Hikers brave cold and wind instead of Black Friday crowds


14 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — While shoppers jostling for deals on Black Friday bumped shopping carts and endured the long lines, a group of hardy hikers from the Salt Lake area bucked the national spending tradition and instead braved windy weather for a morning hike.

Members of the Utah Outdoors Meet Up hiking organization did a five-mile snow encrusted round trip to Mount Wire, a small mountain that overlooks the University of Utah. The dog-friendly trail ascends 2,100 feet to reach a summit of just over 7,000 feet boasting an old air beacon that once guided pilots years ago.

The wind was wickedly strong, and cold. At locations near the U. and the mouth of Parleys Canyon — and at much lower elevations than the hike — gusts hit 50 mph. At locations farther north in Davis County like Farmington and Centerville, the winds eclipsed 65 mph.

"I originally had about 30 people, but it got down to about a dozen to 15 people," said organizer and hiking enthusiast Dave Wilson. Unfortunately the wind put some people off."

The hike, regardless, was a success. "It was a good day to get out rather than fight the crowds," Wilson said. "I would rather fight the wind than that."

Photo: Ravell Call/Deseret News
Photo: Ravell Call/Deseret News

Wilson, a geologist by trade, said he has done Black Friday hikes in the past, but was particularly inspired this year by the announcement from outdoor retailer REI that it would keep its doors closed on what is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year.

This is the first time the Seattle-based retailer opted to sit out the Black Friday spending spree and instead pay its employees to spend time outdoors.

"Here's why we are doing it," said REI President and CEO Jerry Stritzke in a statement published on their website. "For 76 years, our co-op has been dedicated to one thing and one thing only: a life outdoors. We believe that being outside makes our lives better. And Black Friday is the perfect time to remind ourselves of this essential truth. We're a different kind of company — and while the rest of the world is fighting it out in the aisles, we'll be spending our day a bit differently."

On its website at one point Friday, REI adopted a nearly black theme in acknowledgement of the Black Friday shopping tradition, but in big white letters said "We're Not Here." Instead, it said that more than a million people had chosen to go outside via hiking or other outdoor adventure in its #optoutside campaign.

Wilson said he used the same social media hashtag to promote the Friday hike, which provided a great romp for some canines that joined their owners to take in spectacular valley views.

The action by REI to close its doors — although shoppers could still buy online — resounded with consumers, according to a corporate pollster specializing in marketing and purchasers' attitudes.

CivicScience Insight Report said more than half the people it polled agreed with the decision, while only 6 percent said they disagreed with the decision by the retailer to close both Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. Another 38 percent said they had no strong opinion.

Photo: Ravell Call/Deseret News
Photo: Ravell Call/Deseret News

According to the National Retail Federation, nearly 136 million U.S. residents planned to shop over the holiday weekend and nearly 60 percent had already crossed gift items off their list by mid-week last week.

The foundation said spending on gift cards alone is expected to be nearly $26 billion this holiday season.

Foundation CEO and President Matthew Shay said online promotions helped to boost Thanksgiving Day sales and early bird specials are also capturing shoppers' attention.

"By the time Cyber Monday wraps up, retailers will have closed the books on another successful Thanksgiving weekend, but we know the holiday season is a marathon, not a sprint as there are countless opportunities left for retailers through the end of December," Shay said.

Early reports by sales tracker Adobe indicates shoppers did not wait until Black Friday to pull out the wallets, instead spending as much as $1 billion online on Thanksgiving Day alone.

Photos

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahOutdoors
Amy Joi O'Donoghue

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast