SNEWS best outdoor reads from around the web

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

• Who puts on 13-year-old Coleman boots and walks 60 miles across Death Valley? The girl who wrote this story in Men’s Fitness — Cat Perry. This interesting read about her preparation for the five-day, 60-mile journey could motivate your customers to do something as crazy as that.

• You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to get your kids outdoors, including using a few bags of M&M’s as the dangling carrot to get your son to hike five miles to a lake, as Andrew McCarthy did. Though the father-son duo has experienced a setback on every, single camping trip they’ve been on, they’re still setting out again this year. And of course McCarthy has already packed the M&M’s.

• Speaking of getting kids outdoors, according to this United Kingdom Press Association story, one of the reasons kids are reluctant to go outside, and some parents are reluctant to let them, is because of “stranger danger.” Well parents we’re going to need to figure out a way to get kids to not fear stranger danger, perhaps some self-defense classes or something because this other news story emphasizes how important it is to get kids outdoors. 

• It’s a good thing there’s no stranger danger at school. This Daily Press story features a Montessori school that has plans to build a specialized “Playscapes” area for kids to get their outdoor experience during their school day.

• We know it’s hard to believe, but some people need a little nudging to get outdoors. (Here at SNEWS, we need to be lured inside!) So in June, Merrell created the Pack Project, a grant program that awarded five organizations $2,500 each for coming up with the best ideas to get more people outdoors. It announced the first batch of winners Tuesday and said it would begin a second round of nominations, due Nov. 13. Check out if any of the winners serve your area, or nominate a local outdoor organization at www.merrell.com/thepack.

• We live in a time when dogs have toys just as cool as ours and what dog doesn’t want to know its workout stats? This ABC News story said while we have FitBit fitness trackers, you can now buy the Tagg tracker for your dog to see how it spends its days. We bet they do more running around the house than you know.

• Just because the weather has started to turn doesn’t mean outdoor adventures have to end. This story discusses how campgrounds have started to decide to stay open past labor day and how the National Associations for RVs and Campgrounds has revamped its website to make it easier to get hooked up with your local campground.

• The SNEWS team volunteered at Adventures Denver, presented by The North Face, REI and Backpacker Magazine, we were thrilled to see all the people enjoying outdoor adventures like kayaking, climbing and stand-up paddleboarding. Naturally we were happy to read this story about how a similar event on a smaller scale called Outdoor Day in Savannah, Ga., was well-attended.

• Outdoor writers are just the coolest cats on the planet and the Spokesman-Review is having a contest to find the next generation of cool cats with its writing contest. The deadline for the contest is Nov. 15, and young writers from the newspaper’s circulation area are encouraged to participate with a 1,000-word entry about outdoor adventures. Any style is accepted.

• It seems online shopping is here to stay and a recent Consumer Reports release lists REI among one of the top online retailers consumers preferred.

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 & David Clucas