Skiing Magazine Powers Up

I found a copy on a lift chair.

Recently reworked Skiing Magazine appeared on a nearby lift chair a few days ago. Like Simon Dumont shooting for extra air as he sails above his latest halfpipe conquest, Skiing Mag is still chasing Powder Magazine’s “freeride” market.

Thing is, in terms of look and content Skiing is doing pretty well in the race, though some of this book’s interior has that “me too” feel that can be a turn off.

The redesign has a nice balance of in-your-face advertising with editorial that’s laid out in forms that inspire actually reading the text. Lots of fast food in there, but one full length article by excellent writer Kevin Fadarko takes you to the inner workings of Canadian mechanized skiing.

In “The Last Piece of Paradise,” Fedarko details how the gut busting Canadian powder pie gets divided for heli skiing, and how a group of seasoned backcountry folks trade their mountain mellow for business dealings worthy of a mob boss. Turns out that powder may enlighten and mountains may inspire — but people are still people. Recommended.

Highlight of the mag is in my opinion Grant Gunderson’s highly crafted cover photo, which folds out to a stunning poster (without clutter, if you get the naked cover version as pictured here.) Best laugh (I chuckled out loud)? Vail’s two-page ad, that features, yep, two blank pages. I’d imagine someone in Vail’s PR outfit thought they were clever — they obviously don’t get it (and Skiing was happy to take their money without explaining).

On the other hand, if Vail’s is the only ad WildSnow is blogging about, perhaps they got their money’s worth? So shut my mouth.

The magazine’s extensive ski test is interesting as well — good to see a number of Black Diamond and K2 skis made the cut. Among them: BD’s Megawatt in the magazine’s “Powder Specialty” group, and K2’s Apache Xplorer in the “All-Mountain Expert” category.

Good early season stoke.