[shark]

The 9b club is still very very exclusive (and that answers my question: "what ever happened to Ethan Pringle?" from 9a+ to 9b in seven years: it's good to see that I'm not the only climber with this rate of improvement...)

Got me thinking and had a look up in my logbook

First started redpointing in earnest in 1987 when sport climbing was starting the UK and in 1989 did Bored of the Lies 7b+
7b+ to 7c (Body Machine 1992) 3 years
7c to 7c+ (Wil E Coyote 1992) 0 years
7c+ to 8a (Zoolook 1994) 2 years
8a to 8a+ (GBH 2003) 9 years
8a+ to 8b 12 years and counting

[andy_e]

Bizarre progress... Definitely down to subjectivity of grades and styles to suit!

7A - April 2006
7A+ - October 2007
7B+ - 2 weeks later (although it's probably only 7A+ and I can't remember my first 7B!)
7B+ - January 2010
7C - February 2010
7C+ - some day...

[shark]

Bizarre progress... Definitely down to subjectivity of grades and styles to suit!

7A - April 2006
7A+ - October 2007
7B+ - 2 weeks later (although it's probably only 7A+ and I can't remember my first 7B!)
7B+ - January 2010
7C - February 2010
7C+ - some day...

Is this Font or Sport ? just that you are using capital letters. Not a criticism - no harm in doing both

[Sasquatch]

I'll bite.  Boulder grades for me

Started climbing in 1995

7A - 1996 (1 year)
7A+ - 1997 (1 year)
7B - 1998 (1 year)
7C - 1998 (couple of months)
7C+ - 2000 (1 year)
8A - 2002 (2 years)
    2005-2010 - not much climbing
8A+ - 2012 (either 5 or 10 years)
8B - 2014?? (2 years)

[andy_e]

Sorry shark, yes, font grades. I guess not everybody is as stringent as I am with upper/lower case grading system differentiation!

[slackline]

Sorry shark, yes, font grades. I guess not everybody is as stringent as I am with upper/lower case grading system differentiation!

This is in the "Chuffing" sub-forum though, which is likely why the question arose. 

[Fiend]

Is this Font or Sport ? just that you are using capital letters. Not a criticism - no harm in doing both

If only there was a clear and unambiguous bouldering grading system that could never be confused with either french grades nor british tech grades  :bite my balls smiley:

[T_B]

Well I'm shit as I did 8a in '97 as my first proper redpoint that I can remember (maybe did Bad, Bad Boy before in '94 or '95 but mainly a trad climber/on-sighter). Then 6 years to 8a+ (Grooved Arete), then 11 years to a slash grade (Les Chacals 8a+/b). I'd like to think it'd be a different story if I lived in Spain or N Yorkshire

[tomtom]

All bouldering:
Started climbing in 1992 - but had a long hiatus from 99-2005...
Re-started in 2006...

7A (2008)
7A+ (2009)
7B (2009/2010)
7B+ (2011)
7C (2013)

Since 2013 I've done a few 7B's, chased a couple of 7B+'s and aspire to get another 7C or two... Funny, I don't feel like I've plateau'd (even though the grade max would suggest so) - more that I'm consolidating. I'm certain I'm a much stronger and better climber than I was in 2013... just trying a wider range of problems other than those that are soft touches to my morph.. (I still go for those too of course!)

[jwi]

As many others, I spent a lot of money and time on getting in worse shape. (A.k.a. alpine rock climbing) Progress have been spotty to say the least.

1998 restarted climbing. Did a short stint when I was younger, once a week kind of thing. Did probably 7a+ first year but cannot really remember.
1999: 7b+ (2-3 grades 1 year)
2000 give or take a year: 7c (1 years)
2003: 7c+ (3 years)
2006: 8a (when I lived in Japan and did very little sportclimbing, did my first and only 7C+ the year after) (3 years)
2007-2008 did no redpointing that I can remember
2009: 8b (2 grades, 3 years. Didn't do 8a+ until the year after)
2010: got very close on 8b+ but no cigar
2011-2015: No redpoint attempts on anything harder than 8a+. Got my onsight-level up to "8a" (7c+ in reality though).
2015: 8b+ seems unlikely since I don't really plan to try any... I tried one and found it boringly hard. Next year!?

[jwi]

Well I'm shit as I did 8a in '97 as my first proper redpoint that I can remember (maybe did Bad, Bad Boy before in '94 or '95 but mainly a trad climber/on-sighter). Then 6 years to 8a+ (Grooved Arete), then 11 years to a slash grade (Les Chacals 8a+/b). I'd like to think it'd be a different story if I lived in Spain or N Yorkshire

Well I live fairly close to Spain (Toulouse). It's totally impossible to project here, when I lived in northern Sweden I projected because I'd run out of routes at my grade. Here that seems almost impossible.

[abarro81]

(Just going by calendar years)...
Started early 2004 indoors, and did my first ever outdoor lead towards the end of that year  - a diff with an instructor shunting next to me to check my gear (Brown Slabs in the Lakes I think, at the little chamonix crag).

