editor's

letter

AND MANY MORE

A

s I write this in late January, we're celebrating the eighth anniversary (birthday, as I like to call it) of the magazine you hold in your hands. What started as a side hustle in my St. Louis home has grown to touch 32,000 Midwestern readers per issue, six times a year, plus 213,720 page views annually at terrain-mag.com (based on stats from 2021). Those of you who know me personally know I don't really like to boast. I'm a believer that you do your job, do it to the best of your ability, and hopefully you have a positive impact in the lives of others. But, in this instance, maybe you'll indulge me as I share a little about Terrain and the changes we've seen over the years. Our mission has always been to provide inspiration and information for those who want to explore the many facets of the outdoors in our region. We do this through our media channels (print and digital magazine, website, social media), events/programs (the Gateway Outdoor Expo, our annual photo contest, experiential adventures), and sponsorships/ partnerships with leading outdoor organizations like GO! St. Louis, St. Louis Earth Day, the Missouri Interscholastic Cycling League, and more. We took our dedication to improving the local outdoors to a new level in 2020 by becoming part of River City Outdoors, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a vibrant outdoor culture and brand in St. Louis. You can read about our initial efforts in Terrain's January/February 2022 issue (see the article "Driving Diversity in the Outdoors"). Over the last eight years, we've watched the outdoor community in St. Louis grow from a loose, mostly unnoticed assortment of athletes and enthusiasts to a powerful and motivated community that is having an impact - just look at the explosion of local bike parks, trails, and outfitters in the area over the last few years (see pages 4 and 34, respectively). This is an exciting time in the evolution of our city, and we at Terrain are proud and grateful to be a part of it. Thank you for your support over the past eight years. We look forward to sharing your stories, and making an impact, for many more to come. Brad Kovach Editor/Publisher

Submissions: Article ideas, manuscripts, event reports, and photos can be submitted via email to brad@ terrain-mag.com. Photos should be high-resolution and accompanied with identification whenever possible. While we will do our best to use submitted material, we withhold the right to deny the usage of any submission for any reason. No guarantee of payment or return of materials will be assumed.

Editor/Publisher Brad Kovach brad@terrain-mag.com Contributing Writers Eric Berger, Janice Branham, Nick Brennan, David Fiedler, Corrie Hendrix Gambill, Kathleen Nelson, Morgan Paar, Nick Tilley, Terri Waters, Kimberly Yawitz, Stephanie Zeilenga Contributing Photographers Dennis Coello, Mark Nettles, Alex Noguera, Russell Ward Design Kim Waterhouse Webmaster Tom Haag Sales/Events Steve Schmidt steve@terrain-mag.com Editorial Offices 4245A Manchester Avenue St. Louis, MO 63110 636-633-1816

Terrain Magazine is published by Terrain Media six times a year: January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, and November/December. Back issues are available in limited quantities. Please write the Terrain office or see www.terrain-mag.com/store/ for prices and ordering information. One-year subscription rate is $20. To subscribe, see www.terrain-mag.com/store/. Contact Terrain for permission to reprint articles. Published by:

March/April 2022 2

terrain March/April 2022