[tomtom]

A repeat of surveys run in previous years... rules are simple - hardest grade (Font) boulder problem you have succeeded on in 2017. Anywhere in the world, no indoors problems, no V grades.

EG:
http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,25325.0.html
http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,26740.0.html

I believe the Medians were 7B+ in both previous surveys...

[galpinos]

I am currently the worst UKBer at bouldering.......

[kelvin]

I am currently the worst UKBer at bouldering.......

I just kicked your ass and posted 6A.

In my defense, it was in Font itself, it was far from the hardest thing I ticked in Font over the month and I've been injured most of the year.

If the downward trend continues... I'm aiming for 5B next year.

[fried]

Yay. I didn'r come last. Cheers Kelvin  . Sure yours was harder than mine.

[Murph]

Repeats count yeah? 

[tomtom]

Repeats count yeah? 

Of course - its not the hardest NEW problem...

[tomtom]

Bump

[nai]

Long traverse that deserves a route grade or straight up boulder despite being easier

[Oldmanmatt]

Looking back, I’ve had a shite year in terms of achievement. The only notable thing I’ve actually finished was the Wave (7A), harder than I thought it would be but really only something I did warming up for the Wave Traverse.
Hardly scratched any project, barely a link. Return to Sport, proved harder than expected and petered out into winter indifference and work projects.

And yet.

I actually felt like I’d really enjoyed my climbing year, it wasn’t until I tried to hang a number on it that I realised it had been so “meh”.

Which just goes to show how meaningless the numbers are.

Now, one more pork pie before the spring training begins...

[ashtond6]

Makes a skewer... did zippatrocity but it's 60 moves long and should have a route grade...
And I can't climb 7B

[jwi]

I haven't bouldered on rock, can I respond by giving my best estimate of a boulder-grade to the first two bolts of a sport climb? 

[Fiend]

V6. As usual.

[Bonjoy]

It's funny/interesting how much boulderers are attached to whole grades and how it distorts what should be a normal distribution. 7a+ seems a bit of an exception but if you compare 6c+/7a, 7b+/7c and 7c+/8a the effect is obvious. Boulderers like whole numbers. I guess to a lesser extent it also reflects that developers like to give whole number grades - it's undoubtedly more satisfying to do a new 7a than a new 6c+ and I think there are a a lot more soft 7as out there than hard 6c+s as a result.

[tomtom]

It's funny/interesting how much boulderers are attached to whole grades and how it distorts what should be a normal distribution. 7a+ seems a bit of an exception but if you compare 6c+/7a, 7b+/7c and 7c+/8a the effect is obvious. Boulderers like whole numbers. I guess to a lesser extent it also reflects that developers like to give whole number grades - it's undoubtedly more satisfying to do a new 7a than a new 6c+ and I think there are a a lot more soft 7as out there than hard 6c+s as a result.

Simple way to check would be to look at the grade distribution from a guidebook.

Very similar pattern to 2015.

Except no 8C's this year... come on Wads whats happening?

[Johnny Brown]

It's funny/interesting how much boulderers are attached to whole grades.

Grades are the currency of climbing and, like money, don't look too closely or you might see through the mist to the fuck-all that's behind it.

[tomtom]

It's funny/interesting how much boulderers are attached to whole grades.

Grades are the currency of climbing and, like money, don't look too closely or you might see through the mist to the fuck-all that's behind it.

Indeed (completely agree). But I'm a bit of a geek and like looking at numbers sometimes...

Disclaimer for the below: I know f*ck all about sport achievement stats...

What I find interesting from the data from all years is that the spread is close to a normal distribution. To me this indicates that if human physical achievement follows a normal distribution (remember this is across a range of ages too) then it means that the grading system is relatively linear. Given the whole Font grading method is completely quantitative/subjective this is quite surprising - and means that its probably quite robust (IMHO). But see my disclaimer

[Murph]

The normal distribution is cute but this context is a bit self selecting. People who climb at the lower grades presumably don't darken the towels round here much. Or those that do maybe are less likely to spray about it here.

My n=1 is that I didnt even bother signing up to ukb until I had ticked 7A - about ten years after first bouldering. I can't be the only one.

Bonjoy- the whole-grade bias is interesting. Presumably American bouldering would produce a smoother distribution with perhaps an anomaly at 7C+/V10 - in both guides and ticks.

[Will Hunt]

One of the starkest things is the attraction of 8A, which is something I've always seen as being completely arbitrary. In the data so far there is a complete spurning of the 7C+ grade, and once people have basked in the glow of the magical 8A grade they presumably jack it in and start eating crisps again and never bother going harder.

