SNEWS Reads: Who’s mad at Majora? And who can solve the profitability puzzle?

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

• Who doesn’t love Majora Carter? We fawned over her at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market and took every piece of advice she offered. But it turns out some people love her a little less these days. The “hero of the Bronx” and environmental activist is being accused by her neighbors of betrayal. This New York Times story tells the tale of one Mychal Johnson, who’s upset he couldn’t get an audience with Carter without putting a request in writing — and paying a $500 “new client” fee.

• The Outdoor Industry Association is looking for retailers and manufacturers to participate in its benchmarking surveys to help you see how you stack up against your peers. You don’t have to be an OIA member to participate, your input is confidential and participation comes with a few perks (like a free profit improvement profile, valued at $10,000, and a PIP Profit Toolkit Online). Check out this post on the OIA website for more information.

• Former Wend Magazine Editor Sami Ewers described this post in World Hum as “a proper Wend eulogy if I do say so myself.” Author Brian Kevin chronicles the life of the adventure travel online magazine Wend and how the publication, which he said was light on reporting and heavy on personal experience and “real stories about real adventure and real environmental issues,” met its end. We know we sure miss Wend and its great stories.

• The Active Times recently reported the sad news of promising young snowboarder Chelone Miller’s death. Miller, the brother of Olympian Bode Miller, died in his sleep from an epileptic seizure early this week. He was 29. The athlete was training to try out for the 2014 Sochi Games Olympic team.

• We’ve been following Team Expedition Denali, the group of black climbers who plan to scale Mount McKinley this summer to get youngsters of color interested in outdoor adventures. This group is hosted by the National Outdoor Leadership School and is being sponsored by big industry names like The North Face, REI and The Sierra Club. Check out this Alaska Dispatch story about Expedition Denali, Mount McKinley statistics and the lack of youth and diversity in the outdoor industry.

• We admire vegans. Growing up in the country around tons of ranches left us with a taste for meat so strong we can’t cut it out for even a day. That’s why we were interested to see how our friend Elisabeth Kwak-Heffernan fared in her 30-day vegan challenge. Let’s just say, as she did, “things got real.” Check out her post on Grist, which includes fun diary entries about the challenge.

• Distance runners and sprinters are on two separate planets usually, but according to this Competitor article distance runners have more to learn from sprinters than they might think. A lot of it has to do with the biomechanics of the running form. The article offers exercises and tips on how to have form more like a sprinter to improve distance performance.

• Depending on who’s talking, train hopping can be seen as the ultimate adventure or the ultimate life-or-death experience. In the case of photographer Mike Bodie, it’s the ultimate adventure, and how he’s been able to travel more than 50,000 miles through most of the United States. Check out this Adventure-Journal post on Bodie and view some of “The Polaroid Kid’s” photographs.

• Forget all the weddings and graduations you’ve committed to attend during Memorial Day weekend — there’s something more important to do in Telluride, Colo.: Mountainfilm. This year’s film festival is focusing on climate change, and this post from the festival’s website gives you tois on how to get there, where to stay and why this topic is important.

• Sheesh. If we didn’t need the moisture in Colorado we’d say, “Yabasta,” to this winter weather we’ve been experiencing this week. Yabasta is our cute and cultured way of saying, “Enough!” Turns out we’re not the only ones dreaming of banishing winter weather for its warmer brethren. Check out this Part Time Vagabond story on all the things author Chris Cavallari has planned for the warmer months, which include a few jaunts into the wilderness.

Did you read anything interesting? Share it with us!

–Ana Trujillo