[OSM-talk] Named passages on hiking paths

[Phil Endecott]

Gilles Bassi?re wrote:
> I'd like to get advice about toponymy in the context of hiking paths.
>
> When hiking, I often encounter short technical passages which have a
> name painted on the rock. In French, the name almost always begin with
> "Pas de ..." but I'm not sure if there is a good translation for "pas"
> in English [1]. Such portions of the path often consist in passing a
> small cliff or an exposed ridge, they may be equipped with chains or cables.

Hi Giles,

The correct translation for "pas" in that context is "step" - i.e. that 
is what you should write if translating a proper name.  Example: the 
"Hillary Step" on Everest.

In Britain there are various places known informally or semi-formally 
as "the bad step", or something similar.

However, since "step" has numerous meanings (as does "pas" of course), 
I doubt that it would be an appropriate word to use in an OSM tag.


Cheers,  Phil.