This place is like Monte Cristo

[telemarker]

"Agreed that climbing is far from the most important thing in the world....."

really?!  I didn't get that memo. 

 

[olyclimber]

I think marching up and down the square is just unpopular for some reason 

 

[JasonG]

35 minutes ago, telemarker said:

really?!  I didn't get that memo. 

Oh right, I'm mixing things up.  That was my pre-nup.

[Alex]

I like the newer forum software. It's made me check out cc.com a few times in recent weeks. 

Not much to chat about in the winter, as right now I just post some random ski pics on FB. If there is a real ski TR it generally goes on TAY. 

[OlympicMtnBoy]

I like all the people poking their heads in on this forum.

I've been casually lazy about posting TRs for several years, but I'll get something up eventually.  It does seem like there is a little more activity lately, hopefully the new system helps.  Our lack of an ice season doesn't help the winter TRs much either.

[Dannible]

I think social media has a lot to do with the decline of forums like this. It's a lot easier to click on an app, post a single photo with a little blurb, and call it good. Methods of sharing information changes quickly these days. Who knows how it'll all happen in 10 years? I also think that this board sparked a kind of golden age of Cascade climbing, and that that spark has kind of naturally fizzled out as people have pointed their lives in different directions. From what I see in my community, the current fads in climbing have shifted a little towards hard rock climbing at the crags, ski mountaineering, and bouldering. And what was wildly impressive in those disciplines 10 years ago has become a little more common and therefore less worth talking about publicly. There are still a lot of alpine first ascents waiting to be done, but many of them are hard, dangerous, and will be in the cold, icy season. To be honest, after a lot of close calls, that kind of climbing is less appealing to me than it once was.

I haven't posted in years, and only recently started checking in again every now and then since I've decided to prioritize mountains in my life again. I'll say that this forum definitely helped shape who I am. There's no question that I'd be living somewhere else, have different friends, and have an entirely different life trajectory if it weren't for the people I met, the things I learned, and the places I learned about from this site. As tends to happen, my jobs got in the way of my mountain adventures for the last few years. I took care of that though. Quit my winter job because I was finding myself behind a desk more and more, and am back to being a ski bum. Will I post more TRs? I don't know...

Edited February 3, 2018 by Dannible

[olyclimber]

Good to hear from you @Dannible  

I think the difference is this is really a community the includes both people and you, people you don't, and people you may eventually meet (in differentiating it from Facebook for example).  Thats for normal FB interaction.  Of course you can get that from a Facebook group, but as others have mentioned Facebook doesn't have a database/archive.  

As for whether one posts here or not (or on any other site on the Internet), I think it is a personal thing. Some people are very private and almost religiously personal about their outdoor experiences.  I can appreciate that.  They aren't out there so they can drum up content to share and collect "Internet Points" on the images and video they capture.   They are out there for the experience, and maybe leave the camera at home.  It is one way of seeing things.

On the flip side there are people that like to share...like to record their journey, like a journal but also share it online.   Those are the ones that this site lives on. Yes, there are a few annoying narcissists in the bunch, but you have to take them because for everyone of them, there are some people who just honestly want to share their passion and connect with other like minded people for beta (route conditions, approach info, idea for the next mission, etc).  That is what that site is about.  Sharing stoke and information.  How many times have you read a TR and just went nuts with the desire to get out into that country...and then made it happen?

So I hope you do continue to post TRs.  For everytime you log on here and read someone's TR and get stoked about getting out in the hills, there is another that fed off of your TR. But at the same time, you choose not to, thats fine too.   But I hope you do.  I think it was people like you that made the site great at its peak, who will connect with new registrations we are seeing pick up since the upgrade.   

[Jason4]

On 1/31/2018 at 9:35 AM, JasonG said:

That's fine @Bronco, but I think the board could also benefit from quick TRs that focus on conditions/access updates, similar to what you find on WTA for hikes.  I think once the TR database gets back up this will be even more helpful for people looking to see what is in good nick. 

Also, we're talking about having a sticky thread at the top of each TR forum for condition updates.  So either place would be great to throw up a few pics/comments when you come back from whatever.  I don't think you have to worry about being cutting edge, few of us are!

I watch for your posts on IG to find out current conditions.

I know I visit the site more in spring and summer when I'm thinking about what I want to climb or what I just climbed.  Last summer was a pretty bad one for me and climbing so I probably didn't post much if at all.

[mneagle]

Back in the early 2000’s, I was posting a lot because I was climbing a lot and wanted to inspire and inform others. I haven’t done much climbing over the last few years but what I have done I posted about. Coming back to cc.com now and seeing the dramatic fall in apparent traffic is a big bummer for me, as my impression is that it is due to a lack of enthusiasm from the next generation. Are the crags as empty as the forums?  I’ve heard millennial are buying less activity specific gear and pursuing less adventure. If so, hopefully it is only a temporary reaction from this generation not wanting to be like their parents and climbing/adventure will be revisited in the future. For those carrying the torch here, I salute you. 

 

Few things in life are better than a bivy on the North Ridge of Forbidden Peak. 

Edited February 6, 2018 by mneagle

[olyclimber]

@mneagle there is a silver lining! more solitude for us old codgers, if we can drag our rusty husks out...

