Alpinist released a press release which clarified a few points:

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.

“My aim is to continue to explore the heart and soul of the climbing experience,” says Kennedy, “building on the incredible foundation Alpinist has developed over the last six years.” Widely known in the climbing community for his work at Climbing Magazine from 1974 to 1998, Kennedy served as an advisor to Alpinist since its inception in 2002. In over 35 years of climbing he has ventured far and wide, from pioneering Colorado ice climbs to lightweight alpine climbs in Alaska and the Himalaya, and he remains an active rock climber and backcountry skier today.

Dougald MacDonald, who initially wrote about the possibly of Alpinist targeting a broader audience than the previous incarnation, posted part of a conversation he had with Kennedy:

“I’d say the new Alpinist is going to be more like the old Alpinist than the old Climbing magazine. The trim size may end up like that of the Surfer’s Journal (9.5 x 11.5 inches rather than the current 9 x 12 inches), since that’s the more common “journal” size for publications printed in the U.S. The cover price will remain $12.95, although Alpinist will be offering special relaunch subscription offers with the first ‘new’ issue.”

So for those of you that were hoping Alpinist would carry on in a similar form, you may still have your wish.

I still stand by my skepticism of how this will work the second time around. The biggest loser here may be a competitor like Skram Media (publishers of Climbing and Urban Climber). For a relatively low selling price (especially for an established brand), I wonder why they didn’t just buy the assets and shelve them to prevent further competition.

The post Confirmations from the Publisher on the Alpinist Relaunch first appeared on All Climbing.

Kennedy edited and published Climbing magazine for more than two decades before selling the magazine in 1997. Along with being one of America’s top alpine climbers of the 1970s and â??80s, he created a magazine with authoritative articles and elegant design, and he was rewarded with the largest circulation climbing magazine in the world.

MacDonald also states that the new Alpinist will relaunch in April, speculating that it will be more like Climbing magazine and appeal to a broader audience than the former Alpinist.

If this is true, there will be four print climbing magazines all targeting essentially the same audience.

I’m almost at a loss for words on this news. I do like that fact that there’s another magazine that will appeal to me (I wasn’t a subscriber to the old Alpinist), but I’m still trying to understand how the market will support all four of these magazines. The MBA in me would love to see these business plans, especially the market research.

The post Updates on the Alpinist Relaunch first appeared on All Climbing.

From the press release:

Alpinist, a premium quarterly celebrating mountaineering and the climbing life, closed its doors this fall, just prior to the release of Issue 26. The new owners, HOL, plan to release Issue 26 on March 1, and will honor all current subscriptions.

“Alpinist fits perfectly into our family,” says HOL president and publisher Jon Howard. “We feel climbers, mountaineers, and backcountry and freeheel skiers all share the same DNA. It’s, at times, about being bold; at times about being cautious. Kind of like how we do business.”

I have to agree with ClimbingNarc on that fact that it is a bit surprising to see Alpinist return without much modification to their model. Apparently, Height of Land Publications feels that they can achieve some publishing synergies with their other magazines. Only time will tell, but I wish them the best of luck.

The post Alpinist Magazine Returns first appeared on All Climbing.

In the end, the final bid was for $71,000. That’s the bad news for the debt holders and/or investors given the millions that were pumped in. On the positive side, the new owners evidently plan to keep the magazine. At least that’s what we were told since we only wanted the online assets anyway.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes of the sale.
(via Mountain Project)

The post Alpinist Magazine Assets Finally Sold to High Bidder first appeared on All Climbing.

According to news reports, a forklift operator backed into a gas line in the warehouse, which was owned by the Kable News Company, a fulfillment company that provides subscription services for magazines such as Alpinist. The forklift punctured a gas line; the escaping gas was then ignited by a nearby space heater. The warehouseâ??s twenty employees escaped without injury, but by the time the 200-plus firefighters arrived from twenty area fire departments to combat the blaze, there was little they could do but let the two-story building burn to the ground.

Rockford, Illinoisâ??, WREX-TV reported Oregon Fire Chief Don Heller as saying that the building was essentially â??a box of timber.â? â??And we’re still trying to figure out why the sprinkler system was shut off in this building,” Heller, who estimated the damage at as much as $8 million, was quoted as saying.

The magazine plans to continue operating as usual as the fire will not affect current subscribers and future publication.

If you’re looking for Christmas presents for the climber in your life this year, now may be the time for a subscription.

The post More details on fire at Alpinist Magazine first appeared on All Climbing.