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timpanogos
Nov 14, 2002, 8:39 PM
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I'm looking at Pete's picture of a topo map of Reticent Wall
Please help me to understand the rating
Roman Numeral 6 = time on rock rating?
5.9 = If I free solo'ed it would be like a 5.9 free climb?
A5 = Old aid level 5 rating?
Thanks
Chad
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micronut
Nov 14, 2002, 8:48 PM
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Grade VI---committment grade
5.9---hardest free climbing on the pitch/route
A5---hardest aid on the pitch/route
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timpanogos
Nov 14, 2002, 8:50 PM
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Would it be a common practice to mix free climbing with aid on some pitches, or portions of a pitch?
P.S.
Also please explain "commitment level", and what would be the other 5 levels?
Thanks
[ This Message was edited by: timpanogos on 2002-11-14 12:51 ]
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lazide
Nov 14, 2002, 8:58 PM
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The book 'big walls' has a good explanation of the commitement grade. (off the top of my head), Class V (5) means that if you really have your stuff together, you should be able to make it in a FULL day - but you will probably have to bivy. Class VI (6) means a stay of 2 or more days on the wall.
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timpanogos
Nov 14, 2002, 11:41 PM
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Not sure why I said solo free, must have mike on the mind – anyway, please give me a better feel for this – In Little Cottonwood Canyon (SLC, Utah) they have granite slab/crack climbing – I followed a route called Sasquatch at Pentapitch that is a 5.9 – I can not imagine that it would even be possible to climb a slab like this in hiking boots, let alone carrying a way heavy rack! The top of Pentapitch at 5.8 is way exciting friction slab traversal. Are the mandatory 5.9 pitches you are talking about this hard?
Also can anyone tell me what the rating for the wall at Zions is? Is this something a beginner could follow?
One more:
I’ve climbed schoolroom II at gate buttress in LCC, the roof variation is shown rated at 5.6 A1 ** - comment simply says “Yeehaw fixed pins”. If I got used to aiders in the gym this winter, would this be something a beginner would be able to go after? I would guess it’s a 20’ roof.
Thanks
Chad
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noshoesnoshirt
Nov 15, 2002, 12:04 AM
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i climbed sasquatch a few years ago. i've climbed a couple of walls on el cap. the free stuff on el cap can be pretty mortifying. i'm not sure if it's the mess of gear hanging of you, or the lack of climbing shoes (i usually wear five tennies), or the exposure. whatever it is, stepping out of the aiders in the valley seems a lot harder than cruising up sasquatch.
as for the aid out the roof, just thrash and dangle, you'll get there eventually. (wouldn't hurt to read up on aid first. i recommend long's and middendorf's "big walls")
oh yeah, what wall in zion?
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atg200
Nov 15, 2002, 12:05 AM
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lots of not completely accurate info in this thread.
grade I - a few hours. most cragging is grade one.
grade II - half day or less.
grade III - a one day climb. most of the moderate desert towers like castleton or ancient art are grade III and easy to do in a day.
grade IV - a very long day climb. if you are not fast grade IV is commonly done via a fix and fire approach(especially fisher towers grade IV or spaceshot in zion). this means you fix ropes on the first two pitches or so and blast the rest of the route the next day.
grade V - a 1-2 day climb, and the start of what is generally considered a wall. nearly everyone bivies once, and most routes have a lot of aid. south face of washington column is most people's first big wall grade V. prodigal son in Zion is the best beginner grade V there.
grade VI - 3 or more day climb. these are either long like el capitan routes, or horror shows like fisher tower and mystery tower grade VIs.
grade VII - these are massive, and there are very few - mostly up in baffin island or the trango towers. *shudder*
i wouldn't jump right on anything in Zion (not Zions) without having the fundamentals absolutely down. spaceshot and prodigal son in zion are the best routes to start with there. better to get your act together on granite where the rock isn't scaring you - a common rule of thumb is that one pitch of desert sandstone can feel like three of granite.
5.9 is 5.9, whether you are on a wall or not. personally, i wear climbing shoes if i have to switch from aid to free and the free will be anything remotely hard for me.
i just did the colorado northeast ridge of the kingfisher for instance. IV 5.8 A2. this can be done by most experienced parties in a day fairly easily, but a party in front of me and a new partner made it a 2 day fix and fire climb. the route had 2 all free 5.8 pitches that i lead wearing climbing shoes and a normal rack, and i hauled what i didn't need for the pitch. pitch 3 was 5.7 A2, which basically meant i had to bust out occasional 5.7 moves in between aid placements - i worse climbing shoes for the whole pitch to make it easier.
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passthepitonspete
Nov 16, 2002, 2:43 AM
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The posts above require some clarification.
lazide is mixing up "grading" and "class".
Fifth class is as in 5.0 to 5.14 - free climbing requiring a rope.
Sixth class is aid climbing.
Andrew has it right as far the grading is concerned.
elcapadic wrote,
Quote:"A5: Yes some of the A5's put up in the 70's are no longer A5 because of the andvances in technology.
This is not true. Heads and hooks have been around since the 70's. The reason some of the old A5's are no longer A5 [example: Aurora, Lost in America, Zed-Em] is because of the evolution of aid climbs. This is because every time an aid route gets climbed, it gets easier because repeated pin placements widen the cracks.
The most extreme example of this is The Shield. On the first ascent this was a real horror show - something like 37 RURPs in a row on the Triple Cracks pitch. [This pitch is featured in some Metolius harness adverts current running in the climbing rags] It's now probably not much harder than about A2, though I'm not sure since I haven't done it [yet].
Cheers,
Pete
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qacwac
Nov 16, 2002, 4:07 AM
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I love it when Pete comes in and so gently tells everyone they're wrong and clears things up.
And no I'm not being facetious. It makes me laugh everytime.
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