News from the outdoors industry
There’s more to rain than falling water. Here are the weirdest wet weather facts you didn’t know. 1. Virga, also called phantom rain, is precipitation that evaporates before it hits the ground. It often appears as wispy, gray streaks radiating from clouds, and is most common in desert environments. 2. Graupel, aka soft hail, looks…
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Zion, Grand Canyon, and others recorded highest-ever visitor counts. Zion National Park saw a record number of visitors in 2017.The National Park Service recorded more than 330 million visits in 2017, the second highest in its history, according to a report published Wednesday. In a year marked by the total solar eclipse visible across North America,…
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In the last 18 months at least four western state game & fish licensing or park systems have apparently been hacked, along with Kentucky and another state the hacker claimed but didn’t identify. No evidence has surfaced of personal information taken or tags illicitly obtained. So, no worries, right? How secure are you that…
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The adorable little predators can eat 100 prairie dogs per year—but plague and rodent control almost pushed them into extinction. Editor’s Note: In our new series Nature is Rad, we’re exploring the animals and plants that make the outdoors our favorite place to play. The subject of this week’s entry: one of North America’s most…
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Zinke recommends cutting down preserve, focusing on archeological sites over recreation in report. Bears EarsInterior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Monday recommended that President Donald Trump reduce the size of Bears Ears National Monument, opening a new chapter in the fight over the controversial Utah preserve. In a conference call announcing his decision, Zinke said that…
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We all know that being in the backcountry is soothing for the soul. Author Florence Williams decided to find out why. Anyone who’s stepped foot onto a trail knows that nature is good for you. Now, Florence Williams is here to tell us why. Her new book The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier,…
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Is Your Jacket Harming the Environment? It’s among the most satisfying of all outdoor experiences: Standing in a deluge, you watch the rain bead off your waterproof jacket like droplets off a freshly waxed Porsche. Not only do you feel dry, you feel smug: Technology has triumphed over nature. Would you feel even better knowing…
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Conservation groups criticize decision, threaten lawsuit. Citing increased population numbers, the Department of the Interior announced Thursday that it would strip protections from the Yellowstone grizzly, one of the best-studied bear populations in the world. In a statement, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said that the bears had recovered enough that state and tribal agencies could…
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A call to action for educating the consumer: Read the hang tags, know the lasting performance of the gear you are purchasing. Maybe you feel a little trickle on your skin, or you see rain soaking into your jacket where it used to bead right off. Both are signs that your shell—which was once your…
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Early attempts at making earth-friendly equipment came with some unwelcome tradeoffs, but the latest generation of DWR treatments promises to perform. Green gear isn’t what it used to be—and that’s a good thing. A decade ago, when manufacturers first started to offer sustainably-made versions of outdoor fabrics and equipment, hikers couldn’t always count on the…
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