Presumed dead for nearly two decades,
the Mountain Gazette, the rough-cut and
barbed-tongued journal of 1970s mountain culture, has been exhumed,
resuscitated and, according to its editors, “printed on paper so
damned biodegradable … that you can pour milk on it and eat
it.”
Among its glossy newsstand rivals, the
resurrected Gazette looms like a cornice both physically and in raw
literary potential. But despite its oversized format and renegade
bravado, the Gazette is anything but elitist or
heavy-handed. Editors Curtis Robinson and M. John Fayhee “promise
never to walk down the path of self-righteousness … (nor) let too
many good facts get in the way of a decent
yarn.”
Contributors include a diverse tribe of
mountain folk. Their writings range from Ed Abbey-esque ramblings
(the Gazette is dedicated to Abbey, a frequent contributor of the
original journal) to tales of ski-town misadventures. The
obituaries offer homage to the passing of the Silver Plume Bar,
environmentalist Dave Brower and adventurer Bill Danford. Poems
with eclectic titles like Trophy Homes, The Secret to
Staying Here and Above 10,000 Feet
reflect the politics, impermanence and romance of contemporary
mountain culture.
The first edition is free, but
from here on out, a copy will set you back $3 – the cost of a
Flying Dog Beer at the journal’s default editorial headquarters,
Colorado’s Woody Creek Tavern.
Contact Mountain
Gazette Publishing, P.O. Box 8087, Breckenridge, CO 80424
(970/453-4427) www.mountaingazette.com.
Copyright 2001 HCN and JT Thomas
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Out of the grave.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
