The bubbling scene of branded content has, fortunately, spilled into outdoors, opening a new stream of content wrapped around the company’s message. Brands themselves are now acting as publishers, telling stories that engage their audiences in novel ways. Here are some of our favourites.

1. Norwegian ski touring and mountain bike brand Norrøna has been publishing biannually for the last few years with its summer and winter magazines, available in Norwegian and English. Find yourself at one of their flagship stores to dig into the hard copy version, or head to the magazine page on their website and slip into some colourful apparel somewhere wild soon.

2. Like the Wind is one of the newest magazines for runners, published by London-based marketing agency Freestak. Articles range from personal stories from professional runners like Emelie Forsberg to accounts from everyday runners about their adventures on foot. You can order, subscribe or contribute articles via their website.

3. Swatch do a good deal of work sponsoring surf, snow and slopestyle mountain biking with their publication The Swatch Eye. Their slamming roster of ‘ProTeam’ athletes has no shortage of colourful characters and in the latest edition, surfer Courtney Conlogue, slopestyle mountain biker Sam Pilgrim and legendary snowboarder Jeremy Jones were featured..

4. Arc’teryx have perfected the art of storytelling through video, but their new-ish LITHOGRAPHICA is a masterpiece in itself. Printed in on simple, A2 white backgrounds, the publication mirrors the Vancouver-based brand’s attempt to deconstruct and simplify utility. In the Winter 2015 edition, we discover the art behind wooden skis, watertight zippers and enough backcountry adventures to fill a season.

5. Not your traditional publication, but Patagonia publish outstanding annual review of their environmental and social grantees, what support they received and how they pursued goals with financing. Their 2014 edition is stunningly presented on web if you can’t find it in store.