Outdoor Retailer (OR) Show Part II, rappers, rejuvenation room, and the latest and greatest

Well, our first OR show was memorable to say the least. I'm in a hazy state of recovery at the moment, and I know plenty of ya'll are out that attended are in a similar state. Speaking of states Utah is a weird state. I think it always will be. In a way for me though Utah is a home away from home, especially in the red rock desert, and sometimes in Salt Lake City. I lived there for awhile and wrote my first zine there, so it is an important place in my life. That said, here's some photos and thoughts on the great Salt Lake City, Outdoor Retailer Show.

We didn't really know what to expect at the show. Shaun Matusawicz and yours truly simply went into this with the attitude that we would promote The Climbing Zine, cover it on my blog and otherwise study the scene. A recon mission; getting set up for success and experiencing the show fully in the Summer. Some highlights after rolling in Saturday afternoon: hip hop MCs, DJs, and good beer. Beautiful people, passionate folks who love their jobs, and of course, the freshest gear on the market. It had the vibe of a great party, in the midst of like-minded people On Sunday everything was really mellow, and we learned about companies like Sherpa, chatted about the latest gear Petzl and Black Diamond have in the works, checked out some really cool running sandals from Luna Sandals, met some people at Mountaineers Books that I hope to work with more in the future, ran into PR Man and Rep Todd Walton that I collaborate with at Deuter, and discovered that there is a functioning dog harness on the market. Who would have known? Next time we'll do much more, and at the last minute we discovered there was a rejuvenation room. I could use one of those now.

La Sportiva beer. Good marketing if you ask me.

Chatting with Justin Roth of Petzl. Justin was super psyched on The Climbing Zine. He used to be an editor for Urban Climber, we're going to do some reviews of their latest headlamps and some climbing gear when we launch our website, in a month or so.

I think this headlamp from Petzl is going to be a game changer. It will be released this summer, and we'll be doing a review in the near future. Among the dope features is the ability to change with the amount of light that is needed, more when its really dark and less with it is lighter, or you are reading something close to your eyes. Def. the coolest headlamp I've ever seen. Can't wait to get one on my head!

The lightweight Luna Sandals. Shaun's feet on the right and on the left is Barefoot Ted, a guy who is a character in the best selling book, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall that works for Luna Sandals. We met this crew through our good friend Amber.

Amber hanging in this structure in the lobby. Not really sure what this was all about, but maybe this is what it is all about.

We changed out some Mormon propaganda since we were in the neighborhood.

A Ghost Bike in the city, a tribute to fallen cyclists. word to that!!!

I was digging on this car. I've seen it around, I think it belongs to one of the Yoga Slackers crew. Much props to a fellow owner of a ghetto car with stickers and spraypaint!

It ain't over till you're safe back home. It was a long drive back to Durango, but all in all Shaun and I agreed it was a very successful OR show, and we're psyched to return in August for the full experience.