Author: Eugene Buchanan

While last year’s skiing and riding season was cut short by COVID-19, overall participation numbers still increased, a harbinger that snowsports are on solid footing.

Uncertainty has befuddled the snow sports industry’s major buying groups this season including how to connect its members with vendors. SGB Executive spoke with two of the largest buying groups: Nation’s Best Sports (NBS) and Winter Sports Market/Sports Specialists, Ltd. and SnowSports Merchandising Corp. about plans to run their buying shows this season.

aking advantage of a two-foot early season snowstorm, Wolf Creek Ski area won this year’s race as the country’s first resort to open its slopes for the 2020/21 ski season, firing up three of its nine chairlifts and 600 acres of skiing and riding at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, October 28.

With many resorts restricting their operations this winter due to COVID-19, consumers are spending less on the purchase of ski and snowboard passes and instead buying dream gear for backcountry use. SGB Executive asked retailers and manufacturers if that’s where they think the category is tracking.

Twenty-five years ago, two brothers, Todd and Steve Jones had the vision to create action sports movies. Now, 25 years later, they’ve accomplished that with their adventure lifestyle media company, Teton Gravity Research (TGR) and have branched out into retail, hotels and a new TGR TV platform to work symbiotically with their original concept.

If it’s lightweight and tough enough for aircraft, it’s probably good enough for fish kayaks. That’s the theory behind Diamond Shield material, which is taking the fish kayak world by storm in its debut in the Apex Tyr — the first carbon-fiber fishing kayak.

While World Tourism Day is commemorated each year on September 27 to “foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political, and economic value,” this year a dark cloud rained on its parade — concerns about one of the business sectors most affected by COVID-19 — tourism and, in particular, the adventure travel industry.

In another blow to the world of outdoor niche publishing, on Oct. 3 A360 Media, owner of Men’s Journal and other mainstream magazines and digital properties, shut down the print and digital products for Bike, Powder, and Surfer magazines, and the print version of Snowboarder magazine.

Everyone knows that bikes have been going gangbusters at retail this year. But what other surprises have been selling well at retail this year, leaving shelves high and dry, cash registers ringing and store managers scrambling for inventory? To find out, we queried outdoor retailers across the country to see what outdoor products COVID-19 helped sell this season. The answers might surprise you.

With 107 retail outlets and an outdoor product mix as diverse as its store locations, publicly-traded Sportsman’s Warehouse has weathered COVID-19 better than perhaps any other major outdoor retailer (its second-quarter report heralded a five-fold growth in earnings and sales up 79.9 percent). SGB Executive caught up with CEO Jon Barker to shed light on its success during the pandemic.

Earlier this summer, California-based watch and accessory brand Nixon promoted Nancy Dynan to president replacing outgoing CEO Scott Kerslake. SGB Executive caught up with her in Nixon’s Encinitas, CA, headquarters to talk all things timepieces.

Consumer events all over the country were canceled this year, but perhaps none created as big a blow among outdoor participants as the GoPro Mountain Games, held annually in Vail, CO.

On September 3, Washington, D.C.’s Outdoor Recreation Roundtable hosted an industry conference call outlining the state of outdoor recreation, as well as results from its recent member survey addressing the COVID-19 impacts on the industry.

With their ease of use and ability to roll up and store away in an urban apartment back home, many people are turning to inflatable paddle craft as the million-dollar solution to getting fresh air while social distancing in the Great Outdoors.

On August 3, the American Alpine Club (AAC) named Mitsu Iwasaki as its new CEO, replacing Phil Powers, who retired in 2019 after 15 years at the helm. On the day he sold his house in Portland, OR to move to the organization’s headquarters in Golden, CO, SGB Executive caught up with him to talk all things AAC.