I am putting together a breakdown which gives the A grading 'real' function in that it describes (with benchmarks)
A0 as pulling or resting on gear amongst free climbing (hard Rain),
A1 is easy to place bomber pro,
A2 difficult to place bomber pro (defender on aid) no specialised aid gear required,
A3: difficult to place pro, some marginal, with some stretches of 4 or 5 bits (metres) pulling: 8 or 10 m fall potential without hitting ledges, punctuated with hooks (ozy),
A3+ difficult to place pro, some marginal, with some stretches of 8 or 10 bits.
A4 mostly marginal pro (bodyweight), difficult to place, for long stretches, punctuated by occasional hooks, occasional bomber pro. (long fall factor).
A4+ as above with a ledge below(lord gumtree). A5 as above with ledge and sans the bomber pro (good belay though)(copperhead road). A5+ crap gear all the way above a ledge with good belay
A6 is in theory a pitch with crap gear, big ledges and poor belay.
*Kind of straight forward, rings true to me re: northwall, gives the novice an idea of what to lookout for and the expert something to help his/her proverbial "balls swell" to quote HB. 'm' does not devide the issues good gear/crap gear - easy to place/hard to place - short falls/long falls - no ledge / big ledge.
|