5 years of membership

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5 years of membership

Page Type: Article

Page By: gabriele

Created/Edited: Feb 21, 2009 / Feb 21, 2009

Object ID: 491709

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This is the personal point of view of a member joined 5 years ago ...

December 2003, weather is bad and I can't go out to climb or hike, I'm bored ! So, dreaming about mountains, I enter in internet looking for some fine mountain photos that can give me new ideas ...

Google leads me to this "strange" American site : SummitPost ... never heard about it, let's give a look !
Among the Members I can see the name of Ivano Ghirardini : wow, this must be a serious site !
for the ones who don't know Ivano Ghirardini (an Italian climber moved to Chamonix to act as a mountain guide) was a milestone of modern mountaneering with his exploits, unbelievable at those times

Starting to look at the pages I can see that my beloved Alps (I've been climbing there for more than 40 years) are too little "performed" so I join the site.

First page : the Dolomites, a page with a lot of info but absolutely lacking of the useful ones : my first vote was a 0. The owner got mad about it, a short exchange of messages to explain each other and the first cooperation starts.
Second page : Brenta Dolomites (I've climbed some 30 amusing rock routes there) : it could be any worse !
I ask what can I do to improve it and a "certain" Fred Spicker (I didn't know him and how he made) gives me the ownership of the page : OK, so here there are kind and committed people, that's fine !
Two more Americans, Morgan Brown and David Kiene show me their kindness making me sure that this site is worth to spend a part of my time trying to tell to the whole world "my" mountains just the way I looked and lived in !

But to well describe the Alps one must remember that the number of "isolated" summits is very low, especially in Dolomites there are ranges where you can find a lot of different summits that can be climbed alternatively in case of good or bad weather, skill, fit, difficulties : herefrom the need to speak about "groups".
A topic and an exchange of messages with Gangolf, Vid, Mathias and Stefan Weber (the late Kletterwebbi) starts a coordinated work on Dolomites that leaved us pleased.
It was an amusing time when we could also laugh about Gangolf's flower photos that "should" be posted on FlowerPost.com

The ups and downs, rifts and discussions were not missing, indicating that we believed in what we were doing

Meanwhile a lot of new people joined SP, many photos that were all but about mountain start to be posted : it was the time of "family albums" but, luckily, there was the "off topic" voting that allowed to make those photos disappear : Webshot was their right site !

The number of people thinking of SP as a photo site and/or a photo contest site grows up more and more and, instead of new mountain pages or photos about "new" mountains, we can see hundreds of ripetitive photos about the most famous mountains : give a look to Cervino (Matterhorn) page and you'll see how many people are saying : I've been there (without efforts but giving a lot of money to Zermatt tourist structure).

Then came SP2 : no more about mountains and mountaneering but, generically, about "outdoor activities"
and now we can see all about all
But, to put it bluntly, this site is no more the one that enticed me ...

italian

questa è la visione di SP da parte di un iscritto da 5 anni ...

dicembre 2003, annoiato dal tempo che non permette di fare gite e escursioni, sognando le montagne mi metto a cercare in internet qualche bella foto che mi possa suggerire qualcosa ...

arrivo a questo strano sito americano : SummitPost ... mai sentito, vediamo !
Dò un'occhiata a chi c'è dentro e ci scopro un certo Ivano Ghirardini : urca, allora è roba seria !
per chi non lo conoscesse Ivano Ghirardini (un alpinista Italiano trapiantato a Chamonix e diventato guida) è stato una pietra miliare nel moderno alpinismo con i suoi exploits, increbili per l'epoca

Incomincio a guardare le pagine e vedo che le mie amate Alpi (ci ho fatto 40 anni di attività) sono un po' poco rappresentate e decido di associarmi.

Guardo la pagina delle Dolomiti : un'accozzaglia di informazioni messe lì in qualche modo : parte immediatamente un voto 0.
Reazione infuriata del proprietario della pagina seguita da un successivo chiarimento e relativa collaborazione.
Guardo la pagina delle Dolomiti di Brenta (dove ho fatto una 30na di arrampicate divertentissime) : peggio che andar di notte !
Chiedo come fare a migliorarla e un certo Fred Spicker me la passa da gestire.
Ohibò, allora c'è gente gentile e ben motivata !
Altri due americani, Morgan Brown e David Kiene, con la loro gentilezza mi fanno capire che qui val la pena di passarci un po' di tempo cercando di far conoscere al mondo intero le "mie" montagne descritte con gli occhi di chi ci è stato !

