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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 7, 2017 - 04:38pm PT
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When the internet was in its infancy, a guy started www.jumptheshark.com.
This website spoke of long-running TV series - in particular Happy Days with Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham and Henry Winkler as Fonzie - popular even iconic places that had outlasted their time.
"Jumping the shark" referred to an episode whereby the writers had used up all their ideas, and out of apparent desperation they resorted to having Fonzie jumping over a shark on waterskis. Unbelievably lame, yet true. Remember, this show was supposed to be about teens in the 1950s. After a dozen seasons, these "teens" were well into their 30's, and The Beatles were nowhere to be seen.
So "jumping the shark" refers to something long in the tooth, that was once "the place to be" but now limps along.
Has Supertopo "jumped the shark"?
Supertopo seems lame these days - sad but true.
1) Anyone got stats on the number of hits this forum receives now, compared to the past?
2) Anyone else like me find precious little climbing content here?
3) Anyone else like me visit rarely, and when you do visit, are disappointed?
4) Anyone else find this place populated by a bunch of old-fart hasbeens, who don't climb anymore, but have annoying and irrelevant opinions on everything? And find the real climbers absent, except for a few notable exceptsions? [God bless you Vitaliy for putting up with us dinosaurs]
5) Anyone else dream of finding a great climbing post here, but departs disappointed frequently? [I am rethinking my position regarding Patrick/Avery, for instance, as I have really loved his Mt. Alberta N. Face thread].
6) There is no sixth thing
I've been asking Chris Mac for years to separate this place into two sections - climbing stuff and non-climbing stuff - but it remains the same as ever, full of annoying political posts and so on.
Don't give me the horsesh|t that this is a climbers' forum and not a climbing forum, either.
I'm bored. Unhappy. I want to learn stuff, and share stuff. Maybe I should write a book?
Is it time to move on to another place? What are the alternatives? Do I need to "get a life"? Do I need to go climb some rocks? Is the virtual campfire a thing of the past? Am I missing out on something Better in Life? Am I LAME?? I like to think of myself as " bitchin' " but am I really just a relic?
Please help me denizens of Supertopo! Should we try to make this place great again, like a Merrica? Or should we pack up our pigs and go home?
Let's hear your thoughts. Are you an active climber? A hasbeen? A neverbeen? A punter like me? A Big Wall Gumby like me? Or maybe you are a Real Live Hardman? You might even be a woman ... there are actually one or two left here, heavens knows why all the others left?
Yours in disappointment,
PtPP
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Tom Patterson
Trad climber
Seattle
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PtPP - I'm the hardest of the hardmen out there. There's no one on this forum that climbs at the level I do, and in fact, 5.16 is only imagined...because of me.
Sorry...channeling my inner "Trump--the Climber"...
I don't know about stats, etc., but I do know that--like Las Vegas--every so often, the bells go off, the lights start flashing wildly, because someone begins a thread that can only be found here. It keeps me coming back, and I always find some amazing gems here. I think it's worth wading through the crap for them.
Also...maybe you should write a book. You've got a buttload of El Cap routes under your swami, and I, for one, would enjoy a narrative of your experiences through the years.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Anyone else find this place populated by a bunch of old-fart hasbeens, who don't climb anymore, but have annoying and irrelevant opinions on everything?
Watch your tongue, Junior!
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Pass The Piton Phonz...
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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And then there is the phylogenetic scale of beens from top to bottom...
Beens
Hasbeens
Wannabeens
Neverbeens
The bottom two can never reach the exalted state of hasbeens
Two hasbeens...Jay Smith and I are off to carry loads into San Lorenzo....thats in Patagonia for you neverbeens.
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 7, 2017 - 05:13pm PT
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Aren't you eating frijoles right now, Jim?
LOCKER!! Laughing my ass off!!!!!1111
Yeah, who wants to hear from guys like John Ph*cking Gill and Jim Ph*cking Donini??? ;)
Show us a trick, John. Something current and gymnastic! A live selfie standing on your head or something. [be careful]
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SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, A sailboat, or some time zone
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How'd you meet Anita?
Susan
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 7, 2017 - 05:15pm PT
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^^ Now THAT is a story, which you probably know...
