Posted inBusiness, News, Newsletters, Outdoors, Outsider

“Outdoor Business Town USA”: Steamboat Springs has become a proving ground for outdoor innovation

With more than 90 and counting, Steamboat Springs is well known as a breeding ground for Olympians. But it’s also just as fertile an environment for outdoor businesses, nurturing them with all the right ingredients to succeed.   Forget its snappy “Ski Town USA” moniker. How about “Outdoor Business Town USA”? Somehow, a veritable Who’s Who […]

Posted inBusiness, News, Newsletters, Outdoors, Outsider

After vanquishing the shoelace, Denver-based Boa Technology sells for $454 million

Gary Hammerslag remembers more than 20 years ago watching snowboarders and hockey players struggling with shoelaces. He was new to Colorado and snowboarding back then, a recent transplant from Southern California, where he had created and sold a company that made the hairlike wires doctors threaded through clogged veins during angioplasty procedures. As the athletes […]

Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns

Opinion: Backcountry.com is abusing its power and bullying smaller businesses. But this could make us stronger.

I’ve seen it a million times: Bad decisions come to life despite good intentions. It’s part of business, it’s part of life, and hopefully, part of growing.    As a fellow outdoor industry business owner, I was honestly and simply blown away as I read the news about the TSG/Backcountry.com suing spree. The outdoor industry community […]

Posted inBusiness, Crime and Courts, News, Outdoors, Technology

Backcountry.com faces boycotts, social media backlash over trademark lawsuits. But the company remains mum.

Outdoor enthusiasts aren’t letting go of their backcountry without a fight. As news spreads about Backcountry.com’s recent slew of legal actions against small business owners using the word “backcountry” in their names, so is public outrage. LATEST COVERAGE Nov. 6 — Backcountry.com breaks its silence amid trademark lawsuit controversy to apologize and say “we made […]

Posted inBusiness, Crime and Courts, News, Outdoors, Technology

Backcountry.com sues anyone who uses its namesake. Is it bullying or just business?

Backcountry.com a year ago filed for trademarks protecting the word “backcountry” for all sorts of outdoor gear as the online retailer launched its first-ever branded jackets, skis and apparel. Now the e-commerce behemoth is suing small business owners who have trademarked the word “backcountry.”  “My feeling is that nobody should have the right to the […]

Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors

Outdoor adventure inspired Colorado’s Anderson brothers to create Loki Outdoor Gear. Then it took one of their lives.

GRAND JUNCTION — Seth Anderson was 16 years old when his older brother Dirk led him up his first 14er. As the fall weather switched from sun to rain to sleet to sun, the brothers dug into their packs, switching jackets and hats. Dirk, then 25, told his brother, “there’s got to be a better […]