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First, a little background on the genesis of this forum.
There is no question the inspiration for this forum is Mitch Weber's world famous TelemarkTips and its associated TelemarkTalk forum. As I mentioned in my obituary of the site, Mitch showed all of us what the power of the web could be in terms of bringing like-minded individuals together in a virtual room to share stories, questions, photos and videos. He was way ahead of me in terms of realizing what could and would be done.
He also knew how to be abrasive, and loved to stir the pot of controversy. My first reaction was to think what a jerk he was, that is, until I actually met him and we went skiing together. That's when I realized we were both backcountry skiers, telemark skiers in particular, and kindred spirits, yet competitors.
Being a competitor can get in the way of a friendship, but it doesn't have to. I like to think we easily got past that. One of the things that is great about Mitch is his blunt honesty. This is what set the tone for telemarktips to be so refreshing. In print sometimes that honesty can sound a bit harsh. As the ttips forum showed though, if people were willing to explain themselves, that honesty usually had a good result.
One of the things I disagreed with Mitch on, but in time grew to admire and respect, was how well he managed to moderate things without being too restrictive. I still think he was a bit too permissive, but his hands off approach allowed the flames of passion to fuel threads and conversations that prudes (like me) would have killed at birth. In the long run this allowed ideas to be floated that never would have seen the light of day AND over time the community itself learned how to moderate or temper those who were offensive.
That will be the goal here, to apply a light touch of moderation.
I don't know all the reasons why telemarktips was abandoned. I have my own speculations, but those will remain private. What was evident over the last year was that, for whatever reason, the wheels were falling off telemarktips and the ship was going down.
During the last six months I had conversations with a few of the regulars at TTIPS about starting my own forum in association with EarnYourTurns.com. I was reluctant for several reasons but decided to go ahead anyway. My prime motivation was and is to create an easier way for people to join in the broader conversation about what is going on in the world of backcountry skiing. In my mind the pieces were already there with EarnYourTurns.com. Based on results though, that wasn't true. There remain folks who like the forum atmosphere. It makes it easy for just about anyone to join and say whatever they want. Unlike Farcebook it is easier to anonymous. This can be good and bad. It can make it easier to say things that you might not have the courage to say as yourself. This is a double-edged sword. With good moderation, the pluses outweigh the negatives.
Will this forum be different? Of course, but hopefully the community atmosphere and passion can be repeated, after all, I've rarely met backcountry skiers I can't share the trail with.
Goals
One of my primary goals is to provide a more organized collection of trip reports and to make it easier to upload images. The latter will take some time (hint: and programming help), the former just a bit of administration to make sure reports are 'filed' appropriately.
In either case, I want to extend an invitation to Mitch right up front to join this community and return to providing your insight, humor and light touch in participating here. I'm sure your first reaction will be a prideful "No Way!" I hope you'll let that pass. We have skied together and enjoyed it. We even talked about working together once upon a time. That never transpired and my guess is you weren't willing to give up the reigns of control. Trust me, I know how that feels. I can also tell you it is liberating to not have to deal with all the backend work, or the ultimate responsibility of a website and generating revenue or content. So as a friend I hope you will accept this offer in the right spirit and if you decide that TTIPS can't or won't be resurrected you are not only welcome here, you have a special invitation to join.
There is no question the inspiration for this forum is Mitch Weber's world famous TelemarkTips and its associated TelemarkTalk forum. As I mentioned in my obituary of the site, Mitch showed all of us what the power of the web could be in terms of bringing like-minded individuals together in a virtual room to share stories, questions, photos and videos. He was way ahead of me in terms of realizing what could and would be done.
He also knew how to be abrasive, and loved to stir the pot of controversy. My first reaction was to think what a jerk he was, that is, until I actually met him and we went skiing together. That's when I realized we were both backcountry skiers, telemark skiers in particular, and kindred spirits, yet competitors.
Being a competitor can get in the way of a friendship, but it doesn't have to. I like to think we easily got past that. One of the things that is great about Mitch is his blunt honesty. This is what set the tone for telemarktips to be so refreshing. In print sometimes that honesty can sound a bit harsh. As the ttips forum showed though, if people were willing to explain themselves, that honesty usually had a good result.
One of the things I disagreed with Mitch on, but in time grew to admire and respect, was how well he managed to moderate things without being too restrictive. I still think he was a bit too permissive, but his hands off approach allowed the flames of passion to fuel threads and conversations that prudes (like me) would have killed at birth. In the long run this allowed ideas to be floated that never would have seen the light of day AND over time the community itself learned how to moderate or temper those who were offensive.
That will be the goal here, to apply a light touch of moderation.
I don't know all the reasons why telemarktips was abandoned. I have my own speculations, but those will remain private. What was evident over the last year was that, for whatever reason, the wheels were falling off telemarktips and the ship was going down.
During the last six months I had conversations with a few of the regulars at TTIPS about starting my own forum in association with EarnYourTurns.com. I was reluctant for several reasons but decided to go ahead anyway. My prime motivation was and is to create an easier way for people to join in the broader conversation about what is going on in the world of backcountry skiing. In my mind the pieces were already there with EarnYourTurns.com. Based on results though, that wasn't true. There remain folks who like the forum atmosphere. It makes it easy for just about anyone to join and say whatever they want. Unlike Farcebook it is easier to anonymous. This can be good and bad. It can make it easier to say things that you might not have the courage to say as yourself. This is a double-edged sword. With good moderation, the pluses outweigh the negatives.
Will this forum be different? Of course, but hopefully the community atmosphere and passion can be repeated, after all, I've rarely met backcountry skiers I can't share the trail with.
Goals
One of my primary goals is to provide a more organized collection of trip reports and to make it easier to upload images. The latter will take some time (hint: and programming help), the former just a bit of administration to make sure reports are 'filed' appropriately.
In either case, I want to extend an invitation to Mitch right up front to join this community and return to providing your insight, humor and light touch in participating here. I'm sure your first reaction will be a prideful "No Way!" I hope you'll let that pass. We have skied together and enjoyed it. We even talked about working together once upon a time. That never transpired and my guess is you weren't willing to give up the reigns of control. Trust me, I know how that feels. I can also tell you it is liberating to not have to deal with all the backend work, or the ultimate responsibility of a website and generating revenue or content. So as a friend I hope you will accept this offer in the right spirit and if you decide that TTIPS can't or won't be resurrected you are not only welcome here, you have a special invitation to join.
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