Political, business trends threaten outdoor show’s future

By JASON BLEVINS
The Colorado Sun

DENVER (AP) — This year’s Outdoor Retailer Snow Show was a shadow of itself at Denver’s Colorado Convention Center last month. The Colorado Sun reports that the coronavirus is an easy scapegoat. But historical schisms in the outdoor community are threatening an event that drew tens of thousands of buyers, sellers and outdoor community leaders before the pandemic. Denver is negotiating a new long-term contract to keep Outdoor Retailer’s twice-a-year shows. But Utah is courting the industry it lost in 2017 when outdoor leaders blasted the state’s position on public lands and left the trade show’s 20-year home in Salt Lake City for Colorado.