Latest posts for the topic "Ski Magazine"

Ski Magazine

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:39:32 GMT

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a decent UK biased ski magazine? Most magazines seem to cater for both skiers and snowboarders. I did find one UK ski magazine, but it was a load of adverts with virtually no actual content.

Ta.

Ski Magazine

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:43:24 GMT

but it was a load of adverts with virtually no actual content.

Tends to be the case for anything I have come across, I like getting/seeing the Powder photo annual.

Re:Ski Magazine

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:43:00 GMT

Unfortunately, most of the ski magazines in the UK are filled with pictures of people performing jumps off ridges into deep powder in places like Afghanistan, Peru or Greenland, where the vast majority of us skiers are never likely to go. There is a huge gap in the market for newcomers, less experienced skiers, and people who dont know as much about the sport as the current mags seem to think we all do.

I dont read Fall Line as thats too high end. Snow Magazine is ok but fairly cliquey, and Ski and Snowboard magazine is over priced, although I do tend to read it when I go on a flight to a ski destination. I havent come across any others of any real worth to be honest.

Re:Ski Magazine

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:47:40 GMT

IMO, nobody wants to see someone wedging a green run in Val Thorens, most people get reviews etc of the resorts they plan to visit off the internet, even then if something does catch their eye in a magazine they will research it further and ask for more opinions... from the interwebz.

Re:Ski Magazine

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:49:01 GMT

Pablo Escobar wrote:IMO, nobody wants to see someone wedging a green run in Val Thorens, most people get reviews etc of the resorts they plan to visit off the internet, even then if something does catch their eye in a magazine they will research it further and ask for more opinions... from the interwebz.

Its a good job youre not in publishing then my friend.

Re:Ski Magazine

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:51:47 GMT

It is a brave man who enters the world of publishing now, less and less folks are buying newspapers and magazines every day with the internet being the go-to source of info. for many. I occasionally still buy the Times but when all their articles appear instantly on the internet I don't have to. Same with ski mags.

Re:Ski Magazine

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:57:33 GMT

Pablo Escobar wrote:It is a brave man who enters the world of publishing now, less and less folks are buying newspapers and magazines every day with the internet being the go-to source of info. for many. I occasionally still buy the Times but when all their articles appear instantly on the internet I don't have to. Same with ski mags.

Ross, people are still buying and reading magazines, and there are new titles being launched every day across a series of subject matters. Admittedly, current publications are seeing cuts in print runs and paginations due to the economic climate, but a few years ago it was predicted that magazines would disappear altogether when the web became more accessible. There will always be a requirement for the printed page, but you are right - its a brave man who launches a new title in the current climate. Good things come to he who waits )

Re:Ski Magazine

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:59:46 GMT

Who is this Ross? 8)

I still buy magazines too, just not as much. I expect as my 'generation' comes through the situation will only get worse but I hope for the sake of everyone in the industry it is propped up by hardcore support or magazines gain more of a cult following. Peoples Friend is a title I will miss when the current oldies come to pass (for want of a better way of putting it).

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:38:41 GMT

The Daily Mail Ski Magazine still looks good, has reasonable news content but too much 'high end' stuff (heli-skiing in Russia, off-piste in the Himalyas etc etc). And its ski/equipment tests are so unbalanced; virtually all the testers are ex-racers, ski school directors or professional 'freeriders' (whatever that is!)

Ski and Snowboard has useful info for SCGB members but its editor seems a bit seduced by spectacular images of Warren Miller-type skiing, that have little relevance to ordinary holidaymakers.

The Good Ski Guide magazine was a useful resource for basic resort facts but I agree with Tony there is a gap in the market for an entry-level, holiday, recreational, intermediate type publication with dos and don'ts for an enjoyable holiday.

Happily, Pablo, mi amigo, plenty of people still buy newspapers of all sorts and magazines (else I wouldn't be able to go on so many ski trips!)

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:58:41 GMT

LOTA wrote:The Daily Mail Ski Magazine still looks good, has reasonable news content but too much 'high end' stuff (heli-skiing in Russia, off-piste in the Himalyas etc etc). And its ski/equipment tests are so unbalanced; virtually all the testers are ex-racers, ski school directors or professional 'freeriders' (whatever that is!)

Ski and Snowboard has useful info for SCGB members but its editor seems a bit seduced by spectacular images of Warren Miller-type skiing, that have little relevance to ordinary holidaymakers.

The Good Ski Guide magazine was a useful resource for basic resort facts but I agree with Tony there is a gap in the market for an entry-level, holiday, recreational, intermediate type publication with dos and don'ts for an enjoyable holiday.

