[daddy long legs]

In general, what's the deal with the Font Traverse grading system? Is a Front Traverse grade like 1 to 2 grades easier than a straight up?

More specifically, I've a local unclimbed project which has been referred to as an 8A Font Traverse... My breakdown of it is like doing 3 x 5-move Fb 7As one after the other with only a bad shake after the first 5 moves. Trying to link the last 10-ish move part from the bad shake feels like a Fb 7C to me, so if 7A+7A = 7C, what does 7A+7A+7A equate to? Fb 8A?

I've done all the moves and it's def possible, but I've never bouldered harder than 7C, so can it really be 8A?

[webbo]

Font traverses are given sports grades I think.

[edshakey]

I've done all the moves and it's def possible, but I've never bouldered harder than 7C, so can it really be 8A?

I know what you're getting at, but isn't there a chance it's still a fair bit harder than your current hardest? Doing all the moves, and knowing it's possible, does not make it easy, especially on something long where the difficulty comes from consecutive moves rather than individual ones.

Basically, maybe it's 8A and you're not actually that near it yet!

Pure hypothesis, I obviously have no idea how close you actually are.

[teestub]

I don’t think anywhere uses the Font traverse grade system outside of Font, AFAIK all the travs in the UK either get a boulder grade or a sport grade. Sounds like yours is 15 moves so would normally get a boulder grade I guess.

No idea on the grade side of things

[Fultonius]

Darth Grader gives:

7A & Bad Rest & 7A & 7A = hard 8b sport

7A & Bad Rest & 7C = 8b+ sport

8A = 8b+ sport

So all in it's probably 7C+/8A as a boulder grade or 8b/+ as a route.

(if we accept Darth Grader is the oracle of grading....)

https://darth-grader.net/Calculator

[abarro81]

- Surely noone uses Font traverse grades? I don't know what the conversion is but presumably somewhere from 1-3 grade gap from what little I've seen? (ie 8A trav grade might be 7C??)

- 7A into 7A doesn't sounds like 7C, more like 7B or maybe 7B+... But it depends a lot on the individual problems!

- 3x 7A back to back sounds about like 7C, very roughly, and depending hugely on the style of the individual problems and how hard they are for 7A. If I think of ~15 move 8As they generally are much more than 3x 7As (stuff at Griff's, Tor, Cave etc)

- Darth doesn't work as there's a 1-2 grade conversion for not being on a rope (e.g. if you put in the breakdown of a long 8A problem it will suggest it should be 8c or even 8c+, which is what it would probably be on a rope .. but it will feel like 8b+ because it's so easy to work) E.g. it suggest Pilgrimage should be 9a/+ ish or The Wheel should be 9a+/b ish but they actually make sense at 8c+(8B) and 9a(8B+) respectively

[Wood FT]

Darth Grader gives:

7A & Bad Rest & 7C = 8b+ sport

Surprisingly accurate, if reversed, for Mecca from what I've been told

[abarro81]

I'd vote 7C, med/good, 7A+ for Mecca

[daddy long legs]

Darth Grader gives:

7A & Bad Rest & 7A & 7A = hard 8b sport

7A & Bad Rest & 7C = 8b+ sport

8A = 8b+ sport

So all in it's probably 7C+/8A as a boulder grade or 8b/+ as a route.

(if we accept Darth Grader is the oracle of grading....)

https://darth-grader.net/Calculator

Darth Grader is exactly what I was looking for!

[daddy long legs]

But saying that, I'm more inclined to think the whole traverse is more like an 8a+/ maybe 8b route, so more like a 7C/ 7C+ boulder. Either way it's a cracker and will keep me busy this winter