Ma, per descrivere bene le Alpi bisogna ricordare che solo in alcune zone ci sono montagne isolate e specialmente nelle dolomiti in un piccolo spazio si possono trovare tante cime separate che possono essere prestarsi a scelte alternative valide in caso di migliore o peggior tempo, preparazione eccetera : nasce quindi la necessità di parlare di gruppi montuosi.
Una corrispondenza con Gangolf, Vid, Mathias e Stefan Weber (il compianto Kletterwebbi) ci fa partire in un lavoro coordinato sulle Dolomiti che ci lascia soddisfatti.
E' un periodo divertente in cui si riesce anche a ridere a proposito delle foto di fiori messe da Gangolf e che secondo me dovrebbero andare su FlowerPost.com ...

Alti e bassi, screzi e discussioni non mancano, ma ciò significa solo che crediamo in quello che stiamo facendo !

Incomincia ad arrivare tanta gente nuova, cominciano ad apparire fotografie che niente hanno a che fare con la montagna : siamo al periodo dei "family albums" ma, per fortuna, è ancora possibile dare il voto "off topic" e fare in modo che quelle foto vengano eliminate dicendo che per quelle esiste Webshot.

Poi .. poi la massa di persone che scambia SP per un sito fotografico aumenta a dismisura e, invece di arrivare pagine di montagne arrivano centinaia di foto ripetitive sui soggetti più famosi : basta guardare la pagina del Cervino (Matterhorn) per capire che tutti vogliono mettere le loro foto per far sapere : ci sono stato anche io (in basso, spendendo un mucchio di Franchi Svizzeri a Zermatt)
Poi .. poi parte l'idea che SP sia un concorso fotografico

Poi .. poi parte SP2 che come argomento non ha più strettamente la montagna ma, genericamente, le "attività all'aperto", e arriva di tutto !
Ma, francamente, non è più quello che mi ha attirato ...

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ganesh70

Ma...

Voted 10/10

...è un addio?
Se è così forse non hai tutti i torti...

Posted Feb 21, 2009 9:01 am

yatsek

Mess

Voted 10/10

I agree it would make sense to restructure SP and its sister site a bit. You'll find my view/doubts below this pic
Cheers,
Jacek

Posted Feb 21, 2009 3:13 pm

rpc

funny, but

Voted 10/10

I hope you're not thinking of leaving Gabriele??!

the punchline of the article for me (heheheheh :) :
"First page : the Dolomites, a page with a lot of info but absolutely lacking of the useful ones : my first vote was a 0. The owner got mad about it"

Posted Feb 23, 2009 1:09 pm


	gabriele	Re: funny, but
	Hasn't voted	yes, I'd like to leave but ... I don't wanna delete my pages nor leave them to some "incompetent" points seeker ... (I gave you the Torre Venezia page) so I'm still waiting ...
		Posted Feb 23, 2009 2:17 pm

mvs

Don't understand

Voted 10/10

I appreciate your sentiments Gabriele, but I don't get it. For me, the site is and always was about mountains. Yes, I know that somewhere else on the site people are posting silly pictures of dogs or furniture, but I don't notice such things. I look at "new routes, new mountains, new trip reports, new areas." I browse areas where I want to go. I read the forums about mountains and climbs.

Those Dolomite pages are a real work of art...I love them, they are 100% vital and alive. They are not "covered up" by the albums full of families and cats.

I also think there are too many such albums, but without any power to do anything about it I just focus on the good stuff that makes Summitpost Summitpost, you know? Mountains, Routes, TRs...there are tons of them and new ones every day!

Anyway, you just can't leave, you are my "Italian Resource." I'm always PM'ing you when it rains in Deutschland for advice on a rock to climb! You are usually telling me there is too much snow :D. That is fine, you keep me safe :-).

