On the heels of Outdoor Retailer announcing plans for a “Backcountry Base Camp” at Winter Market 2004, OR has released further details surrounding the event. The inaugural Backcountry Base Camp will be held in the Brighton Backcountry in Utah’s Big Cottonwood Canyon on Thursday, January 29th — the day prior to the four-day Winter Market trade show held in Salt Lake City, Utah at the Salt Palace Convention Center from January 30th through February 2nd.

“We’ve heard from our retailers that there is a strong need to develop the backcountry portion of their business, so it is a natural progression to launch this new event,” commented Peter Devin, Outdoor Retailer’s Show Director.

The Backcountry Base Camp represents a brand new concept for retailers to further develop their skills and knowledge of the backcountry. The pre-show event will also provide ideal conditions for testing out the most innovative products from Winter Market exhibitors including telemark skis, Nordic skis, transceivers, snow shoes, split boards, poles, packs, goggles and MORE in the environment they were designed for — the backcountry. Backcountry Base Camp gives retailers the unique first-time opportunity to demo the latest backcountry gear prior to making their purchasing decisions at the Outdoor Retailer trade show.

Open to all Outdoor Retailer Winter Market attendees, with enhanced services available to pre-qualified retailers, the Backcountry Base Camp will feature an entire day of clinics, demos, guide-led tours and hands-on product testing on Brighton’s Mount Millicent and into the nearby backcountry terrain of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Clinics and backcountry tours will run on a rotating schedule with avalanche clinics beginning every two hours and guided tours leaving Base Camp approximately every hour. Brighton’s slope-side Wasatch Mountain Club will act as Base Camp headquarters for clinics, seminars and the end-of-the-day party with food, refreshments and music. The current line-up of Backcountry Base Camp activities include:

  • Avalanche Safety Clinics — presented by Utah Avalanche Center
  • Backcountry Tours — led by Exum Mountain Guides
    Nordic Facility

  • Snowshoe Testing Slopes
  • Snow Pit Demonstration
  • Beacon Search/Testing Area
  • Backcountry Roundtable

Brighton is known for receiving well over 500 inches of snow each season, which makes for ideal product testing conditions. Located at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon, Brighton is 35 minutes southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and 35 miles from Salt Lake International Airport.