Powder Mag is Done

[pancake]

It's a shame all this hate at a funeral. Before the internet nobody went to a funeral if they didn't like or respect the person.
Powder was a great publication and explained what it was to be a skier and not just somebody who skied. It published some of the best photos from some of the best photographers and inspired so many of todays great photographers shooting skiing.
Some little things I love about Powder ? How they kept TR Youngstrom, who died in a helicopter crash in Chile, in 1997, as a Contributing Photographer. And the quotes, hidden at the back of the magazine in the legal fine print. Here's one from the October 2001 issue - "Be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead." Scottish Proverb. (i picked this issue totally random by the way, somehow kinda relevant)
Also, I met Splat. Thanks Powder for sending him to Jasper. We skied, we shot the shit, he took photos and I tried to look good while jumping off shit ! Hahaha
Also and, through Splat I met Henry Georgi. He's a great guy and one of a handful of photographers who "always got the shot "before digital who was a long time contributor to Powder.
I wish I would have submitted a few photos just cause but I didn't think I had the kind of quality they were looking for.
Print may be dying, but we really need it. Digital content degrades over time and isn't even real until printed but the magazines with the photos sitting on shelves in my home still look good, even if they are 20 years old.
Here's to you Powder, I'll miss you.
Brad.

[new yabyum]

A fine and fitting eulogy. Thanks.

[doebedoe]

If anyone has access to a few extra copies of the latest mag and would be willing to sell -- PM me. Stopped by a few shops all were sold out. A buddy of mine was written up in it but is having trouble sourcing copies for his family and friends.

EDIT: The sept 2020 issue w/ the full BN on the cover.

[Westmeister]

If anyone has access to a few extra copies of the latest mag and would be willing to sell -- PM me. Stopped by a few shops all were sold out. A buddy of mine was written up in it but is having trouble sourcing copies for his family and friends.

30 + years too, pm if interested Truckee, anyone, it's all free.

[chaka]

If anyone has access to a few extra copies of the latest mag and would be willing to sell -- PM me. Stopped by a few shops all were sold out. A buddy of mine was written up in it but is having trouble sourcing copies for his family and friends.

you mean the buyer's guide issue? I'll send it to you if you like when we're done with it.

[doebedoe]

you mean the buyer's guide issue? I'll send it to you if you like when we're done with it.

The one with Connery Lundin going full BN on the front. Would appreciate it. Can drop a few $ for shipping/beer.

[chaka]

The one with Connery Lundin going full BN on the front. Would appreciate it. Can drop a few $ for shipping/beer.

you betcha. PM me your addy.

[Lynx]

I just logged on after a hiatus, give some slack... and what she said without the cool career. I mean hell, I never would a met some of you wonderful people, and many long gone if not for Powder mag.

I didn't think that was allowed here? You're gettin' soft :P

Ditto to the rest of that, too! No Maggots without the Mag. I dare say life would have been far more boring.

[muted]

It's a shame all this hate at a funeral. Before the internet nobody went to a funeral if they didn't like or respect the person.

Ha. It's like an old friend who influenced us in so many ways, it's not relevant you didn't like him as he aged and got a little unbalanced. Haven't heard a eulogy saying "He turned to those global warming conspiracies before death and got reallllllly annoying....I preferred him when he was young and fun. Now, eh. Good riddance. Everyone: join me as we pray.... "

[Meadow Skipper]

Steve Casimiro article on the demise. It’s kind of sad, and nostalgic, and it points out, to me, a bit of the evil of corporate ownership.
https://www.adventure-journal.com/20...powder-skiing/

[Bobcat Sig]

You know that AJ is edited by Steve Casimiro, the same Steve Casimiro that edited Powder at its height? I get it, and I like it a lot, but there’s tons of non-skiing content.

I didn't Steve was there. That's great news.

I also realize Adventure Journal isn't a skiing publication, only that at times, it includes some skiing content. If anything, it's simply more mountain stoke that's been well shot and editorialized. I like that sort of content.

It's a shame all this hate at a funeral. Before the internet nobody went to a funeral if they didn't like or respect the person.
Powder was a great publication and explained what it was to be a skier and not just somebody who skied. It published some of the best photos from some of the best photographers and inspired so many of todays great photographers shooting skiing.
Some little things I love about Powder ? How they kept TR Youngstrom, who died in a helicopter crash in Chile, in 1997, as a Contributing Photographer. And the quotes, hidden at the back of the magazine in the legal fine print. Here's one from the October 2001 issue - "Be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead." Scottish Proverb. (i picked this issue totally random by the way, somehow kinda relevant)
Also, I met Splat. Thanks Powder for sending him to Jasper. We skied, we shot the shit, he took photos and I tried to look good while jumping off shit ! Hahaha
Also and, through Splat I met Henry Georgi. He's a great guy and one of a handful of photographers who "always got the shot "before digital who was a long time contributor to Powder.
I wish I would have submitted a few photos just cause but I didn't think I had the kind of quality they were looking for.
Print may be dying, but we really need it. Digital content degrades over time and isn't even real until printed but the magazines with the photos sitting on shelves in my home still look good, even if they are 20 years old.
Here's to you Powder, I'll miss you.
Brad.

I don't know if it's all hate. I think think that in a way, it's people trying to understand or get some reasons around the closure. More that people are trying cope with it. As we've seen, POWDER directly impacted many, many people's lives in a positive way. And for some, it was their life. It was instrumental in my move to Montana many years ago.

That said, your bit was well said, Brad. Thanks for that.

[Bobcat Sig]

Steve Casimiro article on the demise. It’s kind of sad, and nostalgic, and it points out, to me, a bit of the evil of corporate ownership.
https://www.adventure-journal.com/20...powder-skiing/

Great read. Thanks for sharing.

[Buster Highmen]

Powder was the lighthouse of mad, wheeling, st00pid fun. embodying so much of what makes the sport great. The art, the photos, the passionate, brilliant copy, the locus of all the bright rays and angles of the best sport ever. Name another sport journal whose gear review involved steamrollering equipment.

As that roadhouse blinks out it's lights and locks the door, I'll lament it's passing, it's symbolic eclipse of an age of free and love so wildly and wonderfully disjoint from the dreary and despotic bottom line drawn by the beady eyed beancounters. I'll hold on to the inevitable oscillations of the ages and know that somewhere down the line, another icon will carry on the torch of the best of the human condition.

[frorider]

Nicole at Bike https://www.bikemag.com/news/goodbye-for-now/ sez it’s On Hold, not shut down necessarily. :shrug:

[garyfromterrace]

Nice blog Pancake (for a 40 post in 14 year JONG). Kidding. You summed up nicely some of my thoughts too. I would say Powder mag is the reason I live where I do. The reason I have a 24 yr old son. The reason I am and have always been (as an adult at least), a ski bum. I started skiing late. No childhood memories of skiing - my folks didn't ski, skiing was for the rich. It happened in glamorous places like Aspen and Switzerland and Norway. Places far from Drumheller, AB where I lived, places I'd never been, and places I would dream of going to after reading of them on the pages of Powder.

The editorials would get my blood pumping. The ski shots would show me athletes I could never aspire to be and lines I'd never be able to ski especially as a 19 year old hack who started skiing at 17. But man, the first issue of Pow would come out in November and it got me stoked. I'd train doing squats and play indoor soccer not because I was any good at soccer, but because it would make my skiing better. I started getting to the hill more often when I got a real job and though the mountains were a solid 3 hour drive one way from where I lived, I'd leave town Fridays after work stay on a buddy's couch in Calgary and take the ski bus to Louise or Sunshine. Ski the weekend then drive home early Monday morning for work at 8am. My days per year climbed from 20 to 40 to 60ish. All the while Powder was there fueling my fire. Eventually I had to be closer to the mountains and I was getting decent. Not good, but OK. I saw an article on speed skiing in Pow (I think that first one was about Steve Mckinney (sp?) and Silverton. After seeing some lads speed training at Fortress Mtn in the mid 80's I asked if I could come play with them and they said sure. The prairie-boy hack was soon riding 215 DH boards and blasting down slopes well over 100km though living up to the nickname "tumbleweed" that the boys on the team bestowed on me.

