About Alpin

Alpin

Alpin is a monthly German mountain-sports magazine published in Nuremberg by the Olympia-Verlag. First issued in 1963, it is one of the long-established titles of the German outdoor press, addressing mountain hikers, climbers, ski tourers and alpine enthusiasts with reports, tours, equipment tests and service journalism. The magazine's editors-in-chief are Andreas Erkens and Holger Rupprecht, and its official website is alpin.de. It carries the ISSN 0177-3542. Its sold circulation stood at 12,220 copies in the first quarter of 2026 (IVW).

Overview

Alpin appears twelve times a year and is sold at newsstands, in outdoor shops and by subscription throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It is part of the Olympia-Verlag's portfolio — the Nuremberg publishing house founded on 1 November 1946 and wholly owned by the Verlag Nürnberger Presse, whose flagship is the football magazine Kicker. The magazine's six-decade run makes it one of the most enduring voices in European outdoor publishing.

The magazine addresses the broad community of mountain sports enthusiasts: hikers, mountaineers, climbers, ski tourers, mountain bikers and trail runners. Its editorial formula combines tour inspiration with practical service: detailed tour descriptions with maps and route information, equipment tests, training advice, destination features and reports from the mountain world. The tone is enthusiastic and expert, aimed at readers who spend their free time in the Alps and other mountain ranges. Each issue balances the dream of the great mountain adventure with the practical guidance needed to realise it safely.

History

Alpin was first published in 1963, in the decade when mountain tourism was opening to a mass public. The post-war economic miracle had given West Germans the income and the leisure to discover the Alps, and a new generation of mountain enthusiasts needed a magazine that spoke to their ambitions. Alpin filled that gap, documenting the democratisation of mountaineering from an elite pursuit to a popular sport.

Through the following decades, the magazine chronicled the evolution of mountain sports: the rise of sport climbing, the development of modern outdoor equipment, the growth of ski touring, the emergence of mountain biking and trail running, and the increasing professionalisation of mountain guiding and alpine safety. The magazine adapted its content to each wave while retaining its core identity as the journal of the German-speaking mountain community. Where the 1960s reader sought basic route guidance, today's reader expects GPS data, video documentation and expert safety analysis — and Alpin has grown with these expectations.

The Olympia-Verlag behind the magazine was founded on 1 November 1946, in the immediate post-war period, and has grown into one of Germany's leading sports publishers. Its flagship Kicker, the country's leading football magazine, gives the publishing house a sporting identity that extends naturally to the mountain sports covered by Alpin. The Nuremberg publishing house is wholly owned by the Verlag Nürnberger Presse, anchoring it in one of Germany's established regional media groups while operating nationally in the sports segment.

Content and Programming

Alpin's content is organised around the mountain year. Tour features present hiking, climbing, ski-touring and mountain-bike routes in the Alps and beyond, with detailed descriptions, topographic information, difficulty ratings and practical logistics — the magazine's tour journalism is among its most valued assets, used by readers to plan their own expeditions.

Equipment tests assess boots, clothing, backpacks, climbing gear and ski-touring equipment for real-world performance, giving readers independent guidance in a market crowded with technical claims. Training features cover fitness, technique and preparation for mountain objectives, while safety articles address avalanche awareness, weather assessment and rescue procedures — topics of life-and-death importance in the mountains.

Destination features introduce mountain regions in the Alps and worldwide, from classic areas to emerging destinations, while reports and interviews bring readers the stories of alpinists, guides, mountain rescuers and the people who live and work in the mountains. Environmental topics — the impact of tourism on mountain ecosystems, climate change in the Alps — receive regular attention. The magazine's hut features present the Alpine clubs' mountain huts as bases for tours, while its people stories celebrate the characters of the mountain world, from hut keepers to rescue pilots.

Coverage and Audience

Alpin is distributed throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland, sold at newsstands, in outdoor retailers and by subscription. Its sold circulation of 12,220 copies (IVW Q1/2026) reaches a readership of active mountain sports enthusiasts, predominantly male, educated and with above-average income — the demographic that spends substantially on outdoor equipment, travel and guiding. The magazine's readers are not casual tourists but committed mountain athletes who plan their holidays around peaks, invest in high-end equipment and follow the mountain sports scene with the dedication of fans.

For advertisers in the outdoor, sports, automotive, travel and tourism sectors, Alpin offers access to a precisely defined, high-value audience. The magazine's readers are characterised by deep engagement with their sport and high spending on equipment and mountain travel, making them an attractive target group for premium brands. Tourism destinations in the Alps — from Tyrol to South Tyrol, from Bavaria to Switzerland — value the magazine as a channel to reach the German-speaking mountain community.

Ownership

Alpin is published by the Olympia-Verlag GmbH in Nuremberg, Bavaria. The Olympia-Verlag was founded on 1 November 1946 and is wholly owned by the Verlag Nürnberger Presse. Its flagship publication is Kicker, Germany's leading football magazine, and its portfolio extends across sports publishing. The publishing house's Nuremberg base places it at the heart of Franconia, within easy reach of the Alps that its mountain magazine covers — a geographical proximity that shapes the title's editorial identity.

The magazine's editors-in-chief Andreas Erkens and Holger Rupprecht lead the editorial team, continuing the title's six-decade tradition of mountain journalism. Their dual leadership reflects the breadth of the modern mountain-sports portfolio, from classic alpinism to the newer disciplines of trail running and mountain biking.

Digital Presence

The magazine's official website at alpin.de serves as its digital home, presenting current issues, mountain news, tour features and service content between monthly issues. The site extends the magazine's tour journalism to the web, with route descriptions, photo galleries and practical information available to mountain enthusiasts on demand. Tour databases, weather links and community features make the portal a planning tool for mountain athletes, complementing the inspiration of the print issue with the practicality of the web.

Alpin is present on social media, where it shares mountain photography, tour inspiration and issue highlights with the outdoor community. Digital editions of the magazine are available for screen reading. The publisher's online shop offers subscriptions and back issues. While the monthly print issue remains the title's core — its tour features and photography are designed for the printed page — the digital channels extend its reach and provide timely coverage of conditions, seasons and events in the mountain world. In an era when mountain athletes plan tours on smartphones, Alpin's combination of print authority and digital practicality keeps it relevant to new generations of mountain enthusiasts.

The website field in this profile reflects the title's official online home. First issued in 1963 and still published monthly from Nuremberg by the Olympia-Verlag, Alpin has accompanied German-speaking mountain sports through more than six decades — from the post-war democratisation of alpinism to today's diverse world of climbing, ski touring, trail running and mountain biking, always with the Alps at its heart.