soapbox time

[gapertimmy]

yesterday I was flipping through some old pictures on my computer, and I came across the pic from a trip up sahale arm that jon and i made back in 2000. it was on that very trip that we came up with the hairbrained idea of setting up this website.

 

I was green, a total newbie climber (not saying that i'm any good now), had taken the mounties beginer course so i could get up some mountains that for some reason i really wanted to climb. So with my minimal web site skills I decided to help Jon out with the project and well the rest is history.

 

Over the past 3 years we have watched this site grow beyond what we ever expected it to be, have made friends, drank beer, attempted to thrutch up climbs, spent money, spent time, and mostly had a good time with the dot com and the fun shit that has come along with it.

 

We don't make money off this, we don't get mad groupie love, we do it for fun. I personally have enjoyed learning more about web site programming, and I have become a better climber through the site, and the friends/partners I have met through it.

 

To me, the dot com is about fun. Whether its having fun spraying, sharing pictures and stories, sharing a beer, or giving a belay, the site and climbing should be about having a good time. I'm not a hard man, never will be. I'm a pussy and not a very good climber. I get out to enjoy the fresh air, see the mountains, have fun, and get back home safely to those I love.

 

So by now you might be wondering why the hell I am writing this.... Well I just got back from a month long hiatus ( i get laid off for a month each year by my work, pretty sweet stuff). During this break I got to go to yosemite, the olympics, and made my first trip to the enchantments. I climbed with my friends that i have met on this very site, and with my friend who I started this site with, it was a great time save my car being broken into at the snow creek trailhead. But today something has changed, and I'm really saddened and scared by it.

 

Over the past month we have recieved some very malicious emails to the climb@cascadeclimbers.com inbox. The messages have been rather blunt and have threatened our physical safety. To say the least, it is very disturbing, and not a comfortable situation to be in.

 

I never deny that this site is filled with spray, and we are constantly ridiculing others, but these messages are way over the line, way worse than any other I have ever recieved (and i have been belittled and bad mouthed all over the internet b/c of my actions on this website).

 

So, I'm confused, and a bit sad that the site has come to this juncture. A part of me wants to walk away. To me, its like i've gotten to a route that is way over my head (cough cough, 5.8 crack routes) and I'm not having fun climbing anymore. I'm really not sure what will come of this, but I felt the need to vent, and let the community that is cc.com know what i'm dealing with right now.

 

Perhaps it is time to step away from the site, perhaps the negativity produced here outweighs the good, i really dont' know. If i've ever unkowingly stepped on anyone's cybertoes, I apologize, but never thought things would come to this.

 

So my friends, and I guess some foes as well, that is what is happening. I was hoping to post a chestbeating TR of my month off, complete with picts of me trying to climb, hiking with my wife and friends, and enjoying this fantastic little place called earth, but instead i'm writing this.

 

Thanks for reading, i'm really not expecting any responses or solutions to my problem, but felt i needed to get it out.

 

Spray On guys and gals-

Timmy Crawford

[David_Parker]

Woah Tim, that sucks about those emails. Can you post the content annonymously? Do you know who sent them or have an "idea?" Anyway, perhaps I am long overdue in expressing my compliments to you and John. You guys do a great job and I'm sure it is thankless sometimes. So what happens to the web site if you step down. Is John going to keep it going? Will someone step up to help him. Or are we looking at the eventual death of cc.com? What if we took up some sort of collection to keep it going. I think often we don't know how much we miss something until it's gone. Hope we don't go there!

 

Cheers to you Tim and may you always have "freshies" under your skiis!

[Dru]

Adamson sent ME a death threat one time cause he thought some other bozo spraying on him on nwhikers.net or something was actually my avatar.

 

I'm in the Club now I guess even though just barely!!!

[Attitude]

The people on this site owe you a whole lot more than you owe them.

 

I've received a few death threats through this site as well. Pretty sad.

[Sphinx]

Timmay, despite the spray, most of us really enjoy this site. And it really sucks that you are getting malicious emails. While there is a lot of spray, bashing, and avatar-slandering here, there are also a lot of good TRs, photos, condition reports, etc, to be found. Can't you block the emails? Or figure out who they're from?

[lummox]

that are suck.

btw. it aint me.

[Dru]

muslim

bin Laden

anthrax

al Qaeda

Iraq

Afghanistan

Saudi Arabia

Indonesia

9/11

trask

jihad

etc!!!!!

[Bug]

Cheers dude.

Death threats are the product of a sick mind. Hopefully the mind in question will get some rest and mellow out.

[layton]

They don't have your real name, address, or phone # do they? If not, I wouldn't worry. If so, I'd call the police.

If worse comes to worse, maybe you could leave the site open for TRs and conditions and require $$. I haven't had any disposable income for a long time, so I haven't contributed financially yet, but I will when I get a real job. I hope you understand that this is a VITAL rescouse for the NW climbing community. You should contact business and organizations in the PNW that directly or indirectly benefit from your site and ask them for financial support.

I'd do something about the hatemail though. That's illegeal.

[layton]

One more thing,

Please post your TR! That's why we love this site.

