theres a couple of reasons, actually.

1) time climbing. usually someone who is comfortable enough to take the sharp end should be able to climb 5.9 in the gym.

2) steepness. gyms want you to be on overhanging terrain when you're leading- at least most of the time. this makes for safer falls. most gyms dont make their vert to slab walls leadable, or if they do, its not much of it.

3) generally speaking, most gyms just dont set routes under 5.9 for leading. most people who lead are cranking .10 or harder (in the gym) and theres just no point in having a bunch of 5.6s in the gym that are leadable. i guess you can call that elitist, but the reality is that 5.9 in the gym is just not that hard and if you cant manage it, the gym owner is probably not going to be psyched to have you on the sharp end.

+1

Particularly number 3 - I have rarely seen many routes in the gyms I've climbed at that are under 5.9. Maybe one or two in the gym I climb at now. That's just how it is - most people who are leading are at least a little serious about climbing and can probably climb 5.9. There's not a lot of motivation to set 5.6 lead routes because almost nobody would climb them (and as he said many lead walls are at least slightly overhanging which would be tough to set a 5.6 on..).

I don't think it's as much elitist as they just want to see that you can lead a route safely.

You just don't climb at a gym with reasonable route setting for folks who want to start the sport. Yes, 5.9 is not that high a level for the gym rats - but it's quite hard for new climbers or folks not devoting lots of time to the sport. If "rainbow" or 5.9 and up are your options, you won't get many folks climbing past their birthday parties.

A lot of route setters are only interested in setting routes that they find challenging; or trick move. It takes a good route setter to put up interesting routes at lower as well as higher grades.

I’ve lead 5.0 outside, hell even a 5.4 multipitch, I’ve even done a 16 pitch 5.7. To say someone can’t lead because they can’t climb a certain grade just seems elitist to me. Sure 5.9 isn’t that hard for most people but it’s not that easy for everyone.

The gym that I bought back in March has always been great for intermediate through advanced climbers and as long as you climbed upper 5.10/V1 or harder this place had plenty to climb and it was a lot of fun. Anyone that wanted to get started had a couple of easy routes but no progression to work up to intermediate. Since we bought it I encouraged the setters to continue setting the intermediate through advanced but then started setting a lot of easy routes on top of it, business almost doubled from the previous year in the summer. I was told that no one top roped they all boulder so I don’t need to worry about top ropes but since we started setting easier top ropes we sell way more top rope day passes than boulder passes and people actually comeback more than once or twice. To neglect the beginner climbers is not a very good business strategy and to say no one will climb the easier routes is a head in the sand approach in my mind. The majority of people that “climb” will never climb anything harder than easy 5.10. I guess what I’m saying is the more beginner friendly the gym is the more beginners you will get and while some of them will advance quickly others will work forever and never climb a 5.11. To say it’s a waste of time to set easier routes is an elitist attitude, good or bad, it just is.


edit for spelling.

theres a couple of reasons, actually.

1) time climbing. usually someone who is comfortable enough to take the sharp end should be able to climb 5.9 in the gym.

2) steepness. gyms want you to be on overhanging terrain when you're leading- at least most of the time. this makes for safer falls. most gyms dont make their vert to slab walls leadable, or if they do, its not much of it.

3) generally speaking, most gyms just dont set routes under 5.9 for leading. most people who lead are cranking .10 or harder (in the gym) and theres just no point in having a bunch of 5.6s in the gym that are leadable. i guess you can call that elitist, but the reality is that 5.9 in the gym is just not that hard and if you cant manage it, the gym owner is probably not going to be psyched to have you on the sharp end.

One more data point. Talking about a grade of 5.x IN THE GYM is pretty silly. It's pretty universally accepted that most gym grades are grossly inflated most of the time. If someone can't climb the typical 5.9 GYM ROUTE - then they probably shouldn't be leading. If they can lead Gunks 5.5 on the other hand....

Can someone give me a non elitist reason why a person would have to be able to lead at least a 5.9 in order to pass a lead test in a gym?

-1

I don't think there's a single decent reason to, in effect, ban everybody who can't climb up to an arbitrary level from leading. From a certain perspective, such a tactic might even make a gym less safe, not more. I have personally set hundreds of leadable sub-5.9 routes and never once saw a problem that I couldn't also find around the corner on harder terrain. In fact, I've had far more little safety chats with people who I think progressed into double digits too quickly, than with those who were perfectly happy leading sixes, sevens and eights.

IMO, that's yet another sweeping generalization. I'm not saying those gyms don't exist, but I highly doubt they're in the majority.

theres a couple of reasons, actually.

1) time climbing. usually someone who is comfortable enough to take the sharp end should be able to climb 5.9 in the gym.

2) steepness. gyms want you to be on overhanging terrain when you're leading- at least most of the time. this makes for safer falls. most gyms dont make their vert to slab walls leadable, or if they do, its not much of it.

3) generally speaking, most gyms just dont set routes under 5.9 for leading. most people who lead are cranking .10 or harder (in the gym) and theres just no point in having a bunch of 5.6s in the gym that are leadable. i guess you can call that elitist, but the reality is that 5.9 in the gym is just not that hard and if you cant manage it, the gym owner is probably not going to be psyched to have you on the sharp end.

Coming from a gym owner with lots of beginners AND hard core 5.12 types: exactly what he said. Some weaker climbers complain about it, but guess what - they're the ones I really don't want leading. We keep most of the leading away from the toproping anyhow. And if some old timer comes in saying he used to pull 5.11s at the gunks but now he just climbs 7's, we'll let him have at it. But there won't be much to climb cause there aren't enough people like that to make the setting worthwhile. Finally, to point #3, setting leadable 5.6's on a wall like this isn't easy.

IMO, that's yet another sweeping generalization. I'm not saying those gyms don't exist, but I highly doubt they're in the majority.

I would also rather see someone fumbling a clip while hanging on a big jug with good feet for their first lead.

I would also note that your accusation of all of the reasons presented to you as being elitist is fairly judgmental...
I think you're are looking at people who say- 5.9 is a good barometer for leading because it indicates to me that this person is strong and competent enough to deal with the rigors of leading- and assuming that their elitist because they use this as a measure...