Actually, you probably need to do 3 different climbs at X+1, to know you've climbed grade X. In various styles, at different locations, and on different rock. In fact, better make that 5 different climbs, just to be safe
I'm with jwi, I don't think I've heard anyone say that they're "an 8a climber", for example, for many years. Mostly people would say something more sensible and descriptive like "the hardest I've done is 8a" or "I've climbed a few 8as". Anecdotally I think I heard more about being "a grade x climber" in the early days of my climbing - I don't know whether that says something about the phrase falling out of use or about it being something that people tend to drop as they gain experienceQuote from: 36chambers on August 23, 2022, 12:01:46 pmActually, you probably need to do 3 different climbs at X+1, to know you've climbed grade X. In various styles, at different locations, and on different rock. In fact, better make that 5 different climbs, just to be safe Steve Mac used to tell me he felt you had to do 3 of a grade to really feel like you'd climbed that grade, so I feel like 3 of the [grade +1] should be safe enough
It did cross my mind that you might take offense at my post... but that is what I seem to have observed. My guess would be that usage drops off with time rather than with grade, so it's more that it's for relative newbies than punters
...there's a huge difference between what you can guarantee you'll get up, what you might get up fairly quickly, and what you might do after lots of effort.
I've done ten 7As and there are 7As I will probably never do so I dunno how accurate that is.
Quote from: Wellsy on August 23, 2022, 04:36:38 pmI've done ten 7As and there are 7As I will probably never do so I dunno how accurate that is.That doesn’t mean you’re not a solid 7A climber? That’s why 10 is a good spread Vs 3 or 5. It’s likely that the ones you’ll never do are either massive sandbags or maybe something broke on them or they’re too morpho.
There's plenty of (correctly graded) 7A's I'll never do, and I've (just about) got up 8A. I wouldn't consider myself a particularly one dimensional climber either, and I'm close to average height.Climbing is just very varied, and grades are unavoidably limited in capturing that
I only ever heard it used when referring to a third person. I am too self-aware / inconsistent to ever apply it to myself.
I’ve had people ask me what level I climb at before
Word. There's a vid somewhere of Paul Robinson chatting about a V4 he couldn't do. Bogey problems are real.