How the crowd percentages work

On every ledge of the climb you will see a line like "Only 12% of today's climbers got past here". This guide explains in plain words where that number comes from, what it means, and why it moves around.

What the number on a ledge means

Each ledge shows the share of today's climbers who got past it. Past it means they answered that question correctly and kept climbing. If a ledge says 80%, then about four out of five of the people who reached that ledge today answered it right and moved up. If it says 12%, most people who reached it fell there.

This is a quick way to see how hard a question really was, as opposed to how hard it felt. A question can feel easy and still trip up a lot of people. It can feel scary and turn out to be one that most climbers handle. The number tells you what actually happened.

Why the numbers are never empty

Imagine you are one of the first people to play a new climb. Nobody has answered anything yet, so there is no crowd to measure. Showing a blank or a wild number from two players would not help anyone.

So Pinnagoat starts each question from a careful difficulty estimate. Every question is rated for how hard it should be before it ever goes live. That estimate is the starting point for the number you see.

As real players finish their climbs, their results are added in. Early on, the estimate still counts for a lot. As more people play, the real results count for more and more, and the estimate fades into the background. By the time a large crowd has played, the number on each ledge reflects what that crowd actually did.

Think of a forecast that gets replaced by real weather.

Why the numbers change during the day

If you check a ledge in the morning and again in the evening, the percentage may be different. That is normal. Three things cause it.

• More people play. Each finished climb adds to the picture. Small crowds are noisy, so the early numbers jump around more than the later ones.
• The estimate gives way to real results. As described above, the starting guess matters less as the count grows.
• Different people play at different times. A group that plays at breakfast may be a little different from the group that plays late at night. The mix of players shifts as the day goes by and as time zones wake up.

The new climb starts at midnight UTC, and the numbers begin fresh for that day.

Why a number can look odd

Occasionally a ledge will show a number that surprises you. A few things can explain that.

• The crowd is still small, so one or two people can move the number.
• A hard question can be a popular guess for a wrong answer, which makes a ledge tougher than its wording suggests.

The number is a snapshot of one day and one group of players. It is not a ruling on how smart anyone is. It is a fun way to see where you stand.

What "top X%" means

When you finish, your result includes a line such as "Ridge, top 18%". That tells you how your climb compares with everyone else who played that day.

• A smaller number is better. Top 5% means you did better than most of the crowd. Top 60% means a lot of people climbed higher than you did.
• It can change a little after you finish, because more people keep playing for the rest of the day.

That last point is worth remembering if you share your result in the morning. By night, your percentage may have shifted a bit. The tier you earned, like Ridge or Summit Push, does not change. Only the comparison with the crowd does.

The Pinnagoat Club and ties at the top

Reaching the very top of the mountain, all ten ledges, makes you a Pinnagoat. Many climbers can do that on a given day, so there needs to be a fair way to rank them.

That is where speed comes in. Among everyone who reaches the top, ties are broken by total answer time. The faster your answers add up, the higher you rank. The Pinnagoat Club for the day lists the 100 fastest of those climbers.

A few things to know about it:

• Only players who reach the top are eligible. Speed does not help if you fall short.
• Time is counted across all ten answers, so a steady pace beats one fast answer and several slow ones.
• Each answer has a 20 second limit, and the clock is checked by the server, so the timing is the same for everyone.

If you are chasing the Club, the lesson is to answer quickly when you truly know. Do not rush the questions you are unsure about, because a wrong answer ends your climb and a slow one only costs you a few seconds.

The short version

• Each ledge shows the share of today's climbers who got past it.
• Numbers start from careful difficulty estimates and are taken over by real results as players finish.
• They move during the day because the crowd keeps growing and changing.
• Top X% compares your climb with everyone who played that day, and a smaller number is better.
• At the summit, total answer time decides the order for the Pinnagoat Club.