The Gap That Exists Now
Over time, Unofficial Squaw became Unofficial Networks. In the relentless pursuit of clicks, it swallowed up our neighbors at Unofficial Alpine (still alive and now independent), expanded into other mountain towns, and tried to scale the vibe. Drama followed. People got burned. And eventually, Unofficial Networks turned into the clickbait farm it is today: poorly written slop, generic headlines, and content built for broken-brain social media engagement.
Everything that made Unofficial great disappeared. The inside jokes. The community. The focus on locals and people who actually skied. It sold itself out to the algorithm.
I miss that version. A lot.
The Gap That Exists Now
There’s no great modern home for local stoke.
No reliable place for honest beta, trip reports that actually help you decide on your next mission, behind-the-scenes reality, or gear reviews from people who use the stuff week in and week out.
A lot of today’s ski and mountain bike content falls into two buckets:
- Pros going absolutely massive (which rules, to be clear)
- Influencers in Sprinter vans who spend more time talking about their follower count than skiing or riding (which sucks)
Almost everything is optimized for clicks, not usefulness or mountain culture.