Happily, Pablo, mi amigo, plenty of people still buy newspapers of all sorts and magazines (else I wouldn't be able to go on so many ski trips!)

I always get the The Daily Mail Ski Magazine I agree with all the other contributors it is very high end, the skis tested I'm never gonna buy and right again I'm never gonna ski in half the places that they report from, but it is skiing and I'm interested in all things skiing so even at GBP3.80 which is expensive I still buy it, Warren Miller is all well and good but I'm never gonna watch his movies either..... :wink: :wink:

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:47:04 GMT

LOTA wrote:Happily, Pablo, mi amigo, plenty of people still buy newspapers of all sorts and magazines (else I wouldn't be able to go on so many ski trips!)

Not disputing that at all, just saying the numbers are decreasing all the time, the Daily Star is the only daily newspaper which has recorded a year on year rise (figures published 9th of April). Whilst this is happening the newspapers websites are recording record traffic. I can't really comment on magazines because I don't have the figures about but I am sure a quick google search would show the same trend with very few winners. Dark Summer (a ski freestyle type magazine) stopped printing all together this year to focus on their internet site which is pretty rubbish anyhoo :wink:

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:58:58 GMT

Pablo Escobar wrote:

LOTA wrote:Happily, Pablo, mi amigo, plenty of people still buy newspapers of all sorts and magazines (else I wouldn't be able to go on so many ski trips!)

Not disputing that at all, just saying the numbers are decreasing all the time, the Daily Star is the only daily newspaper which has recorded a year on year rise (figures published 9th of April). Whilst this is happening the newspapers websites are recording record traffic. I can't really comment on magazines because I don't have the figures about but I am sure a quick google search would show the same trend with very few winners. Dark Summer (a ski freestyle type magazine) stopped printing all together this year to focus on their internet site which is pretty rubbish anyhoo :wink:

Maybe because they made such a poor job of promoting it, Ring any bells.....Never heard of the mag :twisted:

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:07:58 GMT

I don't think you were the target market :lol: :lol:

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:11:08 GMT

Pablo Escobar wrote:I don't think you were the target market :lol: :lol:

Maybe just maybe I might have brought a couple of copies, narrowing your target market because of age is not a good marketing plan :shock:

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:28:08 GMT

Ian Wickham wrote:

Pablo Escobar wrote:I don't think you were the target market :lol: :lol:

Maybe just maybe I might have brought a couple of copies, narrowing your target market because of age is not a good marketing plan :shock:

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut you didn't :lol: It can be a good one, just not necessarily the correct route to go down. I think if you make a product aimed at everyone, for it to be successful it has to be pretty special (Nintendo Wii) and avoid being completely uninteresting to everyone because of compromises made.

Anyhoo, skiing magazines!

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:36:09 GMT

Pablo Escobar wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:

Pablo Escobar wrote:I don't think you were the target market :lol: :lol:

Maybe just maybe I might have brought a couple of copies, narrowing your target market because of age is not a good marketing plan :shock:

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut you didn't :lol: It can be a good one, just not necessarily the correct route to go down. I think if you make a product aimed at everyone, for it to be successful it has to be pretty special (Nintendo Wii) and avoid being completely uninteresting to everyone because of compromises made.

Anyhoo, skiing magazines!

Yes agreed you have a point, but with a small target market making a profit becomes a lot tuffer hence the magazine is no more or should I say replaced :wink:
I have just looked at the web site mag and I do not think it is aimed at the specialist market, so I go back to my previous point of poor marketing :wink:

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:22:29 GMT

Not quite sure what you are getting at Ross, regarding circulation figures for newspapers when we are talking about ski mags...but anyway...
Seems others agree with me, that there is too much focus on people who seemingly have an infinite amount of disposable income. Thats reflected in the editorials which are way overmy head in terms of places to ski and the kind of skiing they are doing....heli skiing in Alaska for example...nothing for Mr or Mrs Average who makes 1, maybe 2 or 3 trips a season, and doesnt have thousands of pounds to burn on holidays and gear.
Anyway, this thread needs closing before I give all my secrets away.

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:25:41 GMT

Not so much newspapers (the only figures I had to hand) but print in general; including most notably, ski magazines. I would rather read about a weeks ski touring in Greenland than a weeks self catering in Sestriere when it is very unlikely that I will do either. 2 or 3 trips a season is not average :shock: I guess that is one of the problems of a ski magazine, it would be very difficult to cater to what everyone wanted. If they could chances are coverage would be thin on the ground.

