Greta Oberschmidt notices as much when teens are forced to leave their cell phones and iPods at home.

She operates Big City Mountaineers, a nonprofit organization that takes inner-city youth into the outdoors, and said participants often complain about the physical difficulty of backpacking and express fear of wild animals and the dark, only to later say the outdoor adventure was the best thing that ever happened to them.

Getting teens outdoors is a major emphasis for manufacturers and retailers participating in the annual Outdoor Retailer Winter Market under way this week at the Salt Palace Convention Center.

"They are a new market," said Bryan Mahler, of the Outdoor Industry Association's Outdoor Foundation, which offers grants to increase teen participation.

The 34 million 12- to 19-year-olds in the U.S. spent $176 million last year, Michael Wood, vice president of Teen Research Unlimited, said Wednesday at the Outdoor Retailer trade show, making them a lucrative market for retailers.

Retailers should be aware, however, that today's teens differ from their parents in many ways.

Baby boomers who grew up fighting with their parents in the 1960s and '70s might be surprised to learn that teens today possess little desire to separate themselves from their parents.

Wood used the term "babied boomers" to describe today's teens.

"They are more inspected and protected than ever before," he said. "They are coddled by society and adoring parents."

So how might this research help retailers and manufacturers sell more products by getting more kids outside?

One key is getting parents involved.

"That trickles down to teenagers," Wood said. "If they grow up doing it, chances are they will carry it with them. Young people will not reject an activity just because their parents do it."

He listed technology, laziness, emphasis on traditional sports, college preparation, school activities, costs, fear sometimes fueled by movies and the desire to be with friends as major reasons why teens don't want to go outdoors. And there is the pressure put on teens to excel in sports and school and get into a good college.

"Downtime is foreign to them and every minute is so scheduled," Wood said. "Their life is rarely associated with sitting on the top of a mountain crest and doing nothing."

Lindy Spiezer, of Leki - a nordic walking pole maker, said her company is working on a pilot program that uses libraries as a lending source where kids and their parents can check out backpacks, field guides, compasses and poles for use in the outdoors.

"If we can concentrate on getting people out, then we will have future customers," she said.

The Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, which is not open to the public, continues through Saturday.

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* TOM WHARTON can be reached at wharton@sltrib.com or 801-257-8909. Send comments about this story to livingeditor@sltrib.com.