[G-spotter]

On 1/30/2018 at 11:56 PM, JayB said:

 

As an aside I wonder if the hotel proprietors in Lillooet are also wondering what the hell happened. On the few trips that I took up there it seemed like there were a couple of dozens climbers in town every weekend, and everyone with a set of tools seemed to know all about it. I'm way out of that scene now since I hardly have the time to climb at all anymore, let alone take off for a full weekend - but the handful of folks I know who are still active have never heard of it and don't seem terribly interested in making the trip. Maybe it's still going off up there, 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lol

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1640108706242206/

[olyclimber]

There you have it.  Its Drool's fault, he's sold out to Zuckerbergs data collection engine. 

 

 

[G-spotter]

Way faster to just get peeps to share the shit they are already FB/IGing than to get them to email (old person technology already) it to a dedicated blog (your grandma probably blogs lol) or to register an avatar to post it on a bulletin board (we're talkin practically clay tablet level of stone age here)

[olyclimber]

Drool, you can just post from your Facebook or Google account.  Get with the program bruh.  But then you'd have to use your real Facebook account name, no avatar to hide behind anymore...see the sign in with a service option?:

  But not everyone has a Facebook or Google accounts.  I think it is awesome that we offer a choice here...if you don't want to sell your soul to Facebook or Google, you can just get a regular account here...and we aren't mining you like your bud Zuck.

 

  I think you are probably the one that is old and out of touch with the youth!    I mean I have a 16 year old son, they don't use Facebook...Snapchat is where its at, some even stopped using Instagram that much.  And chances are that is going to change again soon.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/08/facebook-is-facing-a-demographic-time-bomb

This is a specialized online community that provides a lot more  than any Facebook group can (at least at this point).  There are tons like it on the internet that are doing just fine, like NW Hikers or Turns all Year for example.  Yes this board has had a downturn,  but it is possible for it to survive and flourish again.

As for "way faster"...I don't buy that either. Way faster just because you're already logged in Facebook?  What happens to the post when you want to pull it up in year or two?  Oh, sorry.    Maybe Facebook will offer it up to you as  selective  "Memory" like they do at a time of their choosing...  

[JasonG]

Technology battle cage!!

[olyclimber]

[ivan]

does this mean i can climb forbidden on a saturday w/ no permit now?

[Hans Travis]

Alright y'all convinced a youngin climber to start spending less time on instagram and spend some sunday nights spraying onto this snake pit instead.  Only like 1200 more youngins to go to replace all the old farts that are long gone.

[Z-Man]

Some of us are long gone, but hoping to return some day...

cascadeclimbers was a big part of my life for many years. This site helped pave the way for great adventures and friendships for me. Happy its still here and would love to see it preserved for the history if nothing else.  

Is it like the pre cc.com years now? Finding partners with note cards tacked to climbing gym bulletin boards? 

[JasonG]

@Z-Man as @Hans Travis pointed out a lot of folks are using IG for beta and connecting with fellow climbers.  I was surprised to talk to a couple dudes this past summer hiking up to Eldorado armed with nothing more than IG beta (and sporting GoPros). 

"Ummmmmmm.....are we going the right way?"

The mountains are busier than ever, so climbing goes on with or without CC.com (hard as it is for me to fathom).

[olyclimber]

This place can do the job so much better than IG or Facebook, but obviously people have to use cc.com for it to work 

all we can do it try continue to try to make it better and better and build up some momentum.  we are seeing a significant uptick in registrations in a time where in the yearly cycle that usually dead, so things are looking up!  Quality TRs (even FA reports) continue to come in, so its not like this place is dead...it just has a slower pulse than it did. 

@Hans Travis  would love to hear from you as to what types of things you would find valuable and make you come back to this here snake pit.  We would like to make those things better so we can make a compelling to use the site and share info.  it isn't about really competing with social media, but being a "better mousetrap" for sharing conditions, stories, knowledge, selling gear, meeting climbing partners, and anything else you all find valuable. if we can make the site better in that regard, we are all ears.

@jon  is getting close to put in a feature that you'll all be very happy about. 

[Hans Travis]

@Z-Man @JasonG Mountain Project and Facebook groups seem to be where 90% of partner finding goes on besides people you know or hookups from people you know.  @olyclimber I only call it that because it certainly is more infamous for trolling and pointless name calling over ethics debates than any social media platform, but that's sort of the nature of forums.  I had browsed on here a few times before the new updates and everything seems so much smoother, so I'm sure that will bring at least a few people back.  The only problem I have so far is the new color, but I dislike orange more than most people so whatever 🙄

[olyclimber]

@Hans Travis  i feel you on the orange color....that was a @jon executive design call, and I've never had the energy to say anything because we have much more pressing deck chairs to rearrange on this ship  

[Jake_Gano]

Even in a world with Facebook and Instagram, mtnproject and (to a lesser extent) supertopo still have active forums.  Albeit with pretty low quality content.  I'm not sure why so many users jumped ship from CC.com, but I'm sure that there's more to in than the rise of social media.

[TrogdortheBurninator]

I wrote an extension in chrome that replaces real facebook names with cc.com avatars. It's like nothing has changed, except Alpinfox never posts anything.

Wish I could spend more time cascade-climbing so I could spend more time on cascadeclimbers.com.

Edited February 27, 2018 by TrogdortheBurninator