I've climbed loads of French 7c routes. Most have one V6 crux section at most. Even the short bouldery ones rarely push V7. V6 into V7 into V8 does not make French 7c, even if you step off and go for a brew between each section.
Example - Weedkiller Traverse 7a+/V7. Most sport climbers (who know a thing or two about sport grades) consider it solid French 7c+, it used to be referred to as 'the 8a traverse' when I started climbing at the tor infact. Either the boulder prob sections are overgraded or that French grade is way off.
From an outsiders perspective it looks like the current Welsh scene is rife with faux-modest undergraders.
I tracked Rob down and discussed the grade issue and he said that he thought it was slightly harder than Left Wall Traverse (now rated 7b or F7c+ish), but that the height and position of the moves did add a degree of extra spice. I still think this is a conservative assessment - Ding Dong failed to do this twice on Saturday. That boy doesn't even notice this sort of grade, especially not on his home territory. Some things have actually come down in grade since their first ascents. This is normal, especially on a venue like Breck Road where the rock was quite dirty in its untouched state, but I don't want to go into the next guidebook with a load of sandbags (like happened last time). This obsession with grade crushing has to stop somewhere.
but my guess is that as others do/try the link the grade will get nudged back up to a sensible level.
Left Wall Traverse (now rated 7b or F7c+ish
Quote from: Pantontino on March 10, 2008, 02:48:26 pmLeft Wall Traverse (now rated 7b or F7c+ishWhat does Left Wall High get in route grades? 8a+? Its certainly more like a route than a bloc. I guess Staminaband is an obvious comparitor in this debate - supposedly 8b+ route grade but as its a traverse and no upward movement is required, its difficult to assess. The individual boulder probs would be around V8 + V7 into start of Powerband and a reasonable shake and then a V9 (Powerband) to finish....or if you prefer, two V9's with a shake inbetween.