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 […]

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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 […]

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Troubling Health Signs in Utah

Cultural and business climates often run parallel to the degree of local reportage and response. The same news event will get different coverage in Boise than it will in Boston.  The concern over potentially harmful environmental impact, for example, may be less officially worrisome in […]

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Is Utah’s outside troubling your insides?

A few astute doctors are reporting a worrisome increase in brain-related cancers and diseases in and around Salt Lake County. The state rate of Parkinson’s Disease is double the national average. Some think the PD numbers are even under-reported because of the dearth of qualified […]

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A Feline Catch and Release

Say what you will about trapping. It’s not always humane and not always pursued by hunters of integrity and compassion. (Us “non-consumptive” parties – hikers, bikers, and horseback riders – can be less than virtuous, too, tossing litter and otherwise trashing the wilderness.) But the […]

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Utah brain doc connects the dots

What our ancestors knew eons ago is confirmed by modern research: mens sana in corpore sano More specifically, we know what’s good for your heart – getting outside, exercising, and eating a Mediterranean diet – is good for your brain, too. One man in our […]

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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 […]

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From Farm to Fashion: meet Cheri Sanguinetti

Excuse the stereotypes for this one, please: Lots of girls grow up wanting to design clothes. Like boys and their dreams of becoming professional athletes, most of those girls end up doing something more humble and ordinary. Of those who do enter the fashion industry, […]

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No Goose in the Kusa

The Perfect Barn Coat just found its perfect layer, now making it a four-season jacket to love and adore. The perfect layer? The new, ultra thin Kusa jacket from Cotopaxi. The reversible Kusa weighs just 15 ounces and has an attractive quilted stitching pattern on […]

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SPOT to the rescue (and for fun)

The move to Colorado means a few things change: I’m in unfamiliar territory. I’m mostly alone while exploring on foot and horseback. Just in time, the folks at SPOT have sent their Gen3 device with satellite service for messaging and tracking. We’ll be giving one […]

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