A loyal reader named Kara sent this response to our recent editorial:
“Your Outside Magazine rant was right-on & mimicked thoughts that I had when I received my monthly edition in the mail. The lack of attention regarding Sir Edmund Hillary (one of my heroes) appalled myself as well, especially when the current issue bragged of being “the green issue.” If I remember correctly Sir Edmund Hillary was quite the greenie himself, it would have been far more appropriate if Hillary graced the cover than the surf-pop king Jack Johnson whose blaringly white teeth burned my retinas upon first glance. To continue my rant I would like to further touch on the fact that David Beckham and Sienna Miller were included in the issue, as I’m sure they were in People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People. If I wanted to read about Sienna and “Bend it like Beckham” himself, I would have told my grandfather to get me Us Weekly for Christmas instead. The amount of attractive people in the current issue and gracing the covers lately is distracting.
Where are all the non-Patagucci-wearing retched outdoorspeople who camp in their Coleman tents and eat mac and cheese instead of $1.75 horrendously processed 70% organic Cliff Bars. My question is what is in that other 30% Cliff? I am not one to talk, however, my best friend is a Cliff Bar Rep, a fancy title for a hot chick in Patagucci hocking cardboard bars, only this time the fleece is emblazoned with an organically threaded Cliff Bar logo to complement her $200 Nordstrom designer denims. Now I don’t mean to sound bitter at our current “outdoor culture” strewn with un-used roof-racks on brand-new Subarus, .83 cent REI sales reminiscent of Black Friday, and gear-junkies getting off on themselves while sipping highly-hopped brews. I am also guilty of a) attending said REI sale, b) paying too much for IPA (there is a hops shortage you know) and c) wanting an almost-inappropriate relationship with my beautiful new road bike I purchased with unsubsidized graduate school loan money, (thanks G-Dub!) I merely want to draw a spotlight on what has become of our supposed “outdoor culture.” After reading the latest Outside issue I asked myself this: would Sir Edmund Hillary have given a shit about Jack Johnson? Probably not. Thanks for a great read.”
