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[at-l] thruhiking lists

At 09:19 PM 5/8/98 -0400, you wrote:
>But that changed when at98 came on line.  The class of 98 withdrew into
at98 - and experienced thruhikers weren't welcome.  It drew the
>prospective thruhikers - and the excitement that they bring with them  
>off the other lists.  So at-l and atml were no longer thruhiking lists
because they had lost their raison d'etre - the new thruhikers.  And they
lost most of the "thruhiking" conversation.

Not so. Most of the AT98 people were on both ATML and AT-L. As I said
before, about 200 of them came by to say how much they had enjoyed having
the AT98 list where they could just be prospective thru-hikers together, to
share their excitement, fears, joys, and everything else with each other
without having to be subjected to the scrutiny of past thru-hikers. In view
of Jim Owen's attitude toward the AT98 list, which has previously been
voiced here, I asked all of the AT98 members if they were on the larger
lists as well as on AT98. Almost all said they were. The vast majority said
they had asked what they wanted to ask on ATML and AT-L and had found
helpful answers. They also added that they felt more at ease with their
peers (i.e., other "novice" thru-hikers getting ready to thru-hike this
year) for some of their discussion, and I see nothing wrong with that.
That's why there will be an AT99 list soon (you can email me privately for
details if you are interested). We past thru-hikers don't own the new
folks. We offer services (information, advice, etc.) when they ask for it,
but I think we allow them to get ready for their hike the way THEY prefer.
Both ATML and AT-L are open to all kinds of hikers, and the discussions
that follow will reflect that mix. I don't see anything wrong with that,
either. In fact, I think that is healthy for the AT hiking community!--Wingfoot

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