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The problem of partial but important information

PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2010 4:17 pm
by mvs
Hi everyone,

A few days ago a friend and I did a rock climb on a mountain in the Mieminger Kette. The peak is paradoxical: kind of obscure (it's not a crest peak), but contains a 15 pitch "pleasure" route by virtue of complete bolting. We climbed this route, but got lost halfway up, at a place where you are almost guaranteed to get lost. One problem is there are two topos out there, and they differ in this spot (we had the "worse" topo). Another is that the ground in that area is loose and easy. Finally, it has an odd ledge festooned with bolts that just confuses things more (there is another such unexplained ledge on the east face of this peak, very weird).

We finally got to the top, but did a fair bit of unprotected, "not fun" climbing. Here is the thing:

I want to share and disseminate this information. I think it's important and useful. I know if I had it before our trip, we'd have had a lot more fun. But I don't have enough information to create a whole mountain page. And the way things go, nobody else will for years, if ever, here on Summitpost.

I've got lots of tidbits like that. I just wish I had somewhere to PUT them. But the mountain page route just leads to despair for me, because I'm likely to make a poor page with my partial information, with intense detail in all the wrong places. The grain here is to say "good, complete information or not at all." I understand that. But I wish there was a way to accommodate a user like me. Looking around, the best place for this information is going to be local (german-language) forums. I'll certainly put it there. But I'm a Summitpost fan and wish for something more.

(I didn't include the mountain name only because it's beside the point and shouldn't become the focus of the thread).

PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2010 4:20 pm
by Bob Sihler
Maybe a short trip report attached to the relevant area page?

PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2010 4:43 pm
by Lolli
A fact sheet, or a list?
Alphabetical order, with the names of the mountains.
Under each that little tidbit of information.
If there is a mountain page or an area page, you can attach it to it, and people can look up your information.
Otherwise one can hope people do search, and it will show up in a search, as the mountain names are there.

PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2010 4:47 pm
by mvs
THanks guys. Yeah, I guess there are a lot of options. If too many of us behave like that then we'll have all these little custom pages here and there. I guess we just have to hope that wikipedia-like organizers come along later and consolidate these things.

PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2010 4:48 pm
by Lolli
that kind of tidbits you are talking about, they can be really valuable

PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2010 4:50 pm
by Buz Groshong
Bob Sihler wrote:Maybe a short trip report attached to the relevant area page?


Another possibility is a comment on the relevant page or a PM to the page maintainer.

PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2010 5:37 pm
by Fred Spicker
Buz Groshong wrote:
Bob Sihler wrote:Maybe a short trip report attached to the relevant area page?


Another possibility is a comment on the relevant page or a PM to the page maintainer.


But, what Michael is saying it that there is no page for the mountain...

PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2010 5:54 pm
by phlipdascrip
Buz Groshong wrote:
Bob Sihler wrote:Maybe a short trip report attached to the relevant area page?


Another possibility is a comment on the relevant page or a PM to the page maintainer.


It seems like the problem is with objects (routes, mountains) that don't have a page yet.

What if you created a page for the specific route and attached it directly to the area page (Mieminger Kette in your example), with the title including the mountain name - ie. "MVS Mountain, NE Ridge"? Just like you pointed out, helpful and relevant bits of information are much more desirable than no info at all. You could then even declare the page as up for adoption or add a note saying additional contributions from others are welcome.

PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2010 6:01 pm
by mvs
These solutions seem a little bit "ugly," but I'm feeling like they are the right idea, just based on everyone's response here. You guys are validating that it is useful and I shouldn't give up just because I'm not able to make a whole mountain page.

Okay I will try it. I'll see if I can come up with something kind of systematic that we could recognize as a way to do this kind of thing, and write back.

Indeed, if the mountain page exists, I would write to the page owner in some way (maybe a comment). Maybe I'd make a route page.

In this case I know the area owner and definitely trust putting this information in his care. I know it might be massaged or moved around as years go by, but should be able to remain useful.

But first, family vacation to France. au revoir! :lol: