PRESS RELEASE Dark Summer: The History

Dark Summer magazine is a new freeride ski magazine in the UK. It is just finishing up its first season of existence and is preparing to hit the market hard for its second season. For those of you who have not heard about it, we thought we would give you a little background. Dark Summer was the brainchild of Zack Wragg, long-time skibum and sponsored skier, and Daniel Crawford, avid snowsports fan and graphic designer. “This journey started for me because it had got to the point where I didn’t actually want to pick up any of the current UK ski magazines any more,� Zack said. “They didn’t seem to provide what I was looking for, which was more of a core culture of the sport. I spoke to Danny about the idea and it turned out he was thinking exactly the same thing. It was as if it was meant to be.� And so Dark Summer was born in May 2003, but there was a lot of work to do to make the idea into a reality. “I can honestly say that I didn’t expect it to be as much work as it was,� Zack reminisced. However, with a lot of work and help from friends in the industry, they managed to get their first sample issue out in November 2003. This sample issue was only 32 pages long, but it created a storm when it hit the market. It was released at the Daily Mail Ski and Snowboard Show in London and by the end of the show everyone was walking around with a copy. The response was amazing, and so much more than Zack and Danny expected. “We were getting emails from all over the world asking about it. The Armada team sent us over a signed poster wishing us luck and JP and Julian doodled on the cover of one of the mags for us too. It was quite scary that it got such a response so quickly, but quite nice at the same time.� So the sample issue was out, what was next for the boys? “After the initial response to the first issue we were ready to run out and do another issue as quickly as we could, but we decided to stick to our plan and work on setting the ground work for the magazine. There was still lots to do and lots relationship to develop with various companies to ensure that the magazine could support itself. That way we can let rip with 4 absolutely excellent issues next season.� The plan for next season is to put out four issues of Dark Summer, with the first one hitting the shelves in the middle of September. One great bit of news that the Dark Summer crew have is that the magazine is going to be totally free. No need for you to part with your cash for a quality ski magazine. To make it nice and easy for your to get hold of copies of Dark Summer, there will be copies in all the UK ski and snowboard stores, as well as the artificial ski slopes. That way you will always be close to a copy. If you fancy subscribing to Dark Summer you will be able to sign up on their website at http://www.darksummer.co.uk, which should go live in about a weeks time. Also, if you want to get in touch with the guys you can email them at info@darksummer.co.uk.