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applewood
May 6, 2012, 3:04 PM
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Registered: Jan 18, 2007
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When I was a teen climbing in the mid 70's I remember climbers in their 30's and up being the "old guys". Many were more interested in scrambling on the ridges, and playing guitar around the camp fire it seemed, but perhaps that was due in part to the desire to survive in the era before bolts (when the common wisdom was "you'll either quit or die climbing"). Well I'm clearly one of the old guys now (and my best climbing had been since my mid 30's anyways), and after a few bad falls and non climbing injuries my idea of the sharp end has gotten noticeably duller. Yet one of my main loves has continued to be route and crag development.
This spring I got closer in my quest to finding the perfect 5.4 when I was able to put up a three star bolted 5.3, and several other 5.2's, 3's and 4's of almost classic quality. I also bolted a couple of three star 5.11c, 11b and 5.10's, but oddly enough it's the easier routes I'm far more proud of. Why is this? I think it is harder to find a great easy climb (unless you happen to live near the Gunks or include alpine trad routes), especially at the sport crags today.
When I was beginning to lead we spent literally years working our way up through the lower grades (trad of course), and these are still some of my fondest memories. Today it seems people have forgotten how hard a 5.4 can be (or at least feel), and so the grading at the lower end is rarely accurate. Too often at local crags I have come across bolted 5.7's and 8's that are more like 4's and 5's. There is a bolted "5.5" I know of that is actually at most a 5.1. What is going on here? I think part of it is the trend to soften grades to inversely inflate our egos (who wants to admit they almost got spanked on a 5.7- like Yellow Ridge at the Gunks!). All too often new climbers expect to do 5.7 on their first lead. And I've seen young climbers on real rock for the first time eye a blank 5.10 granite cliff and think they can do it, cause they had no trouble with 10's in the gym (not even aware that those bolts have spaces between them requiring gear). The other side of this is easier routes (5.6 and below) with bolts every 3 feet! Whatever happened to learning to climb on gear and making the crux move several feet above your last (questionable) piece?
I'm not meaning to come across as an old resentful fart (self-proclaimed hard boy, now soft man - or as a friend recently called us M.O.G.'s - Men Of Girth), I was never hard. But I did climb a lot in isolation from other popular areas, and have seen a steady erosion of grading, with most of the newer areas having noticeably soft grading (especially in the easier ranges). Of course if you're on-sighting 5.13 anything less than 5.10 will probably feel like a hike. But will it with 1000' of exposure?
A few years ago, my wife and I climbed "Prime Rib" near Mazama, Washington. It's one of those new bolted routes - rated 5.9, but more like a 5.7 with a short crux on the last pitch and lots of 5.4-5.6 fun, safe climbing before. The location is lovely for it's 11 pitches, but there are sometimes bolts every 4 feet, so calling it an adventure was not exactly obvious until we started the rappels. The problem with it is the rock quality, lots of debris and holds just waiting to be pulled off. The week before we climbed it an accomplished 5.13 climber had fallen to his death soloing it...probably pulled a hold off, or was hit by debris, or just slipped. Sure, it has easy climbing with lots of bolts and nice exposure but all of that belies it's obvious dangers. It's a terrible place to solo.
So I'm not lamenting the end of old trad days here (after all I'd never have been able to lead harder than 5.9 without the popularity of bolts!) as much as extolling the virtues of creating safe and fun easy routes going forward. Not 5.7 and 8's, but really easy climbs like 5.2, 3 and 4. These are the right place for beginners (and young children) to learn to lead, and they are the perfect place for the old and infirm to get back into shape, or climb their last years in cautious reassurance.
I'm only in my mid 50's now, but I'd like to be doing this still in another 30 years. Till then I'll keep investing in bolts to make sport climbs I can do, and maybe I won't have to take up golf.
(This post was edited by applewood on May 6, 2012, 7:57 PM)
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shockabuku
May 7, 2012, 4:19 AM
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Registered: May 20, 2006
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applewood wrote: Whatever happened to...?
Times changed.
applewood wrote: I'm only in my mid 50's now, but I'd like to be doing this still in another 30 years. Till then I'll keep investing in bolts to make sport climbs I can do, and maybe I won't have to take up golf.