Consider that the perceived milestone grade in Bishop (V10 - getting into double figures) will be what we call 7C+...
In the YDS, the big perceived milestone is 5.15a - what we call 9a+. The previous one before that is 5.14a - or boring old 8b+ (who would ever put effort into 8b+ other than as a stepping stone to 9a for God's sake?).

Nobody ever sat down and said "How hard should you have to boulder in order to be considered decent? Let's call that difficulty '8A'" and then worked out the rest of the grades from there. Somebody climbed something a bit harder than the 7C+ and they were already saddled with the A-C+ format. 8A is really just 7C in a system that goes up to D+ before rolling back through the alphabet. In fact I quite like that alternate universe. You'd be considered a massive punter until you'd done a 7B (i.e. 7A in their world), and you'd only be allowed an entourage and sponsored instagram account when you'd done an 8C (their 8A).

[tomtom]

One of the starkest things is the attraction of 8A, which is something I've always seen as being completely arbitrary. In the data so far there is a complete spurning of the 7C+ grade, and once people have basked in the glow of the magical 8A grade they presumably jack it in and start eating crisps again and never bother going harder.

Consider that the perceived milestone grade in Bishop (V10 - getting into double figures) will be what we call 7C+...
In the YDS, the big perceived milestone is 5.15a - what we call 9a+. The previous one before that is 5.14a - or boring old 8b+ (who would ever put effort into 8b+ other than as a stepping stone to 9a for God's sake?).

Nobody ever sat down and said "How hard should you have to boulder in order to be considered decent? Let's call that difficulty '8A'" and then worked out the rest of the grades from there. Somebody climbed something a bit harder than the 7C+ and they were already saddled with the A-C+ format. 8A is really just 7C in a system that goes up to D+ before rolling back through the alphabet. In fact I quite like that alternate universe. You'd be considered a massive punter until you'd done a 7B (i.e. 7A in their world), and you'd only be allowed an entourage and sponsored instagram account when you'd done an 8C (their 8A).

OH FUCK.

What have I done.

I now realise that inadvertently I have steered the thread conversation towards a UKC (whats that in British technical) grades category vortex that will suck the thread inexorably inwards and UKB will disappear up its own wormhole (even more than it is)

Maybe we should write to the Font Officiation Committee (F-Off) and get them to incentivise the + grade more. Maybe by adding a star, or a thumbs up symbol.

[petejh]

I think all grades should be just be replaced with emoji symbols - like unicorns and shit. So you could say you did a brilliant snow leopard problem the other day and also a pink panther and an aubergine.

Thinking about it it'd take a lot of the heat out of the market for social media self-glorification we seem to be experiencing, if 'unicorn' was to replace 'E9' and 'crying laughing face' replaced font 8C.

[Johnny Brown]

Post of the year to date! 

I bet the Japanese have already done it.

[tomtom]

I thought people were already doing it.

e.g.

Th: Went to the Works and did some murples.
Fri:
Sa: Nearly did one of the leopards on the Wave.

[Oldmanmatt]

I thought people were already doing it.

e.g.

Th: Went to the Works and did some murples.
Fri:
Sa: Nearly did one of the leopards on the Wave.

That seriously sounds as if it were written by Jeffery  Dahmer and you should be in custody.
Pervert.
Poor little Murples.
And Leopards are endangered too!

[cheque]

I think all grades should be just be replaced with emoji symbols - like unicorns and shit. So you could say you did a brilliant snow leopard problem the other day and also a pink panther and an aubergine.

Thinking about it it'd take a lot of the heat out of the market for social media self-glorification we seem to be experiencing, if 'unicorn' was to replace 'E9' and 'crying laughing face' replaced font 8C.

The Ten Sleep, WY guidebook does a similar thing with the star ratings- instead of 3 stars a route might get a picture of a US flag, a gun or a silhouette of a stripper. There's a key at the beginning of the book which offers "explanations" and ranks them but it doesn't include them all and contradicts itself.

[Murph]

6C+ vs 7A etc. The following couple of examples from outside may be of some vague interest here.

Like it or not but no-one aims for a 4:01 marathon. Massive premium in coming in just under something.

https://www.runnersworld.com/sites/runnersworld.com/files/marathon_ref_dependent1_0.jpg

There's also something about on-line dating profiles having an unbelievable age distribution but particularly among men going the extra inch or two to break past that 5'11 barrier.

https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/0*ZHqkmVyBZsqG69cg.png

If I could embed these pictures I would...

[jwi]

Great finds!

[Murph]

Nice one jwi just seen and duly wadded.