Why SKI magazine rules (a Powder Magazine criticism)

[dipstik]

Of all the ski magazines out there, SKI mag still holds a special place in my heart for sending out an issue that contains 10 full-size pretty awesome photographs just 2 days shy of June. Nothing quite like fresh ski-porn in 80-degree weather.

Ski Racing is pretty good like that too - 15 issues a year, with the last one coming in April. Not bad - it fuels the stoke right up to the last day of the season (for most of us).

Powder, on the other hand, barely comes close. They send out 6 issues a year, and they stop showing up in my mailbox right in the heart of the season: February.

I don't know of any resort, shop, or skier, east coast or west, that even begins to think about calling it a season in February. So Powder, I ask you, what gives? Granted, the actual content of SKI magazine is poor compared to Powder, but I find it extremely hard to believe that the so-called "skiers magazine" can't come up with an article, or even a couple photographs to throw together to keep the winter & spring stoke-o-meter running hot, or to keep the summer doldrums at bay.


Just an observation....

[bossass]

This is a self-defeating argument. Powder makes money off advertisers. Ski companies want to advertise during the buying season, which is not Spring and Summer. So, powder would need outside advertising, substantially so. If powder had a bunch of Rolex, Hummer, Chapstick, Cereal, Ray-Ban, Etc. ads, all you guys would bitch about how they "sold out", but then they could afford summer issues. And all those advertisers that might make this happen, don't care about the low percentage of the population that cares about content in a ski magazine: us. So, Powder would have to suck in some way for this to happen, so be glad they don't. Which is why SKI has a summer issue.

And I'll bet you're not bitching on that stank day in August when you stroll out to the mailbox in flops and get your buyer's guide.

[adam]

And I'll bet you're not bitching on that stank day in August when you stroll out to the mailbox in flops and get your buyer's guide.

I love that day.

[Snow Dog]

And I'll bet you're not bitching on that stank day in August when you stroll out to the mailbox in flops and get your buyer's guide.

BTW, last summer there was no Powder in August up here in BC -- not one single copy anywhere. But that works out because the stores don't get their winter stock until November.

[tarkman1]

I'll take quality over quantity.

[DaveTV]

Please. I am looking at this rag of which you speak. They send it for free, believe me I wouldn't pay for it. I just plucked it out of the recycle bin. Let's see what we have here:
-Some millionaires move from Tokyo to Telluride and build a house which I cannot fathom with Asian decorating or some fucking bullshit
-Summer in South America (How original!)
-The diversity of British Columbia
-How to stay in ski shape all summer (How Original! part deux)
-yada yada yada

The only article worth anything was 2 pages on the Vail Veterans ski weekend, where a lot of military amputees learn to ski - and they had to pollute THAT article with a pic of Rumsfeld smiling and chatting with a couple of soldiers..
I will wait for the first POWDER in August, thank-you-very-much..

[The Reverend Floater]

Unreal, bra. You know...barney, barnyard, barno to the max!

[Lynx]

but I find it extremely hard to believe that the so-called "skiers magazine" can't come up with an article, or even a couple photographs to throw together to keep the winter & spring stoke-o-meter running hot, or to keep the summer doldrums at bay.


Just an observation....

The Weav does a sick job at keeping the powdermag.com content regular like eating flax and metamucil for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and every snack in between. It might not come in a form you can fondle on the toilet (i mean, unless you take your laptop to the john) but there is more stoke in a single day on powdermag.com than an entire year of SKI magazine. Possibly an entire decade's worth of SKI magazine.

Just an observation....

[The Dad]

It might not come in a form you can fondle on the toilet (i mean, unless you take your laptop to the john)

the true innovation of wifi.

with the onset of electronic court filing, i have literally filed court documents while commenting out of my ass.

[Bud Green]

Dipstick is either a troll or a total kook.

[Tippster]

He's neither, unless I am as well...

I also have wondered why there wasn't a summer issue, and seem to remember a few years ago that the idea was bandied about there in SoCal to give us a little bonus. I could be high however.

Thanks, Bossass - that explains it. Totally makes sense, actually.

[dipstik]

This is a self-defeating argument. Powder makes money off advertisers. Ski companies want to advertise during the buying season, which is not Spring and Summer. So, powder would need outside advertising, substantially so. If powder had a bunch of Rolex, Hummer, Chapstick, Cereal, Ray-Ban, Etc. ads, all you guys would bitch about how they "sold out", but then they could afford summer issues. And all those advertisers that might make this happen, don't care about the low percentage of the population that cares about content in a ski magazine: us. So, Powder would have to suck in some way for this to happen, so be glad they don't. Which is why SKI has a summer issue.

And I'll bet you're not bitching on that stank day in August when you stroll out to the mailbox in flops and get your buyer's guide.

No, I'm not bitching. Just observing.

As for the ad's thing, I'm not buying it. You guys have more ad's per magazine than SKI, and just as many non-skiing related ones. In your last issue of this year, there are full-page spreads from "AMP'd mobile" & Paul Mitchell hair products, as well as a few smaller ones from Nissan, Suzuki, and Honda. In SKI, there are 12 full-page ad's, 6 are skiing related. Throw in a couple from car companies and one from Canon, and that's the bulk of it.


For the rest of you, go back and read more than the thread title. I'm not saying SKI magazine is better than Powder, just that Powder has a lot of room to improve.

