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ARTICLE: The Future of Climbing Route Names - Neural Networks?

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 UKC Articles 19 Jun 2018
A simplified view of an artificial neural network., 4 kbA project in the US recently turned to climbing route names as learning material for training an artificial neural network. The results are amusing and made us wonder if climbers are perhaps a little crazy - at least, the neural network seemed to get that impression, anyway...

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 Red Rover 19 Jun 2018
In reply to UKC Articles:

Imagine if you trained it solely on route names thought up by John Redhead!

 Red Rover 19 Jun 2018
In reply to UKC Articles:

"Chocolatrance Problem (aka The Boom Sag Poodle Boys A Pill-Bob) " is a great route name

 profitofdoom 19 Jun 2018
In reply to Red Rover:

> "Chocolatrance Problem (aka The Boom Sag Poodle Boys A Pill-Bob) " is a great route name

Not as good as 'Route 1'

 ericinbristol 19 Jun 2018
In reply to UKC Articles:

Fun but's got a long way to go to catch up with evocative meaningful things like

A Dream of White Horses

Cemetery Gates

Gaia

Right Unconquerable

 

9
 Ramblin dave 19 Jun 2018
In reply to Red Rover:

> Imagine if you trained it solely on route names thought up by John Redhead!

There is a second theory that states that this has already happened.

 Red Rover 19 Jun 2018
In reply to ericinbristol:

If you fed it a UK guidebook it would start to look like those

 ericinbristol 19 Jun 2018
In reply to Red Rover:

True. My initial reaction was probably rubbish.

1
 Will Hunt 19 Jun 2018
In reply to UKC Articles:

I'd love to see what would happen if UK names were fed in. Maybe UKC could arrange this? Get all the trad routes from the database and snip off the sub-VS stuff (to get rid of the bulk of the Route 1s, A Buttresses etc). Likewise with UK sport routes over 7a.

 

The article that's linked to has a couple of good ones but most of them are quite Americany.

Fire On The Lookout and Velvet Quarter are both great.

 SuperLee1985 19 Jun 2018
In reply to UKC Articles:

I lost it at this one: Choset Hungocatter’s Loo Up the Poodles

 MikeSP 19 Jun 2018
In reply to UKC Articles:

I lost it a 'Mumbles and conception' 

In reply to Will Hunt:

We've suggested that. I wonder if our names are any less vulgar! They used 10,000 names and we have 432,000.

 Mehmet Karatay 19 Jun 2018
In reply to ericinbristol:

> Fun but's got a long way to go to catch up with evocative meaningful things like

> A Dream of White Horses

> Cemetery Gates

> Gaia

> Right Unconquerable

How many of those names are evocative and meaningful because of the climbs they represent as opposed to the names themselves?

Mehmet

 Trangia 19 Jun 2018
In reply to profitofdoom:

> Not as good as 'Route 1'

"Route 2" has more character, and "Route1.5" is a result of people straying off the other two.

Then there's "Original Route", "Ordinary Route" and "Direct Route" all of which can inspire the climber to venture onto the unknown.

 jamesg85 19 Jun 2018
In reply to UKC Articles:

I thought Johnny Dawes always had good, imaginative names for routes:

Sad amongst friends
Lllanberries
Silk
 

They're quite playful and poetic. I always wanted to do a Dawes route but never got good enough.

 

 ericinbristol 19 Jun 2018
In reply to Mehmet Karatay:

I agree, which is why I decided my initial reaction was wrong

Removed User 19 Jun 2018
In reply to Red Rover:

> Imagine if you trained it solely on route names thought up by John Redhead!

Or the old Creag Dhubh and Dunkeld guidebook.

 slab_happy 19 Jun 2018
In reply to UKC Articles:

"Slapshot Lizards" is *fantastic*.

Please, someone, climb something hard and name it that.

Also, if taken as Scots, "We Ken of the Air" is nicely evocative and enigmatic.

Post edited at 20:40
 DaveHK 19 Jun 2018
In reply to MikeSP:

> I lost it a 'Mumbles and conception' 

Are we sure that isn't a Redhead route already?

In reply to UKC Articles:

Janelle has replied and is keen to process the UKC names. Watch this space!

Also, I think guitar pedal names would be another good set to look at.

