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Ethics opinions on naming boulder problems

Original Post
Jon Hartmann · · Ojai, CA · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,766

Okay, we have a local guidebook Oceans 11. It has tons of problems named and listed up in my local mountain crag, Pine Mountain. I've been, (for some reason), been super into documenting and uploading lots of those boulder problems up on Mountain Project since the book has gone out if print. So, as I'm going around documenting the "known" problems, I'm finding really really good problems that weren't in the guide. Now, I'm not the one scrubbing and discovering these for the first time, they are totaly established climbs, they just aren't in the guide and don't have names that I know of. Soooo... I'm uploading these climbs under names like, "Unknown climb left of Mr. Chips" or "Unknown climb around the corner from Painted Carnival", etc. I don't want these climbs to be in there without names, it bugs me. So I've sent messages to the local administrators, the author of the guidebook and personally asked some of the old time locals to chime in on naming these climbs. Problem is, no one seems to want to. Soooo long story short, should I just start naming these things or leave them as "Unnamed blah blah" or should I try to track the potential original names with more effort? Ethics ethics ethics.

chuffnugget · · Bolder, CO · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 0

Your problems isn't 'ethics', it is lack of communication.

no one cares about names. Just call them pebble wrestlefest 1,2,3...

if some old crusty gets butthurt, you'll hear about it loud and clear then you can change it.

photos and good directions mean a lot more than names.

Jeremy Riesberg · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2012 · Points: 5

Having solid location, and pictures is super important for people wanting to climb. Worry about making it easier for peeps to get on these lines.

Thank you for taking the time to post the problems on here.

Jon Hartmann · · Ojai, CA · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,766
"if some old crusty gets butthurt, you'll hear about it loud and clear then you can change it" Yeah, I thought that might be the way to do it. I'll bet as soon as I name these things I'll get plenty of angry replies telling me what they're actually called. Nothing spurs people into action faster then righteous anger. Lol
M Sprague · · New England · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 5,090

"My buds and I did all of those back in the early '70s, or at least I think we did. We never named them though"

- In these cases I would just make a note that the name is not the original and for anybody to speak up if they have more information.

Jon Hartmann · · Ojai, CA · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,766

Thanks for your input guys.

Monomaniac · · Morrison, CO · Joined Oct 2006 · Points: 17,295

There was a ridiculous shitstorm over the Mt Evans Bouldering page for this exact reason. The FA's went out of their way to guard information, then when people did the reasonable thing (made up their own names), the FA's flipped out. It was a great way to get them to talk :)

Anyway, what I would recommend is that you name them thusly:

"Psycho Arete" (name unknown)

Use quotations on your made-up name to indicate its not 'official'.

If a tree falls in the woods but nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

If you name a route, but you never tell anyone the name, does it have a name?

Kangaru Rat · · Under a Rock · Joined May 2008 · Points: 0

Names are not important providing they are correct or not named. The worst situation is to attach pseudo names to established problems/routes. It is preferable to simply call them “Unnamed ##” or “Unknown %%”. Even descriptive terms tend to get adopted as names over time. In the future, “Unnamed 63” may be known as a real classic that everyone identifies with!

James Crump · · Canyon Lake, TX · Joined Dec 2008 · Points: 200

I say... If you send it paint a little arrow on the rock pointing it out and if any butthead tries to gank your send, haul them down there and show them your little arrow.

Best if arrow is hidden. All you gankers need to look hard for these arrows so you know some old greaser like me hadn't pre-owned your send!

M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911
David Sahalie wrote:Your problems isn't 'ethics', it is lack of communication. no one cares about names. Just call them pebble wrestlefest 1,2,3... if some old crusty gets butthurt, you'll hear about it loud and clear then you can change it. photos and good directions mean a lot more than names.
Dave, pebble wrestlers are climbers too bro, wtf is a dude gonna do with directions alone? if you send and its not rated (v11 or higher) did you really send??? I think not. Nobody cares about unrated & un-named pebbles. Put it in a book with names? you got a roadtrip bro, much better than the gym on weekends.
Bob Banks · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 180
Ocean's 11 is out of print?
Allen Sanderson · · On the road to perdition · Joined Jul 2007 · Points: 1,203

Just put a name down for the route and then add (AN) afterwards. Then just explain (AN) means "author's name" and that not name was known at the time of posting.

James Crump · · Canyon Lake, TX · Joined Dec 2008 · Points: 200

Just kidding of course...

Jon Hartmann · · Ojai, CA · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,766
Ocean's 11 is out of print? You can't buy it from Amazon, Rei, or anywhere on the internet. It's just what's left on the local shelves. If theres another place to get it, I apologize for the assumption. Also I've been told by others it's 'out of print' but I don't really know the technical definition.
Jon Hartmann · · Ojai, CA · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,766

Dammit James! I just bought a can of neon spray paint.

James Crump · · Canyon Lake, TX · Joined Dec 2008 · Points: 200
Jon Hartmann wrote:Dammit James! I just bought a can of neon spray paint.
Nah... Fine threaded brush and a really good, colorful enamel... Constructive and creative use of crystals, mosses, and other features should be embraced. It is all art after all!
amarius · · Nowhere, OK · Joined Feb 2012 · Points: 20

Your problem is not unheard off.
Perhaps we could take some guidance from other fields, that face something similar.
Astronomy, for example, might have a couple of identifiers for a celestial body - an alphanumeric id, and, sometimes, a real name.

So, you could alphanumeric id to your problem, and associate a real name with it when known.

For example, you have a bunch of boulders in the area. You call them A,B,C, D, and so forth.
Boulder A has 3 problems, you name them A.1, A.2, A.3
A.1 is known as "Friggin Awesomeness".

What do you think?

Mike Lane · · AnCapistan · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 880

Just take a beta photo, paste different colored lines all over it, then do a color key for the V ratings.
No one gives a shit about names unless it is a classic problem.
Each variation of a 5 move boulder getting a name leads to an entire page here, which is inefficient.

Morning Wood Boulder.
It took me 5 minutes to whip this thing up while writing this spray.

5.samadhi Süñyātá · · asheville · Joined Jul 2013 · Points: 40

Unless it is V8 or harder I would think just naming it whatever is OK. Not too many folks are probably going to freak that you renamed their V4 FA :D

Brad M · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2012 · Points: 0

LOL "ethics" and "bouldering" in the same sentence.

Bob Banks · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 180

Jon - I agree with the sentiment that no one gives a shit about the names unless it's a classic problem. I don't really see anything wrong with "Face left of XXXX". Save the names for the best problems. O11 is filled with dumb names given to 4 foot piles of choss because I used to think everything needed a name. That's fun and all, but I eventually switched to the Jeff Johnson way of thinking, which is only name the good stuff (check out The Swimming Hole section in O11), lots of problems named "Face", "Arete", "Slab".

Also, if you've asked long-time Pine Mt. climbers like JC and Darren, etc. and they don't know a name or don't care what it's named, it's unlikely anybody else will either.

RE: Ocean's 11 out of print - - - local shops (RCS in Ventura, Mountain Air in SB) should have O11 in stock for quite some time. If the book was ever available on Amazon then it's news to me. REI has a stupid-ass distribution system, which is another thread entirely, so who knows what goes on there, but last time I checked the REI in SB had them, I assume Oxnard as well.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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