Difficulty ratings for treeocache placement?

Should the new settings be low to moderate in difficulty to get started out? I noticed that there are 1-5 star ratings at geochache.com. A climb description is also there at treeocache.com website.

How would you rate your current treeocache settings in the sense of a difficulty rating Nick and Pantheraba? Could a moderatly skilled climber get to it? A rating from 5-5.6 (modeled after the Sierra Club rock climbing rating) would be a moderate climbing rating. Should the current rating system be used (1-5 star) rather than the Sierra model?

Should higher ratings be used in future settings to challenge advanced climbers?

Peter, you are asking an astute question. I simply answered the questions at the geocache.com site and they produced the 5/5 rating...but that is geared towards “normal” people...non-tree climbers.

If someone has a BigShot or is reasonable good with a throwball and can ascend about 40-50 feet up a rope (free hanging, no trunk nearby) then it is pretty simple. On a scale of 1 to 10 with “one” simply climbing up a few limbs by the trunk to access a cache and 10 involving a multiple pitch 200 foot climb, I would give my cache maybe a “three”.

I looked at another spot that had the cache site hanging about 10 feet over a creek (small river to me) and about 40 feet up...that would have been a 4 or 5, maybe.

Is there any standardized way to rate climbing for trees? Or do some of our more cerebral types need to get busy?

I wondered the same thing. Geocaching.com has a feature where it'll quiz you and then suggest a rating. I did the quiz where it asks questions about how hard the cache is to find....the terrain, etc..then how hard it is to attain once you get there, they ask if you need any specialized equipment...and it gave a difficulty of 5 & 5...this is on a scale of 5, so it's the hardest rating.

However, I'm sure that practically anyone on this site could attain my cache with little dificulty what so ever. There is a great TIP only 40', and it's a pretty clear shot with the throwball.

Maybe we could start including in the text of the description on their site what the difficulty rating would be if you already know how to climb. I'd say Treeocache1 is like a 4/10.

love
nick

I modeled a difficulty rating system some years ago and modeled it after the Sierra Club system. You can find it on the index at site here under "Rankings, Ratings and Tags.

I break down the ratings further at times- like a 5.6 climb etc. up to a 5.12- just like the Sierra system. The hardest pitch or move defines the top rating number. A hanging pitch would have a higher rating than a standing pitch (rope advancement) where you are standing on a branch to make the next throw.