Alpinist Magazine: New Editor-in-Chief Brings New Change? Some thoughts..

March 16, 2009

Alpinist Magazine is slated to relaunch in April. Speculation on what the classic climbing magazine will be doing differently the second time out has been circulating since it was purchased by Height of Land Publications in January. The company that took the risk to rescue Alpinist from the bankruptcy bin–and made a very reasonable purchase at auction of all of Alpinist’s assets–had previously stated that the magazine would be very close to it’s first incarnation.

A statement has been released on the Alpinist website that may suggest otherwise:

“Height of Land Publications, the independent publisher of Alpinist, Backcountry and Telemark Skier Magazines, announced today the well-known climber and editor Michael Kennedy will join Senior Editor Katie Ives to relaunch Alpinist Magazine. Issue 26 ships to subscribers, shops and newsstands April 15

Founded by Christian Beckwith and Marc Ewing and operated in Jackson, Wyoming, until the autumn of last year, the quarterly Alpinist features a timeless, clean design with minimal ads. Publishing only the highest quality and most authentic climbing art and writing, Alpinist portrays the essence of the climbing life, inspired by an ethos of beauty, purity and style, and a dedication to help preserve the natural world that makes all adventures possible. “

New Alpinist Editor-And-Chief Michael Kennedy’s previous experience in the climbing publications realm includes more than two decades as editor and publisher of Climbing magazine. He sold that publication in 1997. During his tenure at Climbing magazine, Michael overseen the transformation of that publication into a world leader of climbing news and information, making it the largest circulated climbing publication in the United States and possibly the world. Not bad.

People involved in climbing and adventure publications are already starting to speculate what Michael will bring to the table and what changes might be made to the classic Alpinist publication. Dougald MacDonald, on his The Mountain World blog, is speculating that Alpinist magazine will take the shape of the old Climbing magazine, as well as feature something that had become synonymous with Alpinist. The magazine relaunch may include ads for the first time.

“Informed speculation: The new Alpinist, now slated to relaunch in April, is likely to be more like the old Climbing magazine than the old Alpinist. It may have a smaller trim size than the old Alpinist and definitely will have more ad space, and it will seek to appeal to a broader spectrum of climbers, yet it won’t be as ad-packed or as broad-focused as the mainstream mags. It also likely will be considerably cheaper than the old Alpinist’s $12.95 cover price.”

This may not be a totally bad thing. Many people in the climbing community loved the old Alpinist, but obviously the love didn’t equal subscribers. With no ads and being totally supported by subscribers, this was a bad situation to be in. The cost may have been a big hindrance to the subscriber base as well. How many of us purchased the magazine, then passed it to all of our friends to save on costs?

If the new Alpinist can deliver content for a cheaper price-but keep the same level of craftsmanship, I think many of us would rather see a few ads than the whole thing disappear. If the magazine tries to go more ‘mainstream’, as Dougald also speculates, than another problem might arise: competition.

Can the climbing community support a fourth magazine dedicated to their interest?

The key with this proposition, to make the magazine more ‘mainstream’, would definitely have to be the angle that they take. Would the magazine stay specific to Alpine climbing interests, or would it branch out to encompass rock climbing, bouldering, indoor climbing, ice climbing etc. All of these interests are already covered by other publications to an extended degree. Alpine climbing is probably the least covered topic in the United States climbing publications. I say stay true to your topic and fanbase. Keep the angle that made Alpinist special, but look to expand it in other directions that would draw more people in. There are many people that love to read about climbing and the history of the sport, even if they never leave the couch. Find a way to reach this audience, and you will have your established clientele and readership.

One way of doing this would be to make the magazine more accessible. I seriously cannot remember the last time I seen an Alpinist magazine for sale on the local magazine rack. If it is coming out at a cheaper price, it also must have the distribution to make it to those places that some of the other publications can’t get to. It must also cover some of the more ‘popular’ aspects of alpine climbing. This would include the Everest climbing season, K2, and the rest of the 8,000 meter peaks and 7 summits, as well as the personalities, histories, and stories that have made these topics so popular. Sure, some of this information is out there with a little searching, but put it all together with the fantastic photography that Alpinist is already known for, and you would have a winner.

The coverage that some of these areas and topics get on the internet by websites and bloggers–including this one–could become very relevant if the right publication was willing to work with us and try to bring this all together. Climbing magazine has never approached…Rock and Ice has never approached. Use the access that is out there, the writers and bloggers that are attuned to this segment, bring them together, work with them for content and ideas, and watch your publication grow. Some of our readerships are bigger, per month, than what Alpinist had as subscribers. That may be a sad fact, but also tells you that when people want information, they go to the places that can deliver it first. A monthly magazine devoted to climbing news, etc, is just out of reach for many people with web access. The main reason is that once the magazine gets to your door, the information is already obsolete and has been obtained in other places. Sure, blame it on the blogs–blame it on the websites working their tails off to get this information and deliver it fast, but in order to be successful–some of these methods may have to be incorporated to bring about a successful publication with a readership that wants to come back.

Notes: Alpinist magazine’s relaunch is scheduled for April 15th. Information in this post came from Alpinist.com and The Mountain World, as well as previous posts on The Adventurist. You can also read more about the Alpinist relaunch on AllClimbing.com.

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this issue. Is Alpinist heading in the right direction? What could they do differently? What would make you BUY the magazine, or become a subscriber? What would you need from your climbing publication to make Alpinist a viable asset to your library? You can answer these questions in the comments section below.

Did you like this? If so, please bookmark it,