Speeding at Fortress allowed me to meet some lads from Tod Mtn, and an invite from one of them ended up with me spending a season AT a ski area. A couple of seasons later I moved westward to live at Tod full time. Powder was there all the way - I may not have had much money for nice cars and fancy clothes, but I'd sure as hell scrape enough together for the latest issue of Powder, new boots or a pair of slightly used skis. Backcountry skiing started for me in the early '90's fueled by photos of Peterson, Pehota, Spriceneicks and stories of their epic first descents. Soon after I got to meet one of my heroes Leslie Anthony when he showed up at Tod Mtn and I got recommended to show him around the backcountry (small as it is at Sunpeaks). But lo and behold Leslie had a good time and even mentioned my name in his article on the area.

I really thought I had arrived. Sure no photo (I was after all not worthy, nor will I ever be), but hey, my name was in Powder! Continued reverence for dear Powder Mag continued in the 90's for me but so did pursuit of larger targets for my skiing. More BC skiing, Pow mag articles, photos and low and behold a chance to move to Terrace. Big terrain, no people and a chance to channel my inner big mountain ski touring energies and actually tick some first descents of my own.

Well, this was certainly a long winded blog about ME. I don't kid myself however, if it wasn't for reading about hippies skiing Crested Butte, big lines in Kitzbuhel, first descents by studs like Trevor and Ptor, and editorials by guys who really "got me" - there's no fucking way I would have had the trajectory I did (Drumheller-Calgary-Sunpeaks-Terrace), no way I would have met the people I did (including impregnating the person I did), had the career I did and live where I do now.

Yeah, sure there's the butterfly effect where small decisions in your life have a major causality down the line, but one constant in my first 20 years of adulthood was Powder Magazine. It showed me what was possible. It allowed me to dream. Somehow, someway I've got to attain some of em even.

[XXX-er]

Dropping gary's name around the local hill gives you immediate cred

[skiJ]

Nice blog Pancake (for a 40 post in 14 year JONG). Kidding. You summed up nicely some of my thoughts too. I would say Powder mag is the reason I live where I do. The reason I have a 24 yr old son. The reason I am and have always been (as an adult at least), a ski bum. I started skiing late. No childhood memories of skiing - my folks didn't ski, skiing was for the rich. It happened in glamorous places like Aspen and Switzerland and Norway. Places far from Drumheller, AB where I lived, places I'd never been, and places I would dream of going to after reading of them on the pages of Powder.

The editorials would get my blood pumping. The ski shots would show me athletes I could never aspire to be and lines I'd never be able to ski especially as a 19 year old hack who started skiing at 17. But man, the first issue of Pow would come out in November and it got me stoked. I'd train doing squats and play indoor soccer not because I was any good at soccer, but because it would make my skiing better. I started getting to the hill more often when I got a real job and though the mountains were a solid 3 hour drive one way from where I lived, I'd leave town Fridays after work stay on a buddy's couch in Calgary and take the ski bus to Louise or Sunshine. Ski the weekend then drive home early Monday morning for work at 8am. My days per year climbed from 20 to 40 to 60ish. All the while Powder was there fueling my fire. Eventually I had to be closer to the mountains and I was getting decent. Not good, but OK. I saw an article on speed skiing in Pow (I think that first one was about Steve Mckinney (sp?) and Silverton. After seeing some lads speed training at Fortress Mtn in the mid 80's I asked if I could come play with them and they said sure. The prairie-boy hack was soon riding 215 DH boards and blasting down slopes well over 100km though living up to the nickname "tumbleweed" that the boys on the team bestowed on me.

