1.00 - Welcome, Disclaimers, and Rules

Welcome to rec.skiing.snowboard. This newsgroup is a forum for the discussion of snowboarding and related topics. If you're new to the net, or even just new to rec.skiing.snowboard please take a couple of minutes to read the FAQ... it will save you a lot of grief in the long run!

If you're completely new to newsgroups, then please be aware that these groups are not owned nor run by the likes of Google, Yahoo or Microsoft. Newsgroups are simply part of the Internet in the same way that e-mail or the World Wide Web is. There are many ways of accessing these groups and one of them may be through the web pages of your favourite search engine. However, for a much faster newsgroup experience look for a newsgroup reader or client such as Agent, Gravity, Outlook, Xananews, Xnews, etc.

Here are a few rules of thumb that will help you get around in rec.skiing.snowboard (and even some other places) without firmly inserting your foot in your mouth.

• Please quote the article that you're replying to but don't quote the entire article. Only quote what is necessary in order to make your point clear. Anytime you are quoting more than you're writing you should ask yourself why. However, please quote something as not everyone is using the same interface as you and perhaps doesn't have access to the post that you're replying to. Therefore they may not have a clue what you're writing about.

• Don't top post. This is where your comments go at the top of the stuff you are quoting. Not everyone reads every message in a thread, and if they try to catch up by reading only your message, having it flow from top to bottom greatly aids this. Top posting seems to be common because that's how programs like Outlook Express work by default - because it's broke. It can be fixed! Search Google for OE quotefix.

• Avoid long signature files. These are the bits at the end of your message and should be preceeded by a "-- " (dash dash space newline). They may look cool the first time you see one but they get real old real quick. If your news reader is any good it will automatically strip out someones signature if they formatted it properly in the first place. The OE Quotefix is supposed to fix this as well.

• Do not post binaries. For example, photos of you dropping 40ft cliffs or swooping powder turns and helicopters. Some people still pay for metered access, and your 60K JPEG isn't going to please them. Also, some ISPs may drop newsgroups that carry binary content. If you want to share your photos, get a free web site, and post the URL to your site.

And you're probably better off if you avoid telling everybody what a radical snowboarder you are.

rec.skiing.snowboard is populated by some "unique" individuals. You'll notice a lot of people making fun of various ski areas, various techniques, and various other people. Don't go taking all of this seriously! For the most part there are a lot of tongues firmly inserted in cheeks.

There will be flame wars from time to time. Try not to take these too seriously either; they rarely get hot enough to actually melt the snow.

Try to avoid cross posting something to rec.skiing.alpine. Invariably comments about how skiers/boarders/bladers/snowmobilers suck simply degenerate into an endless thread, arguing about points that no-one is going to win. It's best to let these die. Having a news reader that allows you to filter this stuff out greatly aids your quest for a stress free life.

Some other groups that you might find interesting are:-

rec.skiing.announce	Moderated group for general rec.skiing stuff
rec.skiing.alpine	Medium/high volume group with many heated debates
rec.skiing.nordic
rec.skiing.backcountry	Backcountry routes, conditions and equipment (mainly US based)
rec.skiing.resorts.europe	Where to go, what to do in European resorts (mainly UK contibutors)
rec.skiing.resorts.north-america	Low volume about resorts in USA/Canada
rec.skiing.resorts.misc
rec.skiing.marketplace	For Sale ads, etc.