via Earn Your Turns

SierraDescents is affected by these regulations (practically every website is). At first, I was annoyed by these new rules, which will mean a bit of work on my end for compliance. But, as I’ve had time to think things over, I’m starting to believe the rules are for the better. Ironically it was an experience I had recently looking for objective reviews of a new dental product that crystalized my opinion. I realize that a great many reviews on the ‘net are little more than paid advertisements masquerading as editorial content. If the FTC rules help clean up the trash, I’m all for it. As for my disclosures, here goes:

SierraDescents gets gear for review in several ways. The first and easiest is I just buy it from REI or A16 or Amazon or whoever. I pay using my own (aka my wife’s) money, and I don’t get any special treatment or discount. In the FTC’s eyes, no hidden relationship exists, and no disclosure is necessary. Scenario 2 is that I occasionally get gear at a discount. This includes Professional Pricing accounts from gear manufacturers, and courtesy discounts from merchants who advertise on my site. If you’re curious, these discounts typically run around 35% off full retail: good but not great. The FTC hasn’t really issued specific guidance in this ‘discount’ case. Are we supposed to disclose it or not? Probably, given that there is a relationship in place.

SierraDescents also writes letters, letters, letters to gear manufacturers begging for review samples. Most of these go unanswered (TNF, I’m talking about you!), but occasionally companies agree to send gear free of cost. The downside is that they usually want their samples back—and the brutes often even make me pay return shipping! But…sometimes, they let me keep things for free. Or I forget to send them back (sorry, Cascade Designs!). I’ve found that I do feel the temptation to be a little nicer to companies who send me things for free, but I am also fairly crusty by nature, and I always take my job as an objective critic very seriously.

Finally, SierraDescents also negotiates gear-for-advertising deals (specifically with Backcountry.com). I’ve used these arrangements to greatly expand my ability to review gear, and to be honest I’ve never felt any pressure from Backcountry to write unduly favorable reviews.

To comply with the new FTC regulations, as I add new product reviews I will be trying to include a disclosure tag explaining where the gear came from. I’ll also be working backward through my existing reviews to add disclosure notices, though that is going to take some time. The ultimate effect of this, I think, is that I won’t feel any temptation to sugar-coat a review. If you know I’m getting something for free, and I say only, ‘best such-and-such ever’, that would look a little fishy, wouldn’t it? So on balance, I’m all for the new rules. I hope they have a positive effect on my work, and more importantly on the quality of reviews you’ll find on other websites.

One final disclosure: SierraDescents earns the bulk of its income (such as it is) from affiliate-channel advertising on gear review pages. The FTC is silent on this subject, though you’d think this would be one of the more obvious potential conflicts of interest. Affiliate ads are the merchant/price text links you see on all my gear pages, like here.

If you happen to click one of these links to view a product and then make a purchase in about 30 days or less from that merchant, SierraDescents gets a commission (typically 5-10%) on the sale. Interestingly, most of the sales generated via these links come not on the actual product under review, but for something else, which does lessen the temptation to hype a product to try to sell it. For those of you interested in helping support the site, by the way, making purchases via my affiliate links (found on review pages only) is a very easy way to contribute. Note that these commissions come from the merchant’s advertising budget—they are not surcharges—so you are always getting the best price available at that merchant.

I think of the affiliate model as just a more efficient form of traditional advertising, though many cash-desperate state legislatures are trying to make the case that affiliate-driven sales constitute a taxable event in which publishers are acting as an in-state sales force. This remains a hotly contested issue, as States do have a legitimate beef with the way online retailers get to avoid paying sales tax.

Anyhow, that’s it for my confessions. If what I’ve described here is news to you, this is probably how most of the other small websites you regularly visit operate. I know I’ve heard rumors of bloggers making six-digit salaries and getting a wild array of free products, but that’s not the case here. I do remain hopeful that someday my poor wife will be able to quit her soul-crushing civil service job in a windowless office in the bowels of Santa Monica. Until then, well, I’ll just have to keep skiing.

I think I’ll leave the pink pages up here on the home page for a while longer. Last night was our daughter’s first night home. She would cry and I did my best to get her back to sleep. Then our son would start crying in his room, so I’d go there and calm him down. Then I’d get back in bed and our daughter would cry again. And back and forth. Maybe I should rekindle my old “this is good training for Williamson” mantra.

Speaking of Williamson, since I’m going to be on climbing hiatus for July (most likely), I’m thinking of trying to do a write up a trip I did two years ago up the West Face in June. I got a lot of good photos from that, but never got around to writing about the hike. Doing Williamson via Shepherd Pass and the West Face is a great step up from Whitney’s Mountaineer’s Route, if you’re looking for a next-big-trip kind of progression.

For now, there will be a lot more diapers than dihedrals in my immediate future, so please forgive me if updates are a little sparse. I am tossing in some new gear reviews here and there, but if you’re like me, you’ll want a little more meat with your content. Happy 4th of July everyone!

These values were sold from July 10 through September 9, 2008, though I would expect you can still find them at bargain internet shops or anywhere else where news of the recall hasn’t yet reached. I checked my jetboil stove, which I bought this year: I’ve got the type A valve, which is not affected by the recall.

If you’ve got a stove with the type B valve, first of all, stop using it immediately. Second, visit Jetboil’s website for Recall Information. Jetboil will send you a prepaid box so you can mail in your stove and get a new one direct from the manufacturer (a nice touch – I’ve seen other recalls where you’re forced to go back to your retailer, who may or may not have the item in stock).

I’ve been contending with back pain for much of 2008, beginning with a severe cold last January that had me coughing and sneezing violently for about two weeks, which seemed to injure my back.

Following that, I re-injured my back skiing about two months later.

Throughout the year, my ability to rest and heal was limited, as I was constantly chasing my two-year-old. This November, things took a turn for the worse, so I figured it was time to see a doctor. I was expecting to hear I’d strained some muscle and needed to do some exercises and rest a bit. Instead, I found out I’ve got a herniated disk.

The good news is that surgery is not likely to be necessary. The bulge is mild to moderate, and with a course of medication and PT, may shrink back into place over time, leaving me (ideally) good as new.

I suppose I could think of this as a setback, but actually I think it’s kind of an opportunity: I can write about my back, and my rehab, sharing information to create a real-time, online resource for those of you who struggle with your own low back pain.

Each week, I’ll talk about medications and doctor visits. I’ll write about the newest research on spine injuries, and I’ll document my progress, step by step. I’ll do regular blog posts on the specific exercises and stretches I’m supposed to be doing. In fact, I’ll even create an image library showing photos of my PT exercises so you can try them at home, yourself. I know—I’ll hire sexy models and photograph them wearing Danskin T-back leotards as they demonstrate the exercises!

It’ll be fricking fantastic!!

Ah…who am I kidding? I’m pretty bummed about this. Stay tuned…

Just asking.

In related news, Mountain High has extended their season pass discount offer. You can get a Pass for $349.00.