SNEWS best outdoor reads from around the web

What did the SNEWS team read this week that other outdoor insiders might find interesting? Well, read on to find out!

• After listening to Cuban band Orishas for days on end to give us motivation to power through O.R.D. materials, this New York Times article about Cuban climbing paradise Valle de Viñales made us want to visit this gorgeous, but off-limits destination. Listening to Orishas the whole way, of course.

• Last week we brought you sad news about two young children who were killed while camping during a storm, now read a news article on NJ.com giving the account through the eyes of the couple who was camping nearby when it happened. Sorry to bum you out on a Friday.

• While we’re quite certain SNEWS, The Outdoor Retailer Planning Guide Powered by SNEWS and the Outdoor Retailer Daily (O.R.D.) are your first choice in Outdoor Retailer Summer Market coverage, throw our other media friends a bone, will ya? Check out this Trail Sherpa blog post about the ins and outs of the upcoming trade show, including tips for first-timers.

• Coming from a family filled with females, we can appreciate this item in U.S. News regarding how exercise helps women curb hot flashes. Now, we’re going to try to convince those certain ladies in our lives to go on a trail run with us. They’ll need trail running shoes and some apparel, which specialty retailer should we visit?

• With all the advocacy work the Outdoor Industry Association does to persuade our lawmakers to protect the public lands where we recreate, perhaps we in the industry should do what Daily Townsmen Columnist Bruce Kirkby did in this column – invite them to go on an outdoor adventure with us. Though the Canadian prime minister didn’t yet go on that camping trip, perhaps he will, and perhaps it will encourage him to vote in the best interest of Canada’s wilderness. What do you say, industry friends: Should we invite our elected officials on some outdoor adventures?

• All that came to our minds when we read this story was the most famous rap song by N.W.A. We’re sure you’ll know the one we speak of when you read this The Frisky blog post about a group of folks who went camping only to get continually harassed by the police. Perhaps we should invite some police officers on some outdoor adventures, too?

• We’ve done it: Pitched the tent in the backyard, fired up the fire pit to make some s’mores and slept outside under gorgeous Colorado skies. Sometimes, it just doesn’t work out to head to the mountains for the weekend, and according to this Delmarva Now article, we’re not the only ones who feel this way occasionally. Those of us who do this from time to time are still using awesome gear we bought at your stores. 

• We know you retailers have your own system of informing customers on what to take on trips to certain destinations, but perhaps this post in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that outlines what campers should take to Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks can be of some service. Check it out.

• Looking for a great spot to camp? The Enumclaw Patch blog has a spotlight ever so often featuring great spots for people in that area (and even those of us traveling there) to enjoy. The spotlight for this week was Deception Pass. Check out the blog post for more information.

• When people step into run specialty stores for the first time, those retailers don’t encourage them to go out and run a marathon, so perhaps outdoor retailers shouldn’t encourage people to get out for multiday excursions. Perhaps you don’t do that, but if you do, check out this Orange County Register story that talks about easing into multiday excursions via car camping.

Have you read anything interesting you’d like to share with us? Maybe we’ll include it next week’s column with a little shout out to you. Send a link to the story with the subject line “SNEWS Reads” to be considered.

–Compiled by Ana Trujillo