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General Climbing Discussion

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Let´s Harden UP!!!!!!!!!!! 30-Sep-2004 At 5:02:59 PM Ben

Message

Based on the following assumptions:

* the ideal/prefered method of climbing is to lead the climb (generally accepted I think, we tend not to grade climbs by how hard they are to toprope)

* if a climb is a trad climb then ideally it should be lead ground up, placing gear as you go, no preplacements etc. (I'm unsure if sports climbs should be prehung or not, and don't really care, whatever takes your fancy )

I believe that the grade assigned should be reflective of the style of climb (trad/sport) done ground up including the entire experience. If placing gear halfway through an awkward move makes the climb harder, great - lets factor that in so that the grade can still be used by the climber at the base to decide if the climb is challenging, boring or too hard/dangerous for them.

If it's likely that the climb will be frequently done in a different manner to the original ascent (ie serpentine on preplaced gear) then it may be helpful for the guidebook to note that and offer a suggested grade. This seems to be the case for Serpentine - if people want to argue that it should be 28 if climbed placing gear on lead, 26 on preplaced - fine. But the Ewbank system SHOULD take such difficulties at least somewhat into account.