Thread: Dear Backcountry Magazine,

I picked up a subscription when I joined TroutUnlimited, or American WhiteWater, can't remember which. For the love of GOD, how about a token photo or two of some EastCoast Backcountry!!! For a mag that has staff located in Cambridge Vermont, I am totally sick of the "Dude, out west..." vib of this Publication. There is now very little that sets your mag apart from any other mag out there. I now find myself thumbing through just to find the damn Jay Peak add to geek out on for some New England tree skiing stoke. And alas, I am relagated back to the East Coast Roll Call thread to wade through page after page of ROGBLOG and inner-circle banter for the precious few jewels of some EastCoast ski shots....95 percent of which are from Magic Mtn or Sugarbush inbounds. There really is alot going on in the Dacks, Whites, ChicChocs, Greens, hell, even the Appalachians. While it may not always be the steep and deep, it's the roots of skiing in the US ,I think, deserves at least a token peak in every issue. Next time I join a not-for-profit org., I think I'll check the box that get me a free scrip to Outside. If you decide to start paying more attention to the flat and icy slopes of the East again, you may draw me back in. Until then, I think I'll just bring my few remaining issues to the dentist's office and leave them there.
DVT

WFJ

rog

Originally Posted by icelanticskier

WFJ

rog

Nothing personal Rog...

Originally Posted by DaveVt

Nothing personal Rog...

not taken that way dave. it's the internet. the internet=all good fun

rog

A lot of chocs, greens, daks, and whites stoke hit this forum last year. Not sure where you're looking.

We have an ad running in backcountry this month. They offered a great deal that we could not refuse given our zero marketing budget. nice to see them reaching out and really supporting the local businesses. Seeing local stoke would even be that much better.

i definitely agree about the lack of EC pics in the zine. i mean how many fucking times do we hafta see a pom pom sticking out of a deep pow cloud underneath the wildcat chair at alta?! c'mon lee, mix shit up would ya? i mean even pics like the one in the current wasatch tr of NH schralping fast grass in the back seat would be a nice change of pace

alaska? ok we get it. deep steep white snow that all looks the fucking same, e-v-e-r-y time.

japan? at least that's exotic.

west virginia? FOR THE MUTHA FUCKING WIN!!! YOU LISTENING BACKCOUNTRY?!

ski the east

rog

TC, it's awesome they are helping you guys get the Word out on a budget. Now there will be at least 2 advertisements with some East Coast content.
At least Japan LOOKS like it could be New England. And yea, if you boiled the ECRC thread down to just the posts with some photo content, there was a good amount...but I would argue that maybe 10 percent, maybe less if you don't count posts with photos getting quoted, have any descent ski porn. Mostly just the same 10 dudes talking about shit that should just be in an email....but I digress....BC Magazine! I need some glossy-paper East Coast BC porn! If you can't help, noone can.

Isn't BC Mag headquartered in VT these days? I didn't renew this year cuz it seems to have turned into Powder 2. Not that Powder mag is bad but I was looking for a different experience with BC. Maybe more EC pics and stories would help.

They often do include pics of the east but I'm guessing this years submissions were slim after last years snowfall. Why not start taking pics and submitting them yourself.

I have to agree with the OP. I have been a subscriber to Backcountry since 96 or 97, and I have decided this year to not renew. It's not a bad magazine IMO but too much focus on mountaineering tech and sidecountry for my liking.

Originally Posted by DaveVt

I picked up a subscription when I joined TroutUnlimited, or American WhiteWater, can't remember which. For the love of GOD, how about a token photo or two of some EastCoast Backcountry!!! For a mag that has staff located in Cambridge Vermont, I am totally sick of the "Dude, out west..." vib of this Publication. There is now very little that sets your mag apart from any other mag out there. I now find myself thumbing through just to find the damn Jay Peak add to geek out on for some New England tree skiing stoke. And alas, I am relagated back to the East Coast Roll Call thread to wade through page after page of ROGBLOG and inner-circle banter for the precious few jewels of some EastCoast ski shots....95 percent of which are from Magic Mtn or Sugarbush inbounds. There really is alot going on in the Dacks, Whites, ChicChocs, Greens, hell, even the Appalachians. While it may not always be the steep and deep, it's the roots of skiing in the US ,I think, deserves at least a token peak in every issue. Next time I join a not-for-profit org., I think I'll check the box that get me a free scrip to Outside. If you decide to start paying more attention to the flat and icy slopes of the East again, you may draw me back in. Until then, I think I'll just bring my few remaining issues to the dentist's office and leave them there.
DVT

There's new photo editor this year, and the word on the street is he's looking to change EXACTLY THIS. Pretty stoked. Hope the Photo Annual gets some solid EC action. Let's give the new guy a chance, then be the judge. mmmK?

