Is Aspen big enough for seven high−end magazines?

With two daily newspapers, a growing list of more than six radio stations, multiple local television channels and four high−end glossy magazines, Aspen AC/,! " with little more than 6,000 year−round residents AC/,! " is certainly one of the nation's most saturated media markets. And this winter the highly competitive market might be even fiercer when three new Aspen−based magazines join Aspen Sojourner, Aspen Peak, Aspen Philanthropist and Aspen magazine.

Swedish media group Bonnier has already launched its first issue of Snow, a lifestyle magazine with the tag line "life, lifts, luxury."

Edible Aspen, part of the 30−plus magazine chain Edible Communities Publications, plans to release its first issue aimed toward culinary aficionados and oenophiles later this month.

And MountainTime, a magazine dedicated to arts, culture, travel, architecture and dining in mountain towns throughout the Rocky Mountain region, will debut in mid−December.

But with nearly one magazine for every thousand residents, the big question is whether or not Aspen is large enough to support them all.

"I think there is an important distinction between the magazines that are about Aspen and the magazines that happen to be based in Aspen," says Aspen Sojourner Managing Editor Michael Miracle. "And that distinction determines how the magazines will be directly competing against one another. What we try to do at Sojourner is to reflect the reality of Aspen without trading on the stereotypes of the town."

The heads at both MountainTime and Snow acknowledge that their magazines have a bent that reaches far beyond Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley. Snow's three winter issues will be distributed in first−class lounges in airports and VIP events from New York City to Los Angeles to Canada, with the aim of reaching skiers while they vacation in high−end ski resorts.

"With our content, we're trying to make sure that we have good representation all over the skiing nation, whether that's in Europe or the Americas," says Snow Publisher Barbara Sanders. "And while we're not focusing on Aspen, this is a market that's hard to ignore."

Sanders adds that because of Snow's more global focus, she doesn't really view the magazine as being in competition with others already in Aspen.

"I don't really see us being in contention with Aspen Sojourner, Aspen Peak or Aspen magazine," she says. "We won't even come close to providing the type of in−depth, local content that it would take to go head to head with them. If you're in Aspen and want to know exactly what's going on, you should read those because you're not going to get that from us. But you kind of need us both, because we're going to tell you what to wear as well as give you information for other trips."

MountainTime has both a unique publishing schedule and distribution method that Editor Philip Armour says distinguishes it from all the rest. The magazine will come out biweekly and will be inserted into the newspapers of 18 ski towns across the region, including Mammoth, Calif., several papers in the Lake Tahoe area, Jackson, Wyo., Big Sky, Mont., Park City, Utah, Aspen, Vail and a host of others. It will focus on food, wine, travel, and architecture, as well as profiles of interesting, high−profile locals in each of the towns.

MountainTime's distribution technique also ensures that the magazine will have a circulation of nearly 200,000 from day one, a business model that Armour says was the reason he signed on to the project.

"It's a brand new business model if you really look at it," he says. "It's smart because it really decreases the overhead for a startup, and brings our distribution costs down to zero."

But while each of the magazines profess to have a mission and target audience that is quite different from the rest, each acknowledges that its advertisers largely consist of high−end retail stores, local businesses and art galleries, as well as national products like top−shelf liquors, jewelry and cars. The competition for advertising dollars would seemingly create a situation whereby the introduction of three new magazines into such a tiny market would stretch budgets for all parties involved. However, none of the magazines see this as the case. Each magazine believes that the focus of its product AC/,! " be it regional or national ski and mountain town culture, top−notch, locally focused editorial, philanthropic and nonprofit causes, the culinary world or the luxury lifestyle AC/,! " and the sheer abundance of advertisers can allow each to thrive.

Aspen Sojourner Publisher Nancy Mayer says that even if the new magazines entering the market did begin to threaten her business, it's not something she can worry about.

"Everyone says that competition is good, and it is," Mayer says. "It makes us more responsible. Our response is to continue to move straight forward with the great work that we do. We can't get sidetracked trying to worry about what other people might come in and do. All we can do is stay true to our advertisers and stay true to our readers."

Chris Nolan, editor of Aspen Philanthropist, agrees, adding that the uniqueness of her product means that the magazine won't be too threatened by newcomers in the market.

"While we do have some of the same advertisers you see in other lifestyle magazines, we don't consider ourselves a lifestyle magazine," she says. "We don't think that our advertisers have to make a choice. Our advertisers are looking to support something with meaning, which means they don't have to make a choice between them and us. They can do both."

Ultimately, the fact that several new publications can launch at all speaks to the pervasiveness of not only the Aspen name, but the Aspen lifestyle. The success of any of these media outlets thus depends not just on how well one can use the name and location of this tiny mountain town, but how well each can find its own niche.

"I think what this situation reflects on more than anything is what a known brand Aspen is," says Sojourner's Miracle. "I mean there are people abroad who have heard of Aspen but who haven't heard of Oregon. And a lot of people are looking to leverage that brand."

Goldie Hawn lands on the cover of Aspen Peak magazine this month. She and her family visit their 75-acre ranch in Old Snowmass during the winter holidays and again in the summer.

She loves it, she loves Piñons restaurant and the Cantina, and she loves the Hawn Foundation, which teaches kids how to kick back, Goldie Style. "That's a very large undertaking," Hawn says. “Partnering with schools, creating curricula for kids, teaching them how to calm themselves, manage their stress and apply mindfulness practices into different strategies like tolerance, perseverance, patience. It will help give these kids what I call a 'toolbox for life.'"