RRC Archives

"Grades and difficulty ratings are the hot topic in today's world of self promoting number-chasing egomaniacal sport-climbers. Has everyone forgotten that climbing is a mostly meaningless pursuit that you do for fun? It is baffling that so many climbers' entire ego structures- not to mention their self-image and their perceived status vis-a-vis of their peers, their sponsors, and the general public - depend entirely on those arbitrary little numbers that get printed in guidebooks and magazines and resumes. Their obsession with grades and their compulsion to overgrade are a pain in the neck. Have you heard of Aids? How about worldwide environmental degradation? Don't you think that those topics, and others of equal importance, deserve more attention and more discussion and more action than weather a route is 12d or 12d/13a or 13a of 13b or a/b/c/d/e/f/g?

While the meanings of the simple a,b,c,d letter grades is clear the split grades(i.e., a/b, b/c, etc.) are open to interpretation. FOr example 5.12b/c can be taken as "tough" 5.12b or as "soft" 5.12c. Just pick which ever one makes you feel good, and if that still doesn't work for you then feel perfectly free to add or subtract any number of letter grades from the ratings. Who knows, you could be right. Maybe you really are climbing 5.15c; it's just that nobody else knows it"

This is a quote from a guide book and it says it all so well...what the hell is wrong with us? The point of this to hopefully give you a chuckle and make a point at how absurd we as a group, climbers can be. I hope you get a good laugh...I know I did.

I concur Power2U!!!

So maybe I am a 5.3, but I'll ride the 5.2 climber train for a little while longer. I just can't commit~

Suurrrreeee P2U....that's easy to say when you are climbing 5.16dX with one arm, but some of us aren't that strong and the numbers are what make it fun for us!

Mj

In my past lives I have had to train by the numbers/times etc. Now I want fun. THen again why did I pick such a stressful sport? I think I'll go back to fly-fishing. Oh then they want to know how many fish you caught that day and how big they were, what size hook did I use, how many casts did I throw, what pound rod/line I use, was the wind blowing, where there trees impacting the cast, did I use shot, oh my God I hope I clamped all the barbs down 'cause we don't want to piss off PETA.

Screw the numbers!

I think that the numbers give me an idea of how hard the climb is so that I don't break my neck trying something that's too hard. Also, it gives me a guage to my progress as a climber. I do want to get stronger and better and it's easier to do that with goals. However, I have also realized the necessity of giving myself a break. When I focus too much on the numbers, I quit having fun and start being too hard on myself. That's no good either.

LOOK! I have a new Moniker!!!!!! WOOHOO!

SikMonkey,

I agree with you... for me part of the fun of this sport is pushing myself to continually improve, as seconded by Spragwa. The cool thing about climbing is that unless you are Tommy Caldwell, Beth Rodden, Chris Sharma, Dave Grham, Fred Nicole, Lisa Rands...etc. and have to set new standards then like the rest of us we have unlimited challengs for us so even as we get better we never get bored and can always find something cool to do next, weather it is climb 10a for the first time or boulder our first v8 there is always 10b & v9 / something more challenging to keep us going.

Man, now that you put it that way it would actually kind of suck to be one of those people on your list. Damn I am glad I am not Chris Sharma!

Mj

I've found as of late that at the end of the day, the questions and answers around the campfire set the mark for how you perceive grades. Do your buddies ask what grade you climbed that day? Or simply, "did you send"? When asked how your day was, do you start spouting off grades and recognizable names? Or do you just say,"It was a strong day","...man, it was an epic"? Spragwa shares the same viewpoint I try to adhere to, the grade should only be a guide for YOU. Use it so you don't waste half a tank of gas driving to that "nothin' but 14's"-crag. Use the grade so you can find a crag you'll have a "strong" day at. Because at the end of the day, "...a great day..." is all that truly matters. Don't believe me? Try spouting off the grades-of-the-day to someone who's accomplished this mindset, and you'll find them cutting the conversation short.

Grades are noted to keep you from getting into trouble off the deck,and gauge your limits. spraying numbers is a by product.