Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

There don't appear to have been any new posts since March, and it also seems that Lou Dawson and his family are no longer involved at all.

When Lou was running the site there were posts all year, albeit at a lower frequency during summer.

I'm hoping the existing contect will stay up as there's a lot of useful info there, and am also hoping that the site isn't dead...

Sadly, it’s dead. Lou sold it to Cripple Creek BC with little disruption a few years ago and this spring CCBC sold it to a private equity media holding company to great disruption.

JackO wrote some very good words about it (and similar acquisitions) here: https://www.telemark-voices.com/post/af ... journalism

Some of the old wild snow editorial crew have set up shop at https://the-high-route.com It’s subscription required, and I paid up early to try and hope to watch it grow. I do recognize that hard paywall stuff isn’t great for casual “check-in” type browsing, but I appreciate what they are trying to do in the current landscape.

I’ve heard some talk of trying to scrape or archive the old wild snow, but don’t know if anyone’s done anything serious with that idea.

Thanks for the plug @spopepro.

The new WildSnow is indeed yet to emerge from hiatus but it in all likelihood will resemble the rest of the AllGear Digital sites when it comes back to life (the Ikon Pass paid post, the last article the site has posted, is probably just the beginning of more ads/articles in the same vein). WildSnow will look like GearJunkie, maybe more like The Inertia. But both are very focused on SEO-first models because AllGear's affiliate-link revenue stream is both very financially viable and necessitates large amounts of traffic. Thus the editorial is beholden to retail and neither very deep nor analytical.

Gear sales are certainly a necessity in our outdoor world - and it's fun to consume and use the gear - but our thirst for it and the way we search the internet for it has led to business models that create written content whose purpose is to push gear sales - and it begs mention that we as a group (the outdoor world specifically, human beings broadly) don't seem to want to pay for content anymore with so much free content available. WildSnow's parent company and their financiers know this and take full advantage to the detriment of the outdoor culture.

This has happened at Powder, Snowboarder, Newschoolers, and now WildSnow. Content for its own sake in the outdoor world is in a fraught position.

@JackO, appreciate your insightful posts on a variety of subjects and wish you the best with https://telemark-voices.com.

JackO wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 11, 2023 3:12 pm

Thus the editorial is beholden to retail and neither very deep nor analytical.

Gear sales are certainly a necessity in our outdoor world - and it's fun to consume and use the gear - but our thirst for it and the way we search the internet for it has led to business models that create written content whose purpose is to push gear sales - and it begs mention that we as a group (the outdoor world specifically, human beings broadly) don't seem to want to pay for content anymore with so much free content available.

This has happened at Powder, Snowboarder, Newschoolers, and now WildSnow. Content for its own sake in the outdoor world is in a fraught position.

This puts the monkey on sports enthusiasts to avoid parroting ad copy. Which is to say that sportsmen and sportswomen don’t stand a chance.

People see critical thinking and critical content as threats. Why? Because people swallowed the ad copy, bought the gear, and cannot accept that their choice was sub-optimal. It’s regarded as an attack on their intellect.

The message isn’t attacked because people don’t have the skills or the lexicon to make a sensible counter-point. The solution then becomes to attack the messenger ASAP. This seeks to stops the message in its tracks… either the messenger retreats or a distracting flame war ensues.

There is also a subconscious financial aspect to all this. If the herd accepts the message, it buys into the gear. It is now invested. Free advice or a freely given POV? That has no value. It’s free. How could it be worth anything? But if it justifies a sunk cost, then it becomes reassuring. Not useful, but pleasing.

So the whole system turns into a machine to sell $hit and please people. Serving a need is a happy coincidence but not an especially important one.

This explains how short product cycles and gear acquisition syndrome works. It might not start in places like this but places like this are critical to making it happen… so long as the relationship between the corporate message and the herd is protected.

Oh, and a brand ambassador or two is never a bad thing either.

4 years ago, I almost sold this place. There was an official offer on the table. A very tempting, and very attractive offer I must say. BIG guys, big bucks. Several thousands of dollars to buy the whole Telemark Talk forum. Cash.

But I knew exactly what it meant. That would have been the end of this place as we know it. It would have turned this place into a huge pile of fucking garbage like what we see everywhere else. No content, all reheated bullshit and repackaged old crap. But now with big wide-angle pictures of heli-skiing and Arcteryx coats. Just plain nonsense like typical everyday Facebook stuff. It's all about Alpha and SEO, nothing new here. But I *almost* pulled the trigger. Almost. But I didn't do it. Nope, I did not. For one unique reason:

I didn't do it for you guys.

Pretty hard to believe isn't it? Perhaps that was a big mistake from me. Nobody in the world would be dumb enough to decline such an irresistible offer. NOBODY. And the proof is that everybody is doing it everywhere, as you can see for yourself. But back then, I still had a tiny bit of faith in this community.

I have to admit that I was very tempted to contact the guys again this summer. Because I'm absolutely 200% sure that the offer would be more than double now. But I resisted the temptation.

Just saying.

Topics over the past six weeks in reverse order:

- Media coverage
- Race gear
- Bindings
- Gloves
- Boots
- Poles
- Repair
- Art
- Regions
- Experiments, trials
- Business
- Skijoring
- Climate

Now here’s the crazy part: Nothing ending with a personal insult being hurled. Just ppl talking about skiing stuff.

Not anyone’s “show” either. Sure, some people have pet threads. But nobody’s voice is getting drowned out. Quite a lot of diversity lately.
Glad you stuck with it Johnny. If for no other reason than to see that your decision not to cave-in or sell-out was a sound one.

Johnny wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 11, 2023 5:59 pm

I didn't do it for you guys.

Just saying.

I love you too, bro.

1/2 in jest, 1/2 true.
And 100% glad you didn't sell out to the man.

I did wonder why the comments were closed and no longer visible on this dreck with my scathing pan no longer available and never answered, lol.
https://wildsnow.com/30927/so-long-good ... ogression/