As I mentioned, I spent last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the Outdoor Retailer convention in Salt Lake City checking out the latest and greatest gear that is in the works from our favorite gear manufacturers. OR is an interesting event to say the least. It is part-gear nirvana and part-networking meet-up, with a liberal dose of party thrown into the mix. The 3+ days that I spent there were a bit of a blur, as I hurried from one meeting to the next, waving at old friends and new from across the hall as I went.
Today, I'm suffering from Post OR Syndrome in part because for the time that I was there, I was steeped in adventure culture. Everyone is constantly talking about the latest gear, some big trip they have planned, or the peak they just bagged. The attendees, for the most part, are fit, athletic, and excited to be there and shae their experiences. While I was there, I spotted Conrad Anker, met Ueli Steck, and had nice long conversations with both Everest climber Ben Clark and adventure racer Mike Kloser. After a few days in that environment, it is rough to return to normal life where most people are just worried about the weather. (It'll be 105ºF here in Austin today by the way)
While I was at the show, I saw a host of really great gear coming from a bunch of different companies. Over the next few weeks, I'll likely be sharing some of the things I saw there with you so you can put them on your radar for the weeks ahead, when they'll actually be on sale. If you followed my Twitter feed while I was away, you probably already got a glimpse of some of them. Needless to say however, there was a lot of innovative gear on display, some of which we should all be genuinely excited about.
While I didn't have time to post OR updates to my blog while I was there, I did want to offer a couple of websites that have posted some information about what was on display. Check out the Adventure Journal for instance to see a nice overview of a number of products and Trailspace.com did an excellent job, as always, with their coverage as well. You'll find day-by-day updates from them by clicking here. Outside magazine also has their list of the best gear of the show here.
Today, I'm working on catching up on e-mail and getting my feet back under me, while also posting updates from the world of adventure. I'll have more to share from OR in the days ahead, but for now, all I'll say is that if you ever get a chance to go yourself, take the opportunity. It is a complete blast and well worth the trip.