|
|
|
|
sdale
Mar 26, 2003, 11:18 PM
Post #1 of 14
(3808 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Feb 16, 2003
Posts: 10
|
www.thecrag.com: Online database of over 77,000 climbs
www.thecrag.com is an online index of over 77,000 climbs around the world, including more than 44,000 in the USA.
The key features of the site are:
- full and flexible searching and a range of statistics at all areas in the index (hardest climbs, hardest crags, active climbers, etc);
- the ability to create personal tick lists and charts; and
- a set of community rankings, ratings and statistics.
As you’ll see when you create an account (it’s free and can be accessed immediately) you can browse and search in a number of ways. It is easy to create personalized tick-lists of climbs you’ve done or want to do and also view charts that record your performance.
Simon Dale and Campbell Gome, co-founders and developers of thecrag.com, have established relationships with over 30 guidebook publishers to build the index. (Publishers interested in listing their guidebooks at thecrag.com should contact Simon and Campbell at thecrag@thecrag.com).
The real beauty of the site is that it uses the collective input of all members to generate tailored results for individuals. For example the site can recommend climbs at your grade in any area based on the experience of other climbers with a similar style and ability.
thecrag.com has been around in Australia for several years where it is widely used, the bulk of the US content went up earlier this year.
Here is what some of our members have said about thecrag.com :
"It's bloody sensational what you've done! I don't know where to start. Everything is great!!! ... Congrats. You rock!" - Lee Skidmore Web Master, qurank.com
"Your site is just awesome. It is a credit to yourself and an asset to the climbing community." - David Bryant
"Firstly I must say that the site is great and my partner and I use it often to plan trips." - Ben Franzi
"Wicked site ..." - Zorba Parer
"It's an excellent site and well presented. I rely on it now to log my climbs and find it very useful." - Andrew Perry
"Thanks for all the work you guys have been doing indexing the US. It's great!" - Kole DeCou
"I'd like to complement you on the work that you've done on the site. It's an excellent resource." - James Hardy
"[I'm] climbing more than ever, and much of it is inspired by theCrag. It's a very good motivator to climb a lot of routes." - Lee Skidmore
|
|
|
|
|
trevor
Anonymous Poster
Mar 26, 2003, 11:56 PM
Post #2 of 14
(3808 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 11, 2006
Posts: 0
|
Simon and I had discussed possible partnerships between TheCrag.com and RC.com. Unfortunately with all of the changes here, I haven't had a chance to spend more time on their site to see how things would work between us. But Simon and Campbell have done some really interesting things with their routes database including their Tick list and suggestions. As with most things, their site will only get better as more people start to use it.
Currently our websites have no formal relationship, but we have good ties. Check it out and and let them and us back here know what you think.
Trevor
|
|
|
|
|
jerrygarcia
Mar 27, 2003, 3:58 AM
Post #3 of 14
(3808 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 27, 2002
Posts: 837
|
Why was this site created? All I see is a database of route names. What purpose does it server other than an online ticklist for people to look at? I do see it as being a nice advertisement for the guide books that youre promoting though.
[edit]yes, I did create an account and look around.
|
|
|
|
|
calpolyclimber
Mar 27, 2003, 4:24 AM
Post #4 of 14
(3808 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 26, 2002
Posts: 360
|
I too created an account and checked it out.
Here is my conclusion:
Its an awesome idea, with the ticklists and all, but the actual information is pretty poor. All it does is tell you the names, grades, and who has climbed the routes. No beta. No info about what type of pro... etc..
|
|
|
|
|
sdale
Mar 27, 2003, 5:15 AM
Post #5 of 14
(3808 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Feb 16, 2003
Posts: 10
|
As Trevor says- the quality of data and experience at the site at any particualr node of the index gets better as more people start to use it
If you have a look through some of the Australian crags where the site has
been heavily used for a number of years you'll get a sense of what else is
possible. Also maybe the Texas node in the US.
In particular maybe have a look at the 'statistics' tabs for some key areas.
(Shows a range of charts and stats including personalized stuff like popular
climbs at your grade).
Also the climb level pages
(Shows key stats, user ratings, climbing styles and links to others who have done the climb and their comments. Includes an individually customized list "Climbers like you who climbed [this] also climbed: ...").
Flexible searches are useful, particularly in planning a trip for a group of
mixed abilities- e.g. look for all crags at Seneca with 'starred' 5.9 and
5.11a climbs.
Re. "the guidebooks we're promoting" please note that the site is publisher
agnostic, we will happily list any and all guidebooks either printed or
online. We only do this with the permission of the publisher.
