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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Mar 11, 2007 - 01:13pm PT
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Timmy is a genius and destiny will take care of him!
He can be America's answer to Borat!
Sorry Bro, I'm a Californian and don't have any to recycle
peace
karl
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Transplant
climber
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Mar 11, 2007 - 03:37pm PT
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" In response to JLP.
Mountain Hardware is now owned by Columbia. Has anyone noticed a change in the MH's quality, products, or direction? "
Actually - Mountain Hardware is till pure - MONTRAIL is now owned by Columbia.
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roslyn
Trad climber
washington
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Mar 11, 2007 - 04:25pm PT
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nope, mountain hardwear is owned by columbia.........check their home page info
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Transplant
climber
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Mar 11, 2007 - 06:38pm PT
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ooops, my mistake - I just checked - Guess my first post should have said Columbia owns Montrail, as well as MH.
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Ventura
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Mar 11, 2007 - 06:44pm PT
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patagonia has been there yet loosing gear makes me sad!
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Chico
Trad climber
Mt. Shasta, CA
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Mar 11, 2007 - 06:53pm PT
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hirigger,
I call BS. This has to go down as one of the top 5 best trolls of ST history. Not as good as retro-bolting the Bachar-Yearian route, but good. I call BS for a couple of reasons. 1) Patagonia still needs their ambassadors to test their clothing, why would they get rid of them? 2) Go to any Patagonia store and ask an employee about what they know (sound of crickets) nothing, because it didn't happen. The store managers at the very least would have been notified. 3)why would they get rid of just the rock climbing ambassadors, and not alpine, surf, endurance,or paddling? Could they really can Lynn Hill or Ron Kauk? Doubtfull. If they stuck by Dean through all the Delecate Arch stuff, then why fire him now? 4) That is just not the way Patagonia does bussiness. They could easily cut funding from some other area and keep the ambassadors.
Very clever, well delivered, but fake nonetheless. It's funny though, some people really went after eachother here. Any excuse to rip on someone else I guess...
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Mar 11, 2007 - 08:17pm PT
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Chico,
What doo you mean when you say "could they really can Lynn Hill or Ron Kauk? Are they protected? Patagonia can can whomever they please. While I have some respect for Hill and Kauk I hardly think anyone in the adventure sport arena is entitled to anything. You dont need big name climbers to field test gear. There are plenty of "no names" who push the limits of sport everyday who walk back into work on Monday morning without a word hint that they are on the leading edge of they're chosen sport. I would much rather see pictures and stories in the Patagonia catalog from average joe adventurers than "sponsored dirtbags".
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Chico
Trad climber
Mt. Shasta, CA
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Mar 11, 2007 - 09:22pm PT
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I mean that they are great ambassadors for the company and the sport, and they share the core values of Patagonia. Could they really can them for no major reason? I get what you are saying. They could bring back the dayglow uni-suit if they wanted. They can do whatever they want. It would just be an exceedingly bad move.
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Chico
Trad climber
Mt. Shasta, CA
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Mar 11, 2007 - 11:15pm PT
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Batrock,
I thought about the other part of your post on a bike ride today. You are probably right, high profile climbers are good for PR, but who will really find out if gear is good or not? Celebrity climbers like Lynn and Ron? Mmmm, maybe. Nah, I think it's got to be the total dirtbag no-name climber who shuts up and puts up and really needs his/her gear to last for 20 years b/c they continually quit their job to go climbing, or are likely to thrash their gear in some hellacious epic, which seems unlikely for Ron and Lynn. So by this logic, the best gear testers are either transient construction workers, or Brits. There you go, Make all Brits gear testers, and you are guaranteed gear that will last through the crappiest weather possible on the planet.
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hossjulia
Trad climber
Eastside
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Mar 11, 2007 - 11:20pm PT
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well hell, I think I'll just call Kauk and ask him!
but this IS a great troll!
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Mar 11, 2007 - 11:38pm PT
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oh yeah baby, had me goin'!!!!
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Hawkeye
climber
State of Mine
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Mar 11, 2007 - 11:40pm PT
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chico you have touched on a couple good things here.
first of all, rock climbers are gona help patagonia sell what? maybe some t-shirts, sports bra, capilene undies?
meanwhile a guy like steve house needs teh ebst alpine gear available.
and dean? wtf did he help sell. a t shirt?
werner already said he bought a perfectly acceptable tshirt for 2 bucks...
fact is, patagonia is not well represented by most fairweather rock climbers. at least if i were in charge of the palce, i would be careful about sponsorship of guys like that.
the next question is obvious. how many of you are gonna throw down the bucks for patagonia at full price? last time i bought that it was at an outlet. my guess is the full price clientele probably dont know lynn hill and ron kauk. hell you think they know who timmy F is? christ I hardly know why i ought to be impressed with him cuz i dont watch the climbing vids and am not into the scene...
not didin on anyone, but clearly, patagonia's full price clientele is not your average climber...