Redpoint                                   Onsight
7c: 2006                                              2008
7c to 7c+: 2 years (08)                        0 yrs (08)
7c+ to 8a: 0 years (08)                       1 yr (09)
8a to 8a+: 0 years (08)                      3 yrs (12)
8a+ to 8b: 2 years (10)                      2 yrs (14)
8b to 8b+: 1 year (11)
8b+ to 8c: 0 years (11)
8c to 8c+: 1 year (12)
8c+ to 9a: 3 years (15)

The bumper year seems to have been 2008. Unsurprisingly, this 3 grade increase in RP and 2 grade in OS came after moving to Sheffield in September 2007 (so no excuses TB). Progress is definitely slowing now, I suspect the redpoint grade is going to be hard to increase soon/ever,but doing more of them, harder ones and doing them quicker will do just fine even if the grade doesn't change again

[bendavison]

Just redpointing for me cos my onsights are embarrassing and I haven't done any in 2 years!

7b+: 2010
7b+ to 7c: 1 year (11 - Easter)
7c to 8a: 0 years (11 - summer)
8a to 8b: 1 year (12 - Easter)
8b to 8c: 1 year (13 - summer)
8c to 8c+: 1 year (14 - summer)
8c+ to 7c: 1 year (15 - Easter)

Back around.

[abarro81]

What happened to + grades? 

[andy popp]

What happened to + grades? 

What happened to V.Diff to E1?

[bendavison]

What happened to + grades? 

I'm going with the Larsehole on this one - grades aren't important and shouldn't be so precise.

[petejh]

Started climbing 'properly' in 1999.
1999 - 2005: Trad, alpine and winter climbing Vdiff to E4. Barely sport-climbed - 7a by 2005.
2005 - 2008: Moved to Canada, 3 years of mixed, ice, trad to E5, alpine climbing, with just pottering around on sport crags, first 7a+. Returned to UK.
2009: first 7b
2010: first 7b+, 7c, and 8a
2012: first 8a+
2013 - early 2015: out of the game due to back pain followed by back surgery followed by rehab. On course for first 8b.

[mr chaz]

My limited efforts. Started 'training' in 2011, coincided with going starting uni.

Seems I like to miss grades out... I guess that's the result of lots of getting stronger inside but not much outdoor climbing. Then last year I had a break through and realised I was actually capable of climbing much harder than I thought.

Redpoint:

6c     2012
7a    2012
(missed out + and b)
7b+  2014
7c    2014 (2 weeks later)

Boulder:

6C   2012
7A   2013
7A+ 2013
(Missed out B and B+)
7C   2015

[SA Chris]

I managed the SA benchmarks for a while;

23 at 23 (1993)
24 at 24 (1994)
25 at 25 (1995)
26 at 26 (1995)

Then it all went to ratshit because I travelled for the year and mostly onsighted and bouldered.
Then got bored of sport climbing (let alone redpointing) and did trad and bouldering. Barely clipped bolts since.

[webbo]

1972 to 1983 diff to E5 6B
1990 to 1996 nothing to 7C and E5 6B
2001 B6
2002 B8 and V7
2003 V7
2004 V8
2005 V8 and 7b+
2006 to 2015 7a/7a+

[Kingy]

Here is my list of redpoint firsts since I did Consenting as my first 7a.

'97 7a
'97 7a+
'98 7b
'99 7b+
'00 8a
'02 8a+
'09 8b+
'13 8c
'14 8c+

[petejh]

1972 to 1983 diff to E5 6B
1990 to 1996 nothing to 7C and E5 6B
2001 B6
2002 B8 and V7
2003 V7
2004 V8
2005 V8 and 7b+
2006 to 2015 7a/7a+

Like it!

I want to see a proper old wad post something like:
1965: Extreme
1975: E3
1985: E4
2005: E5
2015: 7a+

All the same route.

[webbo]

I've done HVS in 1975 which is now graded E46b.

[Oldmanmatt]

Never had a log book.

Did my first E1 (in B4's) at Kit Hill in 81/82 (single pitch, name long forgotten)
*Edit* was way wrong on the year! Just dug out my old guide book and it was '88 (Purple haze).

Eroica in '91

First 8a '95 ish

Never managed an 8b.

Never convincingly finished any thing above 7C font.

Projected "Biceps Power" for a long time over 2010/11 and kinda finished it, ish, sorta, would have got it if I'd had more time (four months wasn't enough, apparently).

Tried "The Dagger" repeatedly over 2011/12. Couldn't do more than half a move.

2014. Given up. I Prefer watching the youngsters do stupidly strong stuff and not being injured (me, that is). Still half heartedly planning to finish the Saddle Tor traverse (very close when I had to stop in early 2012)


There you go. A climbing Bell curve...

Grade progression and regression over 30 years.

Oh yeah, Eroica was only E2 then.

And I did Darkenbad a few months later.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[AJM]

6b 2006
6b+ 2007
6c 2007
6c+ 2008
7a 2008
7a+ 2008 (post downgrades, 2010)
7b 2009
7b+ 2011
7c 2011
7c+ 2012
8a 2014
8a+ ...?

A grade a year or so on average once I hit 7a, although some years have seen big pushes and some have seen consolidation. And then there's this year, which so far hasn't really seen either!