SuperTACO ACTUALLY shutting down

WHY ARENT THERE 14 THREADS YET!?!?!

In all seriousness go read the last cool trip reports. June 1st baibai

Edit: I'm a flipping moron, you're right guys. Edited title to get the site name correct;)

For Chris MacNamara's announcement post go here

Hi Forum,

It is with a sad heart that I announce that normal operation of the SuperTopo Climber's Forum will cease June 1st.

The Forum has been an amazing digital campfire, with more than 2 million posts over the last 18 years. It has reconnected many climbers with old friends and helped many climbers make new friends. And, there have been many amazing and compelling posts on the site, especially those on climbing-related topics, that have been enjoyed by millions of people.

I have received a ton from this community and feel lucky to have been a part of it. I’ve met a lot of my heroes on this forum and made many great connections. I give warmest thanks to you all. The forum was a big wild experiment with many highs and lows. But mostly highs. Here are some of the things I found the most meaningful on the SuperTopo Forum
- The memorial tributes
- Help with supporting bolt replacement and access issues. This forum helped the ASCA get to 15,000 plus replaced bolts
- The help to create SuperTopo books
- The historical threads
- Reconnecting friends
- Helping collaborate on documentaries and books
- Event threads to support non-profits and members
- El Cap report
- The events that were created and photos and reports that followed

I also want to give a big shout out to RJ who created the forum and kept it running. RJ has been my business partner and a best friend for nearly 2 decades. He has been a big inspiration for me and a co-creator in so many great projects and adventures.

As I noted last week, the SuperTopo Climber's Forum has never been a profitable business venture. It costs us a significant amount of time and money each year to operate the Forum, and we have done so as a service for the climbing community for 18 years. But, the prospect of having to bear increased potential costs in the future, both in time and legal costs, due to litigation related to inappropriate posts by a minority of forum members has changed the math. I am sorry to say this, but we no longer feel we can justify continued operation of the Forum.

I appreciate all the great many posts on climbing related topics that have been made here.

I encourage you to copy and paste any of your content you'd like to save before June 1st.

Starting June 1st, the text of past Forum posts will remain available as an archive. Regrettably, images will no longer be displayed for Forum posts. Trip Reports and Route Beta will remain displaying as they do today with both images and text.

You can continue to post using your existing accounts for the next few weeks, but effective June 1st, the site will strictly become a read-only archive.

Thank you all for making this Forum something special over the last 18 years. Like many of you, I am sad to see it go.

Sincerely,

Chris McNamara
Founder
SuperTopo

Wondering what sort of inappropriate posts led to litigation. Is MP vulnerable?

Based on what was discussed previously, it sounds like overly litiguous copyright pursuits and new-ish laws that put site owners responsible for user-uploaded content

RIP. Gone on to join rockclimbing.com. 

Shit!

So some people were taking copyrighted photos and uploading them, right? This happens on so many forums...we all know it's wrong but some people don't care and upload copyrighted photos anyway. Why is supertopo suffering more than other sites over it?

Bill Shubert wrote: So some people were taking copyrighted photos and uploading them, right? This happens on so many forums...we all know it's wrong but some people don't care and upload copyrighted photos anyway. Why is supertopo suffering more than other sites over it?

It really depends on how DMCA takedown notices are handled (or not handled).

https://www.dmca.com/faq/What-is-a-DMCA-Takedown

R.I.P the Taco

I really hope someone archives some of the threads about climbing history.  It was wild to read first hand accounts of some of my favorite climbs that probably wont' get a writeup anywhere else.  Also the gunks history/pictures thread got me incredibly psyched to climb and I sought out some more obscure climbs based on people's stories.  Will be missed. 

Rob D. wrote: I really hope someone archives some of the threads about climbing history.  It was wild to read first hand accounts of some of my favorite climbs that probably wont' get a writeup anywhere else.  Also the gunks history/pictures thread got me incredibly psyched to climb and I sought out some more obscure climbs based on people's stories.  Will be missed. 

It will be archived, according to CMac & RJ - read only after June1.

It was mostly just one person loading tons of copyrighted content. Most of us know who that person is...

That place has been circling the drain for a while, but sorry to see it go.

My hunch is that the owners of a competitive site hired a bunch of lawyers to harass them over minor content issues. I don't know what competitor that would be, but it would have to be one that had deep pockets.

By the way... REI is having their biggest sale of the year! Shop online, or visit one of REI's 154 stores to get the savings!

First the mom and pop shops, now the competing websites... is there nothing REI won’t stop at?

Sloppy Second wrote:
My hunch is that the owners of a competitive site hired a bunch of lawyers to harass them over minor content issues. I don't know what competitor that would be, but it would have to be one that had deep pockets.

mediocre wrote: First the mom and pop shops, now the competing websites... is there nothing REI won’t stop at?

Unless you have some factual information it would seem to me that yer just talking out yer azz. Which in that case in addition to DMCA takedown, you might want to learn about defamation and libel.

That said if you have have so much distain for REI why are you participating in a forum that is now owned by them?

Allen Sanderson wrote:

Unless you have some factual information it would seem to me that yer just talking out yer azz. Which in that case in addition to DMCA takedown, you might want to learn about defamation and libel.

That said if you have have so much distain for REI why are you participating in a forum that is now owned by them?

I was here before REI was and it’s my only source of social media. 

So it’s either talk shit about REI or start a Facebook account and i really don’t want a Facebook account. 

Allen Sanderson wrote:

Unless you have some factual information it would seem to me that yer just talking out yer azz. 

It is factual information.

Members: Save 20% on one eligible item with code ANNV19

How could anyone have disdain for that?

Allen Sanderson wrote:

Unless you have some factual information it would seem to me that yer just talking out yer azz. Which in that case in addition to DMCA takedown, you might want to learn about defamation and libel.

That said if you have have so much distain for REI why are you participating in a forum that is now owned by them?

https://theterrellmims.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/dont-feed-the-trolls-meme-03.jpg

Sloppy Second wrote: My hunch is that the owners of a competitive site hired a bunch of lawyers to harass them over minor content issues. I don't know what competitor that would be, but it would have to be one that had deep pockets.

By the way... REI is having their biggest sale of the year! Shop online, or visit one of REI's 154 stores to get the savings!

LOL you think REI gives a flying fuck about the taco? 

mediocre wrote:

I was here before REI was and it’s my only source of social media. 

So it’s either talk shit about REI or start a Facebook account and i really don’t want a Facebook account. 

You Sound pretty fucking Mediocre, as usual.

After reading the above 10/10!!! They didn’t stop even after the don’t feed the trolls link. Awesome!

Golf claps all around gentlemen. Nice work and thank you for the LOLZ haha..

Jason Kim wrote:

LOL you think REI gives a flying fuck about the taco? 

Outdoor Gear Lab reviewed the REI Camp Stove Toaster and gave it only 2 stars.

Let that sink in.