Blogging "Outdoor Retailer"

Two weeks ago, I went on my annual trip on behalf of Washington Trails magazine to Salt Lake City to take in the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. As the volunteer gear editor for WT, I am proud to represent the magazine, and it tickles me to be in a position to help make WT a well-respected publication. Sometimes when I’m at the show, I’ll meet with a new contact and they will say, “isn’t WT the membership publication of a non-profit?” Yes, it is, and when I show them a copy of our little magazine, they are always pretty blown away by the quality of it.

And of course I’m especially proud of the gear content, provided to give our readers some honest and unfettered information to help them pick out the best gear we can find. (I say “honest and unfettered” because our editorial content is not tied to our limited advertising.) Anyway, here’s my report on the summer show:

Friday

Day One of the Big Show

I’m rested and ready to go when my first meeting hits at 9AM and I’m busy until lunch. Tech4O (Johnson Outdoors) has a new watch that combines altimeter, pedometer, and heart rate monitor all in one package. Granite Gear is redefining stuff sacks, and Marmot, well, they just have so much new stuff, it always boggles my mind. At the beginning of the show, it’s tough to focus on what you’re seeing. Following Marmot, I’ve booked out an hour for lunch, so I leave the Salt Palace in search of something tasty and healthy. I end up at the shopping mall down the street, eating something regrettable. (It is difficult to find tasty, healthy food in Salt Lake City!) After lunch, I catch up with GoLite Footwear, where I am shown cool trail runners with some wack-a-doodle soles that are super duper bouncy. We stop by briefly to see Opedix, a new compression long underwear line that claims to hold bones in place while doing active sports. Samples, please. We middle-aged people need that stuff!

 Then I’m off to a “marathon appointment” with Backbone Media for Black Diamond, Brunton, Zeal Optics, Cloudveil, Fishpond, and Big Agnes.  We have to skip Night Ize, McNett, and Polartec due to time constraints. Here’s the scoop. BD has a very nice new lantern, Brunton is going nuts with solar panel technology, and Fishpond has some cool gear for the hiker-fisher types. (I’m thinking Gift Guide for Fishpond!) BA has a tent that is “almost all green” (poles are virgin aluminum). That’s massive! Cloudveil continues to dazzle with clothes that go from town to trail with modern styling and technical fabrics.

Then it’s off to see my friend and fellow Seattleite Boo Turner, who represents Oboz footwear and Bridgedale socks.  Oboz continues to impress with their excellent light hikers and hiking boots. Expect to see big things from them in the future. Bridgedale (the socks I wear when I’m not testing socks for the magazine) has a new line coming out that incorporates sustainable bamboo. The technology for making the baby bamboo plants is based in Mount Vernon. These will not be the super-technical socks we wear for hiking at this point, but they’re making headway.

I then meet with Kahootla for the first time, and am impressed with their little snow spikes, basically crampons for non-climbers. Then it’s off to Cascade Designs, where I see a bunch of new stuff, notably a revamped sleeping pad line, including a super lightweight air mattress, a big handful of new tents, and a Platypus container made especially for carrying wine. You will see several of CD’s new items in our pages next year, and I’ll be taking the new wine bag on my next trip.

Then it’s off to an evening event. It’s a jumbo meeting at a nearby nightclub, sponsored by Momentum Media. The way this event works is you come to the club, and then you’re off to enjoy cocktails and check out the brands Momentum represents. I choose to check out Lole, Petzl, New Balance, and Icebreaker. I’ve avoided a couple of these brands in the past, thinking their products were not relevant to our readers.

First up was Lole, a women’s’-specific line. They had hired a handful of local models to show off the clothes while the owner of the company, Evelyn Trempe, described the outfits. I was impressed with the company’s vision and the fine melding of the fashionable and the technical. Stuff I’d wear in real life. Petzl has a couple of super-bright, super-big headlamps for people doing serious stuff, and they cost serious money. NB has some new lightweight footwear appropriate for camp shoes and wading, you’ll see these in our pages next year. Icebreaker continues to innovate with the very best that New Zealand wool has to offer.

Near the end of the Momentum event, a lot of the media folks are running off to have dinner with one brand or another. This is something that sets WT off from many of the others. The major manufacturers host dinners to woo the mainstream media types, I’m on my own. I may not get a nice dinner tonight, but we’ll remain true to our vision at WT.

My “work day” ends at about 8pm, and now I’m pretty beat. I struggle back toward the Crystal Inn, stopping to buy a bag of nasty fast food before falling on the bed and watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Day One is finally over. I’ll catch you up on Day Two next week…

Photo: Big Agnes’s new tent, made of mostly of recycled materials.