Ski Media Has Better Things to Cover Than Black Friday Deals

Black Friday (and its digital analog in Cyber Monday) has become a litmus-test for the longevity of a certain brutally consumerist itch even we outdoorsy types just can't quite scratch. Every year, no matter how many of us claim any discontent with the status quo, the ritual rears its head anew. Brands and stores relentlessly pepper the masses with irresistible deals, and we the consumer ever cooperate with our insatiable need for retail-ready wares on the cheap. Not least of all, ski media has long been part of the fray, ever poised to nudge us toward online shopping carts, like with this year's egalitarian call to attention for "The Best Cyber Monday Ski Deals for All."

Ski media's problematic complacency with Black Friday aside, the outdoor world has had a complicated dance with the behemoth of holiday deal days, partly from the outdoor culture's loathing of over-consumerism, but largely due to its own retail behemoth's relationship with the day. Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI)--the juggernaut to end them all in the outdoor space--accounts for a staggering share of total outdoor commerce in North America. Thus the giant co-op and their 195 stores and giant online footprint has been instrumental in steering the outdoor industry, affecting everything from what models manufacturers make to helping catalyze the rapid abandonment of PFAS waterproofing that fitfully came to pass recently.

And that influence has gone all the way to post-Thanksgiving retail gluttony, or lack thereof with REI's repudiation of Black Friday known as OptOutside, a permanent closure of all REI stores both on Thanksgiving and Black Friday in perpetuity, something the chain began in 2015 (REI still engages in Cyber Monday-style sales).

While many brands at first followed REI's lead, with partner manufacturers themselves often 'opting outside,' in a time of post-COVID over-inventory and diminishing margins, makers have struggled to survive, leaving high-brow posturing in the past in favor of the all mighty dollar, trying ever desperately to keep the lights on during months many brands in fact lose money.

In case you fear I might continue my diatribe skewering late-stage capitalism, fear not. While I can't escape a certain nausea associated with hoards camping out for a few $99 plasma screens, I relent not only to the basic tenets of supply and demand and Adam Smith's 'Invisible Hand,' I also am intimately aware of the complicated landscape outdoor brands find themselves in right now. From tariff uncertainty to a buying public now all too used to off-price gear, our makers--the creators of the equipment our outdoor pursuits require--are on the ropes. It stands to reason more than a few of them may not make it through this storm. Let them push some sales for the sake of their survival.

But while we could little fault brands from trying to make ends meet, or trying to figure out how to incorporate or distance themselves from one Black Friday, outdoor media--some have even christened it 'journalism'--deserves a closer, I'd say more critical look. Even as REI has attempted to flip Black Friday into an outdoorsy call to arms, and as brands ever toil to stay in business, the outdoor industry's strange bedfellow in outdoor media has done its part to push sales. But that has come at the expense of what the written craft does best; truthfully capture the depth of the subculture they cover

A buzzy word going around the wider media world right now is 'audience-driven.' And it's not just small, niche media entities that are clinging to the notion that if you write good material about something that matters, there is an audience that will pay for it. As Escape Collective's Caley Fretz told me for my article on the evolved outdoor media landscape that ran in POWDER last week, even top brass at larger titles (and the conglomerates that own them) have questioned their solitary use of click-bait affiliate-link models, and are coming back around to the idea of creating content not to satiate their revenue streams, but their actual readers.

This movement back toward reader-facing outdoor media is yet a dream. And it probably never will completely render. But we have come to a point where audience-driven models may influence outdoor media--even its digital form--writ large. The very words of our culture are still often stewards not of readers, but of revenue models that have everything to do with clicks, affiliate links, and gear purchase and rarely any concern with the depth of their content. Still, a nascent movement may yet influence all of outdoor culture. Yes, you will likely have to pay for that content. But large titles may yet follow the smaller core players and return in some form to the idea of deeper content. A future of stronger outdoor media may be nigh that stands in opposition to the current devolved ski media landscape.

Exhibit A of that being ski media's coverage of Black Friday.

It doesn't have to be like this. And ski media frankly has better things to cover than Black Friday. My inbox was already jammed with 'Final Hours!' and 'Don't Miss Our Sale!' appeals from brands. Do we really need ski media outlets to lean into their conflict of interest and help us spend money when we're already bombarded with deals on a daily basis? And will I or anyone else feel the need to fork over cash for any outlet that covers such basal fare?

The audience-driven re-revolution in outdoor media may quietly be in motion. Bigger titles--the ones that many have loved for years that have been subject to consolidation and fitful digital evolutions--may yet be redeemed. But we readers have to help see that through. It might involve eschewing Black Friday and not giving ski titles a few bucks by avoiding their Cyber Monday affiliate link listicle. But what we might get in return will be well worth it.

Let's give ski media a reason to cover skiing, not Black Friday.