# Mountain Project Scraper (`crawlerbros/mountainproject-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Mountain Project, the largest US rock-climbing route database. Search routes, browse by area or crag, fetch by route ID, or get popular classics: route details with grades, ratings, pitches, length, descriptions, photos, and GPS coordinates. HTTP-only via the public API; no auth required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/crawlerbros/mountainproject-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Crawler Bros](https://apify.com/crawlerbros) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Lead generation, Other
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Mountain Project Scraper

Scrape **Mountain Project** — the largest US rock-climbing route database with 500K+ routes, areas, crags, photos and beta. Search routes by keyword, browse every route under an area or crag, look up routes by ID, or pull the site's popular classic routes. Get full route detail: grades (YDS, French, V-scale and more), route type, star ratings, pitches, length, descriptions, protection, approach, first ascent, GPS coordinates and photos. HTTP-only via Mountain Project's public API — no auth, no cookies, no proxy needed.

### What this actor does

- **Four modes:** `search`, `browseByArea`, `byRouteIds`, `popularRoutes`
- **Search both surfaces:** `searchType=routes` (default) or `searchType=areas` — area search returns crag/area records with ratings, coordinates and breadcrumbs
- **Full route detail:** description, approach, protection, descent, first ascent, submitted-by, access notes
- **Grades:** YDS / French / V-scale / Ewbanks / UIAA / ZA / British plus aid, ice and mixed grades
- **Filters:** route type dropdown, grade range (YDS/V/aid/ice/mixed), minimum star rating, keyword, location
- **Photos:** carousel photo URLs from each route page (optional toggle)
- **Area records:** sub-area tree, route counts per type, coordinates, radius, overview
- **Empty fields are omitted**

### Output per route

- `routeId` — Mountain Project route ID (e.g. `105924807`)
- `name` — route name (e.g. "The Nose")
- `difficulty` — combined grade string (e.g. `5.9 C2`, `V2`, `WI4`)
- `gradeYds`, `gradeFrench`, `gradeEwbanks`, `gradeUiaa`, `gradeZa`, `gradeBritish` — per-system grades (when available)
- `routeTypes[]` — e.g. `["Trad", "Aid"]` (Trad / Sport / Toprope / Boulder / Ice / Aid / Mixed / Alpine)
- `pitches`, `lengthFeet`, `lengthMeters`
- `rating` — average star rating (0–5), `voteCount`, `pageViews`
- `description`, `approach`, `protection`, `descent`, `accessNotes[]`
- `firstAscent`, `submittedBy`
- `areaId`, `parentAreaId`, `parentAreaName`, `breadcrumbs` — location path (e.g. `California > Yosemite National Park > ...`)
- `location` — `{latitude, longitude}` GPS coordinates
- `thumbnailUrl`, `photoUrls[]`
- `sourceUrl`, `mountainProjectUrl`, `recordType: "route"`, `scrapedAt`

### Output per area (mode = `browseByArea`)

- `areaId`, `name`, `breadcrumbs`, `isLeaf`, `depth`
- `summary`, `overview`, `approach`
- `routeTypeCounts` — routes per type (`sport`, `trad`, `boulder`, `ice`, ...)
- `location` (GPS), `radius`, `rating`, `popularity`, `childAreaCount`
- `thumbnailUrl`, `sourceUrl`, `recordType: "area"`, `scrapedAt`

