Continue with onX Maps
Sign in with Facebook
Developers: What's your most popular route?
|
one of my higher-rated climbs, star-wise https://www.mountainproject.com/route/111084068/welcome-to-the-pleasure-dome comment: "Just stunning! This is a super classic, must-do route. The setting, exposure, rock quality and movement conspire to make the perfect little sport outing. Thank you, FA team!" |
|
It does appear that way, Dave! I’m not sure how that affects the route aside from clogging up the list a bit. Thanks for pointing that out. |
Jay Crew wrote: Man, that line looks super rad! I love it when granite produces those patina flakes and alligator skin-like features. It results in really good movement. I was wondering if/when developers on this thread were going to start using the star ratings to gauge "popularity". So, instead of starting a new thread, let's include routes you developed that get the highest star rating. To set some parameters, let's say it has to have at least 10 votes to count, because we all know the developers give their lines way more stars than others. Developers: What's your most "Classic" route? Here's mine based on voting: |
|
That’s a pretty cool way to look at it. Even though MP tick counts don’t tell the whole story, it’s still satisfying knowing a route you put up has been enjoyed by hundreds of climbers. I bet there are some old classics with thousands of ascents, but 490 ticks in just a few years is something to be proud of. |
Dave Meyers wrote: I think star ratings as a whole are a fairly bad system that do more harm than good. I almost never give any of my routes a star rating (you can delete your rating as soon as you post the route). That being said, Man-Eater is one of the only routes I’ve ever established that I think is legitimately a classic, and surprisingly the star rating system agrees with me there. |
Jay Crew wrote: yeah, i gave this one 4 stars (and i am not known for doling out the 4 star rating). i really like these routes that are kind of in the middle of nowhere, and not really well known, and are really well bolted and thought out. |
|
Tal, Man Eater looks like a full body workout and super unique. Good on you for making it mixed; it probably adds to its popularity as most climbers wouldn’t have the gear (or balls) required to protect that section. |
|
My most popular first ascent was hiding in plain sight on a scrappy crag in central New Hampshire. I had done a few routes there when I was in high school in the late ‘70s, then joined a small group of developers who methodically started re-exploring it in 2012 just before I moved permanently to Colorado. https://www.mountainproject.com/route/107722696/coyote-rain Coyote Rain was discovered after 60 other routes had been established when I rappelled over an improbable roof feature and discovered huge holds hiding under dinner plate sized lichen flakes. I wiped them off with my hand and continued to the bottom, then turned around and led up and over the roof as a light rain started and coyotes howled in the distance. My partner led a second pitch which followed horizontals through a corridor of pine trees, finishing in the dark. At 5.6 and with great gear, it was one of the easiest routes on the entire crag and one of the last to be found. It also has killer views from the top. I consider it more of a ‘discovery’ than ‘route development’. A quick check shows that it currently has almost 600 ticks on MP; almost 4 times the next most popular route on the cliff, and is on over 300 ‘to do’ lists. Although ‘Longstack Precipice’ is far from a destination, it is a convenient crag for the area and dries quickly after a rain. I have put up harder routes, and ones that I thought were pretty fun, but Coyote Rain is the one that people seem to seek out and it is often listed as their first trad lead. That’s what I am most psyched about, as everyone has a special place in their heart for their ’first lead’.  |
|
I did a route named for each of my grandparents (Carol, Lisle, Ralph and Mary). The one for my paternal grandmother, who is the quietest personality of the four by far, is the most popular and the most popular route I've done to date. |
|
Most classic route would have to be this one: https://www.mountainproject.com/route/125612872/effervescent This entire wall is pretty stacked in quality and had almost no loose rock to speak of from day one. Developers including myself tend to be biased about their routes, so it has been nice to see others validate the quality. |
|
Developer, or at least the self-appointed identity of developer, is/was not well received by many who are credited with establishing many popular lines. I wouldn't consider many of the credited FA's of the classics to be developers in any sense of the word. Developing implies a certain style and approach that doesn't apply to a lot of the classic, popular routes out there. |
Pinche Gringo wrote: ELI5 |
Pinche Gringo wrote: I hate the words "setter" or "set" when referring to putting up a route outside the gym |
Chase Webb wrote: “Developing” brings about connotations of cultivating a specific climbing experience rather than just climbing a feature as-is |
Tal M wrote: While this may be true, in the sense of **cough cough** gardening, removing loose rock and cleaning a route and then placing bolts on rappel I can state from first-hand experience and directly from the words of the FAs that virtually all Yosemite Valley crag Classics (ie cookie, reeds, arch rock) were extensively cleaned before an FA. These were admissions by ie Barry Bates, Ron Kauk, Bruce Morris and Kevin Worrall etc. Most of whom I personally spoke with. So, we all were "developers" in that sense, though that nomenclature was not in use at the time. Once you get into many of the longer Yosemite Classics then yes, they were more of a ground up garden as you go sort of thing, climb it as best you can ground up. |
|
You can walk through a dense forest and follow the path of least resistance, follow a rabbit trail, or simply walk wherever you're interested to get to the other side. Or, you can form a committee, raise funds, negotiate with land managers or buy the land, establish a management team, organize a crew, and pave a 20ft wide pathway through to the other side. There are many options in between both approaches. Developer, or the negative connotation it implies, leans more towards the latter in this metaphorical scale. |
Chase Webb wrote: That line looks sick; it was destined to be bolted. |
Pinche Gringo wrote: You're a real buzz-kill, Pinche. I don't think any of us were here discussing the philosophy of establishing routes and the use of the word developer. I do however agree with Jay that people using the word setter and developer synonymously is rather annoying. They are two completely crafts and different skill sets |
|
Regardless, the long-term negative impacts of climbing and bolts is negligeable and there is no evidence otherwise. People drive for hours shitting poisons and CO2 in the air on roads blasted through mountainsides. Impacts that are literally changing the planet. A road cut scar in a mountain will last thousands of years. Stop climbing a route and they disappear in a relatively few years. |
Dave Meyers wrote: I'll give you that, it was a tangent. I guess I view the synonymous use of developer and first ascensionist in a similar way as you view developer and setter. I enjoy it all though and really appreciate when a setter, developer, or first ascentionist is good at their craft. |
