Jeffersonville, Vt. (FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE) – Height of Land Publications (HOL), publisher of Alpinist and Backcountry Magazine, is acquiring Cross Country Skier Magazine (XCS).
Under the terms of the purchase, all operations of XCS will move from Cable, Wisconsin, to Jeffersonville, Vermont. Current XCS Publisher and Editor Ron Bergin will stay on as an advertising sales representative and will continue to write for the magazine.
“This is a logical extension of who we are culturally,” says HOL president and CEO Adam Howard. “Vermont is such a hotbed for cross country. This feels really natural to us. Kind of like wearing Spandex.”
The addition of XCS is another step for HOL in achieving its three- to five-year plan of building a suite of niche, outdoor brands that complement one another and are aligned around fitness and getting after it in the mountains.
“We’ve spent years building our print, event and online publishing systems,” says Howard, adding that HOL will afford XCS a reach well beyond print and allow the brand to once again be the leading title in the category. “Cross country needs a little more cowbell, and Cross Country Skier is the logical choice to ring it.”
“I am very excited about the sale of Cross Country Skier to Height of Land,” Bergin says. “Height of Land has a solid track record of publishing attractive, high quality, outdoor action sports titles in very challenging markets and is an excellent fit to perpetuate the legacy of the brand.”
HOL plans to aggressively expand print circulation through marketing and promotions, including partnering with key events, resorts and lodges. Work on crosscountryskier.com, Facebook.com/xcskiermag, Twitter.com/xcskiermag and Instagram.com/xcskiermag will begin immediately.
Howard, himself an owner of a Tidd Tech and rarely-running Ski-Doo SWT, notes that nearly all of his colleagues at HOL are cross country skiers. “We’ve got former collegiate carnival racers, high school ski racers, light tourers, and, in John Dostal, a former senior editor at Cross Country Skier and author of [the seminal book] Cross Country Skiing,” he says.
The new staff is wrapping up testing of next year’s cross country equipment at Vermont’s Craftsbury Outdoor Center now. Results will be published in November’s XCS Gear Guide.
For XCS subscription inquiries please contact:
Holly Howard
Subscriptions Manager
holly@holpublications.com
(802) 644-6606 x200
For writing and photo submissions please contact:
Danny Kuzio
Associate Editor
danny@holpublications.com
(802) 644-6606 x212
For advertising opportunities please contact:
Justin Reyher
Publisher
Justin@holpublications.com
(802) 793-0368
To carry XCS in your shop please contact:
Michele Peoples
Circulation Director
Michele@holpublications.com
(802) 644-6606 x207
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