Shifting demand, overstocked stores and a surging focus on sustainability are setting up 2022 as the best year ever for the growing recommerce industry
Outdoor Industry Association
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Colorado’s outdoor industry rallies to keep Outdoor Retailer trade show in Denver
The outdoor industry flexed its newfound political muscle five years ago by leaving Utah and taking its twice-a-year Outdoor Retailer trade shows to Colorado. Outdoor brands and advocates, irked over Utah’s push to dismantle protections for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, moved their annual gatherings — which draw 85,000 visitors and stir an […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Outdoors
The government says COVID cost the outdoor recreation industry $156 billion in 2020. But did it really?
The collapse of travel and public gatherings during the pandemic last year cost America’s surging outdoor recreation industry $156 billion. But that’s according to federal accounting. In a more traditional accounting of outdoor recreation that measures the economic contributions from people going camping, hiking, skiing, fishing, boating and hunting, the outdoor economy weathered the pandemic […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Economy, Housing, News, Outdoors
Big Agnes started by sketching plans on beer-stained napkins. 20 years later, the gear company is a local hero.
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Bill Gamber, co-owner, co-founder and president of tent, sleeping bag—and now, pack—maker Big Agnes, stoops over and picks up an empty Diet Coke can from a willow bush next to the bike path, just a block away from the company’s new headquarters. It’s a small gesture, really, but one that’s symbolic of […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado’s outdoor enthusiasts and the businesses that serve them have a strong advocate in Congress
In a state like Colorado, outdoor recreation is an integral part of life, and after a year of lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, more and more people are turning to the outdoors to benefit their physical and mental health. As the city of Boulder continues to grieve and recover from the tragic mass shooting on March […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
Outdoor recreation continues to be a mighty economic force, accounting for $788 billion in 2019
Outdoor recreation is emerging as a critical element in the economic recovery from COVID-19 as the recreation economy delivers a larger share of U.S. economic output for the second consecutive year. The federal government’s latest tally of the outdoor recreation economy showed a $787.6 billion economic impact from businesses supporting 5.2 million jobs. The report […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Let’s celebrate passage of the Great American Outdoors Act. Now we need the CORE Act.
Just for fun, I decided to look up the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) projects in all the places I’ve lived in the United States. What I found is astonishing. From Connecticut to Vermont to New Jersey to D.C. to Avon, Colorado, each has a special place made possible by the LWCF, a bipartisan […]
Posted inArts, Coloradans, Culture, News, Politics and Government
“We want to lead”: Frisco uses art to reckon with the high country’s lack of diversity
FRISCO — At 9,097 feet above sea level, 15 artists used 16 letters to send a message and start a conversation about racism and diversity in Colorado’s mountain towns. “BLACK LIVES MATTER,” painted by artists on the pavement on Main Street in Frisco in 20-foot letters between Madison and First avenues, presents an impossible-to-ignore challenge […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Protecting Colorado’s rivers and water is investing in our future
As Coloradans know, exploring the great outdoors is an essential cornerstone of our quality of life and with many of us confined to our homes during this spring’s shelter-in-place order we’re seeing people craving the freedom and tranquility of nature more than ever. Right now this means enjoying the trails, rivers and streams that are […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Mountain athletes push progress over perfection in climate fight
Caroline Gleich remembers a decade ago when advocating for climate policy became an essential part of her career as a professional ski mountaineer. As she reported the impacts of climate change from far-flung corners she explored for her work, she was besieged. “Told to shut up, called a glacier killer, a hypocritical ecoterrorist, a polluter. […]