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!

• Part of the appeal of the retail and trade business is being in the know about products consumers won’t see in stores for a few seasons. Interbike, however, is pulling back the curtain. According to this story, Interbike will open up the trade show floor to consumers in 2013.

• Endurance events are gaining traction, with more people signing up for ultra marathons, adventure races and obstacle races. And more manufacturers and companies are opting to sponsor such events, as discussed in this Runners Web story. According to the story, sponsorship of such races reached more than 102 million in 2012, up 6.7 percent since 2011.

• Retailers, we know you can outfit your customers for a frozen camping experience in Antarctica. Now you might get more opportunities to do so. According to this USA Today story, expedition cruise operator Hurtigruten recently added a shore excursion involving camping overnight in the frozen landscape of Antarctica. Omni-Heat? ThermoBall? DriDown? Let them take their pick!

• We admit it. We feel sorry for folks who aren’t as lucky as we are to be in this industry, doing fun stuff we love, testing awesome gear. Well, now regular Joes and Joans can get paid for going on an adventure too! Check out this Outdoor Life story for a contest to get paid for living the good, outdoor life.

• We know the outdoor industry is incredibly generous. We read about one of the latest demonstrations of generosity by Arc’teryx, which teamed up with the Vancouver, Canada Police Department to help the homeless population by distributing hundreds of capes made with technical fabrics to keep them warm.

• If you haven’t been keeping up with your SNEWS, it might be news to you that the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2013 will shift from its usual Wednesday Demo Day amd Thursday through Sunday trade show to a Tuesday Demo Day, with Wednesday through Saturday trade show format. Check out Trail Dirt’s take on the issue.

• Last summer, BioLite camp stoves were brand new to the trade show floor at Outdoor Retailer. This week, they were featured in the Telegraph as a top luxury must-have item for camping. In case you need a refresher, the BioLite camp stove burns twigs and things so you can both cook and charge your gadgets.

• SNEWS’ home state of Colorado got some love in this New York Daily News story. The story called the area from Breckenridge and Beaver Creek, Colo. an “outdoor paradise” where one can do everything from mountain biking to rafting to skiing and snowboarding. We have to agree. 

• Looks like Canadian retailers have another audience that is ripe for the converting into loyal customers: Recent immigrants to Alberta who haven’t yet experienced the joys of the outdoors. A documentary on a local channel explores the challenges of these wilderness newbies. Maybe this story can give retailers in Canada some tips on which gear can help ease their transition.

• Winter is here and perhaps your customers don’t have all the necessary gear for cold-weather camping, and would rather travel to warmer destinations than invest in more gear. We don’t know if that’s even a remote possibility, but let’s just say that’s the case. If it is, show them this story about where they could find some of the best desert camping this winter.

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 whoever sent it to us. Send a link to the story with the subject line “SNEWS Reads” to be considered.

–Compiled by Ana Trujillo