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johnhayes
Trad climber
seattle
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Mar 12, 2007 - 01:07am PT
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potter soloed fitzroy twice and cerro torre and did a oneday on torre egger, in a tshirt? i;ll buy one, hell---i'll buy two
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Chico
Trad climber
Mt. Shasta, CA
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Mar 12, 2007 - 01:08am PT
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Hawkeye,
I couldn't agree with you more. But I gotta tell you man, I'm torn...I'm totally f-ing torn, 'cause I want to support a business that has some scruples about their enviro impact, but if you look at the best photos of Dean in their catalog, he is wearing cut-off jeans, not fancy DWR soaked stretchy Man-pris, and there is something profoundly phony about that.
If you go to their web site and read about Steve and Vince's climb of the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat, you see exactly what they wore, and just have to say Damn! Those guys F'n' rocked it! At that point, it is totally worth it to throw down the cash for the clutch items. The rock climbing Ambassadors don't sell jack that anybody else isn't making. But, they do give good PR. You know, kiss a few hands, shake a few babies. Oops, other way around. It looks good, and feels good, and those that can will buy...full retail, and so the game is played, A fool and his money... I still think this is a troll though. The proof is in the puddin'. I'll belive it when I see it.
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johnhayes
Trad climber
seattle
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Mar 12, 2007 - 01:12am PT
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dont they make jeans? dont really want to see potter in man-pris.
that catalog with steve house talking about steve house wasn't so good. good climb on nanga parbat though. maybe potter would get more alpine pix for the catalog if he wasn't on free solo.
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Blowboarder
Boulder climber
Back in the mix
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Mar 12, 2007 - 01:33am PT
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Man, I wish I could chime in on this thread, but then I'd have to burn my source...and we go way back.
Feck, hate not spraying when the spew is full of dirty dank nastiness regarding our "heroes".
And true.
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Tahoe climber
Trad climber
a dark-green forester out west
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Mar 12, 2007 - 03:49pm PT
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Okay - I have to chime in on this on a couple of levels.
1) In all probability, this is a troll. But it's worth discussing.
2) Why do you suppose companies sponsor athletes? I'm a little tired of ST posters indignantly saying it's just for advertising and selling gear and making money (*gasp!*), like that's some sort of revelation, and a sin, besides.
No sh#t.
That's the stated purpose for sponsoring an athlete - are you kidding me? - it's not some top secret strategy.
And besides, how much environmental impact could Patagonia have if it didn't make a significant amount of money? Get real, man.
3)And it's not about "testing" the gear, either. The tests are done, man. That's why the gear is now for sale. The Pro-Deal program is their testing market - along with customer feedback - and they'll take ideas to better the gear and put out new stuff next year. Like every other company - including Mountain Hardwear, which, by the way, has been owned by Columbia for years - it's not like that happened last night, for Christ's sake. MH still makes badass gear - Columbia knows to leave their design and manufacturing processes alone - that's why they bought MH - cause it's a good company.
4) Also tired of punks whining about the prices of Patagonia gear. Are you really too dense to realize how much longer Patagonia clothing lasts when compared to most other clothing labels? You buy one pair of Pat pants and they outlast like 5 pair of your other brands - and are more comfy for outdoor sh#t, too. Are you kidding me? The cost, if anything, is actually significantly less, 'cause you don't have to replace it every season. Which falls under their stated policy of living simply and doing more with less. Besides, with the purchase price you buy the best customer service in the outdoor industry. Are you really going to try to tell me that you don't know that? Bunch of whiny babies.
5) And what do you suppose these guys were getting and are loosing? I seriously doubt that Patagucci was footing the whole bill for them to survive. If anything, clothing and maybe some travel costs is all you get in that business. So it's not like they're losing their livelihoods. And if Pat feels that they're not selling enough gear (ROI), then they're perfectly within their rights to get rid of 'em - with or without ceremony - and find the athletes that people look up enough to to emulate them. That's the one and only reason for sponsorship - and rightfully so - to promote and sell a brand, a product, and a philosophy. That's how it works - it's not charity.
Okay, rant over.
-Aaron
ps: I look up to almost all of the rock ambassadors that patagonia now has - particularly Ron, Lynne and Katie - and the previous rant is not to malign any of them. But if they no longer fit, what's the point of keeping them on? That goes for any job.
pss: I still think the whole damn thing is a troll.
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Mar 12, 2007 - 05:07pm PT
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AC, Whitey, I used to hang out with David Yerian back around 1975-76. If you see him say hello to him for me please.
Cheers
Patrick
PS
And Ron is one of the nicest top climbers I have met. He always had time to chat with me. The last time I ran into him was ice climbing in Lee Vining Canyon back in 1985. A good dude.
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Mar 12, 2007 - 05:26pm PT
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I heard those ambassadors were executed, any confirmation on this point?
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