UKH

I thought it was Gary.

Is Borre Bergshaven a contender?

http://gripped.com/2010/08/sections/news/august-25-2010-norways-new-route-m...

In reply to Nick Colton, BMC:

The Remy brothers? OK not an individual but a pretty impressive CV.

ALC

In reply to Nick Colton, BMC:

Alas 1600 is but a fraction of Gary's total.

In reply to Nick Colton, BMC:

Hi Nick,

Would have thought Fred Beckey. Michel Piola must also have done a huge amount of new routes.

Mick

In reply to Mick Ward: Like many such questions it is a hard one to pin down since it is often a question of "comparing apples to oranges". Is it really appropriate to compare someone whose new route count is largely single pitch routes with someone who puts up much longer climbs--is it total routes or total pitches. And is it appropriate to compare someone who uses a power drill to establish many short bolted routes in a few years in a relatively concentrated geographical area to someone (think Fred Becky)who has spent a lifetime establishing mostly alpine climbs in widely scattered locations. Yet another interesting but really meaninglass exercise.

In reply to john arran:

and thats just in cheedale!!!!

In reply to Alan Rubin:

Lighten up mate.

In reply to john arran:


I think I remember Gary saying he was coming up to his 5000th new route, and that was a few years ago now.

In reply to jonny2vests:

perhaps the best measure is total length weighted by grade?

In reply to Alan Rubin:

I completely agree with you. The numbers are just numbers; a more mature evaluation requires that we look at the experiences that begat them and the experiences that have come from them.

Chances are that anyone who's done a lot of new routes has:

a) worked bloody hard at cleaning, etc

b) scared themselves shitless on many occasions (e.g. negotiating loose blocks)

c) given many people days of superb climbing pleasure and achievement.

Mick

In reply to Mick Ward:

"b) scared themselves shitless on many occasions (e.g. negotiating loose blocks"...

...or in the case of Gary Gibson, nearly get killed by said blocks.

In reply to Mick Ward:
I'd heard that Gary was now over 3000, but 5000 seems a bit steep. Either way he has put up more routes than most of us have climbed. And not all of them are loose horror shows or trivial gaps

If the First Ascent field on the UKC logbook database was used a bit more, you could get some interesting stats i.e. not just the number of routes put up by certain people, but the total number of ascents of those routes. Alas that field on the database is rarely filled in