I think I have reached my limit reading someone's route description which describes cracks as if we all have the same rack. The straw that broke the camalot's back was this

"The chimney quickly shrinks to #5's, then #4's, then #3's... "

but it could have been anyone.

For god's sake, if you have the time to write this stuff up, tell us what #3 or .75 or whatever means to you! There must be a solid dozen brands of camming unit in common use...

End rant. Thanks.

Pretty standard way to describe cracks besides the generic "fist, thin hands, etc".

Camalots bro

Or is is still Friends sizing? (though I've not placed a Friend in at least a decade)

It says it all right here:

The "gold standard"... Submitted By: Dylan Weldin on Apr 5, 2012

A little bit of German. Alex: Die risse sind 25 cm. Thomas: Shiesse!! ich hab keine Big Bros.

Look. We live in a world of lazy ass no gooders. Thought is painful for all too many. A good route description would tell you the size of the crack (in inches perhaps). Then, it is up to you to decide the appropriate gear.

With the advent of the interweb, any yahoo can write a route description with little thought and with the beta spewing, ego minded, I really know my shit dork that thinks he knows what gear you need.

Stewart Green is a great example of the contrary. He writes his guides with basic info, he mentions if some special gear is necessary, but he leaves plenty for you to figure out. Thanks Stewart.

Today's interweb author practically tries to climb the effen route for you. Settle down Mr Ego. We know you climbed it. Leave some shit for us to figure out.

IMO, I good guide author will get me to the route.
Give a sense of difficulty.
Give a sense if unusual gear is needed.

The rest is up to me.

^^^^ exactly

Those are big bro sizes - duh.

Now if it says "The tips crack quickly shrinks to #5s, then #4s, then #3s..." then you can wonder if they are talking about RPs, BD micros, or HB offset micros...

Unless someone says Friend, they are talking about Camalots.

Rob - I have fixed the route description you are referring to. But since, you got to rant about it, I get to rant as well:

- A PM pointing out the oversight would have been nice - I did write it yesterday. Writing a 12 pitch description from memory and a few photos isn't the easiest thing in the world, but I'm glad you chose this way to address my error. Thanks pal!

- The page clearly says "this is a brief rundown, consult the refugio topo for more detailed info".

- Lastly, if you are planning to visit that part of the world, it gets even worse. Locals use the word "friends" as a generic noun meaning "cam", so a "#2 friend" could actually mean the new gold camalots, or a #2 wild country friend, or basically anything for that matter.

I thought it was West Coast: Friends
East Coast: Camalots....
Awesome looking route though, good on fixing it.

......and to add a small rant...... The size change that BD did on their cams drive me crazy. I know exactly what a 3.5, 4 or 4.5 crack is...... But now I have to mentally change..... Plus if for example i am told I 'need' a #5 for the anchor, is that a new or old #5......
Sigh.......such a dilemma......

:-)

cjdrover, don't take it personally! You just happened to be there and you are clearly conscientious, as you actually took the time to adjust a route description to meet some random stranger's criteria. And that route looks amazing.

My real gripe about locals in that part of the world has more to do with the incredibly chintzy tat inhabiting descent anchors...at least that was the case the last time I was down there, which has been long enough that I won't embarrass myself by naming the date.

But seriously--how much time does it take to type 'C4' or 'F' or whatever after that #4? A website that aspires to be the Beta Site of Record oughta have standards. I shouldn't have to be PMing folks, it should be an expectation.

Now back to turbotax.

"Sizes in camalots: 2 each #3,4 and 5. A # 3.5 and #4.0 friend might be good alternatives."


See? Now how hard was that?