January 20, 2005, advertisement

I have deleted this post because it does not comply with the Terms of Use to which all members agree upon registering.<br><br>From the Terms of Use:<br>"Spam, flooding, advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are also not acceptable on Turns-All-Year Trip Reports."<br><br>Also from the Terms of Use:<br>"It is possible that under certain circumstances posts which should be considered advertisements might be acceptable on Turns-All-Year Trip Reports...You agree to submit any post which might be considered an advertisement to Turns-All-Year administrators for review prior to posting... Failure to do so may result in the post being deleted without warning."<br><br>This is a non-commercial web site, and I would like to keep it that way. I have had a number of requests from people who want to post advertisements for some sort of commercial operation, and I have generally declined these requests.<br><br>A situation in which I would generally find an advertisement-like post acceptable is when the poster has no financial interest in the commercial operation being advertised, and the post is being made simply to inform others in the bc community of an opportunity ( example ). Another situation that I think fits in with the nature of this site is when someone posts their own gear for sale ( example ).<br><br>I try to be consistent and fair in making these decisions, but the situation continues to evolve as new specifics come up, so I find it hard to write a detailed advertising policy which covers all of the possibilities.

Charles has an unpleasant job at times, trying to maintain this resource for us in the format and atmosphere that he believes we would wish he maintain. I don't envy him.<br><br>It has got to be difficult to turn away a pillar of our backcountry ski community to maintain a certain agreed upon condition. <br>I would equate it to being forced to fire your best friend from your business. Doesn't sound like fun to me.<br>But I for one have to say that I support Charles for making that hard choice.<br><br>Nonetheless, I welcome Martin, with open arms, to our little on-line community here. Martin has the capacity to be a tremendous resource to us all here, not just through his businesses, but through his broad and deep knowledge of all aspects of travel and skiing in the mountains. We could all certainly benefit from his contributions here if he continued to visit with us here.<br><br>Regardless of whether Martin chooses to become a "regular" here (whatever that means) or not, I'm here to say that I find Martin's stores to be a great resource for backcountry gear and clothing. When ever I am in the areas I always try to stop by the Pro Ski stores in Seattle and North Bend. I've gotten lots of great deals from Martin on both gear and clothing and I would certainly hate to lose him as a resource. It has GOT to be difficult making your living specializing in mountain travel. Most of us that love the mountains wouldn't even know how to come close. <br><br>Martin blew into town a few years ago with a love for the mountains, a Swiss guiding certificate and a dream. In a few short years has managed to build up some retail business in a Seattle and North Bend store (though he usually has to close the Seattle store in the summers) through providing good products and good service. At the same time he has also managed to build a reputable guiding business. All this while making major contributions to our sport through his guidebook (Backcountry Skiing Snoqualmie Pass) and all the folks he's trained into becoming safe and self sufficient backcountry travelers and guides. <br>[And as an aside, if you are thinking that folks might get rich writing guide books for as shallow a market as backcountry skiing, just ask the grand-daddy of them all, Rainer Burgdorfer ("100 Classic Backcountry Ski and Snowboard Routes" and before that the highly sought after [and long out-of-print] "Backcountry Skiing in Washington's Cascades"). Last time I talked to Rainer he still had a regular job and was hard pressed to make the time to get out in mountains, just like the rest of us.]<br><br>While I have not personally skied with Martin, I have skied with him many times through his past guiding clients. I can tell that Martin is a patient, thorough and giving teacher. I have skied with lots of people that have had little experience in the backcountry other than a beginner's class from Martin. They have always had good mountain skills and good judgment. Martin's excellent training shows through.<br><br>So for those of you that are not already a customer of Pro Ski Service or Pro Guiding Service you might consider taking advantage of this extremely bad ski year to get some great deals and help Martin out. I know I'm planning on checking out his sale. I suspect he's got a lot of stock in those stores that he really cannot afford to get stuck with for another year. <br>If you're new to the backcountry game and want to get some pointers on staying alive in the mountains, Martin's build up a reputation as one of, if not the, very Best. <br>If you're not sure how to get in touch with them just google "pro ski service" and "pro guiding service". That should steer you to his web sites.<br><br>And just to put the record straight here, I am not a close friend of Martin's. He didn't put me up to this. I have not talked to him in over a year and that was on the phone (incidentally, to give him my address so he could mail me a refund on some gear I bought). I'm not even sure he would recognize me walking down the street. I'm writing this for purely selfish reasons...<br>We don't have a lot of options in this area for shops with backcountry ski gear that have experienced backcountry skiers and guides selling you the stuff and then doing the shop work for you. I just don't want to lose that resource.<br>

Darn Ron you're good. <br><br> I agree with you both, tough balance and Charles does a great job running this site.I also agree supporting local shops is a facet of our sport whenever one scrapes up cash for some new gear. Many lifes ago I was involved in the busness and never saw anyone doing anything but trying to make a living with doing what they love. I expect Martin is no different. <br><br> By the way lets hope for SNOW <br><br>Charlesw

Thanks for the kind and supportive words, CharlesW.<br><br>Unfortunately, as you may have noticed, Brevity is not an attribute I've yet managed to master <br><br>I agree, pray for snow.<br>

As usual...VERY well said Ron. I think of Martin and his shop as an integral part of the community here in the NW - just like TAY. <br><br>Michael

Yes, thank you Ron for your multi-faceted post. I agree that Pro Ski is a very valuable resource for skiers in this area, and in fact they are the only ones I really consider when I need advice or equipment work. My concern is that allowing one commercial-type post would logically open the flood gates to many more, and there are plenty more out there judging by the emails requests that I receive.<br><br>There have been suggestions in the past to create a "gear for sale" board - right now personal gear for sale posts are made in "Random Tracks". Maybe this would be a good time to create a new board to hold several types of related threads: personal gear for sale, tips on good deals, and commercial (non-personal) advertisements for backcountry skiing/snowboarding related gear and services. In allowing the latter I would hope that representatives of commercial operations would show restraint in using the board and not fill it with "spam".<br><br>It just takes me a few clicks to set up a new board, so if the consensus is that this is a good idea, I will go ahead and do it. Any ideas for a good title for such a board?