Industry News
The Mountain Gazette is reemerging after years out-of-publication… hello, independent outdoor publishing. The iconic magazine was bought by journalist Mike Rogge earlier in 2020 and is due to have its first print run back this fall. Rogge has some big plans to bring the magazine into the current era, though the focus is going to still be predominately on print. Quality over quantity, with bi-annual print runs.
The magazine is going to be 11”x17” at coffee table size, in other words; HUGE. He wants to celebrate mountain town culture, covering the highs and lows told by people who live in the mountains.
The iconic magazine started in 1966, under the name of The Skiers Gazette and was renamed in 1972. Mountain Gazette focused on issues in the West with long literary articles about many things. It was closed down in 1979. The magazine used to mostly focus on what was happening in the mountain towns of the West, though Rogge wants to broaden the focus to mountain towns across all of North America.
The magazine reemerged in 2000 before ending again sometime around 2012. It was the second editor John Fayhee who gave the Mountain Gazette its restart in 2000 who started the tagline, “When in doubt, go higher.”
On the Mountain Gazette website, Rogge talks of his passion for real stories about real people living in mountain towns. He wants to focus on the voice of the writer.
“I’m allergic to list-icals like “Top 10 Hot Tubs in Aspen,” but gravitate toward the dirtbags and ski bums who made the United States, Canada, and Europe must-visit destinations. I prefer folks who live in vans, play music, create art, and make their own way in life. I like people who, when given a choice, prefer to do it outdoors.”
Rogge states the media industry is broken, especially outdoor media.
“The old advertising model is dead, the new way of delivering content is too reliant on affiliate sales and pay-to-play gear reviews. Nobody writes stories about the joy of going outside. Nobody is interested in stories about how people live, work, and play outside. Nobody, that is, except for those us working here at Mountain Gazette. Through social media, podcasts, email, and, yes, print, Mountain Gazette aims to deliver tales straight from the hearts of mountain town people to your inbox, feed, and mailbox.”
Dick Dorworth a former contributor wrote about the history of the Mountain Gazette, how he got his start as a writer and eclectic mountain journal as a whole. The magazine gave an opportunity for many unknown writers and created a space that had not been there previously for long-form articles.
“Old copies of the Gazette are considered collector’s items in certain circles, and bound copies of all issues are a treasure.”
Rogge appeared on The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast for an interview in July he discussed his plans for the magazine moving forward and why he decided to buy the Mountain Gazette. With the relaunch; though the focus is predominantly going to be on print, there are going to be short videos that will be released and a podcast which will be stories from historical articles.
Old copies of previous journals are for sale on the website and Rogge has been sharing old covers on Instagram.
FYI, in case you haven’t noticed, your posts are all out of whack and dated incorrectly. Newer posts are buried beneath old posts and that’s a quick way to get less hits and readership. Something screwy is going on with the timeline.
Hmmm, that is weird… thanks for pointing that out. I’ll look into it… cheers!