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Chockstone Forum - Climbing Videos
Post links and comments about your favourite climbing flicks
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Something's Burning E9 7a |
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8-Sep-2012 8:59:28 AM
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On 7/09/2012 anthonycuskelly wrote:
>
>Oh, well, in UK parlance I'd say they've got E, M, D, HD, VD, MS, S, HS,
>MVS. Depending on the area you can also add MVD, HVD, or MHS. The real
>weirdness is that low grades never change, so something given S when S
>was the hardest grade is still S, and their variation between areas is
>even worse than ours. Oh, and very little graded E or M still makes the
>guidebooks, and HD, MS, HS and MVS are inconsistent. So, they cover it
>with plenty of grades, just not with any real accuracy.
>
Wow, that grading system looks even sillier written out like that! Really, did anyone think before creating a grade of VD?
Even if you took all of them, that's only 12 grades covering 1-16 or so. Then take out the 4 or 6 that are almost obsolete. It actually seems strange to me that a more recently developed grading system would cover the early grades in more detail than those in countries where climbers were pioneering these sort of grades.
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8-Sep-2012 9:15:23 AM
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On 8/09/2012 Wendy wrote:
>It actually seems
>strange to me that a more recently developed grading system would cover
>the early grades in more detail than those in countries where climbers
>were pioneering these sort of grades.
Probably because they cared more about summits and first ascents (by any means) of major features than specific grades. Freeclimbing (without aid) didn't really kick into gear until the 70s.
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8-Sep-2012 9:48:42 AM
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Ah, but Wendy, it's harder than Difficult or Hard Difficult, so it must be Very Difficult. And to be fair most guidebooks write it as V.Diff.
Sometimes I get a bit confused by our grading system, I think we really could leave out every second grade until 14 or 15.
I think Neil's partially right on the system development, but I think it's also reverse ego... some of those climbs are horrifically sandbagged, and no-one wanted to get downgraded if they'd proposed a new grade.
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8-Sep-2012 10:43:27 AM
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On 8/09/2012 anthonycuskelly wrote:
>Sometimes I get a bit confused by our grading system, I think we really
>could leave out every second grade until 14 or 15.
?
You may have forgotten your early climbing experiences(!), as the nuances of differentiation within those grades are more closely aligned to the ability required to succeed/fail on them.
☺
>
>I think Neil's partially right on the system development, but I think
>it's also reverse ego... some of those climbs are horrifically sandbagged,
>and no-one wanted to get downgraded if they'd proposed a new grade.
Grading has always been concensus when repeat ascents have been done, and sandbags usually lose that 'status' through evolution over time.
On 8/09/2012 nmonteith wrote:
>On 8/09/2012 Wendy wrote:
>>It actually seems
>>strange to me that a more recently developed grading system would cover
>>the early grades in more detail than those in countries where climbers
>>were pioneering these sort of grades.
>
>Probably because they cared more about summits and first ascents (by any
>means) of major features than specific grades. Freeclimbing (without aid)
>didn't really kick into gear until the 70s.
I think you will find plenty of examples of it kicking in earlier, ... and this may be why the poms love their grit so much!!
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8-Sep-2012 11:40:13 AM
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M9, you mistake me for someone that climbs hard. But starting in Qld, there's very little easier than 11 or 12 at the popular crags, I've only really come across those grades in Vic.
The poms seem to like retaining sandbags in the easier grades. But also, no-one wanted to be the guy who proposes a new grade and then has it downgraded, so they just left it the same (leading to a wide range of difficulties per grade).
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8-Sep-2012 11:06:36 PM
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I thought you had Neil, but was not sure - that 'mental draining' is part of the reason to attempt it as a free climb. the additional challenge of keeping it all 'under wraps' as you rationalise the gear, your climbing ability, the uncertainty in the face of adversity, and the fear, oh and the moves, the exposure, the view, the ambience of the place etc . . .
Thank you and re-reading the old thread reminded that you were at the time too.
Wow, did you think I looked sketchy? I wish someone had video or that if they did I could see it. I felt pretty fine for the most part though it was a most interesting experience, and I do fairly well at 'going on in the face of it' if I believe I can do it or reverse it.
I certainly would not have held you responsible in anyway, I 'dug my own grave' there. It was certainly one of my most engaging climbs, every thing was back the front, what I had thought would be solid was falling apart and what should have been soft was actually solid and everything went out the window. The mental crux ended up being the fact that there was an audience there, which really only hit when I needed to commit, up until then it had just been fun banter regarding the rockfall . . .
Zac and I thought about it and discussed a number of options at the time but failed to reach any decision. Would really need to hang there for a wall and scope it all out a biy better, but there are definitely a few more quite interesting possibilities up there.
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9-Sep-2012 8:34:10 AM
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On 6/09/2012 shortman wrote:
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>I don't know about this. I reckon low grade climbs are all over the shop.
>In my limited experience 11 and under are cruisy, 12 - 16 seem all a
>bit the same depending on the style. 17 sorta sits on its own, and 18 starts
>to get hardish.
>
>That would make 4 grades for what is meant to be 18.
Dan -- I can totally relate to your experience of grades.
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There are 67 messages in this topic.
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