 Red Rover 19 Jun 2018
In reply to Natalie Berry - UKC:

Thanks I think it will be interesting! Some of them will probaly sound quite plausible. It would be interesting to do it with cave names as well, suprisingly there isn't a good list of caves in te UK as many caves are lumped together into a singly-names sytem, a bit like saying Stanage rather than listing the routes there, but these were the best I could find.

 

http://cavemaps.org/cavesnc1.htm

http://cavemaps.org/cavesnc2.htm

http://cavemaps.org/cavesnc3.htm

 DaveHK 20 Jun 2018
In reply to Natalie Berry - UKC:

> Also, I think guitar pedal names would be another good set to look at.

I know someone who did a dissertation on boat names.

 

 planetmarshall 20 Jun 2018
In reply to Natalie Berry - UKC:

> We've suggested that. I wonder if our names are any less vulgar! They used 10,000 names and we have 432,000.

I could do this. Just waiting for a rainy day, somewhat unusually.

 James FR 20 Jun 2018
In reply to UKC Articles:

The craft beer list on the same website is also worth a look: http://aiweirdness.com/post/163753995072/craft-beer-names-invented-by-neura...

 SuperLee1985 20 Jun 2018
In reply to James FR:

Is it just me or did it do way better on the stouts than the other two?

 

I particularly liked: Morning Dave - Vanilla Coffee Stout

 simes303 20 Jun 2018
In reply to jamesg85:

> I thought Johnny Dawes always had good, imaginative names for routes:

The End Of The Affair is one of my favourites.

In reply to UKC Articles:

James McHaffie isn't impressed. His names are very topical and witty, so a network would have a tough time matching up to those.

 https://twitter.com/McHaffieJames/status/1009353432128475136

 Paz 20 Jun 2018
In reply to jamesg85:

> I thought Johnny Dawes always had good, imaginative names for routes:

Braille Trail is a brilliant name too

 

In reply to Will Hunt:

I've sent them the data from UKC split into country and discipline. Should be interesting to see the changes in the results.

In reply to UKC Articles:

What a load of rubbish. This thing is pretty much coming up with random words joined together. Words that aren't even words..."Wark Fly Dorf". This is irrelevant to climbers in every possible way, although it might be of interest to someone who is involved in neural networks.

Climbers are no more or less "crazy" than any other group of people.

 

7
 Max Hangs 21 Jun 2018
In reply to Frank the Husky:

Come on, how can you not like "Raging Action" and "Ego's Boys"?

Better names than I could come up with, but then my imagination is poor.

 Dave Garnett 21 Jun 2018
In reply to Max Hangs:

Better names than I could come up with, but then my imagination is poor.

Really?  I have larger supply of potential route names than I'm ever going to be able to use but obviously it helps if there's a theme to the buttress, or something memorable happens during the ascent.  Song lyrics, book titles, puns, quotations... I don't need a random word generator.

I was only thinking this morning that 'A Chorus of Supposes' would be a good name for the right route.

 

1
 Max Hangs 21 Jun 2018
In reply to Dave Garnett:

Yes perhaps something would come to mind if I'd actually put up a new route!

I'd have to resist the temptation to use one of these...would be a shame if there wasn't a "reason" for the route name (whatever that reason). That's part of the joy of them!

Edit: I'm afraid you've lost me with "A Chorus of Supposes". Perhaps part of the problem is I'm culturally ignorant

Post edited at 12:04
 Dave Garnett 21 Jun 2018
In reply to Max Hangs:

I'm sure someone will spot the reference and, if not, Google will find it!

 Toerag 21 Jun 2018
In reply to UKC Articles:

The thing I like best about UK route names is the punning that goes on. Do other languages have this? I don't think I've noticed anything in the handful of foreign guides I've seen.

 jas128 21 Jun 2018
In reply to Toerag:

Néanderdalle (6b) where dalle = slab

In reply to Toerag:

Loads in French. They're particularly fond of word play.

Removed User 21 Jun 2018
In reply to UKC Articles:

The best route name, surely, is "Dick Van Dyke goes ballistic"?

 Tigger 21 Jun 2018
In reply to UKC Articles:

Haven't we already got a route name generator by the name of Garry? And they even make sense!

 Stone Muppet 21 Jun 2018

I know a few people who live in Splot(t)

https://goo.gl/maps/tjFaoHU46Vx

Not far from Boulders

Post edited at 21:29
 nniff 22 Jun 2018
In reply to UKC Articles:

The next lot to feed it would be Strava segment names - if that doesn't make it sting itself to death I don't know what will.


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