''Skiing'' was an American magazine devoted to skiing that was in print publication from 1948 until 2017.
It was one of the two largest circulation magazines for skiers.
Early years
Merrill Hastings launched ''Rocky Mountain Skiing'' in 1948, a news-oriented magazine that soon developed into a national publication. In 1950, it changed its name to the ''National Skiing Newspaper''; it became ''National Skiing'' in 1954; and its name was changed to ''Skiing'' in 1956. The magazine competed aggressively with ''Ski'' magazine, which was run by Bill Eldred. In the early years, the magazine was not entirely objective in its reviews, favoring resorts and equipment makers who advertised in its pages. Circulation rose to almost 50,000 in the first ten years.
New York
In 1964, the
Ziff Davis
Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, an ...
company of New York bought ''Skiing'' magazine and ''Skiing Trade News'' from Hastings, and moved operations to New York. The company's owner,
Bill Ziff
William Bernard "Bill" Ziff Sr. (August 1, 1898 – December 20, 1953) was an American publishing executive and author.
Biography
Ziff was born on August 1, 1898. He died on December 20, 1953. Ziff and Bernard G. Davis founded the magazine p ...
, raided ''Ski'' magazine for experienced staff. Luray, the first editor, wanted a slick magazine, but Ziff had decided it should be more serious, aimed at dedicated skiers, and he replaced Luray with Doug Pfeiffer, a ski school director from California. Pfeiffer was editor in chief of ''Skiing'' magazine and its sister publications ''Skiing Trade News'', ''Skiing Area News'' and ''Skiing International Yearbook'' from 1965 to 1976. Under Ziff, in 1965, the magazine started to issue test reports on skis. To avoid upsetting advertisers, none of the reports were negative. Due to the timing of new model releases, the skis being tested and the conditions under which they were being tested did not typically match the skis and conditions that the readers would be experiencing. Pfeiffer was followed as editor by
John Jerome
John Jerome (1932-2002) was an American writer of nonfiction. Jerome was born on November 7, 1932, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His father was Ralph Jerome, a draftsman for oil-drilling companies, and his mother was Gwendolyn (Stewart) Jerome. He graduat ...
and then Al Greenberg.
In 1985, Ziff Davis sold ''Skiing'' and other magazines to the broadcaster
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, and in 1987 CBS sold the magazines to
Peter Diamandis
Peter H. Diamandis (; born May 20, 1961) is a Greek Americans, Greek-American engineer, physician, and entrepreneur best known for being founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation, cofounder and executive chairman of Singularity University a ...
. Later that year, ''Skiing'' magazine was bought for $25 million by the
Times Mirror
The Times Mirror Company was an American newspaper and print media publisher from 1884 until 2000.
History
It had its roots in the Mirror Printing and Binding House, a commercial printing company founded in 1873, and the ''Los Angeles Times'' ...
company, which also owned the rival ''Ski'' magazine. Times Mirror was purchased by the
Tribune Company
Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...
of Chicago in 2000, and the following year ''Skiing'', ''Ski'' and other magazines were sold to Time4 Media, a subsidiary of
Time Inc.
Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake ''Time'', ''Sports Illu ...
By this time, the traditional skiing magazines were facing fierce competition from ski-related websites. In 2006, it was announced that the magazines would be sold again, to the
Bonnier Group
Bonnier AB (), also the Bonnier Group, is a privately held Swedish media group of 175 companies operating in 15 countries. It is controlled by the Bonnier family.
Background
The company was founded in 1804 by Gerhard Bonnier in Copenhagen, Denm ...
.
"SWEDISH PUBLISHER BUYS SKI, SKIING, TWS"
''SAM magazine'', 2007
Final years
In 2013, ''Skiing'' was purchased by Active Interest Media
Active Interest Media (AIM) is a publisher specializing in "niche enthusiast magazines" (i.e. magazines targeted at hobbyists).
History
The company was formed in 2003 by private-equity investment firm Wind Point Partners by the acquisition of ' ...
, a 50 magazine publisher based in Boulder, Colorado, who in the winter of 2017/2018 incorporated the assets of ''Skiing'' into its sister publicatio
''SKI'' magazine
ceasing its publication after nearly 70 years.
Notes
Sources
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External links
Archived issues
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skiing
1948 establishments in New York (state)
2010 disestablishments in New York (state)
Bonnier Group
Monthly magazines published in the United States
Online magazines published in the United States
Sports magazines published in the United States
Defunct magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 1948
Magazines disestablished in 2010
Magazines published in Colorado
Magazines published in Michigan
Magazines published in New York (state)
Mass media in Boulder, Colorado
Online magazines with defunct print editions
Skiing mass media