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macherry
Oct 17, 2008, 2:11 AM
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too bad. i never subscribe, but i picked up the odd issue at the bookstore. i really enjoyed the most recent issue.
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coolcat83
Oct 17, 2008, 2:40 AM
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aww i used to buy it, fun to read
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k.l.k
Oct 17, 2008, 3:00 AM
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This is a major blow to the sport. Alpinist was the best climbing journal produced in North America. It was well edited and beautifully designed.
Simply having it as a flagship journal elevated the sport. Whether you read it or not, whether you cared about mountains or just remixed local glue-ups, we're all hurt by this failure.
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notapplicable
Oct 17, 2008, 3:06 AM
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Damn it!!!
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anthonymason
Oct 17, 2008, 3:10 AM
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It was a great magazine, However the price point was wrong for most climbers, even after they had the thing printed in China, they kept the same price.
Years ago when I was young I could not afford a magazine that cost $12.95. that would translate into four biners'
However at my current age, hell they could have charged twenty bucks I would have paid it.
But when something is sent to China and it comes back at the same price as if it was made in the USA, well you go out of business.
We are capitalists, no bailouts, no one is bailing me out on a climb or in life.
Just my thoughts/rants
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IsayAutumn
Oct 17, 2008, 1:40 PM
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It was a shame that many climbers could not afford Alpinist, but you have to remember that it was a quarterly with lots of photos. Anyway, this isn't the thread to get into a discussion about the economics of print journalism, so forgive me. But I can see why they charged what they did.
Either way, these are tough times for a lot of businesses. I personally LOVED this magazine and am hurt by the loss. First the warehouse fire made it impossible to get back issues, now they won't be producing any new issues...damn.
Can anyone recommend any good rags to supplement my climbing literature (and I'm not referring to Climbing or Rock & Ice...already know about those)?
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carabiner96
Oct 17, 2008, 1:43 PM
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i think the best monthly publication (maybe the best pub overall with alpinist gone) is gripped.
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j_ung
Oct 17, 2008, 2:10 PM
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Crap, this is a sad day. The entire climbing world will be worse off for it.
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reno
Oct 17, 2008, 2:12 PM
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j_ung
Oct 17, 2008, 2:17 PM
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I need to add more.
Alpinist was a true climbers' publication. That it allowed itself to fold rather than compromise its principles should be applauded and, goddammit, remembered.
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boymeetsrock
Oct 17, 2008, 2:46 PM
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Where is the emoticon that cries real tears....
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Carolyn11
Oct 17, 2008, 2:53 PM
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agreed. Gripped now has the potential to expand its share of the market by meeting our demand for a top quality publication like the alpinist. While I already read and support Gripped, I am hoping that the editors step up their game.
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chriswatford
Oct 17, 2008, 3:44 PM
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So, Urban Climber survives and Alpinist goes under? Something is really wrong. Alpinist was a great mag.
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irregularpanda
Oct 17, 2008, 3:55 PM
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anthonymason wrote: when something is sent to China and it comes back at the same price as if it was made in the USA, well you go out of business. We are capitalists, no bailouts, no one is bailing me out on a climb or in life. Just my thoughts/rants
My thoughts and rants too........ They didn't have many advertisements that insulted my intelligence, nor shitty "articles" that were actually full issue advertisements masquerading as gear guides. They truly were a climbers publication, and I'm glad they didn't compromise their principles. I think I'll keep my subscription in the hopes that they recover.
Maybe we (raging tribal monkeys that eagerly throw feces at each other) should show our support. Who wants to have a bake sale in Reno?
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roy_hinkley_jr
Oct 17, 2008, 4:17 PM
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The magazine was always supported by Marc Ewing's stock portfolio. He had threatened to pull the life-support plug before. Subscriptions and ad sales never came close to funding it. When the market crashed, the writing was on the wall.
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Arrogant_Bastard
Oct 17, 2008, 4:26 PM
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anthonymason wrote: It was a great magazine, However the price point was wrong for most climbers, even after they had the thing printed in China, they kept the same price.
Not to derail the discussion, but... made in China?
I understand the financial benefits of the whole sweatshop thing, and even complex, yet repetitive, manual labor, but a magazine? How does having a magazine printed outside the US and shipped back here save money?
anthonymason wrote: But when something is sent to China and it comes back at the same price as if it was made in the USA, well you go out of business.
I disagree, and I'm sure there are near infinite number of examples of companies that did just this. Off the top of my head, Black Diamond.
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sungam
Oct 17, 2008, 4:28 PM
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Arrogant_Bastard wrote: there are near infinite number of examples of companies that did just this. Off the top of my head, Black Diamond.
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zealotnoob
Oct 17, 2008, 4:29 PM
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A new climber, when I read my first issue of the Alpinist, everything clicked. I saw what I wanted and everyday was dedicated to training to get into the big mountains. Alpinist focused my energy. Less than two years after I started climbing, I found myself, triumphant, on a summit deep in Patagonia.
I was devastated when their warehouse burned down and I lost hope of collecting the rest of the back issues. Now this. I am so bummed. 
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k.l.k
Oct 17, 2008, 4:29 PM
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roy_hinkley_jr wrote: The magazine was always supported by Marc Ewing's stock portfolio. He had threatened to pull the life-support plug before. Subscriptions and ad sales never came close to funding it. When the market crashed, the writing was on the wall.
Essentially no decent print journal is actually supported by its subs or ad sales. The important newspapers survived the last fifty years largely because the handful of families that owned them ran them like any other civic institution: at a loss. Those graphics in Alpinist are unbelievably expensive-- it was like a museum publication at a fraction the cost.
The remaining journals are essentially advertorials-- low quality print of endless product placements packaged as "news." That's not necessarily evil, and I suspect that even that approach is a difficult business model right now, but climbing really needed a prestige journal that could help legitimate the sport in the eyes of non-climbers.
Alpinist was it. Now we've got nothing in that niche.
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0x2102
Oct 17, 2008, 4:54 PM
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Yeah, that totally blows.
Now, about the rest of my $ for my 2-year subscription.....
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AlexCV
Oct 17, 2008, 5:08 PM
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Registered: Jan 25, 2008
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Tell me about it, I was just about to get my first issue by mail. The subscription was my birthday present from my gf. I hope I at least get issue 25...
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0x2102
Oct 17, 2008, 5:23 PM
Post #24 of 56
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Registered: May 17, 2005
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Crap! That sucks!
I'm still kicking myself for not picking up what they sold as "The Changabang" where you could buy all of their back issues for like $100 total, that was around the time of issue #17 or so.
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jt512
Oct 17, 2008, 5:37 PM
Post #25 of 56
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k.l.k wrote: This is a major blow to the sport. Alpinist was the best climbing journal produced in North America. It was well edited and beautifully designed. Simply having it as a flagship journal elevated the sport. Whether you read it or not, whether you cared about mountains or just remixed local glue-ups, we're all hurt by this failure.
Nah, we still have rockclimbing.com
Jay
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