^^^^Might be a new local online content editor as well who is part of the EC roll call family.

Originally Posted by DaveVt

TC, it's awesome they are helping you guys get the Word out on a budget. Now there will be at least 2 advertisements with some East Coast content.
At least Japan LOOKS like it could be New England. And yea, if you boiled the ECRC thread down to just the posts with some photo content, there was a good amount...but I would argue that maybe 10 percent, maybe less if you don't count posts with photos getting quoted, have any descent ski porn. Mostly just the same 10 dudes talking about shit that should just be in an email....but I digress....BC Magazine! I need some glossy-paper East Coast BC porn! If you can't help, noone can.

Maybe an EC stoke and obs only thread?

Schwerty- yes they are in North Vt, same town I am in, Cambridge(jeffersonville). They definitely put in their time around the local community here.

That's funny Dave I remember you giving me shit for sharing my BC exploits so I stopped doing it.

I know I know... Just giving you shit man. I agree totally with your premise though. I'd count on a larger amount of ECBC coverage sooner though, as its a growing segment in the NE still and last year sucked, like, all the dicks.

Originally Posted by thin cover

Maybe an EC stoke and obs only thread?

like the WASATCH CONDITIONS TR?

i'll be posting some weekly george stuff with words including snow obz and some pics depending on who's with me. once winter comes in december. or january.

rog

u miss seeing pics of old guys on 3-pins and leathers skiing 25* thick trees??? real photogenic stuff that east coast skiing.

Stop being such a whiner and start submitting photos and stories if you want to see more EC content. What Backcounrty publishes is a reflection of what shows up in their in-box. It's probably a near 100-to-1 ratio of west-to-east photos that get submitted.

When they recently ran a letter from some woman complaining that there aren't an equal number of articles/photo of/by women the Ed's response was "Send us what you've got. We'd love to print more photos/articles about/by women but no one is submitting that content." I bet the Ed's would say the same thing if you took the less passive-agressive route and sent them your rant directly.

Backcountry Magazine Submission Guidelines

Originally Posted by The Gnarwhale

Stop being such a whiner and start submitting photos and stories if you want to see more EC content. What Backcounrty publishes is a reflection of what shows up in their in-box. It's probably a near 100-to-1 ratio of west-to-east photos that get submitted.

When they recently ran a letter from some woman complaining that there aren't an equal number of articles/photo of/by women the Ed's response was "Send us what you've got. We'd love to print more photos/articles about/by women but no one is submitting that content." I bet the Ed's would say the same thing if you took the less passive-agressive route and sent them your rant directly.

Backcountry Magazine Submission Guidelines

this. submit to win.

Originally Posted by DoWork

That's funny Dave I remember you giving me shit for sharing my BC exploits so I stopped doing it.

I know I know... Just giving you shit man. I agree totally with your premise though. I'd count on a larger amount of ECBC coverage sooner though, as its a growing segment in the NE still and last year sucked, like, all the dicks.

Let's not rewrite history. What I said was keep it slighly obscure and not post exactly where and what you were skiing. Like the old photo editor of BC mag used to do in his photo credits. "Northern Greens" Not "East Side of Mendon, a mile up past the old sugar shack on the left." And yea dude, an article of some crusty new englander shredding his backyard hill on 3 pins and leathers would be rad. A good photog can probably make that look interesting. I wish I had the coin to spend on good equipment but even if I had it, I'm not sure I'd enjoy spending all day shooting instead of making tracks up, over, down and through. It's a different thing. There were some pretty damn good days last year. I'm sure they could have come up with a handfull of shots to keep us jonsers interested. Or hell, maybe the story was the shit conditions....some fucking coverage is all I'm asking. Used to be stoked there was a local mag, and local dudes in it. Now it's like we don't exist. But if there has been a personel change....I'll hang tight. Glad to hear it actually.

