Black

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Black Wolf Hardside Coolers

Check out the Black Wolf Hardside Coolers here: https://www.snowys.com.au/search?w=hardside%20coole Head up the river, to the bush, or the coast for a couple of days with your food and drinks kept chilled in the Hardside Cooler from Black Wolf. This cooler has a robust rotomoulded design with a seamless finish for strength and to help keep ice cold from 80-120 hours. The side walls are 55mm thick and you can organise the contents with the included basket and divider that doubles as a chopping board. There are heavy-duty rubber locking points on the corner, and this cooler has an integrated hinge for durability. It features non-slip rubber feet for extra sturdiness, heavy-duty rope handles with plastic grips for carrying and is UV resistant to help keep it in good condition over time. It also features a rapid drain plug and easy-flow drain spout so you can pour out the muck after your trip and clean it thoroughly. Ensure your supplies are fresh and cold for your adventures, by packing them into the Hardside Cooler from Black Wolf.
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A Glamping Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deal!

We are excited to announce that Glamping Hub is launching a Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotion! We know that traveling this year has been difficult for some of you, it might not have been an option at all for others, but we wanted to offer this promotion to help those of you who are

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Black in the White Room

The numbers tell the story of Black skiers and snowboarders, where they have gone, and where they are headed.

Skiing, and its unruly younger cousin snowboarding, have been enjoyed by humans in the United States since the 1800s at least, and this enjoyment continues to grow, reaching more and more people each year. Some 9.2 million people skied or snowboarded in the U.S. in 2018, down slightly from a peak of 9.7 million in 2010. And while downhill snow sports are still dominated by white people today, Black folks have been slaloming, McTwisting, curving, carving, and otherwise tossing their bodies down long, cold chutes of joy all over the country for decades.

9 Percent

Black people accounted for 9% of all people who participated in winter sports in 2016-17 (up from about 5% in 2003), and 5% of all skiers, according to participation studies conducted by Snowsports Industries America (SIA). White people comprised 75% of all skiers. The high cost of equipment, lift tickets, lessons, gear, and transportation may make skiing and snowboarding materially inaccessible to many Black people and Black families. Meanwhile, the lack of racial diversity in the sport may simply make it unappealing.

$ 17,150

The average net worth of a Black family in 2016, according to Brookings Institute (brookings.edu). The average net worth of a white family in 2016 was $ 171,000. The enslavement of Black people in the U.S. for over 200 years, followed by Black Codes and segregation laws that limited employment and migration, and widespread redlining that inhibited Black people’s access to property have all contributed to a wealth gap that has compounded over centuries. Black families do not have the same generational wealth that can be passed down to their children and grandchildren as white families. Looking at median income and net worth across race can give a more complete picture of the wealth differences in the U.S., that can impact everything from access to education, housing, and employment to leisure activities, like skiing and snowboarding.

3,500

Members of the National Brotherhood of Skiers, a national organization of Black skiers and snowboarders that connects 55 ski clubs across the country. The NBS has hosted an annual Black Ski Summit each year since 1973, drawing thousands of skiers and snowboarders together for a week to enjoy the slopes, and to raise funds for the NBS Olympic Scholarship fund, which provides financial support to young people of color who are training for international or Olympic competition in winter sports. nbs.org

Number of medals (one silver and two bronze) won by Bonnie St. John at the 1984 Winter Paralympic competition. Bonnie became the first Black woman to medal at a Winter Olympic or Paralympic game.

1 percent

The percentage of the population that is Black in Jackson, Wyoming. Popular ski resort towns often lack racial diversity, making living a ski bum life more challenging and less appealing for Black people and other people of color. Other ski towns’ demographic breakdowns? Breckenridge, Colorado, is .53% Black; Vail, Colorado, is .4% Black; Aspen, Colorado, is 2.8% Black; Salt Lake City, Utah, is 2.3% Black; and Olympic Valley, California, is .35% Black.

1988

The year 14-year-old Seba Johnson competed in the Winter Olympics for the U.S. Virgin Islands, becoming the first Black woman, and youngest alpine skier, to compete.

2001

The year Andre Horton became the first Black skier on the US Alpine Ski Team.

