Did you hear?… Publisher of Couloir announces plans to launch new magazine

The publisher of Couloir magazine has announced it will be launching a new magazine this November called Telemark Skier. It is a one-issue launch slated to cover all aspects of in-bounds telemark skiing. According to publisher Craig Dostie, the new launch was inspired simply because the market is going places Couloir can’t go. “What’s going on in telemark is no longer oriented only towards the backcountry. The sport has taken on an in-bounds persona and become a lot more hip in recent years. Right now, the rage in telemark is all about downhill performance, where it used to be about lightweight gear and ease of use in the backcountry.” Telemark Skier will be edited by former Couloir Editor Matt Samelson. If the first issue gets the response the staff is hoping for, it will gradually grow from season to season. The hope is to print at least three issues of Telemark Skier by the 2004-2005 season.
SNEWS® View: Hmmmm. Perhaps Dostie is seeing something we don’t (which is possible, given he’s kept his vision for Couloir alive for 15 years and the magazine is still growing). However, common sense would indicate that if the niche publication Telemark Skier is successful, it will be at the expense of the niche publication Couloir in terms of cannibalizing both advertisers and subscribers who can’t or don’t want to participate in both publications. On the other hand, this might be just what Dostie is after because if Telemark Skier does succeed, it is an eminently more marketable and understandable name than Couloir to the mainstream.