Re. the level of information available- the site is an umbrella across all of the other resources out there that provide full detail- links are provided to the reference (page number in guidebook or link to website). One of the ideas we've discussed with Trevor is mutual links between the rc.com dbase and our index. Over time, the community tick list generates excellent data on climbs- how it is climbed (style), quality ratings, time of year climbed, etc. Much of this aggregates up to crag level stats and reports too- e.g crag quality ratings, grade distributions, seasonality, etc.
|
|
|
|
|
manacubus
Apr 4, 2003, 4:59 AM
Post #6 of 14
(3808 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jul 15, 2002
Posts: 141
|
If you want to log your climbs online, this is the only site to use.
If routes you have done are not in the database, you can add them in.
The other great thing is that you can get detailed statistics about people, crags and routes.
I'd certainly encourage anyone who currently jots down what routes they've done in a paper log, or an Excel spreadsheet, or ticks them off in the guidebook to log on and create an account. You won't be dissapointed.
|
|
|
|
|
andy_lemon
Apr 4, 2003, 6:31 PM
Post #7 of 14
(3808 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 7, 2001
Posts: 3335
|
It is a great site... I added some of the first routes that the United States had when you first opened up. Now it's like 10,--- routes have been added to the U.S. Pretty amazing how quickly you've grown.
One thing I would like to see at your site is greater User interaction... kind of like the forums here.
|
|
|
|
|
sdale
Apr 6, 2003, 10:48 PM
Post #8 of 14
(3808 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Feb 16, 2003
Posts: 10
|
Thanks Andy.
You're right, currently user interaction is pretty limited, especially compared to sites like rc.com where active forums are a real strength. Currently our members can visit others' accounts, identify active climbers at a particular area or crag and view all users' comments about a particular climb. We could definitely do more in this area and it is something that a number of others have asked about / suggested.
At the moment our focus is on building the global index and other developments have to take a back seat for now.
|
|
|
|
|
melekzek
Apr 6, 2003, 11:42 PM
Post #9 of 14
(3808 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 16, 2002
Posts: 1456
|
One missing thing is conversion between grades, I mean if a route is entered as UIAA VIII+, it does not convert into 5.12a, so your personal statistics does not show all of your ticks, if they are not in the same grading scheme....
|
|
|
|
|
andy_lemon
Apr 6, 2003, 11:51 PM
Post #10 of 14
(3808 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 7, 2001
Posts: 3335
|
So Dale,
What's the deal? You guys from Australia? When I started it seemed like the only routes were from there.
Andy
p.s. Can you explain the whole guidebook thing... How do you add them? Do you have to pay?
|
|
|
|
|
sdale
Apr 7, 2003, 1:12 AM
Post #11 of 14
(3808 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Feb 16, 2003
Posts: 10
|
Grade conversions
The index actually handles grade conversions seamlessly for searching, navigation and charting. Please let us know if there are specific climbs or areas where it is not working- glitches sometimes creep into areas where users have manually entered climbs online but it's usually pretty easy to tidy up.
Andy's queries
Yes we're Australia based. In Melbourne, about 3hrs from Mt Arapiles.
Guidebooks are included with publishers' permission. They don't have to pay anything and we take care of the data entry. It's basically a partnership whereby we get to build the index without threatening their business- that's why we don't include topos or route descriptions, but refer people to the source. (See also my earlier post above- 27 Mar 2003 05:15).
Cheers
Simon Dale and Campbell Gome
|
|
|
|
|
animal
Apr 7, 2003, 1:42 AM
Post #12 of 14
(3808 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 3, 2002
Posts: 59
|
good idea and all but no canadian routes from what i can tell so i think i'll check it out later when it gets expanded more...i am from a small area (Ottawa) but there are over 300 routes just at the escarpment around here
|
|
|
|
|
andy_lemon
Apr 7, 2003, 1:58 PM
Post #13 of 14
(3808 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 7, 2001
Posts: 3335
|
Thanks.
|
|
|
|
|
rockhead
Jan 14, 2006, 10:13 PM
Post #14 of 14
(3808 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jul 2, 2005
Posts: 6
|
I created an account, but when visiting the site, I only ever see "Site Overloaded ... try again later" and "Daily Administration in Progress ... database is closed for a couple of minutes". A couple of minutes? I got to explore the site once, barely. Looked pretty cool. There may not be much information other than route names, locations and who-dunnit, but at least (together with other on-line databases) you can get a fairly good idea of what has been climbed.
May times I'll find cool places to climb - even easy access places that have evidence of other climbers - but they aren't in any guidebooks and even the few locals don't know (or care) about it. I'd also hate to work my ass off on some "secret" project, only to discover after the fact that it's a been-there-done-that by many others.
Unfortunately, it seems expanding The Crag's database and user-base from Australia to World-wide has brought their on-line systems to their knees. I haven't seen the inside of the site since the day after I signed up (about 2 weeks ago). I hope they get it fixed!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