I doubt anyone would be bitching about a few extra car ad's if they were getting 8-10 issues a year. edit: or like Tip said, a summer issue.

[iceman]

"Why Ski Magazine Rules"

bwa

[cj001f]

I also have wondered why there wasn't a summer issue

Because summer issues suck. Powder does not suck, hence Powder does not have a summer issue.

[mtbakerskier]

The Weav does a sick job at keeping the powdermag.com content regular like eating flax and metamucil for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and every snack in between. It might not come in a form you can fondle on the toilet (i mean, unless you take your laptop to the john) but there is more stoke in a single day on powdermag.com than an entire year of SKI magazine. Possibly an entire decade's worth of SKI magazine.

Just an observation....

WELL SAID.

Two things to ponder:

1 a new ski magazine is launching in JANUARY........................

2 POWDER is the only mag core enough to have editors that actualy read and contribute to this site.

[Tippster]

Because summer issues suck. Powder does not suck, hence Powder does not have a summer issue.

Ergo I must be high. QED.

[cj001f]

Ergo I must be high. QED.

Just remember the egg came first

[3pin]

As for the ad's thing, I'm not buying it. You guys have more ad's per magazine than SKI, and just as many non-skiing related ones. In your last issue of this year, there are full-page spreads from "AMP'd mobile" & Paul Mitchell hair products, as well as a few smaller ones from Nissan, Suzuki, and Honda. In SKI, there are 12 full-page ad's, 6 are skiing related. Throw in a couple from car companies and one from Canon, and that's the bulk of it.

You're not buying it, but it's true. Ski manufacturers do not want to advertise after Christmas. Their budgets are pretty much gone, and they see the major markets as done buying gear after Christmas. As for the number of ads, that's great and all, but I'd bet an ad in Ski is a hell of a lot more expensive than one in Powder, just as Powder's a lot more expensive than one in Couloir.

Bossass is 100% correct.

[Z]

I can't read SKI. But Skiing is a decent rag. No soul, but a good read.

Oh and I skied more before New Years this season that the entire SKI magazine staff did all winter. Fact.

[bdog]

You're not buying it, but it's true. Ski manufacturers do not want to advertise after Christmas. Their budgets are pretty much gone, and they see the major markets as done buying gear after Christmas.
Bossass is 100% correct.

This is so true. A big problem with the entire ski industry is that the buy in and sell in season keeps getting pushed earlier and earlier. The industry conceeds that the consumer buying season is pretty much done by Presidents Day, which is in FEBRUARY! Driven by the big box stores, including REI gear goes on sale in the middle of the season and by April the public has had it with winter and skiing. Yet, spring is the perfect time to introduce new people to the sport. The weather is more condusive to beginners and the snow more forgiving. Some how SIA seems to keep missing this point. And yes, I would love to read more issues of powder, but some things are worth waiting for. As said above, Quality over Quantity any day.

[3pin]

This is so true. A big problem with the entire ski industry is that the buy in and sell in season keeps getting pushed earlier and earlier. The industry conceeds that the consumer buying season is pretty much done by Presidents Day, which is in FEBRUARY! Driven by the big box stores, including REI gear goes on sale in the middle of the season and by April the public has had it with winter and skiing. Yet, spring is the perfect time to introduce new people to the sport. The weather is more condusive to beginners and the snow more forgiving. Some how SIA seems to keep missing this point. And yes, I would love to read more issues of powder, but some things are worth waiting for. As said above, Quality over Quantity any day.

This is an even bigger problem for us at Couloir... the prime backcountry season is March and April, and at that point our key retailers (even the core ones) are already moving out the ski gear and setting up for biking and climbing.

For the whole industry, it's a difficult circle to crack, but Bdog is onto something with introducing people to the sport. Most people getting into skiing and snowboarding don't want to stand out in the cold and get soaked with snow and pelted by driving wind. Think about how much more enjoyable spring skiing is for a beginner... in conditions and weather. If you could keep that flow of traffic up to the ski areas through April and May, it'd be a lot easier for resorts (like Kirkwood, Heavenly, Mt Rose in Tahoe) to keep the lifts running, too.

[The Dad]

This is so true. A big problem with the entire ski industry is that the buy in and sell in season keeps getting pushed earlier and earlier. The industry conceeds that the consumer buying season is pretty much done by Presidents Day, which is in FEBRUARY! Driven by the big box stores, including REI gear goes on sale in the middle of the season and by April the public has had it with winter and skiing. Yet, spring is the perfect time to introduce new people to the sport. The weather is more condusive to beginners and the snow more forgiving. Some how SIA seems to keep missing this point. And yes, I would love to read more issues of powder, but some things are worth waiting for. As said above, Quality over Quantity any day.

On the plus side, I love half-off clearance sales before MLK Day.

That said, we brought first-timer friends up with us in March, and they were blown away, instantly addicted. Mind you, this was a pretty freaking incredible March, but still....

[Schmear]

1 a new ski magazine is launching in JANUARY........................

Is it going to be called Cliffhanger magazine? C'mon, spill the beans....

[splat]

If Powder had summer issues, the writers would never meet their deadlines.

[The Reverend Floater]

Ski magazine will never rule. If I gave you a tenth scoop of cat poop on top of the nine you already had, would you be psyched?

Powder and Frequency are the only two wintersports publications that consistently deliver the soul.