Category Archives: Outdoor News

Avalanches Starting Early In The Wasatch

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Leave it to anxious early season skiers to set off an avalanche on slopes with only 20″ of snow. It’s an annual rite of ski passage to hike the face of Alta Ski Resort before the lifts spin. Well, today four slides have set the wheels of safety in motion. Alta is out for uphill traffic. They had planned to close tonight to prep for the November 18 opening but what’s a few extra hours early if it means lives saved.

There’s a weak October snow layer beneath this weekend’s heavy new snow. Guess what that means?

The unstable snowpack made for treacherous skiing Sunday afternoon. One person is already in the ER with a busted leg. People, it’s too early to redshirt yourselves. The Utah Avalanche Center has reported at least four rips; three definitely human-triggered, and the fourth one is probably one as well. All four were at the as-yet closed Alta Ski Resort. Therefore, you could say the avis were in the backcountry.

It’s snowing in PC (3pm, Sunday) but the forecast for the rest of the week looks like partly cloudy skies and warm temps. Weatherbug says that we’ve got about 70 percent chance for more snow by the weekend. Please be safe out there. The snowpack is funky, the coverage thin and honestly consider whether it’s worth the risk for those few early season turns. You can’t just think that because you’re skiing at a (closed) resort that the skiing is safe. Check in with the UAC at www.utahavalanchecenter.org or call 888-999-4019.


 

Avalanche Center Ready To Roll

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Stay on top of the snow instead of buried under it. Finally, the winter seems to be off and running which means that with each storm, the avalanche danger is going to jack. The Utah Avalanche Center is the source for avalanche conditions in the Wasatch. Starting today, the UAFC will blast intermittent updates as needed. They’ll go full bore around mid-November on various radio stations and Utah’s KSL on Saturday mornings. The non-profit will pinpoint five regions around Utah before you head out for the day.

In 93 percent of avalanche fatalities, the victim, or someone in the victim’s party, triggers the slide that kills them. This means that the vast majority of avalanche accidents don’t happen by chance. They happen to the stupid and the cocky. Before you go out of bounds know what you’re getting into. Take a basic avalanche class and check the daily avalanche advisory. If you’ve never seen the Know Before You Go video, take a look. You can learn a lot about avis in under 10 minutes.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWDK0cD2S8c&w=420&h=315]

UtahAvalancheCenter.org is loaded with avalanche insights, updates and accident reports. You can also call 888-999-4019 and follow UAFC on Twitter (UACwasatch) and Facebook.

Another super cool Twitterer is @UDOTavy for info on road closures in Little Cottonwood, Big Cottonwood and Provo canyons.


State Of Americans in the Outdoors

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by www.solio.com

7 a.m. came three hours too early. I did my best to rally though and slipped into the OR Industry breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Shshhh. I’m so stoked I didn’t blow it off. Marian Salzman from Trendspotting gave quite the lecture on the state of Americans and how the outdoor industry can get their attention. She’s one of the top trend forecasters in the country so when she speaks ears perk up. She told retailers they need to market to the inactivity of America or what she calls the Beached White Male (BMW). She said they (we) need to show them how to get outdoors…Outdoors For Dummies.

By Let Ideas Compete

Consumers don’t want to be hardcore extremists. They want soft rugged adventures where they can play safely outside. This is the pilates and yoga crowd as well as the angry white man who sits at a desk 24/7 pushing pixels. We all know guys like that. They feel disappointed and disenfranchised by all the broken promises in politics, business, the economy. We can give them a place to go and something to do on a Saturday. Show them the way, Grasshoppers.

Another cool thing she said is that “outdoors” does not mean “cut off”. No longer are people looking for some great escape where they unplug from the world. We want to connect even in the outdoors so you’ll see a whole lot more products in the market place next year and beyond addressing connectivity- GPS watches, solar chargers for iPhones and MP3s, websites like FB for outdoorsy folk, etc.

By jsrcyclist

And here was my favorite point: ‘No answer’ means a missed opportunity. When someone calls you for something, YOU CALL THEM BACK. It’s too easy now for them to call someone else or go somewhere else if you don’t respond. You want to keep customers (and friends), you return phonecalls, you put contact information in easy to find places or your website and you respond promptly when you get a question.

Finally, she said expensive things have lost their chic. It’s about having the highest functional product, not the most expensive. We aren’t going to spend more than we need to. You will see an explosion in “gritty chic” over the next few years where functionality is fashionable and stuff lasts more than a season. That’s good news for Cordura. They announced today at the show that they are going beyond backpacks and luggage and will make tough but comfortable apparel fabrics. Already Timberland, Wrangler and Levi’s are using the Cordura denim which makes a jean last four times longer. Now they’ve got fabrics for all types of outdoor clothing.

Armed with trend knowledge, we moved onto the floor.

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