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news / Re: The inevitable E grade thread
« Last post by Johnny Brown on Yesterday at 02:33:59 pm »I can't speak for Jase but was never really steeped in British climbing culture. I am very attached to the British landscape, but not so much the population or culture. When I moved to Sheffield I found the scene pretty uninspiring tbh, was never a Ben and Jerry fanboi either.
What I am very attached to is the idea that trad climbing is, at it's core, about self-reliance and freedom. By this I mean the rock is left for others to choose their own adventure on, not 'made' into climbs. I'm not sure this is even an accepted British thing, it seemed to be implicit when I was a youth, but not so much any more. I took my son up the east face of Tryfan for the first time this weekend and, despite its long history of being climbed on, we didn't see a single piece of fixed gear of any kind. Almost anywhere else I've been climbing in the world that wouldn't have been the case. I hosted lots of foreign climbers on International meets in the noughties and despite being accomplished climbers, they were often surprised that many routes had no fixed gear at all. They were always impressed by this, and on more than one occasion remarked that 'every ascent is like a first ascent'. I think this is worth preserving on its own merits, not special because its British. Even in Britain it now seems to be a constant battle against a majority view that trad climbs are where you don't put all the bolts in so that punter tradsters can indulge themselves in placing cams.
E grades, honestly, are a more head than heart thing for me. I think they work fine and it annoys me when people say they don't. But mainly that's because, like the YDS example above, I've always measured trad grades to trad routes, whereas I've done next to no easy sport climbing so have no reference.
What I am very attached to is the idea that trad climbing is, at it's core, about self-reliance and freedom. By this I mean the rock is left for others to choose their own adventure on, not 'made' into climbs. I'm not sure this is even an accepted British thing, it seemed to be implicit when I was a youth, but not so much any more. I took my son up the east face of Tryfan for the first time this weekend and, despite its long history of being climbed on, we didn't see a single piece of fixed gear of any kind. Almost anywhere else I've been climbing in the world that wouldn't have been the case. I hosted lots of foreign climbers on International meets in the noughties and despite being accomplished climbers, they were often surprised that many routes had no fixed gear at all. They were always impressed by this, and on more than one occasion remarked that 'every ascent is like a first ascent'. I think this is worth preserving on its own merits, not special because its British. Even in Britain it now seems to be a constant battle against a majority view that trad climbs are where you don't put all the bolts in so that punter tradsters can indulge themselves in placing cams.
E grades, honestly, are a more head than heart thing for me. I think they work fine and it annoys me when people say they don't. But mainly that's because, like the YDS example above, I've always measured trad grades to trad routes, whereas I've done next to no easy sport climbing so have no reference.