1958

The year the Jim Dandy Ski Club, the first and oldest Black ski club in the U.S., was formed in Detroit. Frank Blount, William Morgan, and Reginald Wilson founded the club in order to create an environment that was friendlier for Black skiers than what was available in the college ski clubs in the area. jimdandyskiclub.com

60%

The percentage of skiers and snowboarders in 2016-17 who had incomes of at least $ 100,000, up 50% the previous year.

“The First”

A position of honor and precarity; the position many relatively young Black pro skiers and snowboarders hold today. Zeb Powell became the first Black snowboarder to win gold at the X Games in 2019; Ben Hinckley was the first Black snowboarder to win silver twice. Gabby Maiden was the first Black woman to become a professional snowboarder in 2006; Russell Winfield became the first Black pro snowboarder in 1991.

2020

The year that the first non-white skiers were inducted into the Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame: NBS founders Arthur “Art” Clay and Benjamin “Ben” Finley.

Cover Photo: Beaver creek’s Zachary Varón competes in the Freeride world tour.

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The Best Books Featuring Black Children in the Outdoors

When professor and children’s book critic Michelle Martin announced that she wanted to move to California to pursue outdoor education, her mother was skeptical. “She was like, ‘Black people have been trying to get out of the woods for generations. Why are you going into the woods? It’s not a safe place,’” Martin recalls. In the days of slavery, the men and women who set out north for freedom were stalked by terror, death, and dogs. (John Muir, by contrast, walked from Indiana to Florida on a lark just two years after Appomattox.) This year, when Amy Cooper called the police on Black birder Christian Cooper in Central Park, the age-old message was clear: you don’t belong here.

Despite her mom’s concern, Martin went west anyway in the late eighties. She’d felt at home in nature since she was a little girl, collecting toads with her cousins in the red clay of upstate South Carolina. Today, as a professor at the University of Washington’s Information School, she researches and draws attention to the dearth of Black protagonists in children’s books about nature. Children’s literature scholar Rudine Sims Bishop famously wrote that books serve as “windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors.” They let young readers understand others, see themselves, and escape into other worlds as they build an identity and locate themselves in our planet’s tangle of life. “If you have a diverse diet of books that introduce you to all kinds of different ways of being,” Martin says, “you develop more empathy. It prepares you to be a better citizen of the world.”

After children’s literature researcher Andrea Breau read about Martin’s work in The Atlantic last year, she dug into the data. Breau is a project coordinator at Diverse BookFinder, an organization dedicated to collecting, researching, and promoting children’s books with diverse characters. “I was not surprised but definitely disappointed,” she says. Her survey identified just 16 books—out of more than 3,000 in Diverse BookFinder’s collection of diverse picture books—in which Black children “actively explore the outdoors with no purpose other than to convene with nature.” (She excluded stories about slavery or outdoor labor.) Only four of the books Breau identified qualify as #ownvoices, a hashtag coined by YA author Corinne Duyvis to identify kids’ books “about diverse characters written by authors from that same diverse group.” More disturbingly, when Breau analyzed the narratives, she found that even when the child’s own parents feature in the story, it’s white characters who often introduce the child to nature or facilitate their experience in the outdoors. Of the nine books she found that feature Black families, Breau wrote, only three “portray Black parents who actively foster the relationship between their child and nature.”

Whether books with Black protagonists are a mirror or a window for your child, parents can help kids make the leap from the pages to real life. For example, Breau suggests pairing relevant reading with candid discussions about the national parks’ racist history. For a while, Blueberries for Sal was Martin’s daughter’s favorite book. “We probably wouldn’t have thought about going to the country to pick blueberries if it hadn’t been for that book,” Martin says. “It’s the same thing with being outdoors. If it’s not portrayed as a possibility, then it makes it harder for you to see yourself doing that.”

The statistics are dismal, but diversifying your bookshelf is a first step toward change. Here are some of Breau and Martin’s favorite books about Black children in nature.

‘We Are Brothers,’ by Yves Nadon, illustrated by Jean Claverie

This story of two brothers, featuring gorgeous illustrations, is a favorite among the Diverse BookFinder team. A boy is determined to follow his big brother in a beloved summer tradition at a swimming hole. In his quest, he discovers new kinship not only with his sibling but with the natural world.

