Yosemite Obscurity Scale ----------- Re: Obscurity rating?! coiler started it.... Oct 19, 2004, 06:18am PST Author: coiler Trad climber From: yosemite I can't take all the credit for the Obscurity scale. It was started about 6 years ago with Ben "Ben Wah" Zartman, Jay "Shaggy" Selvidge, Brian "Mr. Way" Knight and myself [Bryan "Coiler" Kay]. We were all on the quest to find the least traveled routes. The scale worked something like this: O0 being routes that are in the guidebook, usually right next to something that gets done too much, like "Lemon" at sunnyside bench. It's the route you do when the old classic is crowded. O1 is the route at the cliff that's in the guidebook but nobody does, like, "inner reaches". O2 it's in the guide book and it still never gets done, I mean never. A good example of O2 is "Alley cat" on middle cathedral. O3, it's in the guidebook still, but nobody knows much about it, but Tucker Tech has done it; ex: "Phantom Pinnacle", or the "Flakes" on middle cathedral. O4 routes, they aren't in the [current] guidebook but it's on the obscurist's tick list, like "Via Aqua" or "church Tower". [O4 routes also include those in the guidebook, but just have a line or arrow - examples: upper pitches of Eagle's Eyrie, Capital Punishment.] O5 routes, Little is known, but the consensus among obscurists is that it IS there. Record shows there have been ascents. an O5 could be something like, "Spireview point" or Pohono pinnacle". O6 is getting tricky, It's definitely not in the [current] guidebook, and little is known about it. No known ascents among the Obscurists' circuit, "Will-O'-The-Wisp" is a great example of this. Lynea Anderson and I have made several forays into the area of obscurity looking for it. Still we've never found it. O7 like I said is a route that doesn't exist anymore or maybe never did. Like "promulgated pinnacle" (which fell over in '98) or "Werner's Crack" which fell off in '97. ----- The above is from: http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=42866 ----- [proposed redefinition of O7, O8, O9, O10, O11 - 4/2009]: 07 - not described in any guidebook or other published source. Merely listed under the first ascent info in the guidebook, which suggests a general location. In theory, the route can be found, or may have been found but is not in guidebook yet. Examples: Corn Corner, True Grit, Nashville Skyline, Deadline Dihedral 08 - same as 07 (route is barely published), but first ascent party are not locatable, or have been asked but do not remember enough to locate the route. Or, a route is unlisted, but a vague description has been obtained, and an attempt made to find the route, but it was concluded the route cannot be located or identified. The route probably cannot be found or identified. Examples: Fireside Chat [in First Ascent info, but exact location and description forgotten], route left of Lower Cathedral Rock East Buttress [vague description given, route not found] O9 - old route, not listed in any guidebook, and believed to have been done in time to appear in the guidebook (i.e. unreported). Route has not been located. Have vague description or general location, but not checked or not located definitely yet. Example: Time to Get Wild and Loose (near Falls Trail) 010 - old route, not listed in any guidebook or publication, and believed to have been done in time to appear in the guidebook (i.e. unreported). Route has been located, but nothing is known about it. These are routes you may notice with old fixed pins or bolts, but are not in any guidebook. Sometimes the old fixed gear is found when you think you are doing your own first ascent, and you are not sure if the old route was completed. Since these routes have been found, perhaps they are not truly obscure, but nothing is known about them. Note: O10 does not apply to new routes, which are not in the guidebook yet, because they were done after the guidebook was released. It is also does not apply to old routes which are located and have known histories, but were not reported in time for the guidebook, or not included for some reason (An example of this is Lightning Bolt Crack, Mt. Broderick - reported with photos on supertopo). Examples for O10: old route left of No Butts About It which joins East Buttress, old route left of Sacherer-Fredericks. O11 - route does not exist anymore - destroyed by rockfall. (formerly O7) Examples: Werner's Crack, Promulgated Pinnacle