And thanks for that, however.
(This post was edited by shockabuku on May 7, 2012, 4:21 AM)
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KirbyC
May 7, 2012, 5:00 AM
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Good luck in your quest. I enjoyed reading your post.
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potreroed
May 7, 2012, 5:15 AM
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The erosion in grades came with the advent of sport climbing and the explosion in the sheer number of climbers who, like you say, wanted to stroke their egos with higher numbers.
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gblauer
Moderator
May 7, 2012, 5:30 AM
Post #5 of 18
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Hey, I love easy climbs. Keep bolting and let me know where they are. I will meet you there.
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cracklover
May 7, 2012, 10:13 AM
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Kudos to you.
Cheers!
GO
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granite_grrl
May 7, 2012, 12:14 PM
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Putting up good easy line is an art, especially when you start dealing with bolted sport lines of those grades. Most of the time you end up with a bolted staircase.
But then there are those easy lines where someone had a good enough eye to see and the means to develop that leave you giggling the entire time you're climbing....and those are awesome.
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applewood
May 7, 2012, 2:12 PM
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Registered: Jan 18, 2007
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yes, I like that, "giggling the entire time". Climbing can be fun no matter what the grade....
I was thinking this morning how to put this difficulty thing into perspective, and realized climbing a ladder is by definition 4th class (or 3rd), yet if you've ever climbed a 20+ foot ladder you know how scary it can be. So, even a 5.0 is gonna be harder than climbing a ladder... I see nothing wrong with bolting a 5.0, but I'd probably put the bolts 15' apart once I got above ground-fall danger.
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donald949
May 9, 2012, 8:57 AM
Post #9 of 18
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Registered: May 24, 2007
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Nice.
Spent my share of time climbing and clipping 5easy, TR'ing my kids up. Plugging gear up a 5.0 staircase. Yea, MOG.
Good times. 
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linejudge
May 9, 2012, 11:34 AM
Post #10 of 18
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Great post. As a fellow MOG, I wish I could find the routes of which you speak.
The world needs more 5.4's. 
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climbingaggie03
May 9, 2012, 12:15 PM
Post #11 of 18
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Registered: Mar 18, 2004
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I definitely enjoy lower grade sport climbs, and trad climbs. My first trad lead was a 5.6 and it was terrifying, even though I was onsighting low 10 sport climbs at the time.
I recently went up theater of shadows in city of rocks, to take a friend of mine up her first multi-pitch. It's rated 5.7 and 4 pitches, though the upper pitches aren't even 5.7. It was great, the bolts were always close together, the biggest pain was I didn't have enough draws and had to back clean. Fourtunately, I could clip the bolt and then clean the previous one at my knees. It was 4 pitches of fun, and the scaryiest part was the rapps and descent.
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kiwiprincess
May 9, 2012, 3:26 PM
Post #12 of 18
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Registered: Oct 25, 2007
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In reply to: but oddly enough it's the easier routes I'm far more proud of
I know what you mean. I put up a 5.7ish climb that takes some thought at a local crag and every I go there I see beginners really challenged and enjoying it..Very rewarding.
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johnwesely
May 9, 2012, 4:12 PM
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Registered: Jun 12, 2006
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climbingaggie03 wrote: I definitely enjoy lower grade sport climbs, and trad climbs. My first trad lead was a 5.6 and it was terrifying, even though I was onsighting low 10 sport climbs at the time. I recently went up theater of shadows in city of rocks, to take a friend of mine up her first multi-pitch. It's rated 5.7 and 4 pitches, though the upper pitches aren't even 5.7. It was great, the bolts were always close together, the biggest pain was I didn't have enough draws and had to back clean. Fourtunately, I could clip the bolt and then clean the previous one at my knees. It was 4 pitches of fun, and the scaryiest part was the rapps and descent.
That sounds awful.
