After a multi-year hiatus, The Mountain Gazette is back under the leadership of none other than Mike Rogge. Mountain Gazette photo.
Words Max Ritter
For many of us, the words “adventure journalism” conjure up notions of classic writers like Edward Abbey, Yvon Chouinard, and Dolores LaChapelle waxing poetic about the nuances of mountain culture. Forging a life in the mountains, whether it’s on the glaciated peaks of Alaska, or simply in the notorious bars of a town like Jackson Hole is a complicated process, and there’s a lot to say about it. With the evolution of media over the past decade into shorter-form, bite-size sound bites of reality, we’ve lost a sort of voice of the mountains – that of long form, creative, and poignant writing about the unique lives we need. We’re not going to sugar-coat it, TGR has fallen victim to it too - and as the editor here, I’ll be the first to admit that damn it’s hard to do that sort of thing right.
That’s why I was stoked to hear the news that Mike Rogge, former editor of the Ski Journal and the guy who got his career started at Newschoolers.com of all places, had a dream to breathe new life into an old classic: The Mountain Gazette. It’s the place where the Abbeys, Chouinards, and LaChapelles of the mountain world had a space to let loose. Thanks to some savvy business thinking, Rogge was able to make that dream a reality, and the first issue of the resurrected Mountain Gazzette will be available Fall 2020. It will come out twice annually as a high-quality coffee table book featuring some of the best writing and images around, celebrating what makes our lives in the mountains better than anyone else’s.
Interested in a subscription? Get one Here.
I caught up with Rogge to hear about bringing his vision to life, his view on the state of media, and what to expect from the magazine. Read the full interview over at TetonGravity.com
