Outdoor Reads: Canada Goose cult? Bad PR storm ahead?

What did the SNEWS team read this week that other industry insiders might find interesting? Read on to find out!

• Canada Goose has star quality — or, at least, stars like Canada Goose quality. The outdoor brand recently has been spotted on actress Gabrielle Union, on the cover of Sports Illustrated wornby model Kate Upton and in the movie “World War Z.” Apparently, it’s a cult and it’s taking over, according to this story.

• Since the New Year starts next week, let’s kick it off with some positivity, shall we? We’re always reading negative things in the news, but this story reports the top five best pieces of news that aren’t being widely reported. The tidbits include that teens are less likely to smoke and drink today than they were seven years ago. Plus, people are getting more tolerant and literacy is at an all-time high.

• We’ve gotten through all of the holidays thus far with one more to go. Residual stress might still be getting you down. Get that yoga mat and get your practice on. This story pinpoints the top 10 reasons to practice yoga this holiday season, which include keeping calories in check and get a jumpstart on your New Year’s resolutions.

• The issue of PFCs used for waterproofing garments has been in and out of the news in recent years. It’s back in with Nick Brown, founder of Nikwax, being featured in this story. He says the global outdoor industry is going to face a storm of bad publicity the more people learn about the chemicals used in waterproofing.

• More outdoor industry companies are providing apparel and footwear for the indoor training that many outdoor enthusiasts do. According to this New York Daily News story, the lines between the fitness and outdoor industry is getting blurrier with many outdoor activities, like climbing, finding their way into luxury fitness gyms that previously didn’t offer that sort of thing.

• We don’t know about you, but we prefer winter running. It gives us a little bit more motivation to go faster to get home and warm up. Turns out we aren’t the only ones who experience a reinvigoration when exercising in colder temperatures. When it’s cold, we run faster, thus burning more calories, this story said.

• We’ll admit it: Our favorite winter activity is snowshoeing. It’s peaceful, it’s safe and it’s great exercise. So we were tickled to read this article that said this might be a fine season for snowshoeing given the deep snow. OK, sure, this article is for folks in Midland, Mich., but we’re pretty confident it’s going to be a great winter for snowshoeing here in our beautiful Colorado.

• The holidays passed and you didn’t get that super-high-tech gadget you wanted. Perhaps that’s a sign that you could find the same capabilities among the list of the top five best Android apps for outdoor adventures. Topping the list is Google Maps. Check out the story to see what the other four are.

• The best way to battle the wintertime blues is to get in some outdoor fun. But, this story said, it takes a lot of preparation and more gear. This is where you come in, retailers. This list of the best ways to get outdoors during the cold months includes snowshoeing, running and snow fort building.

• Trail running continues to boom, retailers tell us. So perhaps you’ll be getting some customers whose New Year’s resolution is to start hitting the trails. Have them check out this story that includes the top five trail running tips form XTERRA athlete Gregg Shrosbree. The tips include buying a trail-specific shoes and using your arms.

Did you read anything awesome this week? Email us because we want to read it, too.