|
tradman
Jan 23, 2004, 3:43 PM
Post #1 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 14, 2003
Posts: 7159
|
How do your bouldering gyms set their grades? Do they use V or 5. scales or do they have their own systems? I'm intersted to see how the garding system at the bouldering gym I go to compares and how it's done elsewhere.
For reference, the place I go to has grades from 1 to 11, with the difficulty of the moves described this way: 1 is described as "easy", 2 is "easy with one move of british 5c (about 5.11), 4 is "solid british 6b (about low 5.12)", up to 10 which is on the chart as "brick" and 11 which is font 8a.
|
|
|
|
|
josephine
Jan 23, 2004, 3:48 PM
Post #2 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 8, 2002
Posts: 5794
|
josephine moved this thread from General to Indoor Gyms.
|
|
|
|
|
rokshoxbkr19
Jan 23, 2004, 3:49 PM
Post #3 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Oct 30, 2002
Posts: 767
|
Gym grades suck my ahole, they are never correct, not even close. Who gives a flying fu$k if Big Jim set the route and that is just how he climbs. You mean Big Jim, that guy who has never felt a real rock. Whatever. But, to answer your question. My gym uses the V system and then their own stuff. Like Vhard, Vprettyeasy, Vimpossible. I left my gym last spring whent he weahter got nice and I was redpointing the 10's. I hit the real rock again and I was jumping right on moderate 12's.
|
|
|
|
|
tradman
Jan 23, 2004, 4:55 PM
Post #4 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 14, 2003
Posts: 7159
|
Nice.
As for the route setters though, we've got guys down our place setting problems who climb the equivalent of about 5.14b outdoors, so I tend not to quibble their grades cos they'd batter me!
:wink:
|
|
|
|
|
kimmyt
Jan 23, 2004, 5:00 PM
Post #5 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 10, 2003
Posts: 4546
|
At my gym they use a points system. I'm not sure yet how the points correspond to the V rating of the problem, but the easiest problems are 75-150. They go all the way up 700s and maybe above.
K.
|
|
|
|
|
scubasnyder
Jan 23, 2004, 5:01 PM
Post #6 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Oct 3, 2003
Posts: 1639
|
im not sure if they are ever right, some gyms they are right, but then again who said that a v5 is a v5, how does anyone know if a v5 is actually a v4??
|
|
|
|
|
leaverbiner
Jan 23, 2004, 5:16 PM
Post #7 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 18, 2002
Posts: 482
|
Here's how the point system at the PRG is supposed to work (kind of like a comp.) . . .
v0 = 100-150
v1 = 200-250
v2 = 300-350
Essentially, take a V grade multiply by 100 and add about 100 give or take.
Or - if a problem is 550 points you subtract 100-150 (400) and divide by 100 = V4.
Sounds like to much math, but you get used to it.
The point system was started for 3 reasons - (1) to allow for the PBL (phila. bouldering league - don't ask it is just kind of fun for the regulars to keep them motivated) (2) to eleviate some of the quibbling over grades - so the setters didn't have to constantly hear "that's not v1" etc . . . (3) to allow a little more flexibility than the v scale - you can have a bunch of problems that would all be rated "v blah blah blah" but may not be exactly the same difficulty and now you have room to differentiate a little on the points. The points weren't originally intended to correlate directly to v grades, but, ineveitably everyone was asking "how hard is a 200 pointer on the v scale".
Lastly, it serves as a reminder that you are climbign on plastic, not rock and that what you do in the gym does not necessarily translate to outdoor climbing.
|
|
|
|
|
kimmyt
Jan 23, 2004, 6:06 PM
Post #8 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 10, 2003
Posts: 4546
|
Thanks for clarifying that for me!! I was wondering how the points related to the Vs.
K.
|
|
|
|
|
litleclimberchick
Jan 23, 2004, 6:36 PM
Post #9 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Apr 13, 2003
Posts: 1254
|
my gym uses the V system, but the problems are rated inaccurately. some are harder than they are rated while others are easier... :?
|
|
|
|
|
climb_plastic
Jan 23, 2004, 7:08 PM
Post #10 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 24, 2003
Posts: 706
|
The ratings are put there after one person climbs it and rates it, so it can be off. That's why even the outdoor ratings on many problems get's either upgraded or downgraded.
|
|
|
|
|
tradman
Jan 23, 2004, 9:39 PM
Post #11 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 14, 2003
Posts: 7159
|
Yeah, but that's not really a problem that's specific to gyms is it?
