During these trying days of above freezing temperatures, lack of powder, lack of corn snow, and general lack of good options, one must try not to become discouraged. Bases are deep and spring skiing in April and beyond will be epic (when it finally arrives). But New England weather can be a bitch sometimes. Normally one of the snowiest months, this March has been a horrendous with exception of the first two days, of the month. Times like this call for vicarious living and skiing and there is no better way to do so than ski magazines.
Enter volume two, number two of The Ski Journal. Readers may recall my fond review of the second issue of this new magazine earlier this season. This third issue continues to build on the values and direction that the first two issues have established: stunning design and layout, excellent content in words and images, and a focus on skiing uncompromised by advertisements and fluff. This new issue features a few additional advertisements compared to the first two issues; however, this is a very minimal increase. In keeping with the layout and style of the magazine, the advertisements are only located at the front and back of the magazines and the content is generally uninterrupted.
Although disappointed with the lack of an eastern feature in this issue, the articles and photographs retain a universal flavor and appeal not found in most other magazines. Lines In Skiing, which featured articles and photographs of various “lines” in skiing (lift line, production line, fall line, boundary line, etc.), was particularly interesting. And though I will never travel to Oz, Tony Harrington’s Australia article drew my attention as a New England skier due to the default presumptive nature most skiers have regarding the skiing down under.
The Ski Journal delivers great content yet again with the bar being raised due to some stunning photography. Writing quality seemed to be stepped up as well. The cover price remains steep at $12.95 USD; however, the $39.99 four issue subscription delivered to your door is a reasonable and acceptable price tag for a magazine that uncompromisingly sticks to quality style, layout, presentation and content that is unparalleled in ski industry journalism and periodicals.
2 thoughts on “The Ski Journal Delivers Again”
I agree the Ski Journal is a great publication.
In terms of your comment about NE coverage…have you seen N’east magazine?
It is not 100% skiing but covers a lot of different sports with a Northeast tilt.
http://www.neastmagazine.com
here is the their blog:
http://neastmagazine.wordpress.com/
Jsoh-
Thanks for the comment. I should qualify my comment about TSJ not having any eastern coverage in the most recent issue with the understanding that the first issue had an article on Mad River Glen and the second issue had an article on Jay Peak. Those two articles alone are more than the other major ski publications do in an entire year (national coverage, Skiing does have an eastern distribution with a few localized articles).
Regardin N’East Magazine, yes I have taken a detailed review of the magazine via a free promotional subscription. I received the magazine for one year and was terribly disappointed with the skiing related content of the four issues I received. One skiing article was not even from the United States, let alone the Northeast. Though the design and layout was very nice and similar to The Ski Journal in approach. But N’East is not a skiing magazine and gives the pursuit and culture of skiing very little attention from the issues I received.