Hi The board was changed to this format on 16 Dec. 2002 , and I post a Thank You for making the Board what it is.
With the passing of time and so many members I'm not sure the history of how the board was started and why and the direction we set .
First Why , A guy comes into the store and ask if he should take an ice ax and crampons on the trail ,I said no and he said "the sign said he should " well it was busy and I said what sign several times and told him the trail had been dry for weeks and the only remote chance of ice would be at the cable area the cables are up so thats not a problem. He leaves , later that day I go searching for The Sign, well I find it Ice ax and crampons needed ,Dated Oct the year before , This day was about mid July ,So we started doing a weekly trail report and handing them out at the store,as time went on I would do a trip up the Mountaineers route down the trail and take pictures of sections of the trail send them to Bishop and send the text to El Cajon and Mike and Elizabeth would finnish the report and Mike would drive them down from Bishop.This was after we got the first board going about 1998
One day I found Backpacker Mag. had started a Post Board 50 post max and they had a section Eastern Sierra and several post about Mt Whitney I added a trip report and several people ask some questions and the board posted the replys this went on a short time and ,the board changed/closed. I went on to a search for a way to post on the internet and found GORP page.I posted a request if any body wanted the Whitney Trail Report on the thread, I had several replys(Still on the site) that said would be ok but don't try to sell any thing . I placed a few reports on the site but the board scrolled and was hard to find the reports. I did a search for way to make it easy to find and easy for us to do , this was about 1995 no cell phones 13 miles from town and the internet was working at about 14400 or less. I found a site called 395.com Very bold site covers the Total Eastern Sierra ,I called and explained what I was looking to do and how could we make it work .Mike Harris worked on a format and a way to post, our messages /trip reports and the site started. I felt that only my or limited reports would not answer most of the questions so over the next several months Mike was able to open board to post from members and the board has used that format since.
We tried to place banner adds on the site in 2001-2002 to recover some of the cost didn't work that well, in 2002 Mike was spending many hours to keep the site going , we decided to try a different format.
I contacted a Internet provider (Q-NET) in our area that was willing to search for a software that would do what the board needed, they found a software and that runs the board now.
From the start of this voyage till now the function of this board is to make the trip and back safe and know what to expect not by just one or two people but by many that have can add to the wealth of experience.
My goal was not to respond/make trip reports ,because you don't need my view of the area it's old been there done that many times and I don't see the area as someone that does the trip for the First time. That is the wealth of knowledge that helps you !! the problems they have are going to be the ones most likely you will have.
The Board is upto about 2,ooo,ooo page views a year now Thank You all for making the board what it is, some days it's quite a ride .
Thank You again Doug, Earlene, Doug ,Becky, and Cayden (grandson, son)
