The Official Burton Thread

[Vailsucksass]

I think I wandered in around 2012 or 2013, I know it was at least 4 iterations ago, it was being run by C3 at the time. Have met some good homies on here, just met up with one IRL last week to slash power at Eagle Pass. He’s not on here anymore but still dope connections.

I obviously love it enough to shell out about $1k a year to keep it going and have no intention to monetize it.

Thank you
What would be the downside of hosting through one of those websites that lets you set up a free forum website?

[G.D.]

I think I wandered in around 2012 or 2013, I know it was at least 4 iterations ago, it was being run by C3 at the time. Have met some good homies on here, just met up with one IRL last week to slash power at Eagle Pass. He’s not on here anymore but still dope connections.

I obviously love it enough to shell out about $1k a year to keep it going and have no intention to monetize it.

Cheers to that @pow_hnd (in a non-alcoholic way, given recent sharing of vulnerability ).

Apologies to the Burton followers, but this thread has become EL trip down gear-nerding memory lane .

If my memory serves me right, think I found this amazing corner of the interwebz ~W2015, I believe. Glad to see a lot of the same regulars still here, with a lot of great additions along the way and growing, from looks of it .

Legitimately hope we can get some sort of meet up some day with most of the dudes in here for an EL Ride day. Wishful thinking, but that would be dope!

[pow_hnd]

I think I wandered in around 2012 or 2013, I know it was at least 4 iterations ago, it was being run by C3 at the time. Have met some good homies on here, just met up with one IRL last week to slash power at Eagle Pass. He’s not on here anymore but still dope connections.

I obviously love it enough to shell out about $1k a year to keep it going and have no intention to monetize it.

Thank you
What would be the downside of hosting through one of those websites that lets you set up a free forum website?

Those things aren’t really free. I looked into it when I took over. There’s forced google ads, the hosting is free but the software requires some types of subscriptions and plug-in features usually require purchase.

Phpbb is free, open source and easy to maintain. There’s some great new features that are coming in V4.0. So I just pay for hosting and a protection package against bots and password hackers.

[Vailsucksass]

I think I wandered in around 2012 or 2013, I know it was at least 4 iterations ago, it was being run by C3 at the time. Have met some good homies on here, just met up with one IRL last week to slash power at Eagle Pass. He’s not on here anymore but still dope connections.

I obviously love it enough to shell out about $1k a year to keep it going and have no intention to monetize it.

Thank you
What would be the downside of hosting through one of those websites that lets you set up a free forum website?

Those things aren’t really free. I looked into it when I took over. There’s forced google ads, the hosting is free but the software requires some types of subscriptions and plug-in features usually require purchase.

Phpbb is free, open source and easy to maintain. There’s some great new features that are coming in V4.0. So I just pay for hosting and a protection package against bots and password hackers.

I see what you mean, you’re part of that group of unsung heroes who keeps the forums for niches going. There are still some out there for certain topics but most have died out, the bodybuilding.com forums shut down not long ago that was a big nail in the coffin of what was left

What’s the deal with the protection package? What does it do to protect against bots and password hackers? Is it that much of a rampant problem?

Sometimes money spent on things we love is the best money spent even if it may seem silly in a way and if this is your muse then that’s awesome that it brings you joy as it seems to bring to many others


On a side note, I sort of dislike how Reddit killed forums, irc, and a majority of the internet being a widespread place. Instead it’s now all congested into one single space of high policing

[jota]

@pow_hnd anything that helps you keep this alive…

My first few years here were just without interacting, then I decided to write. It was in the previous EL but I don't remember the year. More or less at the beginning of the FA.
I also miss temu (I think) who published the entire B… catalogue… more or less around December 18th

[kimchi]

Thank you
What would be the downside of hosting through one of those websites that lets you set up a free forum website?

Those things aren’t really free. I looked into it when I took over. There’s forced google ads, the hosting is free but the software requires some types of subscriptions and plug-in features usually require purchase.

Phpbb is free, open source and easy to maintain. There’s some great new features that are coming in V4.0. So I just pay for hosting and a protection package against bots and password hackers.

I see what you mean, you’re part of that group of unsung heroes who keeps the forums for niches going. There are still some out there for certain topics but most have died out, the bodybuilding.com forums shut down not long ago that was a big nail in the coffin of what was left

What’s the deal with the protection package? What does it do to protect against bots and password hackers? Is it that much of a rampant problem?

