The total power of the Internet as a tool to communicate and build a feeling of community is just being realized by many, and recently a few veterans of the outdoor industry teamed together to use the Internet for this very purpose. ThePiton.com was launched in June of 2004 as an anonymous source of news, humor, and rumors for the outdoor industry.
According to the site, the content of the site is “written by a constantly changing and anonymous group of authors that could be retailers, designers, manufacturers, or sales reps (but definitely not journalists)…Most importantly The Piton is meant to be fun and not taken very seriously.”

The site is run much like other industry sites such as SkateboardingSucks.com, and SackLunch.com. It is similar to a blog but with no usernames, and all submissions seem to go through an editing process. Topics range from the future of the media to “lab” testing to K2’s growth strategy.

It seems word is spreading quickly about ThePiton.com. The mysterious names behind site have gone through a good deal of effort to keep their identities concealed, and for good reason too, the anonymity is one of the key factors that allows the honest and oftentimes irreverent style.

>>> A welcome addition to the industry dialog. A covert rebellion from within to shake things up and remind us that we are supposed to be having fun… And not take ourselves so damn seriously…