‘Hiking Day,’ by Anne Rockwell, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell

When Martin received this book to review, she thought, Why is this amazing? “And I couldn’t think of any other book where a Black family goes outside,” she says. In fact, they don’t go far. For the first time, the family hikes a mountain they can see from their house. The author and illustrator, a mother-daughter team, let readers share the little girl’s awe as she summits the peak and discovers that adventure can be just around the corner.

‘A Beach Tail,’ by Karen P. Williams, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

After Gregory loses track of his father, he finds himself alone on the beach—an anxious moment that quietly echoes the feelings of loneliness and fear that recur throughout life. As Gregory retraces his steps to reunite with his dad, acclaimed illustrator Floyd Cooper takes us down the shoreline through the boy’s eyes.

‘The Hike,’ by Alison Farrell

When three girls set out to explore their local woods, they discover that hikes can be unpredictable. They spot wildlife, take detours, and get worn out. Along the way, the illustrations feature plenty of plant and animal labels, and a glossary of scientific terms prepares young armchair adventurers to mount their own expedition.

‘The Snowy Day,’ by Ezra Jack Keats

This award-winning 1963 classic follows Peter around the big city as he revels in the wonder of a first snowfall. When Martin was growing up, this picture book was one of the few that featured a character that looked like her—and she wasn’t the only one enchanted with it. A perennial favorite, it has been checked out of the New York Public Library more than any other book. In The Atlantic, Martin attributed the story’s popularity to its quiet, universal appeal and Keats’s stunning illustrations, which see the world from a child’s point of view.

‘Where’s Rodney?,’ by Carmen Bogan, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

This tale illustrates a common situation, Martin says: “An African American boy in a class with a white teacher who really doesn’t get him. And he’s acting out.” When the teacher threatens to take away his field trip to the park, Rodney isn’t concerned. He knows all about the park, which he passes every day. But Rodney’s field trip is to a type of park he’s never visited before. He finds more room to play than he ever imagined and a space where he can be himself. (Keep an eye out for Bogan’s forthcoming picture book about a girl in Rodney’s class. She doesn’t feel included among her classmates on the playground, but she begins to break down those barriers—with the help of a turtle.)

‘The Camping Trip,’ by Jennifer K. Mann

While car camping with her aunt and cousin, a little girl explores the edge of her comfort zone in the great outdoors. Ernestine’s trip to the lake is full of unexpected delights, and campers of any age can relate to her frustration as she wrangles a tent for the first time. Martin says that this story, which features a single dad helping his daughter prepare for adventure, is a favorite in her stack of new releases, adding that the final pages are especially poignant, “I teared up at the end of this one,” she says.

‘Hike,’ by Pete Oswald

Published earlier this year, this quiet story follows a father and son on a day hike, and while the characters are not explicitly African American, they are people of color. Near the summit, the pair don climbing gear and scramble to the top, where they plant a seedling to help ensure the forest will be there for future fathers and sons out adventuring together. Oswald’s expansive illustrations take precedence over words here, inspiring close observation and thoughtful reflection.

Keep Exploring

Jabari Jumps, by Gaia Cornwall, focuses on another activity where Black children are underrepresented: swimming.
The Thing About Bees: A Love Letter, by Shabazz Larkin, helps children connect these insects with the food they eat and fosters an appreciation for the sometimes-scary pollinators.
Onward: A Photobiography of African-American Polar Explorer Matthew Henson, by Dolores Johnson, is a different kind of picture book. It tells the true story of Henson, who went on seven polar expeditions, including Robert Peary’s 1909 trip to the geographic North Pole.

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Booze News: Black Beauty

Alcoholic beverages for most of their existence have acted as social equalizers. When people huddle around a campfire, belly up to a bar, toss some burgers on the grill, or sit on the front porch with a drink in their hand chances are the talk will flow and barriers may fall. When you share a drink with someone, as Barak Obama famously did several times during his presidency, you are signaling an acceptance to have a conversation.