Speeding at Fortress allowed me to meet some lads from Tod Mtn, and an invite from one of them ended up with me spending a season AT a ski area. A couple of seasons later I moved westward to live at Tod full time. Powder was there all the way - I may not have had much money for nice cars and fancy clothes, but I'd sure as hell scrape enough together for the latest issue of Powder, new boots or a pair of slightly used skis. Backcountry skiing started for me in the early '90's fueled by photos of Peterson, Pehota, Spriceneicks and stories of their epic first descents. Soon after I got to meet one of my heroes Leslie Anthony when he showed up at Tod Mtn and I got recommended to show him around the backcountry (small as it is at Sunpeaks). But lo and behold Leslie had a good time and even mentioned my name in his article on the area.

I really thought I had arrived. Sure no photo (I was after all not worthy, nor will I ever be), but hey, my name was in Powder! Continued reverence for dear Powder Mag continued in the 90's for me but so did pursuit of larger targets for my skiing. More BC skiing, Pow mag articles, photos and low and behold a chance to move to Terrace. Big terrain, no people and a chance to channel my inner big mountain ski touring energies and actually tick some first descents of my own.

Well, this was certainly a long winded blog about ME. I don't kid myself however, if it wasn't for reading about hippies skiing Crested Butte, big lines in Kitzbuhel, first descents by studs like Trevor and Ptor, and editorials by guys who really "got me" - there's no fucking way I would have had the trajectory I did (Drumheller-Calgary-Sunpeaks-Terrace), no way I would have met the people I did (including impregnating the person I did), had the career I did and live where I do now.

Yeah, sure there's the butterfly effect where small decisions in your life have a major causality down the line, but one constant in my first 20 years of adulthood was Powder Magazine. It showed me what was possible. It allowed me to dream. Somehow, someway I've got to attain some of em even.

Best read here since Dj opened his JHMR thread a year ago - Thank you, gary ! tj

[pancake]

I didn't Steve was there. That's great news.

I also realize Adventure Journal isn't a skiing publication, only that at times, it includes some skiing content. If anything, it's simply more mountain stoke that's been well shot and editorialized. I like that sort of content.



I don't know if it's all hate. I think think that in a way, it's people trying to understand or get some reasons around the closure. More that people are trying cope with it. As we've seen, POWDER directly impacted many, many people's lives in a positive way. And for some, it was their life. It was instrumental in my move to Montana many years ago.

That said, your bit was well said, Brad. Thanks for that.

Thanks Bobcat Sig, you're welcome.
And hate may have been a bit strong, i was just a little surprised by some of the reactions.

[iggyskier]

Hearing that while print is for sure dead, brands/digital all likely continue - just not clear in what capacity.

[pancake]

Nice blog Pancake (for a 40 post in 14 year JONG). Kidding. You summed up nicely some of my thoughts too. I would say Powder mag is the reason I live where I do. The reason I have a 24 yr old son. The reason I am and have always been (as an adult at least), a ski bum. I started skiing late. No childhood memories of skiing - my folks didn't ski, skiing was for the rich. It happened in glamorous places like Aspen and Switzerland and Norway. Places far from Drumheller, AB where I lived, places I'd never been, and places I would dream of going to after reading of them on the pages of Powder.

