Encouraging a slew of youngsters to scale peaks may make hikes more crowded and remote spots rarer, Madsen said. "But my belief is that if we can get people into the wild, the more personal they are going to take (environmental) stewardship."

These days, hot areas of outdoor gear retailing are snowboarding, mountain-biking and fast-packing — single-day running and hiking trips that cover 20 to 30 miles.
—Rachel Brand, "Wanted: More outdoors enthusiasts," Rocky Mountain News, May 17, 2002

Long popular in Europe, various forms of endurance sports are finding their niche on this side of the Atlantic as well. In addition to trail running, there is ultra running, wilderness running, mountain running and orienteering. Yet another offshoot gathering steam is fastpacking — running multiple days on the trail while carrying a pack with food and tent.
—Ad Crable, "Running wild," Lancaster New Era, June 18, 1993