Difficulty / Terrain

[coocootoo]

When I place a cache and have to provide difficulty and terrain ratings, I notice that the suggested scale for terrain is all about the hike to GZ. None of my caches have a long hike involved and on that criterion none of them would rise above a 1.5, but several have tricky terrain around GZ itself. I don't consider most of them to be intellectually challenging; a couple of the caches are essentially in plain sight, they're just physically hard to get to, so the challenge lies purely in the terrain; not in the form of a mile-long hike or anything (usually you can park right next to GZ), but maybe just the last thirty feet. Scrambling, climbing, wading, negotiating prickly plants, all that sort of thing. As these are really physical rather than mental challenges, I have been treating them as part of the "terrain" score rather than "difficulty". But now I'm wondering... is that the done thing?

[+niraD]

4 minutes ago, coocootoo said:

When I place a cache and have to provide difficulty and terrain ratings, I notice that the suggested scale for terrain is all about the hike to GZ. None of my caches have a long hike involved and on that criterion none of them would rise above a 1.5, but several have tricky terrain around GZ itself. I don't consider most of them to be intellectually challenging; a couple of the caches are essentially in plain sight, they're just physically hard to get to, so the challenge lies purely in the terrain; not in the form of a mile-long hike or anything (usually you can park right next to GZ), but maybe just the last thirty feet. Scrambling, climbing, wading, negotiating prickly plants, all that sort of thing. As these are really physical rather than mental challenges, I have been treating them as part of the "terrain" score rather than "difficulty". But now I'm wondering... is that the done thing?

That could be T4 if it involves "Very strenuous movement that may include significant distance, overgrowth, swimming, or elevation changes." Does it involve very strenuous movement including a significant elevation change?

 

Or maybe it's T2.5 if it involves "Terrain may have small elevation changes or moderate overgrowth." Is it a small elevation change?

 

There used to be language in the description that described climbing that required using one's hands, or climbing that required hands and knees, or something like that. That specific language is gone, but the basic concept still applies. The last 30 feet is part of the terrain, just as much as the first few hundred feet.

[+L0ne.R]

Rating	Difficulty	Terrain
	Effort needed to solve and find the cache and logbook at GZ.	Physical effort needed to arrive at coordinates.
	.	The hike is less than 0.5 mile (0.8 km) and wheelchair accessible (attribute required). Most likely paved and flat.
	.	The hike is less than 0.5 mile (0.8 km). Most likely flat but may not be wheelchair accessible.
	.	The hike is less than 2 miles (3 km) along well-defined paths with no significant elevation change or overgrowth.
	.	Terrain may have small elevation changes or moderate overgrowth.
	.	The hike may be more than 2 miles (3 km) on varied terrain - too difficult to ride a bike due to elevation changes or significant overgrowth.
	.	Quite strenuous, extended hike on widely variable terrain.
	.	Very strenuous movement that may include significant distance, overgrowth, swimming, or elevation changes.
	.	Extremely demanding movement over potentiallyhazardous terrain.
	.	Requires specialized equipment such as scuba gear, a boat, rock climbing gear, or similar.

[+L0ne.R]

I added the above Terrain rating part of the D/T chart on the Help page for reference. 

[+TriciaG]

The terrain involves the physical activity to get your hands on the cache. So even if the hike is only 100 feet, if the last 5 feet is rough terrain or a steep climb, the cache would need to be rated accordingly.

 

I think the terrain rating is a bit less about the distance than the conditions of the hike and retrieval of the cache. (OK, it is about the distance in some cases - a handicap accessible, 1-star won't be very far to travel, so those on crutches could do it.)

[+L0ne.R]

19 hours ago, coocootoo said:

tricky terrain around GZ itself.

 

Think of mobility impaired people--arthritis in the knees, hips, ankles; people recovering from illness, surgery, broken bones. Some may be using assistive devices like a cane. They heavily rely on good terrain ratings and will expect that anything under T2.5 (Terrain may have small elevation changes or moderate overgrowth) would be manageable, and that includes the most important part, the terrain at ground zero.

 

When I was mobility impaired for a few months, I'd often travel 25km just to go for a cache that was T2 or under.  I would often hobble down a relatively flat terrain, get to about 100 meters from ground zero and stare down a steep slope of gravel, or rocks and weeds, or I'd see a 2 foot wide deep ditch between me and the cache and there was no way I could make the jump the water or cross over the fallen tree "bridge". Or I'd stare from the relative flatness of the flat pea gravel trail, into a forest thick with downed trees, the gps reading 100m of bushwacking.  

Edited June 7, 2018 by L0ne.R
clarity

[+barefootjeff]

The terrain rating should be based on the most difficult bit of the journey from the start to getting hold of the cache. There's a T4 near here that's all along a fairly long dirt service road (about 5km each way) with some undulations, but would be mostly okay on a decent mountain bike.  It gets its rating in the very last metre which requires climbing out onto a ledge in the side of a cliff. It initially defeated me, so on my second attempt I carried a telescopic ladder all the way out there and came at it from below.

 

Edited June 7, 2018 by barefootjeff

[coocootoo]

Cool, sounds like I'm doing it right then! It was just the guidelines' focus on hiking distance that threw me. Thanks all!