Shifting Media Series: New Outdoor & Active Lifestyle Publications You Should Know About

 

Q&A with John Ellings, Founder of Better Trail and Ryan Wichelns, Founder of Trails Mag

Change is constant in the media landscape, with revenue models, staffing structures, and algorithms never at a standstill. Unfortunately, this has led to several consolidations and downsizing of in-house editorial teams in recent years. From these challenging times, many of our industry veteran journalist friends have seen an opportunity to return to their roots and create new core and boutique publications with an enhanced editorial direction.

Outdoor participation remains high (Outdoor Industry Association released their 2024 Participation Report which showed that in 2023, the outdoor recreation participant base grew 4.1% to a record 175.8 million participants), creating a new generation of outdoor participants and enthusiasts. The way these outdoors people (new and old) get their information has changed from our legacy media model. New publications, non-traditional media, and influencers and content creators aimed at core participants will be an increasingly important part of this new media landscape.

Learn more from Better Trail’s founder, John Ellings and Trails Magazine’s founder, Ryan Wichelns in our first blog post of our shifting media series below.

 

Tell us (in a few sentences) about your new publication and what makes it unique from other publications that exist today?

First, we created a modern UX that pushes the bounds of content commerce. With our gear guides readers can re-sort all of the products by variables they care about like price, weight, warmth, sustainability, etc., and even choose their desired reading length. It’s much more interactive than a static content page, edging closer to an e-commerce experience, and more features are coming. Second, we have pioneered real sustainability ratings at the product level in the outdoor space. This information is lacking generally, but we have an incredible team that researches each product category for all of the things happening in the world of sustainability, creates criteria for that category, and then applies those criteria to each product we cover. It takes a lot of work but the end result is tangible and helpful for readers, whereas most sustainability information is nebulous and hard to decipher.

 
 

What inspired you / how did the idea come about for Better Trail?

We wanted to create a site for the next 10 years. Over the last handful of years, a lot of content has started to look the same, but we wanted to be forward-looking and create an experience for the future. Sustainability also was a big motivation and the reception to that has been incredible across the board. People want this information, they care deeply about it, and it’s just not available. Last but not least, public lands is a topic that we think is critical to all stripes of outdoor enthusiasts, but that most don’t know nearly enough about. There are a few legacy publications out there but we want to help make public lands mainstream and in the right way. We want to cover all sides of these issues.

Who is your target audience for Better Trail?

All types of outdoor enthusiasts, including hikers, backpackers, climbers, campers, skiers, snowboarders, and more. We also cater to people who care about sustainability and the impact of the products they are considering, and to those who depend on public lands, which is most of us really. 

Why was this the right time to start Better Trail? When is the site officially launching?

The site launched in late November of 2024, so we are fresh! In terms of timing, it’s clearly a unique period in media, and the next 5 to 10 years will not look like the last, but we think it’s an opportune time. We all know that what AI is doing is scraping the existing internet and essentially repackaging that content. It’s a master aggregator, so some of the tools are interesting and offer alternatives to Google search. But we are creating original, high-quality, long-form content. We’ve also blocked AI bots from scraping our site so our content is only available on Better Trail. In the end, the appetite is there and even increasing for this type of real, high-quality, original content.

There’s been an influx of new and alternative media, and media starting their own channels, why do you think that is?

There probably are a number of reasons. We clearly are at an inflection point with the internet. Things always are changing, but the ways in which people consume media are diversifying and AI is pulling that forward. Second, over the past handful of years there has been quite a bit of consolidation in outdoor media, so now it’s a good time for enthusiasts to get back to the roots. Third, the tools are getting so good and the barriers to entry are going down, particularly for formats like social media, video, podcasts, substacks, etc.

What has been the biggest challenge in launching your new website/publication?

With any brand-new website or publication, you have to build up an audience from scratch. Every day our site is the smallest it’s ever going to be, and we are constantly publishing new content to build it out further. We have a whole new sustainability experience coming after the New Year that will essentially double the size of the site and more, which we all are excited about. But realistically it takes time to build a brand from the ground up and we are in the early innings. 

