lived in Salt Lake City for 21 years, has pulled up stakes and is headed to neighboring Colorado. Beginning in January, 2018, the OR will be hosted by Denver. Read this open letter to Utah from […]

Tempest Williams stirs it up

The Outdoor Retailer is all about the selly-selly-sell. Thousands of outdoor gear exhibitors tout their latest socks, stoves, skis, shoes, snowshoes, and shovels in the effort to wow thousands of buyers (or not). Increasingly, however, it’s also about organizing and affirming the outdoor industry’s growing […]

Tempest Williams wows OR crowd

The Outdoor Retailer is all about the selly-selly-sell. Thousands of outdoor gear exhibitors tout their latest socks, stoves, skis, shoes, snowshoes, and shovels in the effort to wow thousands of buyers (or not). Increasingly, however, it’s also about organizing and affirming the outdoor industry’s growing […]

We found great trail snacks

Here’s the thing with being outside and active: you get hungry. Read about getting out and cognitive decline. And the more you tune into your body, the pickier you become about what goes down the gullet. If you listen, your body will tell you what […]

Backpacker as a museum piece

“I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” John Muir   Reality is scary and boring. Wilderness is beautiful and tiresome. Getting Out is serene and challenging. Getting Out, […]

Exploring the divide: Inside Outside

I always figured folks viewed the wilderness like I did: A place to cherish and protect. A place for quiet observation and reflection. A place where humans could be brought to their knees by the elements or by simple wonder. As I get older and […]