Andrea Charest, climbing guide and instructor as well as co-owner of Vermont-based Petra Cliffs Climbing Center & Mountaineering School, has made a practice of teaching and guiding for women-only clinics. Hers has been an effort to not just get more women tied into the rope, but get them on the sharp end, taking the lead and therefore taking ownership over their own experiences.
Each Big City Mountaineers wilderness trip begins with the same tough moment: when the urban teenagers have to relinquish their cell phones for the week. But by the third day something magic happens, which is why Bryan Martin, executive director of the Colorado-based nonprofit, firmly believes that the backcountry should be tech-free for kids.
As gear companies increase their direct-to-consumer sales, “pro deals” and “friends and family" promotions, retailers protest that they can’t compete. They’re being undercut and left holding the bag on inventory they can’t possibly sell at the same discounts. Todd Frank, owner of The Trail Head, an independent Missoula, Montana-based specialty outdoor retailer, says enough is enough. If vendors continue to offer these discounts and lure his customers away, he’ll stop doing business with them—and he calls on other retailers to join him.