UKC

Hi there, I'm thinking of subscribing to a climbing magazine and these two are the obvious. After reading both I am still struggling to decide so was just wondering if anyone has a preference for either? and why?
I'm interested in most types of climbing except maybe winter not so much.

Cheers
G

In reply to climberkid:

Try reading a few issues of each and see what you like? I prefer Climb.

In reply to climberkid:

How long have you been climbing? Climber is more beginner focused in my opinion, but also has some good articles. I think that I prefer Climb though - it seems to be a bit more aesthetically designed and laid out.

In reply to climberkid: Without a doubt, Climb has the best looking and suave occasional contributing writers!

I was a subscriber to Climber for many years, but haven't read it at all for the last three or four so am not in a position to comment on it either way. Climb got a new editorial team just at the end of last summer - Dave and Ian - and they are working very hard trying to come up with new ideas and content for the magazine. On top of being writing and photography professionals, they are also both totally hardcore climbers with a huge wealth of British and global experience, and I think the combination of those two factors has to be good for the magazine.

In reply to climberkid:

Climb for sure. Climber is ok. But it's not as good as the current Climb team. Also if you can get hold of Vertical and Alpinist I'd take a look at them as well.

In reply to climberkid:
Not a lot to choose between them. Climber, although my choice, went downhill after ceasing to be 'Climber and Rambler'.

Pete

In reply to climberkid:

I've been subscribed to Climber for the last 12mths, was just starting out & there were loads of good articles for beginners, which was great.
Just switched to Climb, looks pretty swish & it's good reading.

(If it's a close call, check out which freebie gift they are both offering to new subscribers!)

In reply to climberkid:
Anyone else?

In reply to climberkid:

i dont climb much anymore, but ive a stack full of climbing mags. about 50/50 of climber mag and climb... think i prefured the bigger foto shots in climb magazine...yeah 'climb' i prefured ...

In reply to climberkid: After Climb has changed recently i personally think its rubbish, this months edition I sent the mrs out to get it awaiting it and its full of ice stuff. Climber for me I would say

In reply to climberkid:

Not seen Climb for a while but has to be better than Climber, which is just drivel.

Agree with the going sentiment here, I prefer Climb.


Climber: More informative at times, gear reviews, location info, how to do this guides etc. Better if youre starting out.

Climb: A better read in general, if youre looking for quality writing and story telling rather than gear reviews. Also a lot more winter stuff!

I also used to subscribe to both, but I've now dropped Climber as it seems to be aimed at the Beginner end of the market and rapidly gets repetitive. They also only seem to use the same small group of authors for all their editions.

Climb does seem to be definitely improving under the new editors. Let's just hope that Dave Pickford doesn't turn it into Dave's holiday mag!

Of course what you really need for inspiration is an Alpinist subscription...

In reply to climberkid:

Another vote for Climb from me.

Up to a point, they're both the same, and just go on about climbing all the time. Presumably there's only so much they can cover before they start repeating themselves (though sometimes Steve Maclure has branched away a bit in his column, which is nice).
But I think Climb seems a bit more varied, better laid-out, and generally more of a 'read'. Seems to be steering towards the 'Alpinist' stable, especially since the editorial change, which can only be a good thing.

In reply to climberkid: Climber does appear to be improving. Climb is very professional and seems to take itself far too seriously - fine if you are a pro climber or keen to keep up with the latest 9a, but with a sense of humour bypass - a touch american, dare I say. Depends what you want but bring back Crags (Al Evans?)

In reply to climberkid: Is there anywhere in the UK that I can subscribe to Alpinist?

In reply to danredcar:

Have you looked here? www.alpinist.com/kbl/suball.asp

Has UK as an option in the drop down menu.

In reply to climberkid:

Climb beats Climber hands down, at the moment.

In reply to jcharles: Yeh ive been on there, but would rather subscribe to a UK shop if possible

In reply to climberkid: depends on what you're looking for. Climb has by far the better articles, photos and gear reviews. But Climber has lots of nice tips and crag reviews which i like. It also has some useful beta at the moment. So really it's just a case of what you're interested in. Personally, i look out for each issue and buy if there's something interesting rather than subscribing to one or the other.

In reply to climberkid: : I used to prefer Climber, but it's been going steadily down hill since Bernard Newman stopped editing it a few years back. Current editor Andy McCue had only been climbing a year when he started the job and his clueless punterdom shows through. It's now mostly full of repetitive articles you've seen about five times before and dry tutorials (who wants to go to a "Clinic" to get their technique sorted out). Climb on the otherhand has been steadily improving over the last few years. It reached a low point a couple of years ago when whenever James Pearson did a new route about half the mag was devoted to it. But now with experienced editors Pickford and Parnell in charge it's got lots of inspirational original articles and photography. Get Climb.

In reply to climberkid:

Horses for courses. If you like climbing writing and photos then get Climb. If you're more into how to do it type articles then get Climber. Both do gear reviews.

Buy both for a couple of months and see what proportion of each you end up reading.

In reply to JonRoger:

Useless trivia, but I believe the old Crags changed its name to High, then High Mountain Sports, then High Mountain Magazine. This then merged with On The Edge to become Climb.

In reply to climberkid:
Since the change in Editorial team Climb has become an inspiring read once again. Only the spine needs sorting out now to stop them falling apart.
Hopefully Climber will take note and raise it's game too.

In reply to climberkid: I've been taking Climber for years, since it was C&R, but I have to agree with some of the comments. However it is worth getting for Jim Perrin's articles alone.

In reply to jcharles:

Am I right in thinking this is US$70 for 4 issues? Eg Us$17.50 per issue?

Is it actually worth this? Any views?