Such is the hope of Marcus Baskerville, the founder and head brewer of Weathered Souls Brewing Company located in San Antonio, TX. As he watched the protests that swept across the country and world following the death of George Floyd, he knew that he wanted to help out in some way. “As a black man who in his youth who had experienced police harassment, I understood what was going on,” said Baskerville. “So, I decided to try and help open a constructive dialogue about race, something that seems harder than ever to find these days.”

So, he decided to do what he does best, make a beer that would hopefully bring people together. When his friend Jeff Stuffings, the owner of the award-winning Austin, TX, based Jester King Brewery found out about his plan to release a stout beer called Black is Beautiful, things changed. That’s because Stuffing’s challenged him to turn his project into a collaboration one that brewers across the world could take part in.

Suddenly his plan to get a message out became much larger. Following in the footsteps of two other hugely successful collaboration projects, Sierra Nevada’s Resilience IPA following the devastating California wildfires of 2018, and Other Half Brewing Co’s All Together IPA supporting hospitality professionals a few months back, Black is Beautiful is poised to sweep the country, and do some good.

A website was launched, and the message was put out. The response was immediate. Breweries started signing up (almost 600 so far), with fourteen in Colorado, pledging to donate proceeds from their beer to local foundations that support police brutality reform and the legal defenses of those that have been wronged. All would work off of the same base recipe, one that Baskerville had created, but they could add their own twists in. They all would also use the same label to ensure that the message about the beer was gotten out. There is a spot for them to put their own brewery name on the label.

“The brewing industry is one of the most open minded in America. Everyone is united in their love of good beer and even better conversations,” says Baskerville. “In the last few years the industry has led the way in working together to do good regardless of a person’s sex, race, or religion. It shows what we can be as a society if we just sit down and talk.”

If all goes well plans are in the works for this program to be a permanent one, something that rolls out annually to ensure that the message is still getting out there and that people can discuss it over the one thing that we all seem to agree on these days. That beer is good, and talk is better.

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Black Joy, Black Voices, Black Agency

Celebrating the voices of Black Americans in the pages of Elevation Outdoors

At Elevation Outdoors we believe the outdoors is for everyone. We also know that we still must do a lot of work—and look deep within ourselves and our nation—to make the changes that make everyone feel included. We are also proud of the voices of our Black contributors. In solidarity with the protests for Justice for George Floyd and in order to raise up these voices, we want to share a few of these stories that have appeared in the magazine over the past years. And we want to stress that these voices speak to far more than protest, they speak to joy in the outdoors and finding the agency for Black Americans to create their own experiences and spaces in the wild.

Top photo courtesy of Patricia Cameron.

“Feet to the Ground”
by Patricia Cameron

How Building a love of the outdoors helped me reclaim the Black American dream.

Feet to the Ground

“Hit the Road”
by Sasha McGhee

We live for road trips here at EO. To that end, Sasha McGhee runs down how she took to life on the road, and we deliver packed itineraries for our favorite summer drives.

From #FitLife to #VanLife

“The Power of Community”
by Patricia Cameron

The author founded Blackpackers to bring people of color into the outdoors together so they could learn to go back out on their own. After a glorious weekend in the woods, she found the new group would give her the power to overcome unforseen obstacles

The Power of Community

“Overcoming Mental Injuries”
by Joseph Gray

A physical injury creates ripple effects beyond competition and training. Here’s how a top athlete pulled himself out of the depression of not being able to run thanks to a solid support system.

Overcoming Mental Injuries

“Role Models”
by Sasha McGhee

Meet Brown Girls Climb. This multi-faceted organization is getting out on the rock and in the peaks and not just getting more women of color and other under-represented groups participating (and having fun)—they are changing the perception of the sport.

Role Models

“Future Vision”
by James Edward Mills

Remembering the legacy of Adventure Film Festival founder Jonny Copp and seeking out new legends at the annual gathering.

Future Vision

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Review: Black Diamond’s New Sprint 225 Headlamp

On most backpacking trips last year, I carried the Black Diamond Iota headlamp. Its 150 lumens were plenty for three-season conditions, and it weighed only 1.9 ounces and packed away small. I loved that it was rechargeable, so I could keep AAA batteries out of the waste stream and recharge it midtrip using the same portable charger I use for my phone and InReach.

