A few weeks back, many people in the climbing world were dismayed to see that Alpinist Magazine was shutting down operations. To many though it was not really a surprise given Alpinist’s niche focus and high production costs. It is somewhat ironic then that at the exact time Alpinist fades into the sunset, a magazine Alpinists’ exact opposite in almost every sense launches their first issue. The exact opposite of Alpinist would of course be a magazine with a heavy focus on sport climbing and bouldering, lower quality print materials and a completely FREE ad-supported distritubtion model.
Deadpoint Magazine (DPM) launched its first issue 2 weeks ago, billing itself as “Rock Climbing’s First Free Global Publication”. You can check it out for yourself by picking up a printed copy at your local gym during events like ABS comps, or you can read the entire issue online. The main benefit to reading the online version is that they have a series of videos embedded throughout the magazine. In the screenshot below you can see an example where a video of Ethan Pringle working Cobra Crack (5.14) in Squamish, BC is shown right on top of the Cobra Crack article. I like this idea a lot however I found the videos to be painfully small with no way to zoom in or pause playback.
It should be interesting to see how well this model works. If DPM can continue to produce quality and engaging content there doesn’t seem to be any reason that this concept can’t succeed (provided the current economic situation doesn’t dry up advertising budgets). Climbers always have had a soft spot for free stuff so DPM is off to a good start.
Let me know what you think about Deadpoint Magazine in the comments. Is it something you will read? Do you think it will last?
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