Kassondra Cloos is an editor of SNEWS and Outdoor Retailer Daily.
In celebration of the amazing women in the outdoor industry, and of March as Women's History Month, SNEWS has featured a number of female leaders in stories about Camber Outdoors' Deanne Buck to 10 rad women-led companies. In this new Q&A series, we asked women in all sorts of ...read more
In celebration of the amazing women in the outdoor industry, and of March as Women's History Month, SNEWS has featured a number of female leaders in stories about Camber Outdoors' Deanne Buck to 10 rad women-led companies. In this new Q&A series, we asked women in all sorts of ...read more
In celebration of the amazing women in the outdoor industry, and of March as Women's History Month, SNEWS has featured a number of female leaders in stories about Camber Outdoors' Deanne Buck to 10 rad women-led companies. In this new Q&A series, we asked women in all sorts of ...read more
We’re not complaining that women are at the forefront of challenging conversations, from properly-fitting gear to sexual harassment in the workplace. There’s a lot of catching up to do, but a few sources stand out for their honest perspectives, genuine voices and compelling ...read more
Ibex Outdoor Clothing, which plans to close its doors in February, might be revived under the leadership of Terry Bicycles CEO Liz Robert. She confirmed Thursday that Vermont Works, a private equity firm of which she is a director, is exploring a bid on the Vermont-based apparel ...read more
Rocky Mountain Underground, or RMU, is not your standard retail store. Aside from the gear shop--which sells its own line of high-end ski gear and apparel--there’s a full-fledged bar, complete with near-daily live music and specialty cocktails. And instead of hiring someone to ...read more
We all know the outdoor industry is hardly as diverse as it needs to be. It's something we've discussed time and time again, yet there's so much more work that needs to be done. Jeff Wiguna, co-founder of pocket pour-over brand Kuju Coffee, has been working on a way for outdoor ...read more
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended President Donald Trump decrease the size of at least four national monuments, according to a leaked memo obtained by the Associated Press.Aside from Bears Ears, which Zinke recommended shrinking earlier this summer, he also proposed ...read more
People don’t buy gear to have new stuff. They buy it because they need it. The Adventure Travel Trade Association, with member gear companies, tour operators, and destinations, typically focuses on the experiences people have with the stuff you sell them. But Casey Hanisko, who ...read more
A couple of years ago, Cotopaxi was a small brand with five backpacks. Now, the company makes more than 150 SKUs, and the stories behind some of its products have gone viral. Cotopaxi is a colorful company in ways that go way beyond its signature neon hues: It runs a highly ...read more
Backcountry.com isn't just an e-commerce site. Sure, you can browse the website, full of a massive variety of product choices. But unlike other websites (and even many brick-and-mortar shops), you can also get access to ...read more
Liz Carlson grew up in Virginia, but the millions of annual visitors to her blog, Young Adventuress, know her better for her life in New Zealand and her travels around the world. Since she started the blog in 2010, Carlson has become a powerful influencer. She knows from years of ...read more
The world of travel insurance can be confusing and complicated. If you're an individual traveling on your own and you have good health insurance, you may wonder if you should bother paying for it. But what if you need to cancel your trip, or your luggage gets stolen? And what if ...read more
We recently had a heated debate in the Backpacker and SNEWS office over a very silly question: What food would you eat if you could only bring one for a 100-mile trip? It's an innocent enough question, but it got dicey when we tried to figure out the rules.Does a breakfast ...read more
The flooding from Hurricane Harvey is like nothing Texas has ever seen. The full scale of the destruction is likely not yet known. We're in the perfect position to help, and many outdoor industry brands have stepped up to the plate to send boats, supplies, and cash. Here are a ...read more
Apparel that used to be seen as functional with zero fashionable elements has quickly become the haute couture of the outdoor industry—also known as “Colorado business casual.” The Mountain Lifestyle category at The North Face is a prime example of how far the aesthetics of ...read more
It is 2017, and we are now #adultsummercamping. Don’t judge: That’s pretty much the No. 1, unspoken rule of the wild and wonderful new CamelBak Pursuit Series. It is the opposite of the “Gore-Tex Vortex” you’ll find in places like Boulder, and it’s a beginner outdoorist’s ...read more