So there I was, hanging out at McTopo, and this snarky email arrives in my inbox. I'm thinking, "This has to be Klaus, trolling me...."
But no, it appears to come from a legit person, Anita514. So I look up Anita on Facebook. How many Anitas from Montreal can there be? And I see this smokin' hot hottie with this Anita Look, taken from favourable camera angles, climbing all sorts of rocks.
And I'm like, Dang. I rather like the look of that girl. Most assuredly "my type". I would really like to get to know this Anita with the snarky email. So I "friend" her on Facebook, and she accepts. I peruse her profile, and I see ... [uh-oh] "In a relationship with Luc Monodoigt."
Qu'est-ce que tu le f*ck?
Now how can I compete with Luc Monodoigt? 'e is, 'ow you say? Ze great Franche climb-eur. 'e makes wit' da one-fingeur pullups on de monodoigt pockets, non? 'e is jeun, 'e is 'andsome, and all dat merde.
So I dismiss Anita as "out of my league", "too hot to handle" etc.
But I keep coming back to her profile, again and again .... You know, just because.
And then one day, lo and behold - a true life big wall miracle - her profile status reads, "Relationship status: single."
Single? SINGLE!!!!
So I go, "type type type type"....
And da rest is, 'ow you say? 'eestory, non?
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Avery
climber
New Zealand
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What do you mean "rethink"?
My Alberta thread is back up and running.
I don't climb anymore (haven't for years) but I do try to put climbing content ahead of other things.
(PS: I'm not sure I should be posting this Pete. After-all it's not March/April yet. That's the time you said I'd be welcome to say hello)
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jonnyrig
climber
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1. Forum
2. Trip Reports
6. Really easily offended people. They're everywhere. Between them and the trolls, it's hard to keep a good thing going.
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
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In 2003 the front page stayed the same for a few days total ghost town
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Dickly
Social climber
KY
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No way this forum rocks, I lurk here all the time waiting for the next lesson from the Bearbreeder, GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
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anita514
Gym climber
Great White North
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zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
(I can't believe Reilly hasn't posted yet)
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perswig
climber
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I may be wrong, but I think Susan's point may have been missed.
Dale
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10b4me
Mountain climber
Retired
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I may be wrong, but I think Susan's point may have been missed.
Lol
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Edge
Trad climber
Betwixt and Between Nederland & Boulder, CO
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Did the Happy Days shark jumping episode come before or after the episode where Fonzie battled an alien to pave way for the Robin Williams spin off?
Cuz you might have to ask if the Taco is "mind fvkking the Mork" instead.
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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It seems like traffic has slowed down a bit in the last couple years.
I think a forum is what you make it and what you might expect to get out of it. I typically don't talk much about the climbing I've done though it's safe to say at least a third of the big wall aid and free routes in Arizona have my name attached as a tiny footnote (established 2002-2014). It's a personal thing for me, having had some rather nasty experiences in the past with climbers as a result of sharing. Plus most of those places I want to remain wild and maintain an aura of mystery.
Almost three years ago I watched a very close partner break his neck rope soloing which entailed a lengthy and complicated rescue, he recovered and has moved far out of state. Four months later my other closest adventure partner took his own life. Still get out climbing a bit here and there, mostly new crag routes.
PTPP you seem to enjoy sharing your climbing adventures on the Big Stone. I may have missed the TR, but if not it would be awesome to hear about that huge storm on El Cap last Fall.
Best,
Albert
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Crazy Bat
Sport climber
Birmingham, AL & Seweanee, TN
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I remember a cool thread about some dork being stuck and unable to find the route. It had fallen off. LOL
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pud
climber
Sportbikeville & Yucca brevifolia
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Anyone else like me find precious little climbing content here?
You mean like this thread?
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Peater
Trad climber
Salt Lake City Ut.
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I'm 60 and haven't been on ST all that long. But:
I really enjoy the old stories.
I love to hear what ex or not ex climbers are doing now. (building houses or trailers, gardens, growing food, etc)
The topics of interest that we gravitate to after we can't pull 5.??. I love to hear about their lives.
I love that no one corrects your spelling or grammar.
Trolls tend to see this place as a waste land.
Every one seems to know one another and get along.
ST may have changed over the years but I do like the way it is now.
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