Ironically, the BET slums are one of the least ridiculous environments here, largely because they post about nothing but baking, gardening, and pets.

Ironically, the BET group has had more climbing trips, weekends and unofficial gatherings than most other areas on the site. There are groups of 3-5 who regularly climb together a few times a month(or more) in 3 separate parts of the country.

Ironically, the BET group has had more climbing trips, weekends and unofficial gatherings than most other areas on the site. There are groups of 3-5 who regularly climb together a few times a month(or more) in 3 separate parts of the country.

included in the normal chatter there are trip reports, photos, gear reviews, and other climbing discussion. As far as i can tell the member with the least experience is still around 10 years.

since you are not included in the climbing trips, climbing discussion or much else perhaps you should re-read the thread title and OP?

Ironically, the BET group has had more climbing trips, weekends and unofficial gatherings than most other areas on the site. There are groups of 3-5 who regularly climb together a few times a month(or more) in 3 separate parts of the country.

included in the normal chatter there are trip reports, photos, gear reviews, and other climbing discussion. As far as i can tell the member with the least experience is still around 10 years.

since you are not included in the climbing trips, climbing discussion or much else perhaps you should re-read the thread title and OP?

That there's more climbing content and community in the BET thread than elsewhere on the site is not something for the BET crew to be proud of - IMHO it's something they should be ashamed of.

That there's more climbing content and community in the BET thread than elsewhere on the site is not something for the BET crew to be proud of - IMHO it's something they should be ashamed of.

Don't you think this is just a little... selfish? Exactly the sort of content that would otherwise attract people to the site and encourage them to post their own stories. The stuff that actually builds a community - and, incidentally, brings in the traffic to pay for the site that you're making free use of - and you hide it away in a thread that is deliberately made as uninviting and closed to outsiders as you can possibly make it.

That there's more climbing content and community in the BET thread than elsewhere on the site is not something for the BET crew to be proud of - IMHO it's something they should be ashamed of.

That's pretty funny. The truth is, all the climbing chatter is mixed in with the rest of the stuff. WHat's the alternative? Post a bunch of trip reports? I did that for a while, it's kind of fun, but at the end of the day it's mostly just spray. I'd rather just spray my buddies down and talk a little smack.

The BET is really just a chat room, and I prefer that format over the split forums. The model for those forums seems to be to ask a question and get a million responses, and then a couple guys wank about who is right and who is rong. Who cares? sez I.

And the whole point of the BET being semi- exclusive is so that it doesn't become like the rest of the site-- a million voices drowning each other out with idiocy. I prefer the idiocy of those I know. We don't need poster ratings, or star ratings or a search function, because you basically know the other posters, so there isn't the same choss to sift through.

The BET was born kind of because the rest of the site was going to shit in that there was just so much bad information being posted so often, that it became comical! It still is. You can log onto this site and read some insane stuff. If you have a certain sense of humor, it will make you laff. So you joke about it a bit with your friends.

That brand of humor ain't for everyone, and that's fine. There is a largely serious, humorless site out there called mountainproject, which is a great site and I use it quite a bit. This site is difficult to take seriously, because there is just so much stupid shit that gets posted.

Also... I think that often posters have a life cycle on sites. I don't think this site is very informative any more, because I've read probably 97% of any possible topics already. It is all going to be repetition at this point. If it wasn't for the big fun in the BET, I'd be long gone, because there's just not much for me ont he rest of the site, because it's geared to beginner Q&A questions, or the rare disagreement about belaying. Maybe that's why cracklover's friends bailed, because there was no new meaningful content. but, if they're only going to PM him, and not either contribute something worthwhile, or at least complain to a mod who could potentially but won't do something, I guess they don't get a vote.

+1 I've been here for coming up on 8 years. I had read just about all the shoe, gear, belaying, bolts, trad vs sport, threads there is in about a year. I quickly joined the Mass Climbers thread which was basically the original BET thread with a slightly different vibe but basically the same principle. That has since mostly died out due to many of the members moving away so I found other locals in the BET.

And what brings the new users in? New, interesting content. And who's the best at providing new, interesting (to n00bs) content? The established users.

Bullshit.

New, interesting content only interests a small minority of veteran websurfers. It's the same faces that have been here since the usernet days, with a few 'newbies' added in since. Take a look at the quantity of threads about shoes, ropes, which knot to tie ropes together, and I've been climbing X months, I just climbed 5.YYy in my gym, how long till I can climb 5.ZZzzzzz... Same damn questions over and over. People are too lazy to use the search box in the upper right, they're far too lazy to read a couple pages of educational discourse.