It is 2017, and yet it's extremely rare for climbing films to feature women as lead characters.Never Not Collective, a new media group formed by four outdoor industry veterans, plans to change that in short order. But they need your help. They're currently fundraising for "Pretty ...read more
In an open letter released on Tuesday, more than 350 veteran National Park Service employees pleaded with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to deny proposed oil and gas leases adjacent to park borders."National parks represent the best of America," the letter says, adding that they ...read more
In totality towns, where the sun would be completely blocked out by the moon for just a few minutes, the solar eclipse was all anyone could talk about for weeks. Even in places like Boulder, where SNEWS is based, we couldn't stop talking about where we'd drive and how far we'd go ...read more
Arc'teryx announced Thursday that it is recalling first generation Procline backcountry ski boots.In some boots, it has been reported that the axis pin near the heel has dislodged, which can cause a skier to fall or lose control. No injuries have been reported.Last year, ...read more
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is expected to recommend to President Donald Trump that he should decrease the boundaries of some national monuments.Zinke told the Associated Press Thursday morning that he would not recommend eliminating any monuments, and that none of the land in ...read more
National Geographic Society Fellow Joe Riis travels 11 months out of the year. It’s hard to be away from home so much, but he believes deeply in his mission to inspire society to build infrastructure more thoughtfully. He’s constantly working around national parks to film and ...read more
The National Park Service turns 101 on Friday. You can celebrate by heading to any national park for fee-free entrance, but why not say "Happy Birthday" by buying an annual pass? It's the best $80 you'll spend all year, we promise.We took a look at the list of least-visited ...read more
Before Phil Oren revolutionized bootfitting, he was a shoe salesman in a retail shop at a time when it was standard practice to X-ray kids’ feet to see if their shoes fit. He spent more than two decades as a sales rep for The North Face and, later, Mountain Hardwear, but it took ...read more
In a first for the brand, Patagonia will air a commercial throughout the state of Montana this week, aimed at Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke. Zinke has just a few days left before he must give President Donald Trump official recommendations on the monuments currently under review. With ...read more
Jägermeister has caused a bit of confusion with a new campaign urging customers to "find a kühl spot" to drink. The word is German for "cool," as you might assume, but it's also trademarked by the Salt Lake City-based clothing company of the same name.KÜHL has filed a lawsuit ...read more
Hundreds of outdoor industry businesses have banded together to show that our public lands, and particularly the monuments in danger, are vital to the recreation economy.On Aug. 24, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will make his official recommendations to President Donald Trump ...read more
Jainee Dial and Lindsey Elliott opened Wylder Goods in 2016 to create an online outdoor retail experience targeted toward adventurous women. The Salt Lake City-based business got started with the help of $54,000 from 600 backers on Kickstarter. At first, their motivation was ...read more
Sam D’Aoust started working at Escape Route in British Columbia when he was 17. He started out with a simple enough task, just watching the doors during the holiday shopping season. It was meant to be a seasonal gig. But as the weeks went on, he started selling jackets. It ...read more
The Utah State University has established an advisory board of iconic industry brands for its Outdoor Product Design and Development (OPDD) program, the first of its kind.The board will meet twice a year to guide the OPDD program. Member brands will be able to offer suggestions ...read more
To drum up excitement over the new season of Game of Thrones, a British TV network hosted the ultimate marathon: an epic ultra across Italy.To watch the show, you had to keep up.Sky teamed up with ad agency M&C Saatchi Milan to pull a massive TV screen through the Italian ...read more
When Elyse Rylander was in grad school, she couldn’t find a single outdoor education program focused on people in the queer community. She had long been a kayaking guide, and saw a clear need for more inclusive trips. So in 2014, she founded Seattle-based OUT There Adventures ...read more
