I guess a couple of major pros of having a web zine (is that the right jargon?) are that in theory you could create the perfect mag -
1. It could have something for everyone.
2. With the lack of pressure to produce a certain quantity every month, no need to use space fillers and boringly average articles. Hence, quality all the way.
On the downside, it really is a pain to read decent length articles on a computer screen, which is of course the reason for the web's evolution towards a much more visual format with largely bitesize text areas.
take this site for instance....it's only a small (though fairly active) forum, yet I reckon it reaches a far wider audience than any startup magazine could hope to
Well, I guess it all comes down to promotion - most probably you're right that a startup magazine for a niche market wouldn't have the finances. And ukbouldering certainly has a sizeable (and influential) cult following, though I'm sure you must have started out a lot smaller.
-Actually that raises an interesting question - how many members did you have in the first few months, and how many now? Just curious.
...But anyway, although there is a sizeable cult (and although I'm sure it will continue to grow and grow) I still think anything web-based is going to struggle to reach the same audience as tangible magazine. Odd though it may seem to us web-addicts, most people use the web for little more than emails.
Thing is, as you said, if there was a cool bouldering mag available you'd probably buy it. As, would most people on this site, I'd think. Which does suggest a reasonably large percentage of the bouldering community would be interested?
Perhaps one way would be to start off web-based then move into print later if possible. Lakesbloc for instance has a whole bunch of free topos, yet most people would still be happy to shell out for something they can hold. I guess the real trick with this would be to have writing, photos, whatever, that people would really value and want to own.
