I’ve had the honor of being part of the snowshoe industry this year for the first time as a full-force, all-cylinder-running business. The Snowshoe Magazine team would like to thank everybody that got involved in all levels of support – from advertisers to occasional Web site visitors…it was a collective effort that has led to our success.
Without organizations like the United States Snowshoe Association, Highline Sports and Entertainment, Altitude Racing, the Breast Cancer Fund, Beaver Creek Resort, The Yeti Mountain Snowshoe Series, the Alaska Snowshoe Club, Snowsports Industries America, WinterTrails.org, WinterFeelsGood.com, and many others…none of this would have been possible.
Also, help from individuals, including Tom Sobal, Claire Walter, David Ingemie, Roger Lohr, Marc Campbell, Julie Homan, Jonathan Wiesel, Holly Johnson, Mark Elmore, Julie Udchachon, Erik Allen, Buddy Alford, all the Snowshoemag writers and photographers, and many others…has been priceless.
I extend my gratitude and appreciation to all.
The collective efforts of many have provided a great resource for snowshoers to use and enjoy. And, because of those efforts, Alford Publishing (parent to Snowshoemag.com) is formulating plans to provide Snowshoe Magazine as a print publication as soon as next season. (Subscription and advertising information will be available soon.)
Although the season isn’t quite over for many snowshoers around the world, it was such a great year for us. First and foremost, we met our goals as a Web site. We maintained our initiatives to provide original content from some of the best writers around the globe.
We created an e-newsletter subscriber footprint that reached as far north as Alaska and as far south as Australia. Subscribers and Web surfers from Canada, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, South Africa, Switzerland, Poland, Finland, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Russian Federation, and many other great countries found Snowshoemag.com and successfully utilized its tools and resources.
Advertisers committed their hard-earned dollars to adopt Snowshoemag.com as a viable part of their marketing initiatives. Some companies decided to support the Web site from a quiet distance but provided invaluable advice to help increase its success. Companies from around the world traded links with us to mutually pursue better traffic for our collective sites.
Snowshoe clubs from around the globe depended on Snowshoemag.com to provide them more exposure to increase their membership. We were happy to help and will continue to grow our clubs area. Eventually, we want to be the organization where prospective clubs, their members, and snowshoers searching for membership go to find everything they need.
The Snowshoe Magazine Discussion Forums were a great success. Members provided worldwide information on snowshoeing destinations, tips on products, snow conditions in specific areas, and much more. Membership to the forums is free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Our calendar was loaded with events and happenings around the world. We also had a number of single-season events that were quickly routed to our calendar upon organizers’ requests. And, we were happy to add anything and everything possible.
We will be announcing the winners of our Sirius Satellite Radio and Tubbs Snowshoes contests next month. So, if you entered to win, good luck.
As for this summer, we will be taking a break. Starting in June and going through August, we will not provide full updates. Instead, we will be working on our print publication and the next evolution of our publishing efforts.
Although we will not have new content to share, I will be communicating with all of you through the newsletter to inform of progress. And, who knows what else I’ll have to say during the work and trials of our print magazine.
Pull up a virtual chair and take a front row seat; the next chapter of Snowshoe Magazine’s history is at hand.
