Outdoor Reads: Utah should love us — and we should love apps

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

• Outdoor Retailer is the place to be for businesses from all over the world. Utah-based companies in particular use the show as a “springboard” to launch their brands, according to this Desert News story, which features Goal Zero and Gregory Mountain Products, among other Utah companies. The article also recaps for us the big chunk of change the show dumps into the state economy.
• Speaking of Outdoor Retailer boosting the Beehive State’s economy, check out this Salt Lake City Tribune op-ed. The writer said that whether Utah’s lawmakers, who recently have had some tension with the outdoor industry, feel a connection with outdoor folks they should still pay attention to the industry.

• A few months back, Denver, Colo.-based nonprofit First Descents announced plans to study the effects of its wilderness programs on its participants, who are young adults with cancer. It isn’t often that you see scientific studies on what many in this industry know to be true: Outdoor adventures are good for a person’s life. But this Guardian Express story has the news of one such scientific study that found just that.

• Just as outdoor adventures are therapeutic to young adults battling (or in remission from) cancer and folks with developmental disabilities, outdoor recreation can also be therapeutic for veterans. Check out this Clinical Advisor story that reports on the ways outdoor activities can help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues. Plus, check out the Veteran Outdoors Facebook page, which seeks to get veterans involved in all types of outdoor activities across the greater outdoor industry including the hook-and-bullet segment.

• So what does the most beautiful man in the world — well actually the No. 2 most beautiful man in the world — do when he’s not posing half-naked hawking Giorgio Armani fragrances? He hikes and surfs, according to this Province story. That doesn’t surprise us given the general good-looking vibe all of us in this industry give off.

• We’ve been in app-downloading phase lately. We have been longtime users of RunKeeper but recently found we could sync it to other apps like GymPact and MyFitnessPal. The former is an app where you enter your credit card information, set your fitness goals (work out at least 30 minutes, 7 days a week) and either make money if you make your weekly goals, or lose money for every workout you miss. So in hunting for more apps to take up our phone’s memory we came across this post outlining some other fun ones we’re about to download, including Simply Yoga and AllTrails, which finds local hiking trails and shares them with your friends.

• Three-generation family pictures are all well and good, but wouldn’t they be more awesome if taken while hiking in Norway’s Jotunheimen National Park? Michael Lanza, his mother (otherwise known as the “World’s Toughest Grandma”) and his children did just that and have the family portraits to prove in on the newest post from The Big Outside. Check out the tale of the crew taking on the “Home of the Giants” as it’s also known.

• Sustainability is a buzzword we hear a lot in this industry but what exactly does it mean and what are we doing to help the cause? Betsy Blaisdell, the senior manager for environmental stewardship at Timberland, knows the answers to those questions and recently gave them to the crew at OR Inside. Check out the Q&A with Blaisdell and find out what Timberland does to promote volunteerism and stewardship among its people.
• Apparently one of our Colorado towns, Buena Vista, is teaming up with the Bureau of Land Management to benefit outdoor recreation? How, you might ask. According to this Chaffee County Times story, the pair is working to create a trail system east of the Arkansas River.

• Let’s loop back to Outdoor Retailer Summer Market one last time. If you’ve kept up with our issues of the Outdoor Retailer Daily (and the stories we’ve been posting on our website) you know what products we think are the cheese, but what did others like? Gear Junkie has bestowed its “Best In Show” awards to several companies including Primus and Arc’teryx. Find out what the winning products were here.

Did you read anything interesting this week? Email it to us because you know we want to read it too!