I don't really want to stir the pot here, but I can't help but notice
the shift in attitude of 8a.nu towards the climbing accomplishments of Dani Andrada since his investment in 8a.nu. I don't know Dani personally and have nothing to say about his climbing, except that he climbs a LOT harder than I do. That being said, I hope his investment in 8a.nu wasn't to have direct influence in its content.
-D
My good! We are not a professional company. I stayed 10 days with Dani and thus I could report what happened in his area. I will go down next week again and I hope I will report some more news. I guess this is better than just sitting on my ace in bad weather doing nothing in Sweden.
let us suppose for a second there is an investorial conspiracy at hand. what would be the net gain for Dani Andrada? he doesn't need help to be more visible on the scene as he is already one of the most well known climbers on the planet. and his climbing accomplishments certainly don't need an injection of capital to make them outstanding. he most likely invested for the same reason everybody invests: to be part of something they find worth their time and money. in addition (and alot of people seem to miss this point) 8a is not a professional news reporting agency for difficult climbing. alot of their content comes by way of serendipity (someone told them, they were somewhere, they noticed a trend), which makes any sort of fair and balanced reporting nearly impossible. so it seems we should expect a single-person or single-area spike in coverage from time to time without assuming some dark and evil force has infiltrated the virtuous sanctity of scoring hard climbs. -t
"He most likely invested for the same reason everybody invests: to be part of something they find worth their time and money." The number one reason why I and others 'invest' time and money is surely for the fun of it. I Do think that everybody enjoy being part of something that is supporting the climbing community. All the 800 000 registered ascents is helping the community to choose the best routes etc. We are not interesting to have share holders who are in it for financial investment reasons! As soon as we make money, we will start sponsoring youngsters etc.
when i said "invests time and money" I meant to
add "in climbing". i certainly wouldn't want to paint anyone
who adds to the climbing community (by equipping routes, pushing difficulty standards, or offering online content) as some sort of rapacious capitalist "investor". clearly the motives behind climbing 'investment' are radically different than those of a stock broker. that is, i certainly don't expect a monetary 'return' on a roadtrip to Hueco any more than a youth coach expects a 6 digit salary. being passionate about climbing goes well beyond getting rich.
Investors in good standing.