Climbing Topo Competition

About the Competition

Creating topos (climbing route descriptions) is an art form. Climbs are notoriously hard to describe as judged by the number of people who get lost trying to follow them. Routes are hard to sketch, or even harder to describe in words and even hard to mark on an image. Perspectives change with time, from the location that observations are made and the personality of the person making the observation. Given the difficulty in making a quality topo, a quality topo can mean the difference between an enjoyable climb and an overnight epic due to going off-route. Therefore, the ACC is hosting a competition to reward those who go out of their way to make outstanding topos.

• First Prize: $100 gift certificate to MEC
• Second Prize: $75 gift certificate to MEC

To enter, please submit a pdf of your topo for a new route to to the webmaster at webmaster@acccalgary.ca . Please include your name and contact information and any background/story to the route. SUbmission deadline is November 30, 2014 and prizes will be awarded during the December section meeting with the photo competition.

Judging criteria:

1. Completeness of the topo (there is a description of the parking, approach, route and descent)
2. Clarity of the description. Are the pitches described, including length and gear where appropriate. Are images or sketches used to portray the route?
3. Work involved. Larger routes take more effort to describe than smaller routes.

Notes:

• The topo must be original work. Therefore, the author must be involved the creation of the route, but does not necessarily have to be the first ascentionist.
• By submitting the topo to the Calgary Section of the ACC, the auther grants permission to the ACC to publish the topo on their webpage and distribute the topo, free of charge, to any recipient.