People

Black Friday was a success for Salida Mountain Sports, but not because they lured customers in with steep discounts. Prices stayed steady, and if the Colorado store missed some sales because they weren’t discounting, store owner Nate Porter said so be it. Small specialty outdoor ...read more

For your listening pleasure, we’re stoked to announce a new partnership with Kristin Carpenter and Channel Mastery podcast. SNEWS readers voted Channel Mastery their favorite outdoor podcast in 2019. We’re kicking things off with conversation with Kiri Masters, the founder of ...read more

It's 7 a.m. on a weekday in October and I'm meeting  Becky Day, marketing manager at Brunton Outdoor Group, for a pre-work hike. We're two of four cars in the parking lot at the trailhead for the Spring Brook Loop near Boulder—one of her favorite hikes in the area. It's early ...read more

The outdoor community is mourning Rodney Smith, the president and owner of American Outdoor Products who died on Jan. 2 after a tragic ski accident at Eldora Mountain, just north of Boulder, Colorado. He was 57. "He left us all too soon but spent his final days doing what he ...read more

In 2019, we shone the spotlight on 12 standout specialty outdoor stores across the country in our #CoolShops column. From matching prices online to offering free drinking water to preserving their town's history, these shops are seriously killing it at retail. And through our ...read more

Mountain Gear, one of our industry’s premier mountain shops, will be closing its doors in the coming months. The decision to close weighs heavily on founder and owner, Paul Fish, who said that the realization that it was time was both came somewhat sudden but also a long time ...read more

For anyone climbing in the Shawangunk Mountains in New York, stopping at Rock and Snow in New Paltz isn't an option—it's mandatory. As one of the oldest specialty climbing gear shops in the country, only minutes from The Gunks, it's an important piece of climbing history. The ...read more

When he's not spending time in his stores, you can find Half-Moon Outfitters Owner Beezer Molten at his newly-finished, off-grid tiny house with family and friends. Actually, you probably can't find him even if you tried because his cabin is tucked deep in the jungle-like woods ...read more

Almost every adventure starts with a backpack, making it one of the key categories in any retail shop. And selling packs successfully (and responsibly) requires deep technical knowledge of features, fitting, and use. Our free online course will help any sales associate—seasoned ...read more

Tom Adams, who has held the post of director of the Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation (UOOR) since 2016, is moving onto to the private sector. Adams will become Petzl North America’s COO. It will be familiar turf for him: He served as Petzl’s North American sales director for ...read more

If you were one of the few people who attended the 2018 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market when it debuted in the November time slot, you know it was pretty grim. “Ghost town” was how many people described it. What happened? Industry members didn’t find it relevant, so they didn’t ...read more

In the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn and Los Angeles, outdoor lovers take refuge in a naturally-lit, well-curated gear store, Hatchet Outdoor Supply Co., stocking only the most fashionable and functional products. KEEN, Mystery Ranch, Mammut, and Fjällräven blend tastefully ...read more

Since sharing the news of Adventure 16's closing, SNEWS has received dozens of messages from former employees, longtime customers, and admirers in the outdoor industry. It's clear that A16 had a wide reach and touched so many lives during its nearly six decades in business. It's ...read more

Every day is an adventure for Brittney and Jonathan Meier, who opened Wanderlust Outfitters in September 2016 in St. Joseph, Michigan. Situated on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, they're surrounded by forests, streams, and other natural wonders, perfect for outdoor ...read more

Just yesterday, John Mead told about 35 employees across two remaining stores that Adventure 16 is closing altogether before the end of the year. The business is perhaps one of the best known premier specialty outdoor retailers, with a rich history dating back to 1962 in ...read more

Snowboarding wouldn't be the sport and community it is today if it wasn't for Jake Burton Carpenter. The OG snowboarder and founder of Burton Snowboards died on Wednesday night at age 65 from a recurrence of cancer. Employees learned of his death through an email sent by Co-CEO ...read more

Compared side by side, Winter Park and Buena Vista are pretty similar. They're both mountain towns in Colorado located next to glorious natural resources, and they both have small populations and tight-knit communities. But Dave Blazer is excited to learn the nuances between the ...read more

For many new parents, attending Outdoor Retailer comes at a cost: leaving your kiddos behind. But, for Tessa Byars, the PR and communications manager at Patagonia, it was as easy as climbing into the cab of a truck. “Our daughter was six months so my husband joined,” Byars ...read more

Buying is an art and a science. Your buy defines your shop’s essence: the brands and products your choose reflect the culture of your store. The underlying principle is to keep your store fresh and fun for all of your different types of customers. Shops structure their buying ...read more

For most people, the first week of any job entails meetings, paperwork, introductions, a building tour, and lots of administrative details to contend with. But Shannon Davis's first week as BACKPACKER's new editor-in-chief was much more, well, BACKPACKER. The team spent last ...read more

The outdoor industry has lost One Tough Mother. Gert Boyle, Chairman of the Board (she hated the term “chairwoman”) and former CEO of Columbia Sportswear, died on Sunday, November 3, 2019, at the age of 95.  Gert never retired; she loved going to her office at the brand’s ...read more

It's not even 8 a.m. one Thursday morning in mid-September and people are erupting with laughter at Mountainsmith's headquarters in Golden, Colorado. I'm gathered around a pot of coffee and a pile of backpacks with a lively bunch of writers and Mountainsmith employees before we ...read more

Celebrating 45 years in business, Skinny Skis is a Jackson Hole institution. It first specialized in Nordic and cross-country skis, but has since expanded to serve runners, mountaineers, and other high-endurance and high-performance athletes living in and visiting the resort ...read more

From a first ascent on Denali to a 70-foot fall during a staff climbing trip, Phil Powers shares about the highs and lows of his climbing lifestyle in a short adocumentary by Chispa House. The video comes only a few weeks after Powers announced he is leaving the American Alpine ...read more