dalius Posted March 9, 2005 Posted March 9, 2005 Bought a copy of Outside to pass time on a plane trip and lo and behold there was an article on ALPINIST. Interesting info on the background of the mag, Beckwith it's editor, and Ewing the multi-millionaire that is financing the whole thing. Seems like if it wasn't for Ewing's $$, this thing would not exist. They say the mag is deep in the red and making profit on this thing would require a miracle. I guess I'm not suprised due to the lack of ads and the high gloss coffee table like finish, but damn that sucks. Thought it was weird that Outside kept mentioning some sort of Brotherhood, of which they kept naming Twight and House as it's leading members. From the abstract on the article's first page... "Flush with tech-boom cash and answering to no one, Alpinist chronicles the exploits of a loosely aligned group of climbers known as the Brotherhood, who devote themselves to difficult routes, minimal gear, and big-time pain and suffering. Are these guys just a holier-than-thou elite - or the salvation of mountaineering?" Since when are hardcore climbers known as the brotherhood? WTF is that all about? Outside's method of labelling or are there actually wankers out there that call themselves that? Brotherhood. Yeah. Quote
dalius Posted March 9, 2005 Author Posted March 9, 2005 Another route put up by the "brotherhood", Hagg Lake Road Slab, Oregon... The Brotherhood Difficulty: 5.7 Protection: 3 Bolts Description: Start directly below anchor bolts on a right leaning crack. Then head up the face above. Whach out after the 2nd bolt there is loose rock and a possible big fall. Looks like they're starting to send sport routes? Quote
swaterfall Posted March 9, 2005 Posted March 9, 2005 the last time I was at smiff they must have been all around me 'cause everyone was calling eachother 'bro'. even the chizacks. Quote
specialed Posted March 9, 2005 Posted March 9, 2005 Is the Brotherhood like the Kaskade Trad Klan? Quote
Dru Posted March 10, 2005 Posted March 10, 2005 no cause the 'Hood keep the spray in the email instead of online. Quote
olyclimber Posted March 12, 2005 Posted March 12, 2005 I went over and read that article in Barnes and Noble (I didn't want to buy a copy of Outside magazine for one article)....I have to conclude after reading the article that sadly Alpinist may not be long for this world, at least in its current incarnation. It sounds like Ewing (one of the founders of Redhat Linux) is more interested in racing yachts than climbing these days...so it will be interesting to see if he continues to fund a magazine that lives in the red (to the tune of something like 1.4 million $). That would be too bad, but I guess thats business. I heard it described as sort of like being the Surfers Journal for mountain climbing....it is definitely a cool magazine with a cool focus. Maybe some of it is rehashed articles that have been published elsewhere, but I like what they're doing with it, minus the serial fiction bit that I don't care for. I subscribe, but I know plenty that are turned off by the high price tag. Interesting to note that the magazine is printed in China. Quote
Dru Posted March 12, 2005 Posted March 12, 2005 I'm actually surprised that it lasted as long as it has. I figured it would last about 3 issues due to the small size of the target audience...it seems like 90% of today's climbers are sport, trad-crag, or boulderers with no interest in long or alpine routes. More or less the people that Urban Climber mag is aimed at in other words. Quote
jordop Posted March 12, 2005 Posted March 12, 2005 (edited) Also: Alpinists are certainly more tightfisted than sportos and, granted, there are a few armchair folks about, but the market is too small. Edited June 4, 2021 by jordop Quote
texplorer Posted March 14, 2005 Posted March 14, 2005 Thought it was weird that Outside kept mentioning some sort of Brotherhood, of which they kept naming Twight and House as it's leading members. Since when are hardcore climbers known as the brotherhood? WTF is that all about? Outside's method of labelling or are there actually wankers out there that call themselves that? Brotherhood. Yeah. Read This. . . . Bro . . . Does the Holy Grail live in Twight . . . Quote
PaulB Posted March 14, 2005 Posted March 14, 2005 Interesting to note that the magazine is printed in China. I noticed this in the last issue, but I'm pretty sure that previous issues (maybe not all) were printed in Canada. Quote
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