Scott Kerslake, CEO of prAna, will step down next week to take on a leadership position in an adjacent industry, the brand's parent company, Columbia Sportswear Company, announced Monday.Kerslake has been CEO of prAna since 2010, and was previously its president. The brand has ...read more
It’s not often that you hear of a Congressman hiking the Appalachian Trail. But Rep. Don Beyer, a Democrat representing part of Northern Virginia, has been at it since long before the outdoor industry became the political force it is today. He’s been section-hiking the trail ...read more
Interbike will move to Reno-Tahoe starting in September, 2018, the trade show announced on Thursday. The new Interbike Marketweek will kick off with a consumer-facing event on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018, then segue into the OutDoor Demo. Both will be held at the Northstar ...read more
Gore has itself a new client, and it’s big enough to alter the way both brands are perceived.Starting in spring 2018, REI will turn to Gore for its private label line of technical outerwear, the brands have announced. Gore-Tex will replace eVent as the go-to fabric for REI’s ...read more
Every time Outdoor Retailer rolls around, we get countless emails from incredible people from awesome brands who want to catch up and show us what's new. More often than not, we have to pass up the amazing events you're hosting because we're tucked away in an undisclosed location ...read more
This week, President Donald Trump kicked off "Made in America Week," highlighting U.S.-made products from every state. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke joined in, too, putting the spotlight on America's public lands.In an op-ed published by FOX News, Zinke wrote that he's working on ...read more
Carsten von Birckhahn, the CEO and brand manager of Edelrid, died Saturday in a paragliding accident. Von Birckhahn was a “pioneer and a hands-on man, a mountain enthusiast and a gear innovator, according to a press release from Edelrid on Wednesday. He died after a crash landing ...read more
"Before you do it, do you like, write a note to your mom or anything?" Jimmy Kimmel asked Alex Honnold Thursday night, of his recent free solo of El Capitan."No, that seems overly dramatic," Honnold replied.In a segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Honnold explained his preparation and ...read more
Alex Honnold might be the closest thing this industry has to a household name. Tonight, he'll be on TV screens in houses across the U.S., too.Catch Honnold on Jimmy Kimmel Live at 11:35 p.m. Eastern / 10:35 p.m. Central Time. Honnold, 31, recently free soloed El Capitan in ...read more
Outdoor business communities in many U.S. states have been lobbying their state legislatures to open offices for outdoor recreation, to focus on the business side of fun. So far, a few states have been successful, like Utah, Colorado, Washington, Vermont, and North Carolina. But ...read more
It was not an easy process. Emerald Expositions, parent company of Outdoor Retailer, was propositioned by many cities and states bragging about their outdoor cred. And the city of Denver, which lobbied hard to secure the show, had to have tricky conversations with organizations ...read more
There will be a "major announcement" tomorrow morning from Colorado's Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, according to a news release the office sent early Wednesday morning.Though the initial news release was vague, it's now clear that the press conference will be an official ...read more
President Donald Trump issued a proclamation Thursday that will lower costs for backpack, duffel bag, and other travel goods manufacturers.The "Presidential Proclamation to Modify Duty-Free Treatment Under the ...read more
As the outdoor industry pushes for more state recreation offices, we're getting our wish. But it's taking time. We asked HydraPak Founder and CEO Matt Lyon about his involvement with AB-907, a bill in California's state ...read more
Colorado's massive mountain ranges and more than 50 fourteeners (mountains taller than 14,000 feet) are more than just pretty postcards. They're money-making economic machines, according to data released Tuesday morning by the Outdoor Industry Association.Every year, outdoorists ...read more
It was supposed to be the mother of all outdoor trade shows, a behemoth turning Outdoor Retailer and Grassroots Outdoor Alliance Connect from two short sprints into one long marathon as early as spring 2018.But Grassroots Outdoor Alliance announced today that it will move its ...read more
Simon-Olivier Côté, Raphael Champagne, and Mathieu Bergeron started Le Québec Hors Circuits (“Quebec Off the Beaten Path”) about 10 years ago, running tours in and along the Fjord du Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. But while their city, Saguenay, is known for its rafting, kayaking, ...read more