stars, no-stars, stink-bombs

I am kind of new to this site of wasted time, and I thouroughly enjoy it. My question, however, is: Why does everyone give every route on here 3 or 4 stars? Come on people I like to see stink bombs, I even like climbing routes that are no-star stink bombs. Just an observation. How am I to find stinker routes if no one gives an honest opinion?

Doesn't help much with the sorting routes process, but I think the beta comments are a big help to really get the gist of a route.

I think in general, most people like to post routes tht they actually do (that's a good thing) and most people enjoy climbing (another good thing) and don't go chasing no-star routes. However, there are certainly no start routes getting posted (the stink-bomb) more as a warning than to give good beta.
But they are rare. I mean, how many routes do you have to climb before you encounter one that was so bad you'd have rather stayed home and weeded the garden?
They are, however, out there:
mountainproject.com/v/color…
mountainproject.com/v/color…
etc...

Likewise, 4* classics should be rare. You can click on a person's profile of contributions or stars or whatever to see where their 'center of gravity' is for ratings. In theory, it should be 2-3 stars, I suppose.

PS- Nate, I noted you gave the Megamahedral 4 stars... I gave it 2. (*grin*)

Tony,

"thirteen words for choss" I love it. I may have to make a road trip just for this route. That may be one of the best route names I've ever heard. I happen to love climbing choss and I wish there were more routes like this one. Really, I'm not joshing. Tell Jason thanks as well.

There is a group of climbers in Salt Lake that go out for a "no-stars" evening outing once a week. If I still lived there (it has been 12 years since), I would for sure try to join this group.

Opinions are like a-holes... you know the rest. I guess I like wide sandstone climbing a little too much, ie Megamahedral... thanks for the stink bombs

sometimes when you give somebody's bolted road-cut abortion(s) a bomb, they get really upset and start thread stalking you, eh MGM?

Slim,

If you gave a stink bomb to a piece of rock that I put fixed anchors on, I would take it as a badge of honor. Keep on stink bombing.

here is a route called "no stars"

mountainproject.com/v/arizo…;

There is a comment on the page "If it is a bomb, why did you bother to put it up?"

I say, right on, junky routes are awesome.

I tend rate heavily in the 3-4 star range. I think this is because I like to climb good routes, so I actively seek out good routes to climb. When I go to a new crag, I have a list of all of the best routes (according to whatever my sources are; usually MP.com & the guidebook).

I'm not afraid to give poor ratings, but unless you climb at CCC a lot, most routes are "good" (2-stars by definition) and worth repeating. Some routes I don't really enjoy (because of style, or level of challenge), but that's different than saying a climb is bad. I try to be objective in that sense when providing a quality rating.

Mono,

I was a little harsh in the initial posting, maybe pointing fingers and claiming dishonest opinoins was a little off, sorry all.

Nate

I checked my "stars" contributions...

Pages 104-106... Nothing but bombs (and the bottom of P103 too).
Lots of no-good-for-nothin' stuff for you to pursue there!

I am in no way offended. I think its a worthy topic. In fact, to show what a huge nerd I am, I looked at my own star-rating stats:

127 routes 4****
132 routes 3***
95 routes 2**
31 routes 1*
1 route 0* (stink bomb)

I was a bit surprised. I thought that 4*'s would have been the leader by far. I guess I'm less generous than I realized.

Another thought, I only offer star ratings on a small percentage of the routes I climb. If I feel strongly one way or another, then I give a rating. Or, if my opinion varies greatly from the consensus (I don't see the point in being the 17th person to give a route 2 stars). I suspect that sways the data some way.

here's some sweet stinkers:

Searching for Sluts
mountainproject.com/v/utah/…

Super Senior
mountainproject.com/v/utah/…

Mono, I checked my star contributions, most of them are for routes I've put up, a few I did not. I have proven that humans are like mirrors when pointing fingers and I have given more 4-stars than any other!!! GUILTY.

Here is a breakdown:

4-stars 9
3-stars 3
2-stars 3
1-stars 0
stinker 4

Tony B wrote:I checked my "stars" contributions... Pages 104-106...

Monomaniac wrote:to show what a huge nerd I am, I looked at my own star-rating stats: 127 routes

Nate Brown wrote:I checked my star contributions, most of them are for routes I've put up, a few I did not.

Navel gazing goes high tech! Thanks. I don't feel so uniquely neurotic about my MP addiction!

Here's my breakdown, out of 157 total stars:

4 stars: 11 (fewer than I thought)
3 stars: 45
2 stars: 70
1 star: 29
Bomb: 2 (both were routes that I put up)

Even the bomb routes I thought were worth doing. I just can't recommend them to other people unless they too are into choss diving. I can only think of one route I've done that I would actively discourage people from climbing, but that route isn't on MP yet, so...

-Tristan

Of 444 routes I have only given 47 four stars. Four stars is means the best of the best. If you are on a road trip don't miss this climb. If you give them out like Halloween candy they have less meaning. I know a route deserves four stars if I want to climb it again and again.

Bombs are rare from me as I love to climb and if all there was to climb was choss I would be climbing it. I have also climbed for thirty years and I know the difference between a pile and a classic. Hey mono there is a route at enchanted that is a star up from a bomb. Ha Ha.

Last time I gave a route a bomb I got nasty emails telling me how much he liked the route and maybe I just suck at climbing. Which of course only inspires me to drop more bombs, but I haven't been climbing many places within the database lately.

I'm usually sparing with 4 stars, although when climbing foreign and exotic places it's much easier to give it top ratings. I totally agree though, people over-star routes. But it's much like anything - like difficulty ratings. Ask 100 people and you'll get the full gambit. I've climbed routes I thought were 4 out of 5 stars only to see people dropping bomz on them. People are free to their opinions, but those opinions are often swayed, sometimes heavily, by their performance on it. If they get shut down it gets downgraded. If they onsight a soft route at a high grade for them, then obviously it's a 4 star route.

Nate:
If you are ever in Eldo try anything on the Rotwand Wall. I never have for good reason(s).

Ryan:
I agree with your opinion. I myself could never figure out why some classics are rated so high.

Ryan Kelly wrote: If they onsight a soft route at a high grade for them, then obviously it's a 4 star route.

Amen!

i really wish MP had switched to a 5 star system instead of a 4 star system. with the 4 star system, it is kind of hard to tell how many stars to give an average route. also, it is kind of hard to tell whether to give a really good route 3 or 4 stars. on a 5 star scale, for me, a full 150' or more of sustained climbing on good rock would get 5 stars. for example, meathooks, mondo, sinestra, etc at indian creek.

Nate are you Causing Mayhem on mountainproject. Good to see you daddyo.

slim wrote:i really wish MP had switched to a 5 star system instead of a 4 star system.

You work for Gillette, don't you?