What’s hot, dry, and alive with the energy of 20,000 visitors under the desert sun? Salt Lake City, of course! Today was the opening of Outdoor Retailer 2009 at the Salt Palace Convention Center. The largest show in the industry, OR attracts over a thousand outdoor gear manufacturers, hundreds of suppliers, and countless retailers, outdoor celebrities, and gear junkies from across the globe. If you want to see the freshest gear before it graces the shelves of your local REI, perform some hands on gear reviews, and stock up on those stickers that go for $35 a pop on eBay, this is the place to do it.

All About OR

At its heart, OR is a B2B event that brings retailers and manufacturers together to see, kick the tires of, and place orders for the gear that will start showing up in stores in the next model year (spring of 2010.) But it’s so much more than that – After only a few minutes on the floor, it quickly becomes evident that a lot of people are here for no reason other than to network, score some SWAG (for which OR is legendary), and imbibe in the free alcohol that is rolled out promptly at 2:00 every day. Yes, these are adequate reasons to maintain some loose affiliation with an outdoor retailer and score your registration come July of 2010.

There’s Atmosphere Here

For what’s supposed to be the single most conservative city in the union, Salt Lake really lets its hair down for ORweek. The second I hit the ground, I was greeted by Outdoor Retailer banners which are lining the streets of the entire city. Every night this week, there’s a myriad of parties being thrown by different manufacturers, ridiculous raised up promotional vehicles cruising around downtown, and thousands of people pouring out of the Salt Palace and into the streets surrounding the Mormon temple. If ever there was a perfect time to visit Salt Lake, this would be it.

This Week

Tonight kicked off with the traditional tuesday post-show event – the Outdoor Retailer Industry Party. This year’s theme was summer block party; free beer and pie were the culinary offerings. In my estimation it looked like a thousand-plus people flowed through, many of whom took part in the massive flip-cup tournament going on.

In the coming days, we’ve got a full lineup of fantastic posts planned for you. On Wednesday, we’ll focus on the gear – who’s new on the scene, which products are generating the best buzz this year, and some of the industry trends that are standing out from the crowd. Thursday will be a recap of special events – the parties, the “celebrity” appearances, and everything else that has made OR week special. Friday, we’ll do a deep dive into some of our favorite items and moments from the past week. Be sure to check back, we’ll be posting pictures and tweeting all week long.

Be sure to check out our full series of posts live from Outdoor Retailer 2009 right here at the Access Road.