Originally Posted by DaveVt

Let's not rewrite history. What I said was keep it slighly obscure and not post exactly where and what you were skiing. Like the old photo editor of BC mag used to do in his photo credits. "Northern Greens" Not "East Side of Mendon, a mile up past the old sugar shack on the left." And yea dude, an article of some crusty new englander shredding his backyard hill on 3 pins and leathers would be rad. A good photog can probably make that look interesting. I wish I had the coin to spend on good equipment but even if I had it, I'm not sure I'd enjoy spending all day shooting instead of making tracks up, over, down and through. It's a different thing. There were some pretty damn good days last year. I'm sure they could have come up with a handfull of shots to keep us jonsers interested. Or hell, maybe the story was the shit conditions....some fucking coverage is all I'm asking. Used to be stoked there was a local mag, and local dudes in it. Now it's like we don't exist. But if there has been a personel change....I'll hang tight. Glad to hear it actually.

Agreed. I'd put money on high anxiety and the worth guys submitting stuff to them this year though. So many quality routes and little zones that are just sooooo photogenic and special that could really raise awareness as a whole for the EC scene... Not that it needs to be huge mind you, but it is strange to me that the NE gets so little credit for gravity sports when it is just so incredibly good here so often. So yeah, I'm with you on that one!

Originally Posted by The Gnarwhale

Stop being such a whiner and start submitting photos and stories if you want to see more EC content. What Backcounrty publishes is a reflection of what shows up in their in-box. It's probably a near 100-to-1 ratio of west-to-east photos that get submitted.

When they recently ran a letter from some woman complaining that there aren't an equal number of articles/photo of/by women the Ed's response was "Send us what you've got. We'd love to print more photos/articles about/by women but no one is submitting that content." I bet the Ed's would say the same thing if you took the less passive-agressive route and sent them your rant directly.



Backcountry Magazine Submission Guidelines

Again, not sure they want to run the shot from my Olympus point and shoot. Aren't they out skiing? Isn't the point of running a mag to generate good content and not hang around waiting for a blogger to send them their next issue? Hell if they want to hook me up with some high quality gear and cover my bills while I spend my days in the BC trying to get some good shots, fucking sign me up. Not sure how this is passive agressive....not all that much passive about it, kinda just let them know what I was thinking in an up front way on a public forum. Geez, what a douche I am.
BTW, this guy is in his leather boots....

wow i sure hope you get your stoke back, pm greg @ AZ he likes to be a helper.
bobby

Originally Posted by gimpy

u miss seeing pics of old guys on 3-pins and leathers skiing 25* thick trees??? real photogenic stuff that east coast skiing.

I understand your comment for TGR ball busting purposes. But this is obviously not what the EC is all about.

chic chocs


Presidentials



Adirondacks


Vermont


Katahdin



Gros Morne National Park, New Foundland



There are a myriad of others as well.


Rog- I look forward the weekly George thread.

Originally Posted by DaveVt

Aren't they out skiing? Isn't the point of running a mag to generate good content and not hang around waiting for a blogger to send them their next issue?

let's just wait and see. they've been pretty proactive, and i think it should be pretty exciting to see what happens as we move forward here.

Originally Posted by thin cover

Maybe an EC stoke and obs only thread?

Just an FYI, there's a location for just EC stoke, photos and musings and snow-related weather:

FamousInternetSkiers.com has lots of EC snow stoke and snow-related weather info. no need to wade through interpersonal discussions.

there's even have a twitter app for reporting/seeing wx observations!

Haha! It's passive agressive because you took the indirect approach. If you wanted to ask the Backcountry Ed's why there's not more EC content you would have written them an email, a letter, a facebook message... they dont make themselves hard to get a hold of. But you posted on here where a lot of people will see your rant but there's a decent chance the guys pulling the strings at Backcountry aren't among them. You're trying to confront them without actually confronting them. That's passive agressive.

The editors job is to curate content, not write and photograph all of it. The majority of words and pictures in Backcountry (and other ski mags) are there because they were submitted by people who aren't employees. When there's +15 Wasatch photogs submitting UT photos vs 15 photogs submitting from all of the EC (maybe not even that many?) guess what they're going to run pictures of?

Buy a nice p&s that shoots RAW and write some 600-word pieces on what makes your ski scene quirky. You dont have to quit your job, or wait for sponsors to beat down your door, or have a $5000 camera setup, or sit in the same spot all day fiddling with an array of strobes. Seriously.