Backpacking Light Magazine Seeks Nominations for Outdoor Industry’s Most Stringent Product Award Program

Bozeman, Mont. – May 31, 2006 – Backpacking Light Magazine (www.BackpackingLight.com) announces the second annual Lightitude Awards honoring product integrity and performance in lightweight gear and apparel. Lightitude Awards will be presented to recipients during the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2006.

Backpacking Light Magazine is now accepting nominations for the annual Lightitude Awards. The deadline is July 1, 2006. Nomination forms are available online at www.BackpackingLight.com by clicking “Lightitude.”

Lightitude Awards honor backcountry gear, apparel, footwear and accessories demonstrating exceptional field performance. Unlike most other magazine product performance award programs, unreleased or “new” products that have neither been field tested by the public nor subjected to the court of public opinion do not qualify for a Lightitude Award nomination.

Backpacking Light Magazine will accept nominations from qualified outdoor industry professionals and backcountry core users only. The selection committee consists of Backpacking Light Magazine’s staff (renowned for their rigorous standards for product performance), selected industry design professionals, and highly experienced backcountry enthusiasts, with input solicited from the public.

“Three barriers must be overcome for a product to receive a Lightitude Award,” say the Backpacking Light editors, Carol Crooker (online magazine) and Matt Colon (print magazine). “Nominations must first come from qualified individuals and are then subject to the court of public opinion. Finally, they are screened by a review committee who has put the product through the wringer in both lab and field settings.”

The purpose of the process is to make sure that Lightitude Awards are given to well-deserved recipients, and not just handed out to companies coming out with “cool new gear” with little market longevity or testing. Nominations, public comment and award committee reviews will be made publicly available at www.BackpackingLight.com for all Lightitude Award recipients to further validate the integrity of the award. Crooker and Colon are confident the Lightitude Award is setting a new industry standard for meaningful recognition of product design, performance and integrity that consumers can trust.

Award recipients will receive complimentary plaques for display at their booth and an award logo digital media kit. Award recipients also receive a license to use authentic Lightitude Award trade show, point of sale, and point of purchase materials, including banners, hang tags, packaging stickers and more.

Information for the Press

Award Information: Information about Lightitude Award winners will be available in electronic format after the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. To request high-resolution photos and stock copy about the award-winning products, please send an email to publisher@backpackinglight.com.

About Backpacking Light
Backpacking Light Magazine (www.BackpackingLight.com) is the outdoor industry’s most recognized and authoritative voice for wilderness travel philosophy, techniques and gear. Catering primarily to prosumer and industry professional audiences, Backpacking Light technical articles and product reviews are based on accurate and trustworthy investigative research. In addition, Backpacking Light publishes content for beginning and novice wilderness travelers to help them go light while staying safe and comfortable in the backcountry. Backpacking Light offers two primary subscription-based products, including a print magazine of exceptional shelf quality (Backpacking Light, ISSN 1550-4417) featuring tactile and emotive articles about lightweight backpacking style, philosophy, and applications and a comprehensive online magazine (BackpackingLight.com, ISSN 1537-0364) that focuses on providing education and information about lightweight backpacking techniques and gear with reader forums, and a members’ co-op-style gear shop including some of the quirkiest and coolest ultralight gear on the planet.