I'm not sad. I'm just not. There is no "why". I'm just not all that upset, sad, grieving or feeling the loss. Maybe I will admit to a little bit of "good riddance."
I joined Epicski in 2011. I was mending from a tib-fib spiral fracture and missing out on all the fun of the epic (yes, ironic) 2011 La Niña that year. I was planning all kinds of trip ideas, trying to stay excited and motivated, and some Goggle searches directed me to Epicski. So.....
.....fast forward to a few more years, a few Gatherings, a few local meetups with people passing through....
...and then the whole MTN purchase, and the events leading to the creation of Pugski. Since then I have been on Pugski way more than I was on Epicski, and almost annoyed I felt compelled to keep checking Epicski for new posts to threads I'd been subscribed. I kept trying to get that down to none, and always thwarted. Now, I am relieved of that obsessive burden.
Also, I'm just not that sentimental. Yes there were lots of informative threads, and silly threads, and lots worth remembering, and archived information, which I almost never bothered with.
And there it is. The archived threads were never as important to me as what is/was happening in the now.
Moving forward, there is still a great place (here) to post questions, support friends through agonizing decisions of which ski to buy or where to go that (the significant other of your choice) would like, and various tales of injury, woe and recovery.
There are still Gatherings.
So I have to ask myself, what have I really lost, with the 404'ing of Epicski? Not a thing.
Maybe I'm a minority report kind of person, but the only thing that was lost was the emotional attachment to "what was."
What is gained is a renewed focus on "what is" and "what comes next."
I mean no disrespect for those that feel the loss of an important part of their digital lives. But that's my point. It's a digital life, not a real life. There is quite a lot of research, for example, that people who spend time online with social media friends to the exclusion of time with IRL friends, typically end up more isolated and with poor emotional and physical health. OTOH, use of social media to aid in organizing and arranging IRL enhances wellness.
I think what I'm trying to say is: the people are more important than the site. So be helpful, be kind and generous, be great, be important. The old site is nothing compared to the capacity each of us have to grow.