Post by Admin on Feb 1, 2019 23:09:31 GMT -5
The comparison of MountainProject and guidebooks might be summed up by some as new versus old... but is that really the best way to describe the relationship? MountainProject is new-age, for certain, with a mobile app and interactive website. Guidebooks are older, have been around for longer, and are an older format: printed text. Guidebooks, however, are still around, and thriving. What, then, is the relationship between these two mediums?
For starters, Borsuk states that "writing develops alongside, influences, and is influenced by the technological supports that facilitate its distribution" (3). MountainProject distributes the content previously only available in guidebooks to a wider audience. It's free, it's accessible, it's compact, and it's easy. MountainProject is an innovation to the climbing community that provides the word-of-mouth local updates that would otherwise be unavailable to traveling climbers, or even climbers not overly involved in their local crag community. As Borsuk suggests, MountainProject and guidebooks have developed alongside each other. Where MountainProject provides up-to-date information such as condition of fixed gear or trail maintenance data, guidebooks offer deeper detail on route information, crag history, and sometimes even unpublished routes. This climber was accurate in assessing that many posted routes on MountainProject are stolen, or more aptly, pirated, from guidebooks. MountainProject also may have newly developed routes that are not featured in guidebooks, as guidebooks can only be updated at a certain publication rate, and new ascents are logged with relative frequency.
MountainProject and guidebooks lend themselves well to Gitelman's point that "Comparing and contrasting new media thus stand to offer a view of negotiability in itself" (6). The constant struggle between the two, and many climbers' admission to use a combination of the two, shows the negotiation between the two. Not only are guidebooks and MountainProject seeking to negotiate a space to coexist, but climbers themselves are seeking to negotiate the use and function of both mediums. Whether it be supplemental, preferential, or peripheral, the act of reconciling the two mediums offers an understanding of not only how climbing materials are used, but also the space in which they belong.
MountainProject and guidebooks are most certainly not dead media. They are used and mentioned with frequency, and carve out a shared space among the community. Despite the strong oral culture that exists, they have established themselves as an integral part of the climbing experience (even if that part is not for gaining experience).
For starters, Borsuk states that "writing develops alongside, influences, and is influenced by the technological supports that facilitate its distribution" (3). MountainProject distributes the content previously only available in guidebooks to a wider audience. It's free, it's accessible, it's compact, and it's easy. MountainProject is an innovation to the climbing community that provides the word-of-mouth local updates that would otherwise be unavailable to traveling climbers, or even climbers not overly involved in their local crag community. As Borsuk suggests, MountainProject and guidebooks have developed alongside each other. Where MountainProject provides up-to-date information such as condition of fixed gear or trail maintenance data, guidebooks offer deeper detail on route information, crag history, and sometimes even unpublished routes. This climber was accurate in assessing that many posted routes on MountainProject are stolen, or more aptly, pirated, from guidebooks. MountainProject also may have newly developed routes that are not featured in guidebooks, as guidebooks can only be updated at a certain publication rate, and new ascents are logged with relative frequency.
MountainProject and guidebooks lend themselves well to Gitelman's point that "Comparing and contrasting new media thus stand to offer a view of negotiability in itself" (6). The constant struggle between the two, and many climbers' admission to use a combination of the two, shows the negotiation between the two. Not only are guidebooks and MountainProject seeking to negotiate a space to coexist, but climbers themselves are seeking to negotiate the use and function of both mediums. Whether it be supplemental, preferential, or peripheral, the act of reconciling the two mediums offers an understanding of not only how climbing materials are used, but also the space in which they belong.
MountainProject and guidebooks are most certainly not dead media. They are used and mentioned with frequency, and carve out a shared space among the community. Despite the strong oral culture that exists, they have established themselves as an integral part of the climbing experience (even if that part is not for gaining experience).