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Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

Grading Systems 30-Apr-2004 At 1:20:37 PM kachoong

Message

On 12/06/2003 FatBoy wrote:

>Actually the Ewbank system is supposed to take into account all the other
>factors such as exposure, protection etc. but is now more commonly used
>for purely technical difficulty ala the French system.
>
>Separate question: If someone who climbs 30 on steep sandstone does a
>slab at his or her limit, is it 30 ?
>My answer: Depends on how good they are at slabs, hence the constant revision
>of grades. The grade surely is representative of the proportion of the
>climbing community who can do it, not how hard an individual finds it.

I agree with the first paragraph. And yes I do think descriptions should take the brunt of the climbs info other than the technical grade.

Slabs however will never be grade 30! Climbs (and their grades) conform to the type of rock you are climbing, and that is the important factor. That is why most crags compare differently. Show me a slab route that's greater than 25. An Offwidth that can be considered more than 18. It's steep face climbs that have stretched the grade limits. Cracks are extremely seldom above about 28. As soon as you can put gear in, you can climb it! Most steep hand cracks are between 18 and 24, unless you're inverting totally.

Think about the rock and what it allows us to achieve.

....Dave