For spring 2020, Black Diamond has introduced the Sprint 225 ($ 45). While it is technically new for this season, it’s essentially a brighter and updated version of the Iota, which will be dropped from the line. The brand sent me an early-production version of the new model last fall for review.

Black Diamond Headlamp — The Sprint 225 (left) will replace the Iota (right). The two share a similar price point, weight, size, and feature set. (*Photo:* Andrew Skurka)

Key Specs

1.9 ounces
One LED bulb with a nonadjustable oval flood beam
Up to 225 lumens of light output
Rechargeable lithium battery
IPX4 waterproofness rating (resistant to splashing from any direction)

Best For

Over the winter, I found the Sprint 225 to be ideal for night running on bike paths, streets, and some very easy trails in and around Boulder, Colorado. Last fall I carried it as a just-in-case light on long trail-running loops in the Indian Peaks and Rocky Mountain National Park. Going forward, I plan to carry it on most of my backpacking trips, which typically occur between April and September.

My only complaint about the Sprint 225 for backpacking is that it lacks a red light. This night-vision-saving feature is wonderful on group trips to prevent you from blinding your companions, and in camp it’s often the only light I use. Because of this omission, the Sprint seems more optimized for moving (trail running and day hiking) than camping.

The Sprint 225 is not to be confused with the Black Diamond Sprinter 275 headlamp ($ 75), which is also new for spring 2020. That model is slightly brighter, powered by three AAA batteries (single-use or rechargeable), and has a second head strap.

Light Output

The Sprint 225 uses one LED bulb. Its light pattern is wonderfully smooth, with no distracting rings. It seems almost perfectly optimized for night running and night hiking—it focuses most of the light ahead but still manages to illuminate the periphery. It’s a nice happy medium between a spot beam (which makes you feel as if you’re running in a tunnel and which can be dizzyingly bouncy) and a flood beam (which doesn’t throw enough light out ahead).

Black Diamond reports that the Sprint 225 can maintain its maximum 225-lumen output for 1.5 hours and its minimum six-lumen output for 20 hours. This seems roughly accurate—I learned the hard way that the Sprint 225 has enough power for one 60-to-90-minute night run, but it needs to be recharged before a second outing.

The Competition

How does the Sprint 225 compare to other headlamps?

Let’s start by pitting it against its predecessor, the Iota. They are comparable in price, size, and weight, have the same operating configuration, and share many features, like the three-LED battery meter and PowerTap, which allows the user to switch between full and dimmed modes with one touch. The Sprint is 50 percent brighter (225 lumens as opposed to 150), and it has a few small improvements. For example, the Sprint remembers its last brightness setting when it’s turned back on, whereas the Iota has an adjustable default. Black Diamond also reports that the Sprint’s lens is more efficient at transmitting the light from the bulb to the environment.

The Sprint 225 is brighter and less expensive than the Petzl Bindi, which has only 200 lumens and retails for $ 60. However, the Bindi has a red light. Because of improvements in LED technology, it’s also likely that Petzl will soon release an updated, brighter version of this headlamp.

The Nightcore NU25, which puts out 360 lumens and has a red light, weighs the same as the Sprint but costs ten dollars less. If Nightcore updated its 1990s-era computer-age aesthetics, maybe it’d be onto something.

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Black Wolf Pearson 40 Day Pack

Check out the Black Wolf Pearson 40 Day Pack here: https://www.snowys.com.au/pearson-day-pack Whether you’re commuting to work, heading off for a day of study or going for an overnight stay – the generous 40L Pearson Daypack from Black Wolf is ideal. This design is constructed from recycled 600D polyester and features the Black Wolf Origins AirTech II Harness and adjustable shoulder straps so you can comfortably carry your load. The padded deep front zip pocket has an organiser with a mesh zip pocket, while the padded zip close back pocket is ideal for keeping your laptop or sleeve secure. It’s also got a water bottle holder, so you can keep hydrated as you go about your activities. You won’t have to leave any essentials at home for your day, as it will all fit into the Pearson Daypack from Black Wolf.
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