I found a great rant about training for hiking last year. Yesterday’s post about treadmills reminded me of this guy’s post, which I tracked down this morning.

I call “the REI generation” the crowd of casual hikers who want to do the most epic hikes no matter how little training they got. The REI generation (which includes young people, yuppies, retired people, surfers, rock climbers, and just about anyone who lives in California and is physically fit) is fascinated by the epic hikes, the Half Dome or Mt. Whitney hikes that experienced hikers talk about. But often the REI generation doesn’t have the time or the patience to get in shape before attempting those epic hikes.

Of course, lack of training is how knee and ankle joints get shredded. He also denounces training in a gym:

A gym is not a good way of training for hiking. When you hike, every step is uneven. The stress on your muscles, ligaments, nerves, bones, skin (not to mention your psyche) is completely different from the (almost inexistent) stress that they receive in a gym. The gym is an artificial environment: it is to the oudoors what fast food is to a home-made meal.

Speaking of REI, the Get Outdoors blog has a reality check on the outdoor-gear retailer. REI fashions itself as this almost communistic co-op that is friendly to the environment and to its workers. To some extent it’s true but lately, REI is fundamentally a business preoccupied primarily with improving its bottom line, and it’s also making it harder for mom-and-pop retailers to stay in business. Climb_CA unkindly compares REI to Wal-mart, which is a far more corrosive force in the marketplace. After all, REI sells gear at full retail — not bargain basement — so it doesn’t make it impossible for Mom & Pop to compete on price like Wal-Mart does.

As far as I’m concerned, REI is just another place to shop for gear. It has good selection and atmosphere, but little or no price advantage. I hike in a hat and coat from REI, but boots and a pack from local retailers. I spread my money around, because the big chains need the competition and the local businesses need the money.