Sometimes money spent on things we love is the best money spent even if it may seem silly in a way and if this is your muse then that’s awesome that it brings you joy as it seems to bring to many others


On a side note, I sort of dislike how Reddit killed forums, irc, and a majority of the internet being a widespread place. Instead it’s now all congested into one single space of high policing

Sadly these days these days too much incentive to sell out and monetize digital spaces, that's why just about every fucking would-be influencer hocks affiliate links instead of supporting independent snowboard shops, and every digital platform of note undergoes enshittification

The only real cures I've found are communities that are too small to be monetizatable or run by someone who doesn't care about making money... both of which are the case here.

Speaking of Reddit and enshittification, I watched that place go to shit over the past few years. Mentioned this here previously, but I used to be the mod for /r/snowboarding for a few years. I had fun and enjoy some of that time, but even when I liked Reddit that place was too big, mostly populated by normies with the critical thinking skills and snowboarding insight of a fucking rock. So even with 1+ million subscribers, I had orders of magnitude fewer meaningful opportunities to learn and have fun social interactions than I do on EZL.

That was in the GOOD times too, in the past ~5 years Reddit broadly, in addition to the snowboarding sub, has gone to shit. They made a bunch of changes leading up to the IPO in the product itself and external search partnership with Google... they about 3x'd traffic in 3 years from 330 million monthly MAU to 1+ billion in 2023 (source). That kind of growth at that kind of scale inevitably has a dilutive effect, because you don't get hundreds of millions more users without introducing a fuck ton of dumb-dumbs.

So by the time I quit as a mod (for other reasons), I already wasn't really enjoying spending time on there.

[kimchi]

Shifting over to more positive vibes, I really do love EZL and hope we get a chance to do a proper Meat Up someday. I migrated over here from Sierra Snowboards circa 2010 or 2011 or so. Honestly didn't really care for it at first, but eventually just got sucked into the community and vibe well with the current cast of characters. Small group by high insight per poster.

In addition to a bunch of fun online bullshit, I've met a few other EZL-ers and this place has unlocked a bunch of core IRL riding memories for me over the years.

• Set me up a @Krazylegz1485 and gave me a riding buddy while I was in grad school at Minnesota.
• I went on a Mt. Bohemia trip with some randos (whose names escape me) circa 2010 during an all-time storm cycle. That's still on of my favorite trips ever, in Michigan of all places.
• Romping around Hakuba with @Supra and Matt P. (not sure if he's on this version).
• Met @bboytommy when he moved to SF 10+ years ago and road tripped to Mammoth to meet up with some of his buddies. Ran laps through the park which was mega fun with a good crew with flow who could call keep up.
• @pow_hnd showing me around Snowbasin while I was in Utah, and then few years later invited me on a trip to Baldface-- said no multiple times but he finally got on like the third attempt lol.

Hopefully this list goes longer in coming years!

[nitro909]

Jumping on the bandwagon of the EZL love. I pretty much never post but always lurk. Came here from the BMB days and didnt even realize there were so many iterations of EZ. Tried the Sierra/Snowboard Forum (maybe the same thing, cant even remember anymore) and was a constant part of Teh Mt High Forum, I think @bboytommy was part of that too. The couple FB groups were cool, but also had a lot of sensitive people there, plus Ive only logged into FB about once in the past 5 years.
EZ is tech and nerdy and gets pix/info out quicker than anyone would expect and keeps me excited for the next season before the current one even starts. Thanks to all who regularly contribute and stoke the flames of the stoke.

[ad1105]

You’re all rad. I’ve enjoyed every iteration of the site. Kinda neat how it just kept coming back to life. I appreciate the efforts of everyone who’s put in the time/money. I’ll pay it forward somehow.

[Spenser]

EL is all I can handle - but it's not something that needs to be handled. It's an easy home. I came from BMB, which was my first snow forum. Dabbled on sierra after EL started. It was goofy... closest thing I can liken the "vibe" to is braille/revive in skateboarding. But that said, good people overall, and they gave you free shit for hitting post numbers, hah. I met Zoe there, and she's still one of my best friends for life. Can't do SBF, and I don't reddit.

Any combo or number of people from EL could get together, and I think it would always work. But... first rule of EL gatherings is we don't talk about stepon.