[blockhead]

With all the slating that some classic problems are taking thought we should redress the balance. What are the essential bouldering ticks in each grade?

Westside story and blind date for 7b+?

Brad pitt for 7c+?

7b, 7c, 8a?

[chappers]

is westside not 7c (v9)? i thought there was a thread saying that it is "benchmark" for the grade.

[Bonjoy]

Hard 7b+ therefore bottom end of V9. Seeing as it's hard for 7b+ it could hardly be considered a benchmark though.

[Nibile]

why brad pit 7c+? it was supposed to be classic 8a.
i mean, all the big guns ticked it like an 8a. another one, i mean...

[(woz)]

WSS and BP are still rites of passage, irrespective of the grades.
To the list I would like to add the keel - doesn't matter what you think of the quality, it is still a rite of passage (7b+)

[r-man]

I like grades, but I think the classic "rites" transcend those coveted numbers.  They are inspiring lines that look hard all over. When you start out climbing the thought of one day being able to do them seems far-fetched. When you finally manage them, or even when you finally realise you have a chance of doing the moves, it really is a little special - just because of what they are and the reverence surrounding them, not what number they get.

I'd add the buckstone dyno. It's a crazy move, so there's no gaurantee you can climb other stuff that grade, and equally if you're climbing that grade, there's no gaurantee you'll find the buckstone reasonable. But it's a great feeling to have looked at it years ago and goggled at the distance, then to finally come back and discover it's really possible, and a fantastic move to boot.

[Fiend]

I reject and spurn the concept of 'rites of passage' and 'essential ticks'!

[Nibile]

yeh,
im sorry i brought up the grades issue, its bullshit.

the meaning of some problems gets further than its grade.

[r-man]

I reject and spurn the concept of 'rites of passage' and 'essential ticks'!

I think you're silly.

Stop trying to be controversial.



Everyone has favourite problems. The fact is that some problems are going to acrue more universal admiration than others. They then get called classics.   Sure, people talk/write guidebooks, and this then draws more people to them, but I doubt they would be so easily drawn if the problems were actually rubbish bits of climbing...

And nothing Derren Brown has to say will convince me otherwise. Anyone see that last night?

[(woz)]

I like grades, but I think the classic "rites" transcend those coveted numbers.  They are inspiring lines that look hard all over.

I don't think that aesthetics or quality that important to do with a problem being a rite of passage.
E.g Brain dead at cratcliff and Banana finger direct. Both font 6c (?) but even though brain dead is a better line, BFD will allways be a rite of passage. Same goes for Powerband and something like Brass monkeys, or Pressure drop.

[account_inactive]

I'd add the buckstone dyno. It's a crazy move, so there's no gaurantee you can climb other stuff that grade, and equally if you're climbing that grade, there's no gaurantee you'll find the buckstone reasonable. But it's a great feeling to have looked at it years ago and goggled at the distance, then to finally come back and discover it's really possible, and a fantastic move to boot.

Too right you won't be able to climb stuff at the same grade as its a DYNO.  Jumping around is all well and good, but its not climbing.  At least deliverance goes with a slap :roll:

[dave]

powerband? the press?

i would say WSS was bench 7b+.

[Jim]

a dyno cannot be benchmark! or morpho problems!
my votes for 7a benchmark are gorilla warefare and early doors and beachball and breakfast arete and trackside. I find the nose too hard for 7a

[dave]

isn't breakfast arete easier than 7a?

[Jim]

not if your average height Dave  :wink:

[r-man]

Too right you won't be able to climb stuff at the same grade as [the buckstone is] a DYNO.  Jumping around is all well and good, but its not climbing.  At least deliverance goes with a slap :roll:

a dyno cannot be benchmark! or morpho problems!

Benchmarks shmenchmarks. I just said it was one a dem rites of passage. Something to aspire to and something to feel chuffed about doing.

[Control freak]

i would say WSS was bench 7b+.

I know a whole team of Petzl climbers who would probably disagree with you  :wink:

[the_dom]

a dyno cannot be benchmark! or morpho problems!
my votes for 7a benchmark are gorilla warefare and early doors and beachball and breakfast arete and trackside. I find the nose too hard for 7a

I found Gorilla quite stiff for 7a (3rd day on though), especially given that it was that much harder than, say, the Green Traverse/Dope on a Slope, or really any other 7a I tried/did on my short trip.

And the Buckstone Dyno is a classic problem - one of the best dynos I've ever done..

[Bowie]

oh my god jim that's possibly the worst collection of 7as in the world, they can't be benchmark surely, neither are they rights of passage!. trackside? beachball? wrong wrong wrong!
 (of course being rubbish i can't think of alternative suggestions)

[chappers]

I found Gorilla quite stiff for 7a (3rd day on though), especially given that it was that much harder than, say, the Green Traverse/Dope on a Slope, or really any other 7a I tried/did on my short trip.

i would say the opposite, it is much easier than the green traverse, there is no move as hard as the drop down and slap back up that there is on the green. i would vote for bang on 7a for this.

i agree with the status of the problem dictating the rite of passage thing...i have always felt more chuffed having done problems like those mentioned above.

[SA Chris]

Pebble Wall at Almscliff was a bit of a rite of passage for me. Ican remember the first time I went there seeing Streaky doing it, and was so inspired. Tried it on and off for two years before nailing it, then could do it consistently for about a year.

[Bonjoy]

i would say WSS was bench 7b+.

 Ok you say it's benchmark i.e. middle of the grade (which also makes it V8 BTW). Therefore roughly 50% of the rest of the 7b+s are harder. So give me a list of the harder 7b+s ?????? Consider that a laid down gauntlet.

[Falling Down]

I reckon you need to have done a fair bit of passage to declare 'rites'...

A bit Peak Centric but that's where I've always climbed...

When I was starting out stuff like Crescent Arete, NTBTA, Joes Arete @ Roaches where the first ones that your could wear on your sleeve.

Then it was Re-emergence, Green Traverse/Dope on a slope, Guerilla Warfare, Hampers Hang.

Then it's West Side, Blind Date, Jerry's Traverse @ Plantation and Seans Problem @ Stoney (still yet to navigate three of these succesfully mind and I'm getting older each year).

[al]

the orange route thru the steep bit of the wave - a stepping stone for everyone surely?

[Fiend]

Breakfast is quite a good benchmark V5 even if you're short  :wink: