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keepitlow
Jun 25, 2010, 1:37 PM
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Is there a easy to understand source that breaks down numerical grading system for climbs?
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dolphja
Jun 25, 2010, 1:42 PM
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keepitlow wrote: Is there a easy to understand source that breaks down numerical grading system for climbs? consensus
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rhythm164
Jun 25, 2010, 1:47 PM
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experience
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rangerrob
Jun 25, 2010, 4:12 PM
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Yep, what they said. Seriously though, what confuses you about it? is it the 5 part of the 5.something, or is it the number after the decimal? Or, is it the Roman numeral grade that longer routes get in addition to the Yosemite decimal system? RR
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keepitlow
Jun 25, 2010, 4:25 PM
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Just don't understand it. I can get class 4 or 5 rapids. But have no idea how they come up with the climbing #'s. Yea, decimals, letters etc.
(This post was edited by keepitlow on Jun 25, 2010, 4:26 PM)
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jt512
Jun 25, 2010, 4:26 PM
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keepitlow wrote: Just don't understand it. I can get class 4 or 5 rapids. But have no idea how they come up with the climbing #'s. The harder the climb, the higher the rating. That is all. Jay
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keepitlow
Jun 25, 2010, 4:27 PM
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jt512 wrote: keepitlow wrote: Just don't understand it. I can get class 4 or 5 rapids. But have no idea how they come up with the climbing #'s. The harder the climb, the higher the rating. That is all. Jay Yes, understand that.
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keepitlow
Jun 25, 2010, 4:29 PM
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j_ung wrote: keepitlow wrote: Is there a easy to understand source that breaks down numerical grading system for climbs? It's a highly subjective "system." You'll go insane if you try to use it for anything other than a general impression of difficulty. Guess that is why no one can splain it? I wonder who came up with it?
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jt512
Jun 25, 2010, 4:29 PM
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keepitlow wrote: jt512 wrote: keepitlow wrote: Just don't understand it. I can get class 4 or 5 rapids. But have no idea how they come up with the climbing #'s. The harder the climb, the higher the rating. That is all. Jay Yes, understand that. Then you pretty much understand it fully. Jay
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gmggg
Jun 25, 2010, 4:35 PM
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keepitlow wrote: j_ung wrote: keepitlow wrote: Is there a easy to understand source that breaks down numerical grading system for climbs? It's a highly subjective "system." You'll go insane if you try to use it for anything other than a general impression of difficulty. Guess that is why no one can splain it? I wonder who came up with it? All you need to know: http://en.wikipedia.org/...emite_Decimal_System The best way to "understand' the system as it pertains to your climbing however is to climb enough routes to get a feeling for how difficult particular grades are. It is not extremely subjective, but it is an understanding that can only come with experience. A good analogy would be music. Think about your favorite genre of music, now think about all of the various micro-genres that exist in that one set. To an outsider it's all the same, but with time and patience you can distinguish (and/or grade) each particular song's type.
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welle
Jun 25, 2010, 5:08 PM
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Then there are historical grades. Old school "5.9+"
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cornstateclimber
Jun 25, 2010, 5:08 PM
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5.0-5.5 easy, 5.6-5.8 moderate 5.9-5.10 somewhat difficult, 5.11-5.12 hard, anything above that, way above me!!!!
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VIclimber303
Jun 26, 2010, 7:42 AM
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System The 5 generally means you need a rope, or you risk death or serious injury if you do not use one. The article explains it pretty well.
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rangerrob
Jun 26, 2010, 12:17 PM
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Seriously? A whole website full of so called experienced climbers and no one can explain it to the guy? Here's a qucik breakdown. There are six classes of hiking/climbing....that's the number before the decimal. Class 1 - walking on a flat, maintained trail Class 2 - steep trail hiking with some rock steps Class 3 - Using hands and feet for upward or downward movement. Steep. Some fall potential, but generally people will not need to rope up. Class 4 - steep exposed rock scrambling. A fall will result in serious injury or death. Most people will want to be roped up. Class 5 - technical rock climbing, roped up, split into pitches, etc etc Class 6 - Direct aid climbing. Using climbing equipment for direct aid to help you ascend. Then the numbers after the decimal. Someone above broke that down pretty well. If there is Roman numeral before or after, it measures the commitment level of the climb as a whole, including the approach. I - one or two pitches with an easy approach. Most parties will take an hour or two II - 3 or more pitches, often with some approach time. Average parties will take up to half a day III - 4 or more pitches, frequently with a longer approach. Average parties will take half to 3/4 of a day. IV - a full day of climbing. Slow parties may overnight. Approach could be arduous V - long alpine routes. approaches could be long. Most parties will spend at least one night on the wall VI - The biggest alpine walls in the world. Serious difficulties, remote settings, several days to weeks on the wall. Of course there are other things that come into play with commitment, such as ease of retreat, etc. These are just Yosemite decimal system ratings. Once you go to another country, you'll have to figure out their system. Try the UK....holy obscure Batman! Hope that helps somewhat. I'm not expert, but I think that description is close. RR
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olderic
Jun 26, 2010, 1:08 PM
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But how does a Font traverse grade correlate to the open ended Oz system and the UiAA one? Is XS the same as TD are have the Frogs and Limeys one upped each other again. HVS has always been my favorite
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jt512
Jun 26, 2010, 1:37 PM
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rangerrob wrote: Seriously? A whole website full of so called experienced climbers and no one can explain it to the guy? Here's a qucik breakdown. There are six classes of hiking/climbing....that's the number before the decimal. Class 1 - walking on a flat, maintained trail Class 2 - steep trail hiking with some rock steps Class 3 - Using hands and feet for upward or downward movement. Steep. Some fall potential, but generally people will not need to rope up. Class 4 - steep exposed rock scrambling. A fall will result in serious injury or death. Most people will want to be roped up. Class 5 - technical rock climbing, roped up, split into pitches, etc etc Class 6 - Direct aid climbing. Using climbing equipment for direct aid to help you ascend. Then the numbers after the decimal. Someone above broke that down pretty well. If there is Roman numeral before or after, it measures the commitment level of the climb as a whole, including the approach. I - one or two pitches with an easy approach. Most parties will take an hour or two II - 3 or more pitches, often with some approach time. Average parties will take up to half a day III - 4 or more pitches, frequently with a longer approach. Average parties will take half to 3/4 of a day. IV - a full day of climbing. Slow parties may overnight. Approach could be arduous V - long alpine routes. approaches could be long. Most parties will spend at least one night on the wall VI - The biggest alpine walls in the world. Serious difficulties, remote settings, several days to weeks on the wall. Of course there are other things that come into play with commitment, such as ease of retreat, etc. These are just Yosemite decimal system ratings. Once you go to another country, you'll have to figure out their system. Try the UK....holy obscure Batman! Hope that helps somewhat. I'm not expert, but I think that description is close. RR You'd be very helpful in the "what's a kilonewton?" threads, too. Jay
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camhead
Jun 26, 2010, 2:44 PM
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rangerrob wrote: I - one or two pitches with an easy approach. Most parties will take an hour or two II - 3 or more pitches, often with some approach time. Average parties will take up to half a day III - 4 or more pitches, frequently with a longer approach. Average parties will take half to 3/4 of a day. IV - a full day of climbing. Slow parties may overnight. Approach could be arduous V - long alpine routes. approaches could be long. Most parties will spend at least one night on the wall VI - The biggest alpine walls in the world. Serious difficulties, remote settings, several days to weeks on the wall. Actually, there are some grade VII bigwalls.
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rangerrob
Jun 29, 2010, 12:17 AM
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Yeah I knew someone was going to point that out. I got tired of typing.
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anarkhos
Jul 3, 2010, 4:00 AM
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The rating system actually goes: 5.9 10a 10b 5.9+ 10c 11a 10d 11b 11c 12a 11d 12b etc. Also, don't rate things unless you've climbed routes put up in the 70s.
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rangerrob
Jul 3, 2010, 3:13 PM
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The above post is VERY true!
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macblaze
Jul 3, 2010, 4:20 PM
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As I understand it, the Class (5) indicates the type of climbing and the decimal shows a rating from 1 to 10. Nothing could be simpler... No one ever thought they'd be climbing as hard as they do now with all the rubber and gear and shit but, unfortunatley some super bad ass climbers went and ruined it for the more numerically linear among us. So firtt they tried adding +'s and when that didn't work they gave up and started in on numbers above 10. This time however they were smarter and figured to add in an a,b,c,d to try and hedge their bets. I have no doubt in another 20 years some spoiler is going to climb a 20f+ with his super stick shoes and confuse the issue even more.
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anarkhos
Jul 4, 2010, 12:48 AM
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macblaze wrote: work they gave up and started in on numbers above 10. This time however they were smarter and figured to add in an a,b,c,d to try and hedge their bets. Um, how is that smarter? Why not just keep using numbers like the Australian system? The 'decimal' system (which was really never decimal since that implies counting by 10s) would go up to 5.32. Is 32 a hard number to wrap one's mind around? Plus we wouldn't have this 11d being much harder than a 12a business. Damned stupid if you ask me
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