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `mode` | string | `search` | `search` / `browseByArea` / `byRouteIds` / `popularRoutes` |
| `searchQuery` | string | `el capitan` | Free-text query (mode=search) |
| `searchType` | enum | `routes` | `routes` / `areas` (mode=search) |
| `areaIds` | array | – | Area IDs or URLs to browse (mode=browseByArea) |
| `routeIds` | array | – | Route IDs or URLs to look up (mode=byRouteIds) |
| `sortBy` | string | `relevance` | `relevance` / `rating` / `longest` / `shortest` / `popularity` |
| `routeType` | string | – | `Trad` / `Sport` / `Toprope` / `Boulder` / `Ice` / `Aid` / `Mixed` / `Alpine` |
| `gradeMin` | string | – | e.g. `5.9`, `V4`, `WI4`, `A2`, `M6` |
| `gradeMax` | string | – | e.g. `5.12`, `V10`, `WI5`, `A4`, `M8` |
| `minRating` | number | – | 0–5 star minimum |
| `containsKeyword` | string | – | Keep routes with this keyword in name/description |
| `locationKeyword` | string | – | Keep routes in this location path, e.g. `Yosemite` |
| `maxAreaDepth` | int | `3` | Sub-area recursion depth (mode=browseByArea) |
| `includeDetails` | boolean | `true` | Fetch full route detail (1 request per route) |
| `includePhotos` | boolean | `false` | Scrape photo carousel + votes (1 HTML request per route) |
| `maxItems` | int | `50` | Hard cap (1–1000) |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | off | Optional; only used automatically on 403/429 |

#### Example: search with filters

```json
{
  "mode": "search",
  "searchQuery": "el capitan",
  "routeType": "Trad",
  "gradeMin": "5.9",
  "gradeMax": "5.12",
  "minRating": 3,
  "locationKeyword": "Yosemite",
  "includeDetails": true,
  "maxItems": 20
}
```

#### Example: browse a whole crag

```json
{
  "mode": "browseByArea",
  "areaIds": ["105720495"],
  "maxAreaDepth": 3,
  "includeDetails": true,
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

#### Example: lookup by route ID with photos

```json
{
  "mode": "byRouteIds",
  "routeIds": ["105924807", "https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105748138/hand-traverse"],
  "includePhotos": true
}
```

#### Example: popular classics

```json
{
  "mode": "popularRoutes",
  "minRating": 3,
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

### Use cases

- **Climbing guidebook data** — build route databases for guidebook apps and training platforms
- **Route discovery** — pull the most popular classic routes in an area with photos and beta
- **Location intelligence** — GPS coordinates and area trees for outdoor apps and maps
- **Market research** — climb-quality signals (ratings, votes, page views) across crags
- **Training content** — grade distributions and route-type mixes by region

### Data Source

Mountain Project (mountainproject.com) — the largest US climbing-route community database, operated by onX Maps. The actor uses the site's public JSON API (`/api/v2/search`, `/api/v2/routes/<id>`, `/api/v2/areas/<id>`) and publicly rendered pages (`/area/classics`, route pages). No API key, login or cookies are required.

### Limitations

- `browseByArea` collects routes from an area's children tree; very large areas (e.g. whole states) have up to 20 direct children and the recursion is bounded by `maxAreaDepth` and `maxItems`.
- Vote counts, page views and the per-system grade breakdown come from the route HTML page and are only populated when `includePhotos` is enabled (the JSON API exposes the combined grade string and average rating without them).
- Route-grade filtering supports YDS, V-scale, aid (A/C), ice (WI/AI) and mixed (M) grades; grades in other systems or unparseable strings are passed through, not dropped.
- Photo carousels show the photos Mountain Project attaches to a route; the full community photo pool for an area is only reachable through the photo search index.
- The API serves at most 25 results per search page; the actor pages through until `maxItems` or the result set ends.

