SNEWS best outdoor reads from around the web

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

• There’s a little place nestled in the wilderness of New Mexico where young women from both Israel and Palestine come together for a few weeks in the summer to share their experiences with one another, learn to forgive and begin to work toward peace. Read this overview of the 2011 Creativity for Peace camp and events, including one talk that was in our home base of Boulder, and find out how you can help support the camp.

• SNEWS hasn’t seen anything this awesome since we woke up and looked in the mirror this morning. Nina Smirnoff has gone on a weight loss journey and challenged herself to hike 2,012 miles in 2012. She chronicles her adventures (and reviews all the gear she’s using) on her blog titled Walking with Fatty. Check out the latest post.

• For those of us who grew up riding our bikes around the neighborhood and coming home so dirty our moms would rather hose us down than let us in the shower, it’s kind of hard to believe that today’s young children need encouragement to get outside. Here’s another blog post outlining the 50 things kids have to do before they turn 11, including camping.

• And what better way to get youngsters active than at this Holland, Mich., Introduction to Nature Class that will take place June 14, June 26 and July 12 at the Outdoor Discovery Center at the Zeeland Wetland Pavilion. Check out this Holland Sentinel article for more information on how to register. 

• We know you all travel tons, so why not visit some of the best outdoor markets in the world while you’re doing some of that traveling? Check out this post that gives a shout out to the top 10 outdoor food markets as determined by National Geographic, including the Union Square Greenmarket in New York and the Mercado Central in Santiago, Chile.

• It’s no secret that stand-up paddle boarding has blown up in recent seasons, and now there’s another aspect to it: SUP yoga. In this Chicago Tribune article, participants of the activity say it’s relaxing to be on the water, and in addition is more challenging because you have to focus more on your balance. Alright retailers, time to sell more of those boards and some yoga apparel! 

• Dehydration could be a pretty serious issue for your customers, and for any outdoor enthusiast really, even your staff. This Active.com post outlines a few key facts about hydration every enthusiast should know to stay safe while being active, including hydrating with vanilla ice cream and coffee (yay!).

• Columbia Sportswear helped turn our SNEWS reporter from a little bitch to an outdoor badass in Yosemite National Park last June, so we had a misty-eyed moment when we realized we wouldn’t be able to take advantage of this deal to go back to Yosemite for National Park Week and Earth Day activities that kick off next week. Check out this National Park Service post for more information.

• According to this TravelCountry.com blog post, if you like off-road triathlons and scavenger hunts you’ll like a Pangea adventure race, which is like the two on steroids the author said. Adventure racing has become popular over the past few years and this blog gives us a beginner’s inside look at the sport.

• So SNEWS’ home base of Boulder, Colo., wasn’t on this How Stuff Works list of the top 10 places for outdoorsy folks to live, but Durango, Colo., made the cut. Check out the list and see if these are spots you’d like to live. If you disagree, put it in our SNEWS Community!

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