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Rod's Euro 2010 - Trip Report 12-Jul-2010 At 6:49:50 PM rod

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G'Day M9 and thanks for the PM the other day.

>Presumably they were climbing harder grades?
The other 3 guys in my group climb stuff up to 8a and it quickly became clear to all of us that skills in one arena don't necessarily translate. As a general rule we found the "easier grades" (4c/5a) on older routes were desperate and poorly protectable but as we stepped up the grade rankings things got easier to protect and hence far simpler to get up. Compared to other groups in the cabane we were climbing similar graded routes but some of the stuff other guys were doing was pretty amazing.

For example: Regis and Steve rapping off, snare a rope. Casual as ever a Czech guy 20m above a single cam and well a truly beyond a #2 fall factor, traverses right off his route, untangles their rope, traverses back left and continues jamming his way up this crack system. The boys were still talking about it a couple of days later.

>Do you know if the apparent inconsistency of grading extends into the
>higher grades there?

No but in general my guess is that its probably more an issue of the evolution in styles of climbing. A lot of these routes date from the '80's when the evolution of grading systems was in full swing.

>... I guess adventure is no respector of any grading system!
No, thank goodness...but if I'd crashed and burned I'd perhaps be thinking of it in a less positive light :)

The altitude and style of climbing helped my power levels. Got out for a run yesterday and linked a bit more of the 7b Cyrille and I had been working on last weekend despite hot/humid conditions, torched everything at lower grades...nice to have a strong day every now and then.