Search
Close this search box.

Outside In

EDITOR’S NOTE: Next week, the Outdoor Retailer trade show kicks off a new chapter in Denver after decades in Salt Lake City, Utah. Over the past year, the show celebrated 35 years of bringing retailers, manufacturers, media, non profits, and other forward thinkers together. Here, longtime outdoor industry vet and SNEWS owner/publisher, Michael Hodgson, who now runs HiTravelTales.com, reminisces on what the show was like back in the 1990s.

 

While celebrating “20 years of Outside”, a party sponsored by Outside magazine and JanSport at Summer Market 1997, it quickly became apparent the weather gods were angling to send everyone indoors in a hurry.

Things started out well enough, though dark, ominous clouds towering overhead implied an impending onslaught that partygoers, distracted by the music of The String Wizards (from Nitty Gritty Dirt Band fame) and copious quantities of beer, appeared oblivious to.

As the party volume began to pump up with John Mayall, the winds matched the musical intensity and rain began sheeting down. Thunder and lightning were close on the rain’s heels. Ironically, among the 2,500 or so eager industry revelers, there wasn’t a waterproof/breathable garment in sight. The few who brought and attempted to deploy umbrellas were quickly left clinging to crumpled metal skeletons shrouded in shredded fabric. Tablecloths became group rain gear as some attempted to dance in the downpour.

To Mayall’s credit, the blues-meister sung progressively louder, trying to outduel the storm for as long as he could, but in the end, the storm won out—electrocution is not generally considered a good way to end any performance.

As the band hustled off the stage, the clearly unprepared members of this outdoor industry were left to scramble for shelter under awnings, tables, trees, inside restaurant doors, under building overhangs and even under a giant sheet of plastic (procured from who knows what construction site or dumpster). It was entertaining for this journalist (and no, I didn’t have a waterproof breathable jacket either) to watch those under the plastic taking the concept of teamwork and team building to an entirely new level. With only a small amount of effort and a bit of trial and error, the 40 people under the tarp maneuvered successfully en masse from the beer stand to the tequila stand and back again—several times.

For those who scampered away from the party plaza, the Wyndham Hotel staff was standing in the lobby handing out towels to anyone who came into the front door to escape the deluge and await a taxi – which became an eternal wait for most. Many hotels simply began rolling out their own shuttles to get show goers to where they needed to be.

At one point in the storm, lightning struck the flagpole on the Shiloh Inn, obliterating the flag and sending pieces of exploded pole showering into the back parking lot.

Not willing to give up the party without a fight, the Outside magazine team somehow (likely without asking) gained access to a parking garage near the now underwater plaza. The echoes, lights, and garage-like atmosphere felt like a grown-up rave, or a flashback from college party days one person told me then. And it was too. Rumors the band would retake the stage, as well as free-flowing beer from kegs schlepped inside, kept the crowd now packed into the garage alive and buzzing for some time.

Before long, word filtered through the echoes that the String Wizards had set up to play somewhere in the underground. Finding them became a test of route-finding ability as the crowd, flowing like a gelatinous mass (which is what a good soaking by rain following by hearty beer consumption will do to a crowd) moved and wound its way over fences, through planter beds (I feel compelled to apologize for the mass destruction gardeners likely found in the morning), and down dark, concrete staircases. Those who managed to persevere experienced an industry party unlike any other. The music was great and the dancing was good, sweaty and chaotic. It was not the party either Outside or JanSport had planned for. Instead, it became a party that a special few will never forget.

Share this post:

Discover more in the Rockies:

EXPLORE MORE: