Beta Sites
A Beta site is any third party source of information on canyoneering routes. Some of these sites, like Bluugnome.com, RoadTripRyan.com, etc, are created and supported by a single individual. Other sites, like Descente-Canyon.com, HikeArizona.com, etc. are collectively contributed by multiple users. A special type of beta site is Books, which are not as interactive or up to date as web sites but occasionally they are the only source of information.
Beta site links
We applaud all those avid explorer that decide to publish their adventures to inspire others to follow their footprints. So whenever a route is well documented on some other web site or book, rather than replicating the information we prefer to use a Beta site link. The benefits are multiple:
- Easy for users to find the route information, even if documented somewhere else
- Drive traffic towards the original publishing site or book (rather than away from it)
- No wasted time documenting a route that is already well documented somewhere else
Automated Beta sites
Note: As of Aug 2017 automatic beta scraping is disabled. Map extraction is still enabled for locations that have valid links.
Users can manually add Beta site links just by editing the "Beta sites"/"Trip reports and media" sections of an article. However, Ropewiki also has robots that periodically scan a number of third party sites and create/update beta site links automatically.
- Beta site articles are matched up with Ropewiki's documented locations, new locations are added when considered relevant/interesting
- If available, summary information (number of rappels, longest rap, best season, etc.) is extracted and consolidated in Ropewiki summary
- If available, star ratings are extracted and aggregated in Ropewiki's StarRank by means of 'star votes' credited to the original beta site or book
- If available, latest conditions / trip reports are extracted and referenced as Ropewiki condition reports
- If available, GPS coordinates, GPX tracks and any other map data are dynamically extracted on-demand
The following are the currently automated 78 Beta sites (verified Oct 2023): (Send suggestions for more Beta sites to User:Lucach)
| Linked Beta sites | Region | Star Extraction | Map Extraction | Condition Extraction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Redirects |
(null) | |||
| RoadTripRyan.com |
USA | 1-5 | Disabled | |
| CanyonCollective.com |
World | 1-5 | From KML data | From Conditions |
| HikeArizona.com |
USA | 1-5 | From Custom Data | From Trip Reports |
| OnRopeCanyoneering.com |
USA | From GPX data | ||
| BluuGnome.com |
USA | From HTML data | ||
| Chris Brennen's Adventure Hikes (St Gabriels) |
USA | 1-3 -> 1.5-4.5 | From HTML data | |
| Chris Brennen's Adventure Hikes (Southwest) |
USA | 1-3 -> 1.5-4.5 | From HTML data | |
| Chris Brennen's Adventure Hikes (World) |
World | 1-3 -> 1.5-4.5 | From HTML data | |
| CanyoneeringUSA.com |
USA | 1-3 -> 1.5-4.5 | ||
| ZionCanyoneering.com |
USA | 1-5 | ||
| AmericanSouthwest.net |
USA | 1-5 | ||
| ToddsHikingGuide.com |
USA | 1-5 | ||
| Dave Pimental's Minislot Guide |
USA | 1-5 | ||
| Climb-Utah.com |
USA (Utah) | |||
| SummitPost.org |
USA / World | |||
| CanyoneeringNM.org |
USA (New Mexico) | |||
| Doug Scott's New Mexico Slot Canyons |
USA (New Mexico) | |||
| Super Amazing Map |
USA | |||
| Candition.com |
USA | From Conditions | ||
| Karl Helser's NW Adventures |
Pacific Northwest | |||
| KiwiCanyons.org |
New Zealand | 1-4 -> 2-5 | ||
| Icopro.org |
World | |||
| CanyonMag.net |
Japan / World | 1-4 -> 2-5 | ||
 UnoDeAventuras.com |
LatAm / World | 1-5 | From KML data | |
| Cañonismo.com |
Mexico | |||
| JaliscoVertical.Weebly.com |
Mexico | |||
| Altopirineo.com |
Spain | 1-4 -> 2-5 | ||
| DescensoDeBarrancos.com |
Spain / Europe | |||
| Guara.info |
Guara (Spain) | |||
| Actionman4x4.com |
Andalucia (Spain) | |||
| BarrancosCanarios.com |
Canarias (Spain) | |||
| BarrancosEnCuenca.es |
Spain | |||
| TeamEspeleoCanyons Blog |
Spain / Europe | |||
| SiMeBuscasEstoyConLasCabras Blog |
Spain / Europe | From MAP | ||
| RocJumper.com |
Spain / Europe | |||
| NKO-Extreme.com |
Spain / Europe | |||
| Barranquistas.es |
Spain / Europe | |||
| Doblevuit.com |
Mallorca (Spain) | |||
| NeoToposSport |
Mallorca (Spain) | |||
| MallorcaVerde.es |
Mallorca (Spain) | |||
| EscoNatura.com |
Mallorca (Spain) | |||
| 365DiasDeUnaGuia |
Spain | From group updates | ||
 Canyon.Carto.net |
World | 1-7 -> 1-5 | From KML data | |
 Descente-Canyon.com |
World | 0-4 -> 1-5 | From Custom Data | From Conditions |
| Altisud.com |
Europe | 1-5 | ||
| Yadugaz07 |
France | 1-10 -> 1->5 | ||
| Ligue Reunionnaise de Canyon |
Reunion | 0-4 -> 1-5 | ||
| Francois Leroux's Canyoning Reunion |
Reunion | |||
| Alpes-Guide.com |
France | |||
| An Kanion La-madinina |
French Caribbean | From PDF Index | ||
 SwissCanyon.ch |
Switzerland | 1-4 -> 2-5 | ||
| SwestCanyon.ch |
Switzerland | 1-4 -> 2-5 | ||
| Schlucht.ch |
Switzerland | From Conditions | ||
| CicaRudeClan.com |
World | 1-3 -> 1.5-4.5 | ||
| Canyoneast.it |
Italy | 1-3 -> 3-5 | ||
| TNTcanyoning.it |
Europe | |||
| VerticalWaterCanyoning.com |
Europe | 0-4 / 1-7-> 1-5 | ||
| Catastoforre AIC-Canyoning.it |
Italy | From Conditions | ||
| OpenSpeleo.org |
Italy / Europe | |||
| Gulliver.it |
Italy / Europe | |||
| Cens.it |
Italy | |||
| Michele Angileri's Canyons |
Italy | |||
 ECDCPortugal.com |
Portugal | |||
| CaMadeira.com |
Madeira | |||
 Wikiloc.com |
World | 1-5 | From Custom data |
The following sites were previously linked but are no longer available:
| Discontinued Beta sites | Region | Star Extraction | Map Extraction | Condition Extraction | Archive Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Canyoning.Wroclaw.pl |
Europe | 1-5 | |||
| Mur d'Eau Caraibe |
French Caribbean | 0-4 -> 1-5 | From KML data | ||
| Canyon de Tahiti |
French Polynesia | From PDF Index | |||
| Speleosphere.org |
Guatemala | ||||
| LaosCaveProject.de |
Laos | Wayback Machine | |||
| Latrencanous.com |
Spain | ||||
| Barrancos.org |
Spain / Europe | 1-10 -> 1-5 | Wayback Machine | ||
| UK CanyonGuides.org |
United Kingdom | 1-4 -> 2-5 | |||
| Mark Kilian's Adventures |
USA | ||||
| OregonCaves4U.com |
USA | ||||
| CanyoneeringNorthwest.com |
USA / Canada | Wayback Machine | |||
| CanyonChronicles.com |
World | From KML data | |||
| Barranquismo.net |
World | Wayback Machine | |||
| Caudal.info |
World | From Conditions | |||
| Canisciolti.biz |
World | 1-6 -> 1-5 | |||
| Climbing7 |
Europe | 1-3 -> 1.5-4.5 |
Ropewiki also attempts to extract conditions reports from posts on Facebook.com, see the User:Facebook.com page for more details.
Condition Extraction
For beta sites providing Trip Reports or Condition updates, only the latest of these reports is referenced as a Ropewiki condition report. Full details will only be available by visiting the reporting website using the Trip Report link. This way Ropewiki provides a link to the latest conditions without driving traffic away from the reporting sites, which we respect and want users to continue using.
Map Extraction
If a Ropewiki location does not have a KML map BUT map data is available from any linked beta sites, a KML map will be dynamically extracted. The extracted map is presented to users with a flashing text crediting origin and encouraging users to visit original beta site for more details. Credits to the beta site source are also automatically embedded in Waypoint and Track data to make sure proper credit is given even when map is downloaded onto a GPS device or Smartphone. The benefits of this approach are multiple:
- Easy for users to see route on Topo, Terrain and Satellite maps, regardless if internal or external map data
- Easy for users to download KML/GPX route data, regardless of original format published by the external beta site
- Easy for users to display/download multiple routes at once, KML/GPX mashups will equally use internal/external data
- Drive traffic towards the original publishing site (rather than away from it)
- No wasted time making a KML map that is already documented somewhere else
NOTE on RoadTripRyan.com: Most beta site administrators are happy with this approach as it provides proper credit and gets more traffic directed to their site. However, some Beta sites such as RoadTripRyan.com have chosen to opt OUT of the automatic map data extraction. When Map extraction is disabled for a beta site, Ropewiki will try to extract a map from any other beta site first and direct users to the disabled site ONLY when a map is not available anywhere else. This is NOT a 'punishment', this is the only way to procure a map from multiple potential sources being respectful for those sites that don't want their data to be extracted. We like RoadTripRyan.com, they have great GPX maps, we wish we could extract them but we respect Ryan's decision and request Ropewiki users to refrain from uploading to Ropewiki any Map file that was originally downloaded from RoadTripRyan.com. Thank you