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climbingaggie03
May 9, 2012, 4:43 PM
Post #14 of 18
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Registered: Mar 18, 2004
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johnwesely wrote: climbingaggie03 wrote: I definitely enjoy lower grade sport climbs, and trad climbs. My first trad lead was a 5.6 and it was terrifying, even though I was onsighting low 10 sport climbs at the time. I recently went up theater of shadows in city of rocks, to take a friend of mine up her first multi-pitch. It's rated 5.7 and 4 pitches, though the upper pitches aren't even 5.7. It was great, the bolts were always close together, the biggest pain was I didn't have enough draws and had to back clean. Fourtunately, I could clip the bolt and then clean the previous one at my knees. It was 4 pitches of fun, and the scaryiest part was the rapps and descent. That sounds awful.
which part? it was really fun. I didn't clip every bolt, but it was nice to have the option. It was a clean slab that didn't wander too much, so there wasn't much in the way of rope drag
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johnwesely
May 9, 2012, 5:02 PM
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Registered: Jun 12, 2006
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climbingaggie03 wrote: johnwesely wrote: climbingaggie03 wrote: I definitely enjoy lower grade sport climbs, and trad climbs. My first trad lead was a 5.6 and it was terrifying, even though I was onsighting low 10 sport climbs at the time. I recently went up theater of shadows in city of rocks, to take a friend of mine up her first multi-pitch. It's rated 5.7 and 4 pitches, though the upper pitches aren't even 5.7. It was great, the bolts were always close together, the biggest pain was I didn't have enough draws and had to back clean. Fourtunately, I could clip the bolt and then clean the previous one at my knees. It was 4 pitches of fun, and the scaryiest part was the rapps and descent. That sounds awful. which part? it was really fun. I didn't clip every bolt, but it was nice to have the option. It was a clean slab that didn't wander too much, so there wasn't much in the way of rope drag
The bolts every couple feet on slab part.
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notapplicable
May 9, 2012, 5:27 PM
Post #16 of 18
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Registered: Aug 31, 2006
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johnwesely wrote: climbingaggie03 wrote: johnwesely wrote: climbingaggie03 wrote: I definitely enjoy lower grade sport climbs, and trad climbs. My first trad lead was a 5.6 and it was terrifying, even though I was onsighting low 10 sport climbs at the time. I recently went up theater of shadows in city of rocks, to take a friend of mine up her first multi-pitch. It's rated 5.7 and 4 pitches, though the upper pitches aren't even 5.7. It was great, the bolts were always close together, the biggest pain was I didn't have enough draws and had to back clean. Fourtunately, I could clip the bolt and then clean the previous one at my knees. It was 4 pitches of fun, and the scaryiest part was the rapps and descent. That sounds awful. which part? it was really fun. I didn't clip every bolt, but it was nice to have the option. It was a clean slab that didn't wander too much, so there wasn't much in the way of rope drag The bolts every couple feet on slab part.
Relax brah. One of the best things about climbing is that there's something for everyone. That includes plenty of sparsely bolted spookfests for those of us who want them.
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donald949
May 10, 2012, 12:42 PM
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Registered: May 24, 2007
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notapplicable wrote: johnwesely wrote: climbingaggie03 wrote: johnwesely wrote: climbingaggie03 wrote: I definitely enjoy lower grade sport climbs, and trad climbs. My first trad lead was a 5.6 and it was terrifying, even though I was onsighting low 10 sport climbs at the time. I recently went up theater of shadows in city of rocks, to take a friend of mine up her first multi-pitch. It's rated 5.7 and 4 pitches, though the upper pitches aren't even 5.7. It was great, the bolts were always close together, the biggest pain was I didn't have enough draws and had to back clean. Fourtunately, I could clip the bolt and then clean the previous one at my knees. It was 4 pitches of fun, and the scaryiest part was the rapps and descent. That sounds awful. which part? it was really fun. I didn't clip every bolt, but it was nice to have the option. It was a clean slab that didn't wander too much, so there wasn't much in the way of rope drag The bolts every couple feet on slab part. Relax brah. One of the best things about climbing is that there's something for everyone. That includes plenty of sparsely bolted spookfests for those of us who want them.
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climbingaggie03
May 10, 2012, 4:10 PM
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It's definitely not bolted like most slabs, and I have done my fair share of traditional slabs, it was really fun, it definitely could do without a couple of bolts, but when I was a beginer, I would have loved to have had a climb like that to learn on.
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