UKC

Why were fewer routes logged on UKC in 2012 than 2011?

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 deacondeacon 04 Feb 2013
Over the last decade the amount of routes logged into the ukc database has increased year on year until 2012:

2004 38,817
2005 57,674
2006 113,287
2007 172,180
2008 228,829
2009 307,209
2010 393,087
2011 456,236
2012 406,261

I was just wondering if anyone knew why 2012 has significantly less routes added compared to 2011.
A few ideas I thought of where that the weather was worse than other years (I personally didn't notice it being particularly worse than usual), or perhaps people are using other online logbooks.
Another thought I had is that people may add all their routes from a previous year in one go, and these haven't been added yet.

I personally use the ukc logbooks more than any other part of the website, and believe they are a great resource to the community. It would be a real shame if the numbers dwindled as user input is such an integral part to making it work.
Any thoughts?

UKC Staff Edit: The title of this post has been edited. Read the UKC response lower down this thread for details.
 Ally Smith 04 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon:

Did you not see the weather last summer?
 ledifer 04 Feb 2013
In reply to ally smith:
definitely the weather
 Paul at work 04 Feb 2013
In reply to ally smith: It was brilliant for Kayaking! When are we going to see you on the water next Ally?
 DerwentDiluted 04 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon:

Rain stopped play, not a single tick for diluted between october and January.
 Al Evans 04 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon: I think it was the wettest year on record for a zillion years, or certainly since the logbooks started.
OP deacondeacon 04 Feb 2013
In reply to DerwentDiluted: well it's looking unanimous with the weather to blame. I noticed the end of the year being pretty grim but not particularly bad. Just googled annual rainfall levels and it was the second wettest year on record! Oh well hopefully this year will reap more climbing rewards.
OP deacondeacon 04 Feb 2013
In reply to Al Evans: records show that 2000 was wetter but I hadn't started climbing then anyway.
 pork pie girl 04 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon: i was out every week last year, about 3-4 times a week.. dodging the rain and climbing part of routes that were dry... the number of climbs i logged reduced in comparison to the last couple of years because i started to sports climb alot more and got into red pointing... meaning some weeks i only bagged one new climb , repeated some climbs loads.. as warm ups .. as some crags have very few routes suitable to use as warm up routrd, i spent about the last 4 weeks of the season on only one route until i red pointed it, using another easier route to warm up every time.. because other stuff was wet or too difficult. i also usually bag 50+ routes every time i go on my summer holiday to france.. i didn't go last year... flogged myself on the same route in the uk instead!
 dutybooty 05 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon: I'm out most weekends. Don't use logbooks though as I personally don't feel the need to log my climbs
 jkarran 05 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon:

It never stopped raining!
jk
 Al Evans 05 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon:
> (In reply to Al Evans) records show that 2000 was wetter but I hadn't started climbing then anyway.

I think it depended which part of the country you were in, usually the bits with hills are wetter.
 Ally Smith 05 Feb 2013
In reply to Paul at work:
> (In reply to ally smith) It was brilliant for Kayaking! When are we going to see you on the water next Ally?

Not sure; it's been a while!

ps. Do you want a Small Ammo? I'm selling Emily's boat.

 Neil Williams 05 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon:

The weather was absolute shite all year, so much so that I climbed outdoors only once and even then it was pissing down.

Neil
 ericinbristol 05 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon:

Despite the hideous wetness I climbed outdoors 72 times from January to September last year and got 47 route done (including quite a few redpoint projects) - mostly in Cheddar!

Mind you, I think I have become an amphibian...
 Jack Geldard 05 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon:

Hi Deacondeacon, your original thread title was incorrect, so I have edited it.

Your original thread title: Why are fewer people using the UKC logbooks?
My new thread title: Why were fewer routes logged on UKC in 2012 than 2011?

There are more users actively using the UKC logbooks now than ever before, and this number is still steadily growing.

People actively using logbooks on UKC:
Dec 2011 - 16,529
Dec 2012 - 19,635

As to why there were less actual routes ticked last year than the year before, I'm not sure, but it could be the weather. There are more people adding their climbs, but the amount they have done has decreased.

Hope that's useful,

Jack
OP deacondeacon 05 Feb 2013
In reply to Jack Geldard - UKC Chief Editor: yep that makes more sense, like I said in my opening post I'm a big fan of the logbooks, and its now pretty clear that the weather has affected many people.
Hopefully this year will hit half a million ascents.
 IainMacG 05 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon:
Yeah, pretty clear upward trend until last year.
Definitely go with the weather - both poor winter season and very wet summer across anywhere south of the highlands (which actually had a good summer - not that you'd know it from the London oriented news in the UK)
 Jack Geldard 05 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon:
> (In reply to Jack Geldard - UKC Chief Editor)

> Hopefully this year will hit half a million ascents.

Now that would be cool, and I think we should probably offer a prize for the 500,000th route logged. And a bonus prize if it is 3 Pebble Slab.

I shall see what I can come up with as we get close to the figure.

Jack
 The Ivanator 05 Feb 2013
In reply to ericinbristol: Managed 51 days of climbing outside last year (45 in the UK) got outside every month and only had two days curtailed by rain. I have finely honed my internet weather researching skills and developed a willingness to alter plans at short notice to head for wherever the rain seems to be skirting around. I can remember having time to climb but nowhere being dry on a few occasions - the last 2 weeks of April were particularly frustrating.
 ericinbristol 05 Feb 2013
In reply to The Ivanator:

Yes, that's the way to do it - research the weather and be flexible. And stubborn. On one hard (for me) redpoint, I did it with cloths pre-stuffed into three crucial sopping wet pockets. Pulled them out as I got to them, put them back in for the next attempt. The good thing about it is that when you get on a project and it is actually dry, it feels soooo much easier.
 mrchewy 05 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon: I did two weeks in Morocco and two weeks in Switzerland but logged absolutely nothing from those four weeks, despite a new 800m alpine route in the Atlas.
There was a trip up Tower Ridge in winter too, that ended when my mate got ill at Little Tower and we wandered back down but that was a cracking day out, I did nothing but smile.
Whilst I think the logbook is great, it really didn't reflect my year at all.
 JimboWizbo 05 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon: I've done my part!
In reply to JimboWizbo:

Ha! I just checked how many routes I'd logged in 2012 compared to you Jimbo and we've both logged exactly the same - 233 routes!
OP deacondeacon 05 Feb 2013
In reply to JimboWizbo: good work
OP deacondeacon 05 Feb 2013
In reply to Paul Phillips - UKC and UKH: you too
 jonnie3430 05 Feb 2013
In reply to Jack Geldard - UKC Chief Editor:
>
> There are more people adding their climbs, but the amount they have done has decreased.
>
Maybe they are heading away from pokey wee single pitch routes and getting on mountain routes instead! 15 routes in a day, or one 15 pitch route? I know what I'd prefer....
 Ava Adore 05 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon:

It rained a lot
 Simon Caldwell 05 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon:
> I was just wondering if anyone knew why 2012 has significantly less routes added compared to 2011.

I've no idea. Personally I logged 318 routes in 2011 and 422 in 2012.

I'd question your use of the word "significantly" though.
<boring pedant>And of course the word "less" instead of "fewer" </boring pedant>
 JimboWizbo 05 Feb 2013
In reply to Paul Phillips - UKC and UKH: Cool! We should start an exclusive club.
 Chris the Tall 05 Feb 2013
In reply to deacondeacon:
Mountain biking

(And the weather...and the fact that you can still go mountain biking in the rain)

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