Getting Better at Routefinding

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Jorts
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Re: Getting Better at Routefinding

Post by Jorts »

123tqb wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 10:07 am I'd say it's mostly just me getting off-route without realizing it. I feel like I tend to pick lines that look "easiest" to me but tend to be the opposite.
Sounds like the challenge is more on the micro-level. Often on traverses you can get on a perch and size up the terrain ahead. For many ranges, one side (the less glaciated one often) is friendlier for bypasses than the other. Route finding can be like quicksand, if you feel like you're off route you can get yourself into more of a jam by trying to force it. Best to back off, double back to where you are confident you were on route and reassess. Sometimes your first instinct will have been correct, other times, the easier ledge or gully is obscured and just around the side of an imposing terrain feature. It helps to be able to reference a map or gpx to maintain the big picture even while trying to figure out the way through difficult sections. Go slow to go fast.
Traveling light is the only way to fly.
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mountainlover153
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Re: Getting Better at Routefinding

Post by mountainlover153 »

Gonna echo the chorus here. Practice practice practice. I've done 29 now, slowly, since 2008--I live in Philadelphia. I add in a bunch of eastern hiking too which requires routefinding and other skills to stay sharp. Over the years I've found my intuition on routefinding has increased exponentially. You learn by doing, just like anything else. Sometimes following another person is helpful. Other times it is not. One thing I tend to do is evaluate routes via multiple criteria, not just one. You eventually gain a feel for different types of terrain through hiking over them.

For example, today I was doing LB. The gully up to the ridge is crazy super loose. The rock on the left is solid. The more left you climb the more you're doing C3 or even a light C4 move if you stay entirely on solid rock. Personally, I choose solid rock over "easier" class, I choose flat big rocks that look solid to put my feet, I look several steps ahead to make sure that not only does my next step work...it's leading me to a safe place. And I'll usually go with harder class intensity with less exposure risk. Some things I do intuitively now. Like automatically following a route that avoids a noticeable obstacle and trying when able to step on ledges, rocks, boulders etc that are flat and not slanted.

Ignore those who say you cannot improve. Get out there, keep chugging along, bring a map and be prepared. Over time, routefinding becomes a natural thing. .
Last edited by mountainlover153 on Sun Sep 19, 2021 7:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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bigredmachine
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Re: Getting Better at Routefinding

Post by bigredmachine »

Jorts wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 2:14 pm
123tqb wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 10:07 am I'd say it's mostly just me getting off-route without realizing it. I feel like I tend to pick lines that look "easiest" to me but tend to be the opposite.
Sounds like the challenge is more on the micro-level. Often on traverses you can get on a perch and size up the terrain ahead. For many ranges, one side (the less glaciated one often) is friendlier for bypasses than the other. Route finding can be like quicksand, if you feel like you're off route you can get yourself into more of a jam by trying to force it. Best to back off, double back to where you are confident you were on route and reassess. Sometimes your first instinct will have been correct, other times, the easier ledge or gully is obscured and just around the side of an imposing terrain feature. It helps to be able to reference a map or gpx to maintain the big picture even while trying to figure out the way through difficult sections. Go slow to go fast.
So true. A recall a good example a few years back while In Chicago basin. I had already completed Windom and Sunlight so I was pretty gassed. After I got past the cat walk on Eolus I ran into some trouble. There was a cairn that directed me onto a narrow grassy sloped ledge across the south face. It had a significant (100’+)drop below. I started across, and then stopped, and thought to my self…” of all the research I’d done, there was no mention of anything quite this hairy”, I decided to turn around and retrace my steps back towards the ridge. I could not find the correct way for the life of me and went back and forth towards this ledge for about 20 minutes. I don’t recall where, but eventually I found the correct little up climb and then I was home free. But thinking back on it, that was very close to a possibly big mistake, all it takes is one wrong decision, one wrong ledge. I’ve always used the “if it feels harder or riskier than it should” then stop and re-evaluate your options.
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