UKC

Anybody got and ideas where to get reliable GPS coordinates for specific boulders to make them easier to locate. Guidebooks are great for Topo's but not necessarily the best for locating hard to find spots.

I would like to Pin them into google maps before i set out.

Specifically trying to map out stuff Across the roaches, before other peak district and churnet areas

If you get hold of the Peak District Bouldering guide by Vertebrates Publishing instead of the Rockfax one, it gives much more elaborate drawings of where to find the boulders. With that guidebook, it should be very easy to locate the specific boulders

That's actually the guidebook I was using, which has been great for lower and upper tier approaches but not so great at helping me find the skyline problems. 

Stuart Brooks' Churnet guide already has GPS co-ordinates for each buttress/boulder.

This is becoming increasingly common in new guides.

27 crags?

Ideal, I'll check that out. 

Tried that but didn't have the bits I was looking for. Cheers for the suggestion though. I'd just use the ukc logbook map but my GPS has been failing with it whilst I'm up there

Yeah, it’s sadly a bit crap in the UK.

The easiest way to locate them is to download the Rockfax app and use the maps in that. If you have an iPhone then you will appear as a blue dot on the maps which means you can go straight to the boulders.

If you have an Android device then the Rockfax maps geo-location isn't functioning yet (it should be rolled out in the next month or so). However you can still use the 'Map' tab which has crags and boulders from the UKC Logbook data. If those pins have been placed correctly then they will position you without having to resort to actual GPS co-ordinates.

The app is free to use until July 14th still.

More here https://www.rockfax.com/publications/rockfax-app/

Alan

I find this a very curious statement. We take great pride in our maps and put in a tremendous amount of effort when creating them. If they are lacking in detail then I really want to know about it. Can you tell me which maps in particular you are referring to?

Alan

Possible ideal solution is What3Words - (https://what3words.com/)

It substitutes GPS coordinates for a block of 3 words. 

What's useful is you can pre-download a map on GoogleMaps  of the crag(s) you're heading too, and then just enter the 3 words in the app and it shows you exactly where they are to the nearest 3 meters.

You don't need reliable GPS service as the map is pre-downloaded and data already in place. 

E.g. Strawberries @ Curbar: ascendant.refer.poems (https://what3words.com/ascendant.refer.poems)

How is this simplier? Adds a layer of complexity and you still need to know where the boulders are located anyway. 

Its all well and good having precise coordinates but they have to be accurate too. 

I know of a map with coordinates on them but cross checking on google earth puts the boulder 100m away. 

Off to The Roaches for my first visit Friday. Fingers crossed on weather, was due to go today but swapped after the rain!

Going to give the app an outing so I'll be relying on that map tab (android) because I'm comically terrible at locating anything from a guidebook.

(Still picking up the Peak Bouldering Guide at lunch today providing I can find somewhere in Leeds selling it).

Simpler as in an alternative to GPS coordinates in a guidebook/online guide, rather than a specific response to the OP (sorry - should've been cleared about that!).

I've already used it for meeting people at crags; rather than saying "Up the path, left at the funny tree and look for the boulder that looks a bit like a frog", just say give them tree.busy.canoe and it gets them there. The googlemap and W3W grid already downloaded, so no worries about dodgy data/GPS signals.

(Ha! Turns out tree.busy.canoe is actually a place in Alaska...)

Maybe I am of the old school however surely part of the fun of going out bouldering is getting lost trying to locate boulders? Can't beat being neck deep in heather with three pads for an hour before giving up (I'm looking at you Ilkley Rocky Vally - specifically the problem Energy Follows Thought if anyone has GPS co-ordinates for this boulder it would be appreciated!) 

Wouldn't work too well at St Bees as they have a habit of migrating around a bit

Downloaded this for now to try and use but am unfortunately on Android.

Will the Android geo-location be ready before the trail expires?

What will the pricing structure be for the app?

I don't mind doing this when Im climbing alone but i semi-regularly climb with a guy several grades above me, and he tends to get pretty frustrated when i spend an hour looking for a block full of 4's hiding somewhere in churnet when he's capable of climbing into 6's. It was more to cut down on the time im digging through woodland looking.

Yes, makes sense in that context. In my mind you'd be working from an app-based system with boulders on a map, and you as a dot. 

Probably not I'm afraid.

£4/month on a month by month recurring, or £36/year on a year by year recurring.

More here - https://www.rockfax.com/publications/rockfax-app/

Alan