How do you hope Better Trail impacts the outdoor community?

We hope to be additive to the outdoor space and help bring a number of important issues to the forefront. The core of the site really is the intersection of outdoor gear and sustainability, with public lands on top, and they are all intertwined. People love their gear and need it for the activities they pursue, but we are tying it all together, which is a reflection of real life. We already are having great conversations with many brands about sustainability and other topics, and the outdoor community is an awesome place, so we look forward to the work.  

 

Ryan Wichelns
Trails Magazine

Tell us (in a few sentences) about Trails Mag and what makes it unique from other publications that exist today?

I always thought it was interesting that, if you're a skier or a climber, you have a half-dozen different, great magazines to choose from. But if you're a backpacker, there was really only one magazine speaking specifically to you—until it went out of print. So, we're trying to fill that niche for the backpacking and hiking community in a way that's really beautiful, thought-provoking, and enjoyable for folks. 

What inspired you / how did the idea come about for Trails Mag?

 
 

Not sure how much of this you want to use but: Trails came directly from Backpacker going out of print. That magazine was so important to me, both as a writer and as an outdoors person, so it felt really important that something stepped in to fill that gap. And looking at the success other magazines have had recently in the "quality-over-quantity" space, I felt like it was worth trying that model in our niche. 

Who is your target audience for Trails Mag?

We're a backpacking magazine at heart. That’s our core. But we live by our "sleep in the dirt" tagline. I think there are a lot of things that aren't technically "backpacking" that people enjoy for the same reasons. I love canoe camping and bikepacking. So any kind of human-powered overnight—anything that gets you sleeping outside—is fair game for us. 

Why was it the right time to start Trails Mag in 2022? 

Frankly, there was just a void that needed to be filled. But by that point, there were enough other magazines like ours—Adventure Journal, Mountain Gazette, etc.—that I felt confident in this model of magazine. I'm not sure I would have gotten it going had I not seen them crushing it. 

How's it been going? What have you learned? What would you tell others looking to start their own outdoor media outlets today?

It's been going well! Always busy, and it feels like there is an endless list of things I'm learning, but we're chugging along, now working hard on Issue 9. For anyone else looking to do this, I would expect it to be a struggle, but it will also be the most creatively rewarding thing you've ever done. 

There’s been an influx of new and alternative media, and media starting their own channels, why do you think that is? 

People are tired of the status quo in media, and especially in magazines. The advertising model is failing—it's just not as profitable as it once was. So the magazines that rely on it are falling away, creating space for new magazines that are trying something different. As much as we hear "print is dying," it's not. Readers 100% still want stories printed on paper with ink. But you need to make it a nice, thoughtful product. Put something like that in front of readers and they're going to love it. 

What has been the biggest challenge in launching Trails Mag?

For me, the marketing. My experience is on the editorial side, but there's so much more to running a magazine than editing. I'm very confident that if the right people know about Trails, they're going to be interested in it. The challenge has been reaching them and getting the magazine in front of them. We're figuring it out and I have good help, but that keeps me up at night, far more than the actual content of the magazine does. 

How do you hope Trails Mag impacts the outdoor community?

I've been so excited to see the community of backpackers we've been creating around the magazine. I can't say I really expected a print-only publication to do that, so it's pretty awesome. Backpacker Magazine had such an impact on me when I was 14, 15, 16 years old. In so many ways, it made me the backpacker and hiker that I am. I'm really hopeful that our magazine can do something similar for a new generation of backpackers. 

At Verde, we are thrilled to see this revitalization of the outdoor media landscape. We are stoked to highlight some of these publications and the people behind them - shining a light on the good work they are doing to bring important and meaningful stories to the outdoor, active lifestyle, and endurance sports communities. 

Stay tuned for future Verde Voice posts highlighting new outlets, channels, and the people behind them!

 
Alexa McRoberts