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Welcome to Backcountry Talk, a new forum for BC skiers and riders. 
When I first began spreading the news about earning your turns in the backcountry it was via a crude newsletter that was Xeroxed and sent to about 50 people under the title “le Chronicle du Couloir.” A lot has changed since then, but not my interest in promoting this activity. I'm not the first, nor will I be the last person to recognize the value that comes from exploring our world on a pair of skis.
Since that crude newsletter the magic of the internet has crashed upon the world and made it possible for like minded people to share their experiences and pose questions among their brethren. In time I hope you will make yourself welcome, register, pose a question, review some gear, tell us where you been or where you're going.
Assuming enough of you are game to join this forum, I'll say right up front this is intended to be an outlet for the community. As such, it will not be run as a one man show, but as a collective effort from active members. If you're so inclined to help out drop me a PM.
There are a lot of things I'm hopeful can be implemented here that have not, to my knowledge, been done on a community forum, at least, not for one specifically aimed at backcountry skiers and their kind. A forum IS the perfect vehicle for things like reviews where a lot of people can chime in and add their two cents worth, share trip reports, ask questions to the larger community, pass on information, even make new friends. That's all been done before, but frankly, I don't think it has always been implemented very well. I may be wrong, but I'm confident that vBulletin, the engine behind this forum, has the hooks and with a bit of programming savvy, it can be made to do some of those things better than I, and maybe you, ever experienced before.
My first experience with the power of forums was Telemarktips.com. As of this moment, that site and its forum appear to be history. Part of the reason is that the web has matured and the concept of pulling people together from all over the globe to share their stuff has kicked into overdrive with social media sites like Facebook etcetera. Those are great for the general public, but do not lend themselves as well to a specialized group. Forums still can, IF the people behind them are willing to invest in creative ways to serve the community they are for. That's the goal. It's a pretty plain jane forum now, but I hope you'll join in and add your voice to make it work.
When I first began spreading the news about earning your turns in the backcountry it was via a crude newsletter that was Xeroxed and sent to about 50 people under the title “le Chronicle du Couloir.” A lot has changed since then, but not my interest in promoting this activity. I'm not the first, nor will I be the last person to recognize the value that comes from exploring our world on a pair of skis.
Since that crude newsletter the magic of the internet has crashed upon the world and made it possible for like minded people to share their experiences and pose questions among their brethren. In time I hope you will make yourself welcome, register, pose a question, review some gear, tell us where you been or where you're going.
Assuming enough of you are game to join this forum, I'll say right up front this is intended to be an outlet for the community. As such, it will not be run as a one man show, but as a collective effort from active members. If you're so inclined to help out drop me a PM.
There are a lot of things I'm hopeful can be implemented here that have not, to my knowledge, been done on a community forum, at least, not for one specifically aimed at backcountry skiers and their kind. A forum IS the perfect vehicle for things like reviews where a lot of people can chime in and add their two cents worth, share trip reports, ask questions to the larger community, pass on information, even make new friends. That's all been done before, but frankly, I don't think it has always been implemented very well. I may be wrong, but I'm confident that vBulletin, the engine behind this forum, has the hooks and with a bit of programming savvy, it can be made to do some of those things better than I, and maybe you, ever experienced before.
My first experience with the power of forums was Telemarktips.com. As of this moment, that site and its forum appear to be history. Part of the reason is that the web has matured and the concept of pulling people together from all over the globe to share their stuff has kicked into overdrive with social media sites like Facebook etcetera. Those are great for the general public, but do not lend themselves as well to a specialized group. Forums still can, IF the people behind them are willing to invest in creative ways to serve the community they are for. That's the goal. It's a pretty plain jane forum now, but I hope you'll join in and add your voice to make it work.
With that caveat, as far as I can tell there is nothing preventing the use of Avatars. I'm pretty certain that is an individual choice, so double check the options in your profile. In the meantime, I'll keep looking to see if there is a hidden checkbox preventing it.
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