I actually joined in June of 2001 as "mtntrail1" and was around member #300. However, at the time, the site was new, with not much data, so I pretty much ignored the site for about 10 months. When I tried to log on 10 months later, the site was huge; however, I forgot my password and had to create "mtntrail2". By that time member numbers were up to over 1400. I later dropped the "mtntrail2" and changed it to my real name.

Even in April 2002, the site was somewhat in turmoil. When the site first went up in March 2001, a lot of mountains were added quickly, especially all the popular ones. Most of the mountain pages added in the beginning were not as good a quality as what you see today. And.....a lot of folks added these mountains, then disappeared. Members began to realize the importance of this site and the mountain pages, and began to vote mountain pages accordingly. Several of us began to follow their lead and looked at these mountain pages more closely....especially the more noteworthy peaks such as the CA 14ers, CO 14ers, state high points, and noteworthy world peaks.

As a result, in the summer and fall of 2002, a lot of mountains came up for adoption because of low votes and lack of response by owners who had disappeared. It was not uncommon to have a CO 14er up for adoption on a weekly basis. Back then, you could not transfer a mountain at will. You had to wait for it to come up for adoption, then be the first to snag it. Some of us would grab mountain pages when they came up for adoption early in the morning, then find owners for them later. Before the summer of 2002, a lot of the CO 14ers and some of the popular Rockies peaks were in really bad shape. But by the spring of 2003, these pages had been moved to responsible owners (what you see today) and the pages were brought up to a high level of quality. The same goes for some of the west coast peaks. There were only a few east coast mountain pages, but nothing like you see today.

Another problem with the adoption process was a person called a "squatter." That was a person who would see a page up for adoption, adopt it, then do nothing with it (squat). Usually, the squatter was someone who knew nothing about the mountain, but only adopted it to get the points. There was some kid in New Zealand who squatted on several CO 14ers and it took forever to get them back. People don't seem to care much about squatters anymore.

Anyway, there's a lot more stuff out there on some of the history. Maybe some of you old timers can elaborate.

Interesting thread, Yeti. Thanks for posting <img src=/message_board/images/laugh.gif width=15 height=15>

It was a cold and rainy day back in January 02. I was just coming off a long shift of surfing nudd*e websites when I stumbled upon a link to SP...and I thought to myself "oh what the hell, let's see what's in there".

I was actually looking up some stuff on cascade volcanos when I found SP. I started things off right by being a pr*ck (though at the time I did not see my pr*ck-like ways for what they were) and downvoting <A HREF="http://www.summitpost.org/mountains/user_link.pl/user_id/349">Brian Jenkins</A>' <A HREF="http://www.summitpost.org/show/mountain_link.pl/mountain_id/824">Elk Mountain</A> page.

"only 8 photos??!!!" 3 stars!!!

Ha!

I remember a few years ago someone came up with the term "SummitPorn". That is what this site is like.

I'm probably the newest person on this thread only joining this past summer. Yes, this is an interesting thread. I found SP while looking through the Idahosummits webpage. While reading about the 7-devils, someone made mention to one of those peaks being recently added to SP so I checked it out. Been hooked ever since.

Wow, Radek. I didn't even remember that exchange between us. You bastard. I owe you some penalty slack next time we climb something. I'm hurt, man. The keys on my keyboard are too slippery from all the tears now. Must go...............

(looking back, that page was probably a two star page at the time, so we'll just call it even eh?)

Man, that was back in the day when you could email Josh back and forth. I remember him telling me that he did not like free soloing anything 10b or higher. I can barely do that top-roped with rests! Crazy, man, crazy.

I joined when I moved out to the west coast in September of 2002. I thought the site was really well laid out, and digged it the first time I came accross it in May of 2002. I thought the information and particularly the technical climbing info was kinda lacking though (especially in the Northwest). Almost 3 years later, and my things have changed. Thanks to people like Paul Klenke, Radek Chalupa, Brian Jenkins, and Fred and Moni Spicker, SP is now a powerhouse of information on climbing and peakbagging in this area.

I'm upset this site doesn't get more exposure. There is nothing like it anywhere else. An enormous list of mountains (and growing). I tell people about it all the time, especially when I am hiking.

<i>Wow, Radek. I didn't even remember that exchange between us. You bastard.</i>

Oh sh*t - what have I done by rehashing this!!! Now I'm gonna find my tires slashed and a brick thru. my car window next time we're in Smith

Hey thanks Martin, you've been pretty busy yourself on this site (look at mrh's post on 7 devils)....so has mrh for that matter with his quality stuff on SP...and miy'ons of others as well!!

I found the site looking for information on Mount Adams. My how it has grown. I then started submitting stuff. I remember when <A HREF="http://www.summitpost.org/mountains/user_link.pl/user_id/462">gordonye</A> and I submitted <A HREF="http://www.summitpost.org/mountains/mountain_link.pl?mountain_id=368">Round Top</A> within minutes of each other. Besides all the great information, I've met some great people through the site too.

I remember getting an email from Josh after he saw my name and a couple of shots on ..what was that other site... gee I'm getten sooo old I can quite remember.... ah yes Peakware....
he asked me to take a look at SP. There was a time I am sure he regreted that.. I posted so much crap in the beginning until I saw what was really happening with the site and took it more seriously.
Its been fun and an incentive to get out there. Not that I needed much before. But It has made me pay more attention to places and routes I visit by taking notes and images to share with everyone I have met on SP.

What happened to the first 13 guys....... (•:

Cheers William

I stumbled on SP surfing. I hung around and lurked, submitted some photos and stuff where they were needed (I think Capitol Peak may have been the first moluntain to get my attention due to lack of good photos).

Kane noticed me hanging around, because one day I got an email from him saying to grab Wilson Peak. It was up for adoption and he didn't wat it falling into someone's unqualified hands. Well, I was hardly qualified when it came to computers, but I wasn't about to let a Colorado 14er be mishandled, either.

So I took the plunge and reworked the page, to much relief and support from the SP membership. It was quite surprising. From then on, the learning curve was steep and fast. Lots of it was a blur, but....read on....

After being involved in a number of controversial events on SP, Josh then contacted me, asking if I would like to be a staff member and explained what I would be doing. He stressed that I should not fret over this stuff and not spend much time on it. Great! Another steep learning curve.

I accepted, but I wanted to avoid further controversies, so it was kept quiet for some time. Events and circumstances eventually caused me to become more visible, first as a spokesperson for the staff and later as a full-fledged "elf," a term that bothered me. I preferred "staff member" and still do.

Much has happened since then, as we all know. Presently, I'm trying to sort it out and make sense of it all. I'll be submitting a multi-part report on this subject. Lots of research and survey activity is involved, but it should be a great and entertaining read. Be prepared for A LOT of material on the subject. I am presently working on the draft, sorting out the many links I have and tons of info. Of course I am hoping fervently that Josh and Ryle will participate in this project, but response so far from the membership has been exciting and strongly interested.

It is a very interesting topic. Seeing SP from this vantage and the evolution it has gone through is fascinating.

The report will be written in "third person narrative" (I'm one of the interviewees). Imagine 60 Minutes' Morley Saffer doing the reporting! Anyway, watch for Part One some time in April.

Never been so proud to be "old"...from User #74, Cheers SP!!! Here's to another great year!!

So Aaron....... what went wrong?

Guy Keesee

To be honest, I know nothing of summitposts founders or history, except what I have read here.

But thanks to you guys for starting this. I don't know of any other website that is quite as comprehensive, authoritative and focused as summitpost. It is truly a treasure for all of us.

And thanks to everyone who contributes to the best mountaineering resource on the Internet.