Posted Feb 23, 2009 3:45 pm


	rpc	Re: Don't understand
	Voted 10/10	"Anyway, you just can't leave, you are my "Italian Resource." " Yeah, what Michael said! :)
		Posted Feb 23, 2009 4:26 pm


	gabriele	Re: Don't understand
	Hasn't voted	ok :) but in return you should make an add-on allowing me to make bulk-detachment of the photos :)
		Posted Feb 24, 2009 10:49 am


	mvs	Re: Don't understand
	Voted 10/10	Oh yeah? So a bulk detacher as part of the Summitpost Bulk Uploader. I guess I could do that. I'll send you a PM.
		Posted Feb 24, 2009 12:53 pm


	FortMental	Bulk Detacher???
	Voted 10/10	I like that idea! How about photos with built-in expiration dates: No hits, no life. How about limits on photo numbers publicly posted to a page. I agree with you, Gabriele... there seem to be a lot of close-ups of lizards, flowers, and cutesy stuff. It's a lot of wading to get to the useful stuff.
		Posted Feb 24, 2009 10:56 pm


	dmiki	Re: Don't understand
	Hasn't voted	"You are usually telling me there is too much snow" Ah, the same advice I received from Gabriele :-) Advice, info, beta which we would all enjoy to continue receiving from Gabriele. Don't leave this site!
		Posted Feb 25, 2009 4:14 am


	yatsek	Re: Bulk Detacher???
	Voted 10/10	Hey! Aren't you going a little mental:-)? Lizards can be better climbers than humans. The 4 or 5 types of climbing make up less than a half of all SP's image categories. I'm not saying this must be like that (see what I said a bit above) but that's the way it is.
		Posted Feb 25, 2009 6:33 am


	mvs	Re: Bulk Detacher???
	Voted 10/10	So Gabriele, as we discussed, I'm making the bulk detacher. But what about this other option: you can mark pages as "private attach only." That way, nobody else can attach stuff. You could then make an album called "Submissions to area page X", and on the top of your page, ask people to submit attachment ideas there. Then, you just browse that album now and then and pick up and bring in only those pictures you think are worthy to be attached to your page X. That might make more sense to people: there is an obvious "submission" process, and it's clear that not every picture is going to be chosen. That way they won't wonder why their picture was suddenly "detached", and thinking it might be an accident, they will reattach it. Still, I'm making it, but I had that thought. Ciao!
		Posted Feb 25, 2009 2:24 pm


	yatsek	Re: Bulk Detacher???
	Voted 10/10	Absolutely.
		Posted Feb 25, 2009 3:19 pm


	mooseball	Re: Bulk Detacher???
	Hasn't voted	what a superhero you are fortmental !
		Posted Mar 5, 2009 2:43 am


	Moni	Re: Bulk Detacher???
	Hasn't voted	I think I'd like a private attach setting AND a bulk detacher.
		Posted Mar 11, 2009 9:29 am


	mvs	Re: yuhuuuu, Michael
	Voted 10/10	Argh, hey Sorry Gabriele, what happened was I started a new job a couple of weeks ago and have been traveling and super busy. I actually finished the bulk detacher, but I hope it's not too complex to use. Basically, you have to do a search of the images attached to a page, then paste the URL of that search into the application. If that doesn't sound too complicated I could release it like that in the next few days. What do you think?
		Posted Apr 2, 2009 7:28 pm


	gabriele	Re: yuhuuuu, Michael
	Hasn't voted	mmmh, could be good for few photos but how long it takes for 50-100-200 photos ? the best way could be the possibility to tick the thumbnails using the same mask as for the Attach/Detach : Find Objects to Attach to 'page' (Displaying all the objects you have permission to detach)
		Posted Apr 3, 2009 1:47 am

Diggler

I understand, but...

Hasn't voted

It is committed people & those passionate about mountaineering, climbing, routes, history, & the mountains themselves that keep this site true to its roots. The point system, Photo Of The Week (Day, Hour, Minute, ...), & making pretty pages with pretty pictures so that they'll make the front page of Summitpost, all make people focus on attaining these things themselves, but those pages put up by those who really care & know what they're talking about are those with the greatest value.

Posted Feb 24, 2009 11:44 am


	gabriele	Re: I understand, but...
	Hasn't voted	This is the personal point of view of a member joined 5 years ago ... ... But, to put it bluntly, this site is no more the one that enticed me it's not a trial :)
		Posted Feb 24, 2009 12:20 pm


	Diggler	Re: I understand, but...
	Hasn't voted	This is the personal point of view of a member joined 5 years ago ... ... But, to put it bluntly, this site is no more the one that enticed me Yes, I read that. It is interesting, though , because you also stated the things you saw that could use improvement from the start of your membership- i.e. there were things that didn't entice you from the very beginning. Anyway, do what you gotta do. Thanks for your submissions- I've admired your work & the contributions you've made, particularly to the Alps. Thanks also for your labeling of my aerial photos back in the day. From another long-time member (over 7 years), take it easy- Dirk
		Posted Feb 24, 2009 5:26 pm

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