Fifty-one percent of the world's most active people have gone long enough without a magazine specifically tailored to meet their needs. That was the idea last fall when Mariah Media, Inc., parent company of Outside magazine, launched a new active lifestyle title called Women Outside, dubbed by its editors "Outside with estrogen chasers."

"With Women Outside, we hope to continue the tradition started 21 years ago when Outside first hit the stands, bringing people in closer touch with the world that begins just beyond the pavement," co-editors Susan Casey and Laura Hohnhold write. The duo hopes Women Outside will be a welcome extension of Outside and a publication men, too, could enjoy perusing.

Targeted to the young, affluent and educated female readers of Outside magazine, Women Outside began with an initial newsstand distribution of 225,000 copies in September. Premier issue advertisers included gear manufacturers like Nike and Patagonia and destinations such as Lake Tahoe.

"There is presently a void in the marketplace for this type of magazine, one we intend to fill successfully," publisher Scott Parmelee said. He added that Women Outside is the "natural progression" of Mariah's thriving publishing empire. With it's recent expansion into new media venues such as Outside television, radio and online, as well as book publishing, timing seemed perfect for a publication like Women Outside.

Women Outside offers the same brand of editorial content as Outside specialized for women. However, Casey and Hohnhold say the feminine angle won't go so far as covering typical beauty and fashion stories. Instead, Women Outside promises to be "a sharp, insightful magazine on the world outside written specifically with (women) in mind.

"Women Outside is the magazine our female readers and other active women have been waiting for. The one with attitude, intelligence, and wit. It is the must-have magazine for savvy and intrepid women everywhere," Casey said.