UKC

Would anyone like to comment on the idea of 3D topos?
Namely, would that be something you would find useful?
Or would it be an adventure spoiler?
How would you hypothetically compare it to the use of 2D guide books or existing apps?

i think it would be most useful for grand scale alpinism and mountaineering routes.

Google earth etc already have quite decent resolution in some areas, not sure about further afield. 

Paul Ramsden has linked his longevity to the extensive preparation and research he does on his routes, so i think another tool in the box would only be a benefit for this kind of climbing.

for single pitch rock climbing i havent been able to think of a way it would be 'better' than current practices. 

Thanks for that James.
The utility for larger scale route finding is definitely obvious.
Not that it's common but I have backed off smaller multi-pitch climbs (2-3) due to the difficulty navigating a 2D map in what was a very 3D climb, leading me into dubious territory.
Being able to pre-scout the route in 3D would have avoided that completely.
And, in some cases, finding the crag to start with would have been made much easier if I was able to see the topology of the larger area. Google maps can massively fall short in that regard.

which route did you back off? im not sure i follow.

i think approach topology can be best tackled using contour lines and GPS location. I often put down a gps pin for the start of the route the night before if I know its low visibility. 

Probably not. For the vast majority of routes, if you can't find it/follow it with a 2D map, 2D topo and guidebook description then it's hard to see how 3D would help.

Get the right tools for the job:

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/

FatMap is the only one I know of, check that out. 

Tools like FATMAP can definitely be useful for mountaineering planning, but they're too low-resolution for cragging.

There are lots of apps & projects aiming to create 3D guidebooks though. I've never used any (or really felt the need to) so can't comment on how good they are, but it's a cool idea. Could see how it would be useful for bigger crags with more complex route finding, although you could argue it decreases the sense of adventure a bit.

https://www.360climbing.org/ 

https://www.rockgarden.io/ 

https://get.climbingatlas.com/

If we were that worried about adventure we wouldn't use guidebooks at all. With each stage in guidebook development there are always a few old farts who say it decreases adventure. Usually it's people who weren't that adventurous in the first place but want to feel superior because they did it when there were no topos or when topos were hand drawn or when topos were 2D...

So I'm not worried about the adventure thing, it's just that I wouldn't find 3D that useful. But then I'm an old fart too...

Would it be useful? I don't know. I guess maybe in very select circumstances. 

Would it be a cool gimmick? Yeah sure I guess

Would I buy an app or pay more for a guidebook with it? Nope.

Yeah I agree with your points, it's generally good to have more tools available for anyone who wants them. 

This App is coming up a lot on my feed: https://www.red-point.com.au/

3d crag models / AR topos