The editorials would get my blood pumping. The ski shots would show me athletes I could never aspire to be and lines I'd never be able to ski especially as a 19 year old hack who started skiing at 17. But man, the first issue of Pow would come out in November and it got me stoked. I'd train doing squats and play indoor soccer not because I was any good at soccer, but because it would make my skiing better. I started getting to the hill more often when I got a real job and though the mountains were a solid 3 hour drive one way from where I lived, I'd leave town Fridays after work stay on a buddy's couch in Calgary and take the ski bus to Louise or Sunshine. Ski the weekend then drive home early Monday morning for work at 8am. My days per year climbed from 20 to 40 to 60ish. All the while Powder was there fueling my fire. Eventually I had to be closer to the mountains and I was getting decent. Not good, but OK. I saw an article on speed skiing in Pow (I think that first one was about Steve Mckinney (sp?) and Silverton. After seeing some lads speed training at Fortress Mtn in the mid 80's I asked if I could come play with them and they said sure. The prairie-boy hack was soon riding 215 DH boards and blasting down slopes well over 100km though living up to the nickname "tumbleweed" that the boys on the team bestowed on me.

Speeding at Fortress allowed me to meet some lads from Tod Mtn, and an invite from one of them ended up with me spending a season AT a ski area. A couple of seasons later I moved westward to live at Tod full time. Powder was there all the way - I may not have had much money for nice cars and fancy clothes, but I'd sure as hell scrape enough together for the latest issue of Powder, new boots or a pair of slightly used skis. Backcountry skiing started for me in the early '90's fueled by photos of Peterson, Pehota, Spriceneicks and stories of their epic first descents. Soon after I got to meet one of my heroes Leslie Anthony when he showed up at Tod Mtn and I got recommended to show him around the backcountry (small as it is at Sunpeaks). But lo and behold Leslie had a good time and even mentioned my name in his article on the area.

I really thought I had arrived. Sure no photo (I was after all not worthy, nor will I ever be), but hey, my name was in Powder! Continued reverence for dear Powder Mag continued in the 90's for me but so did pursuit of larger targets for my skiing. More BC skiing, Pow mag articles, photos and low and behold a chance to move to Terrace. Big terrain, no people and a chance to channel my inner big mountain ski touring energies and actually tick some first descents of my own.

Well, this was certainly a long winded blog about ME. I don't kid myself however, if it wasn't for reading about hippies skiing Crested Butte, big lines in Kitzbuhel, first descents by studs like Trevor and Ptor, and editorials by guys who really "got me" - there's no fucking way I would have had the trajectory I did (Drumheller-Calgary-Sunpeaks-Terrace), no way I would have met the people I did (including impregnating the person I did), had the career I did and live where I do now.

Yeah, sure there's the butterfly effect where small decisions in your life have a major causality down the line, but one constant in my first 20 years of adulthood was Powder Magazine. It showed me what was possible. It allowed me to dream. Somehow, someway I've got to attain some of em even.

Hey, this is like 49 posts now ! Hahaha
Nice post, I like the Fortress reference and the Speed Skiing.
This could have been Intro material.
Cheers.

[jackstraw]

What is this rag? Never heard of it.

[garyfromterrace]

Hey, this is like 49 posts now ! Hahaha
Nice post, I like the Fortress reference and the Speed Skiing.
This could have been Intro material.
Cheers.

High praise. Thanks man. I got it from somewhere..

[wolfelot]

Ugh. Sorry to hear this.

[jarrod7219]

So sad... Hopefully the writers and staff are able to be absorbed by different publications and continue to produce great content.

[Boosh]

Steve Casimiro article on the demise. It’s kind of sad, and nostalgic, and it points out, to me, a bit of the evil of corporate ownership.
https://www.adventure-journal.com/20...powder-skiing/

Thanks for sharing this link. I loved this part; Steve acknowledges that this excerpt is from when he left Powder in '98, but I feel like the words apply just as much now as they did then:

"In leaving, I want to thank you for everything: the letters, the calls, buying the magazine, the whole enchilada. I wish for you nothing but the best, for the deepest, lightest snow, for friends that say, “No, you go first,” and for huge grins and goggles that don’t fog and a desire for freshies that never, ever wanes. Remember that POWDER means freedom, that it means getting away to a place where there are no lines, no ropes, no fences, just snow, and that it is, ultimately, an expression of thanks. Remember that, and keep the faith"