In Episode 11 I interview the team from theCrag – the global climbing information site that originated in Australia more than two decades ago. As many Australian climbers use theCrag I felt it was an important to capture not just the story of the Crag, but also the insights that theCrag team could bring to us about Australian climbers and Australian climbing culture. Joining me for this podcast is Simon Dale – CEO and Co-founder of the Crag, Nicky Hochmuth – Chief Data Officer, and Ulf Fuchslueger – Head of Business Development. You can read the team bios here on theCrag.
We go in depth on the history of theCrag from how it started in 1999 and developed over the past two decades. That takes the podcast up to the present where we talk about theCrag today and the mission and vision for the future. Woven into this we talk about how theCrag having it’s roots in Australia has influenced the site – which will give listeners some insights into Australian climbing culture. We delve into the data and what it can tell us about Australian climbing – in that we cover most popular route names and also the top rated, most popular climbs at each grade from 10-30 in Australia**. There is also some great discussion about artificial intelligence, how theCrag plans to use it and the potential it has to improve climbing grading.
You can find Ulf’s blog about his world travels here.
Grade Icons List
A list of the Grade Icons for Australia at each grade – a grade icon is a combination measure of popularity and rating.
4 – Caves Route – Mount Tibrogargan
5 – Tiptoe Ridge – Arapiles
9 – Siren – Arapiles
10 – Eskimo Nell – Arapiles
11 – Agamemnon – Arapiles
12 – Bard – Arapiles
13 – Muldoon – Arapiles
14 – Sweet Dreams – Blue Mountains
15 – Kaiser Resignation – Arapiles
16 – Watchtower Crack – Arapiles
17 – Flake Crack – Blue Mountains
18 – The Eternity – Blue Mountains
19 – Vanderholics – Nowra
20 – Eat My Spinning Blades of Steel – Nowra
21 – Kachoong – Arapiles
22 – Chip-a-holdaway – Kangaroo Point
23 – Split Wave – Blue Mountains
24 – Junket Pumper – Blue Mountains
25 – Rubber Lover – Blue Mountains
26 – Screaming Insanity – Coolum
27 – Passport to Insanity* – Grampians
28 – Spoonman – Coolum
29 – Eye of the Tiger – Grampians
30 – Evil Wears No Pants – Coolum
*Based on votes on LBP instagram – all others based on theCrag data.
The Crag Team
the Crag site GUI visual history
thelayback 