[marylou]

...

[slothrop]

Yeah, if someone's sending you death threats (email or otherwise), that's a reason to call the cops. What are the idiots in question pissed off about in the first place?

 

PS - Thanks for cc.com. You guys do a great job.

[slothrop]

What good would shutting down the site for a week do?

[gapertimmy]

the site won't go away, even if jon and myself were to crash and burn or get eaten by my dogs, i'm sure someone else would pick up the db and the spray would live on.

 

the reason for my post was just to say how fucked up i think things are, i mean, this is an effin internet message board, peeps need to put things in perspective sometimes, and i myself am doing just that. just stepping back, looking at things from a distance and sorting it out in my head.

 

i think anyone on this site could easily find out where i live, my home phone number and possibly my credit history, when i lost my virginity (if i have it still for that matter ) and could dredge up my puppy porn fetish.... its not that that bothers me, I just am saddened that i'm just trying to help make somethign good happen here, and such suck can come out of it.

 

if anyone wants to chat bout it, you know how to get in touch

[JoshK]

Timmy, would you being willing to elaborate a little bit on *why* think anybody would be sending you a hate mail? Were specific reasons mentioned in the mail? It's just that I can't imagine why anybody would want to threaten you guys for anything involved with cc.com. Perhaps I am just niave.

 

It really sucks. As others have said, we owe you guys a lot more than you'd ever owe us and it's horrible to think a few dipshits could undermine something that is otherwise very useful for a lot of us.

[iain]

it's not like you're responsible for the actions of idiots on this board. that's just pathetic and sad

 

you haven't matched my multiple threats of violence received email quota due to this site yet though

[gapertimmy]

iain said:

it's not like you're responsible for the actions of idiots on this board. that's just pathetic and sad

 

you haven't matched my multiple threats of violence received email quota due to this site yet though

 

misery loves company huh!

 

indeed its just a case of mis-avatar identification that i believe started this all. some avatar thinking that admins are some other avatar, while this avatar called timmy was out staying the fuck away from avatarage in the avatarless backcountry

 

What Would Extremo Do?

[sk]

Tim,

 

Please don't let mean people get you down what you do here, what we all do here is a good thing. Sure there are issues personal and public that come up. but realy we are all here to talk about climbing and to connect with other people that climb. I have met some of the best people threw this site (icluding you and yours). I don't know what to tell you about people who threten violence. Just don't give in.

 

shell

[catbirdseat]

Timmy, first of all, we appreciate all you have done, though we probably don't thank you and Jon enough.

 

You gotta figure that among 3,000 (+/- avatars) there are some sickos out there. If a threat actually affects how you live your life, that's when it is time to call the cops. It is possible to catch and prosecute people who make e-mail threats. A guy was just arrested recently.

[iain]

gapertimmy said:

What Would Extremo Do?

LAS LENAS LOL!

Yeah people have a lot of hate welling up I guess. Fact is, you can't trust anything you read on the internet. They could be joking around, or you could be exchanging emails w/a psychopath.

[allthumbs]

sorry to hear this timmy

 

[jon]

This weekend I ran into three people from the site that I would have never met if it weren't for this place. Out if it came some fun climbing, getting really wasted, and bailing out someone who forgot a pretty crucial piece of gear. Don't worry this place ain't going anywhere.

 

If you have been surfing this site long enough you know who they are from, he has threated more people than I can count with both hands. The emails are directed at me not Tim. I honestly have done absolutely nothing do deserve this from this person, and he is now threatening to kick my ass or kill me. He claims I am some poster I am not. I post as jon, and sometimes Fido . Pretty fucking cool I tell you.

 

But I tell you what, this shit has been going on for three years and I'm fucking tired of it. This is probably the fifth incident now for myself, all of it without instigation. Come to Pub Club and kick my ass. Make yourself feel better and beat my face in. Kill me over an internet message board. I'll even cough up some blood for you.

 

You blabber all this military shit like how I am so ungrateful because I haven't served. Not everyone in the US can serve in the military. I'm the first male in my family not to go in the military motherfucker, but I know exactly what sacrifices have been made. Burying my grandfather in Arlington was the absolutely the saddest day of my life. My uncle was a Raven in Laos and lost half his friends from his unit and the Academy, he couldn't even look at the Wall when we visited it. One of my best friends is Iraq right now, I think about him and his wife every day. Fuck you don't tell me about being ungrateful. I've met a lot of military people but I've never met anyone who acts like you, so stop using it as an excuse.

 

I called my friend who is a police officer in the city I live in. I'm taking you to court. You stepped over the line and now you are going to pay!

[texplorer]

Timmy,

Maybe you should just post a few pics of the rabid guard snaffles you have in your yard. Thanks for this site which has sucked aways days . . no, weeks of my life. My life has been enriched from the people, stories, and debauchery this site has allowed me to interact with. Thanks-Tex

[j_b]

just terrible news. i'd talk to the cops about it. it should not be too difficult to find the sickos.

 

please post your tr.

[jkrueger]

There is no good without evil. CC.com is a catalyst for both.