“Notice, this is not in spray”
The Ultimate Everything thread got me thinking. Something G-spotter said. None of the pitches are 3 or 4 star. Well, wouldn’t that be an opinion? I would think so. Who gets to rate a climb with stars? The person who wrote the guide?
Personally I don’t like guides that star routes. Which seems to be in every book. It seems like starred routes direct climbers to certain routes. I would prefer more of a word of mouth preference than to see 5 star routes. Which brings up the next question, what constitutes the amount of stars? I would think the rock quality, how good the pro is, and how positive the holds are would constitute a star. G-spotter thinks none of the pitches on the UE are three stars, I personally would disagree. The UE has perfect rock with great pro. Maybe the pitches are not that long but would that alone bring the number of stars down?
I am currently working on a guide for a recently developed climbing area. I am taking out all the adjectives like “great climb”, “must do” or the notorious “Classic”. There will be no stars. It’s just a list of climbs from left to right, the grade, what gear you will need and how to find it.