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:33:26 GMT

Pablo Escobar wrote:Not so much newspapers (the only figures I had to hand) but print in general; including most notably, ski magazines. I would rather read about a weeks ski touring in Greenland than a weeks self catering in Sestriere when it is very unlikely that I will do either. 2 or 3 trips a season is not average :shock: I guess that is one of the problems of a ski magazine, it would be very difficult to cater to what everyone wanted. If they could chances are coverage would be thin on the ground.

You are absolutely right. Which is why market research and understanding the competition is so important. You wont please everyone, but what you can do is please a known or selected group for which there is a gap.
I would imagine someone like Ise or Bandit for example would not want to read about how to book a weeks holiday for a family of 4 in Austria, or where disabled skiers can ski comfortably in Italy, or where best to shop for first time gear on a budget....but there are plenty of people out there who want to ski for the first time, have been once and want to do it more and more, and lesser experienced people who could benefit from advice on where to go, what to take, etc etc etc. Anyway, like I said, too much is being given away already. I need to bail.

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:56:57 GMT

Hi All :D

With my usual add in the DMSSM (Daily Mail Ski & Snowbaord Magazine) i get free copies , and have found it to be about the best about ,but its correct as stated in a previous reply about a lot of the resort features being more of the far flung destinations us mere mortals will never go to.

I suppose the reason for this is that as someone else is paying the bills ,the skies the limit, much the same as the articles in the national papers Mail & Express for example, the reporters only seem to be able to find accommadation that costs GBP800 per person per week and upawards, if they wrote articles about average (normal) priced holidays many more readers would be interested......but seeing as most reporters and those in the media seem to have the thoughts that this is beneath them.

After going slightly off track, the DMSSM has some great equipment features and tips with pictures for skiers and boarders of all abilities, and fun features also i feel. :D

jon.

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:13:53 GMT

Jon

May I ask what kind of response you get to your regular ad in the Daily Mail Ski Magazine? Not after precise numbers or the like - that's none of my business - but rather a general feeling of its effectiveness as an advertising medium.

I do like the mag's house style of off-beat captions!

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:16:04 GMT

:DHi LOTA,

Thats ok I don't mind at all...

I run a basic add in the Nov/Dec/Jan and Feb issues and in an avaerage year have maybe 10 - 15 responses with propbably 3 - 5 confirmed bookings (i only rent out to cover my outgoings and not as a commercial business, once my outgoings are provided for i do not take anymore).

Once one booking has been confirmed that is enough to pay for the add's, the majority of my bookings come from my website which is free with Microsoft Office Live ( I only use the basic package , there are two others with the top one being about GBP20 per month for advertising etc), i have sevearl links with other companies which helps drive business to my website which also helps (these are again basic links, but when Google searches the web to update itself as my site is linked to much bigger companies it thinks i am a bigger more important website than i actually am.....many times from just the search of "bourgstmaurice" or "bourg st maurice" i have acheived top listings on the first google search page.....not bad for a free site. :D

jon.

Re:Ski Magazine

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:34:50 GMT

I'm with Pablo (who's Ross?) on this one. Printing houses are experiencing less and less demand, partly because of the economic climate but also because people can get the same information from the internet for free.

I'd also rather look at insane pics of heli-skiing in the Himalayas than a beginner on a green slope scared sh*tless! Look at Top Gear (off subject i know) 90% of the cars they feature and test are way beyond most people's budgets but the show is so popular!

A lower-end skiing magazine is definitely a big gap in the market, just not sure how many people would buy a magazine of that sort to make it worthwhile.

Re:Ski Magazine

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:52:00 GMT

bennyboy wrote:I'm with Pablo (who's Ross?) on this one. Printing houses are experiencing less and less demand, partly because of the economic climate but also because people can get the same information from the internet for free.

I'd also rather look at insane pics of heli-skiing in the Himalayas than a beginner on a green slope scared sh*tless! Look at Top Gear (off subject i know) 90% of the cars they feature and test are way beyond most people's budgets but the show is so popular!

A lower-end skiing magazine is definitely a big gap in the market, just not sure how many people would buy a magazine of that sort to make it worthwhile.

That's probably true, it's quite probably the dull lack of aspiration that makes ski magazine so dire and explains the near total lack of literature. There's a huge demand for help and advice on skiing but that really has moved to the internet which is better, real advice is better than a second rate journalist on a freebie, you see better stuff here on J2SKI than most magazines have ever managed.

Re:Ski Magazine

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:02:51 GMT

ise wrote:

bennyboy wrote:I'm with Pablo (who's Ross?) on this one. Printing houses are experiencing less and less demand, partly because of the economic climate but also because people can get the same information from the internet for free.

I'd also rather look at insane pics of heli-skiing in the Himalayas than a beginner on a green slope scared sh*tless! Look at Top Gear (off subject i know) 90% of the cars they feature and test are way beyond most people's budgets but the show is so popular!

A lower-end skiing magazine is definitely a big gap in the market, just not sure how many people would buy a magazine of that sort to make it worthwhile.

That's probably true, it's quite probably the dull lack of aspiration that makes ski magazine so dire and explains the near total lack of literature. There's a huge demand for help and advice on skiing but that really has moved to the internet which is better, real advice is better than a second rate journalist on a freebie, you see better stuff here on J2SKI than most magazines have ever managed.

You forget to add "thus far" to the end of that post, Ise 8)

Re:Ski Magazine

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:11:29 GMT

Tony_H wrote:

You forget to add "thus far" to the end of that post, Ise 8)

no I didn't, have is the past tense so that would be redundant which means unnecessary like your hostile comments.

Re:Ski Magazine

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:37:02 GMT

ise wrote:

Tony_H wrote:

You forget to add "thus far" to the end of that post, Ise 8)

no I didn't, have is the past tense so that would be redundant which means unnecessary like your hostile comments.

There was nothing hostile at all in my comments, Ise. How on earth did you manage to read something between the lines that doesn't exist?

Re:Ski Magazine

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:52:49 GMT

At the risk of reading like a pedant...."have" is current tense and "had" is past tense.

As in I have a cold right now, damn and blast it :x

Anyway, ski magazines :D

Re:Ski Magazine

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:56:01 GMT

Powder Mag has a great buyers guide too with all your fat ski needs (amongst other things).

Re:Ski Magazine

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:27:29 GMT

bandit wrote:At the risk of reading like a pedant...."have" is current tense and "had" is past tense.

it's actually present perfect which I followed by a past participle :lol: used to express indefinite time which is supposed to be particularly hard to understand in English although it seems no simpler in French or German to me.

Re:Ski Magazine

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:53:20 GMT

ise I do vaguely remember all that from school, though I don't recall ever thinking I'd actually need it once I'd left :D

Re:Ski Magazine

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:00:34 GMT

bandit wrote:ise I do vaguely remember all that from school, though I don't recall ever thinking I'd actually need it once I'd left :D

I didn't think I needed at the time so I didn't pay any attention, trying to learn other languages without knowing it is nearly impossible though.

Re:Ski Magazine

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:42:44 GMT

Pablo Escobar wrote:the Daily Star is the only daily newspaper which has recorded a year on year rise (figures published 9th of April).

Would I be considered a snob if I were to admit to being very concerned about this statistic :shock:

Re:Ski Magazine

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:36:48 GMT

caron-a wrote:

Pablo Escobar wrote:the Daily Star is the only daily newspaper which has recorded a year on year rise (figures published 9th of April).

Would I be considered a snob if I were to admit to being very concerned about this statistic :shock:

Probably not, it really is quite ridiculous. I wonder how much skiing content they have in amongst the pictures :shock:

Re:Ski Magazine

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:26:58 GMT

plenty of mountains in those pictures though :lol:

Re:Ski Magazine

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:29:37 GMT

Funnily enough there was an advert on the TV (during the skiing you missed) advertising it as the UKs cheapest daily newspaper at twenty pence.

Re:Ski Magazine

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:36:40 GMT

That's persuaded me, I'm off to buy a copy...

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 13 May 2009 18:31:46 GMT

Guys. I am new to all of this having just booked my second skiing holiday and am looking to buy all the gear instead of hiring it. I have looked thru some magazines but not really sure which is the best one...any suggestions? Nothing too pricey!

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 13 May 2009 18:34:15 GMT

I would start by finding your own thread (start a new one) and then outline what you want to buy and what you would continue to rent (I'd suggest it probably isn't worth while buying skis).

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 13 May 2009 20:03:31 GMT

Burdy wrote:Guys. I am new to all of this having just booked my second skiing holiday and am looking to buy all the gear instead of hiring it. I have looked thru some magazines but not really sure which is the best one...any suggestions? Nothing too pricey!

Hi Burdy
Welcome to the forum. You will get lots of help and suggestions if you post this question in the "beginning skiing" section methinks

Re:Ski Magazine

Wed, 13 May 2009 21:17:45 GMT

Burdy wrote:Guys. I am new to all of this having just booked my second skiing holiday and am looking to buy all the gear instead of hiring it. I have looked thru some magazines but not really sure which is the best one...any suggestions? Nothing too pricey!

Which is the best magazine? I'd say you should read the Daily Mail Ski & Snowboard mag.

Re:Ski Magazine

Thu, 14 May 2009 15:27:00 GMT

Womens own is a good read :shock: