From Dougald MacDonald's Blog:

Of all the things I saw at the Outdoor Retailer show while reporting for the trade show's daily paper, the most surprising was the news that a West Virginia–based team is planning to launch a new climbing magazine this fall. Dead Point Magazine is a glossy bimonthly that will take aim at young climbers, with its first issue slated for October 15. With the tiny climbing market already crowded by four national magazines—Alpinist, Climbing, Rock and Ice, and Urban Climber—and magazine sales generally down, observers must ask: Are these guys smoking crack?

Maybe, maybe not. Dead Point hopes to gain a foothold through free distribution at climbing gyms and retailers, along with a hefty online presence. “We are definitely going after the youth market,” founder Matt Stark told me as we watched the Mammut Bouldering Championships. Stark explained that his magazine would have an “edgy look” and would take more chances with feature stories than the existing magazines do. “We're not going shy away from risqué articles,” he said. “Our second issue is going to turn some heads.”

Read More on Dougald MacDonald's Blog.

UK climbers might want to ask the question: "What happened to Gravity magazine?" The free publication that launched in the UK in 2006 and unfortunately is no longer available. Perhaps the team over at Dead Point should take a look at what happened to Gravity?

The climbing media is a small cake and there are lots of people taking a slice. A lot of questions are being asked behind the scenes in the UK climbing media - Where are we heading? Who will survive? Jobs have been cut and budgets are very slim. Media in general is changing; this year music downloads overtook CD sales for the first time.

A question that many people pose to us at UKClimbing.com is "When are you guys launching a magazine?"

Do you think we should? Or do we have enough printed climbing media out there already?