### FAQ

- **What is the data source?** Mountain Project (mountainproject.com), the largest US climbing-route community site, via its public search/detail API and public pages. This actor is a third-party tool and is not affiliated with Mountain Project or onX.
- **Does it require an API key?** No. Mountain Project's public `/api/v2/*` endpoints and public pages need no authentication.
- **Are the photos hotlink-safe?** Yes — photo URLs point to the public `mountainproject.com/assets/photos/climb/*` CDN and load without referer or cookies.
- **How are grades compared for the grade range filter?** YDS (`5.10d`), V-scale (`V4`), aid (`A2`), ice (`WI4`) and mixed (`M6`) grades map onto a single comparable scale; routes whose grade can't be parsed are not dropped.
- **Why are some fields missing on some routes?** Only fields the source actually has are emitted — e.g. boulders have no pitches, sport routes have no protection sections. Empty fields are omitted from every record.
- **How fresh is the data?** Records are fetched live at run time from Mountain Project's API and pages.
- **Is there a rate limit?** The public endpoints are unthrottled, but the actor still paces requests politely and retries on 429/5xx with backoff.
- **What about areas with very many routes?** `browseByArea` collects routes from the area's children tree; the `maxAreaDepth` and `maxItems` inputs bound the size of a run.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

What to fetch.

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Free-text query (mode=search), e.g. `el capitan`, `red river gorge`, `boulder problem`.

## `searchType` (type: `string`):

Search routes or areas/crags (mode=search).

## `areaIds` (type: `array`):

Mountain Project area IDs or URLs, e.g. `105708959` or `https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105708959/california`. Routes are collected from the area and its sub-areas.

## `routeIds` (type: `array`):

Mountain Project route IDs or URLs, e.g. `105924807` or `https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105924807/the-nose`.

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

Order of search results (mode=search).

## `routeType` (type: `string`):

Only keep routes of this type (mode=search; searchType=routes).

## `gradeMin` (type: `string`):

Lowest grade to keep, e.g. `5.9`, `5.10d`, `V4`, `WI4`, `A2`, `M6` (YDS, V-scale, aid, ice, mixed).

## `gradeMax` (type: `string`):

Highest grade to keep, e.g. `5.12`, `V10`, `WI5`, `A4`, `M8`.

## `minRating` (type: `number`):

Only keep routes rated at least this (0-5 stars).

## `containsKeyword` (type: `string`):

Only keep records whose name or description contains this keyword.

## `locationKeyword` (type: `string`):

Only keep records whose location path contains this keyword, e.g. `Yosemite`, `Red Rocks`, `Gunks`.

## `maxAreaDepth` (type: `integer`):

How many levels of sub-areas to descend when collecting routes (1-10).

## `includeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch the full detail for every route (description, protection, approach, first ascent, photos thumbnail). Adds one request per route.

## `includePhotos` (type: `boolean`):

Also scrape the photo carousel and vote count from each route page (adds one HTML request per route).

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Hard cap on emitted records.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional proxy. Only engaged automatically if the site starts returning 403/429.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "search",
  "searchQuery": "el capitan",
  "searchType": "routes",
  "areaIds": [],
  "routeIds": [],
  "sortBy": "relevance",
  "maxAreaDepth": 3,
  "includeDetails": true,
  "includePhotos": false,
  "maxItems": 5,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `routes` (type: `string`):

Dataset containing all scraped Mountain Project records.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "mode": "search",
    "searchQuery": "el capitan",
    "searchType": "routes",
    "areaIds": [],
    "routeIds": [],
    "sortBy": "relevance",
    "maxAreaDepth": 3,
    "includeDetails": true,
    "includePhotos": false,
    "maxItems": 5,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("crawlerbros/mountainproject-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "mode": "search",
    "searchQuery": "el capitan",
    "searchType": "routes",
    "areaIds": [],
    "routeIds": [],
    "sortBy": "relevance",
    "maxAreaDepth": 3,
    "includeDetails": True,
    "includePhotos": False,
    "maxItems": 5,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("crawlerbros/mountainproject-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "mode": "search",
  "searchQuery": "el capitan",
  "searchType": "routes",
  "areaIds": [],
  "routeIds": [],
  "sortBy": "relevance",
  "maxAreaDepth": 3,
  "includeDetails": true,
  "includePhotos": false,
  "maxItems": 5,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call crawlerbros/mountainproject-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,crawlerbros/mountainproject-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/hijzjIEDToMDUIy5C/builds/bWrJg2vazav7kaavA/openapi.json