Ther are plenty of crazy-wrong grades outdoors too. We're pretty lucky at our place I suppose - we have a fairly steady stream of world class climbers coming in and setting the hard stuff then having it double-checked by other hardmen (and women).
Sandbagging's a fact of climbing life, no?
|
|
|
|
|
petsfed
Jan 23, 2004, 9:48 PM
Post #12 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 25, 2002
Posts: 8599
|
The gym I frequent uses an adjectival system
Easy
Moderate
Hard
Very Hard
Extreme
And I've never concentrated on grades that much to figure out what they relate to on real rock. Most of our problems aren't graded anyway. You just try until you stop failing.
|
|
|
|
|
curt
Jan 23, 2004, 9:54 PM
Post #13 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 27, 2002
Posts: 18275
|
In reply to: Yeah, but that's not really a problem that's specific to gyms is it? There are plenty of crazy-wrong grades outdoors too.
Curt
|
|
|
|
|
bouldersdothebodygood
Jan 25, 2004, 9:54 PM
Post #14 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Apr 28, 2003
Posts: 133
|
they use the v system if the climb is difficult enough. i must say sometimes i will flash a v3 or 4 and then have to work really hard on a 2. it can be very sandbaged.
the problem is that on any particular problem it can be easy for one person who is tall, but at the same time can be insanely difficult for someone a little shorter (like me). i tend to not care about the grades as much. i climb what looks like fun or what looks like something that would push me. thats my two cents have fun.
|
|
|
|
|
christophpahl
Jan 25, 2004, 11:34 PM
Post #15 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 17, 2003
Posts: 30
|
At my gym in Muenchen they have 3 grades, I'll try to translate them:
Blue - "wheat beer drinker fraction"
Red - "I still want to know it, once more"
Black - "super mega sack hard"
So, that's a very precise grading :wink:
|
|
|
|
|
scoppa
Jan 25, 2004, 11:48 PM
Post #16 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 20, 2004
Posts: 11
|
At the gym I go to they use a V grading system. You cannot really compare a V system to a 5 point system because they were designed for different things. As for the grading itself, one problem might be a V4 to someone and that same problem might be a V6 to someone else. It depends on many things besides skill. There are some V2's I have attempted that I probably will never get, but then again some V4's I fly up like they are V2's. Reach, body type, flexibility, even shoes has an influence on the grading a problem for you as an individual. The grade given a problem is just a roundabout tag to give it, but means very little.
|
|
|
|
|
collegekid
Jan 26, 2004, 1:14 AM
Post #17 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jul 7, 2002
Posts: 1852
|
At my gym, the problems are graded on an EXTREMELY SANDBAGGED v scale. This is convenient, however, since most problems in san diego are sandbagged as well. The (under 20 foot) routes at my gym are graded on the 5. scale, and these too are incredibly sanbagged (just like jtree). In fact, the hardest rated routes in there are "5.11+".
There should be a disclaimer on the V rating scale:
If any grade has a + attached to it, like V4+, it means it ranges from v4 to V6, and a - indicates it ranges as much as a grade below the marked grade. As an example, theo (t-dog) set a V4+ in our gym. It could truly be anything from a V4 to a V6. (I can't even do the start, let alone any other moves)
This proposed addition to the V system would let people know ahead of time that the route is possibly sandbagged or featherbagged, and not to get too excited/dejected if they send/flail.
|
|
|
|
|
b_fost
Jan 26, 2004, 1:18 AM
Post #18 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 29, 2003
Posts: 1268
|
beginner
intermediate
advanced
|
|
|
|
|
the_alpine
Jan 26, 2004, 2:44 AM
Post #19 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 6, 2003
Posts: 371
|
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah; blah, blah blah blah blah blahblah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blahblah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah: BLAH, BLAH, BLAH blah BLAH. BLAH FUGGIN BLAH!
|
|
|
|
|
collegekid
Jan 26, 2004, 2:54 AM
Post #20 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jul 7, 2002
Posts: 1852
|
blah?
|
|
|
|
|
orestes1724
Jan 26, 2004, 3:21 AM
Post #21 of 21
(3441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 2, 2001
Posts: 1414
|
for a little while my gym was using the ski slope thing (circle=easy, square=intermediate, diamond=expert, double diamond=wicked expert).
but that kind of faded out and sliped through the cracks. it worked well for a little while though.
|
|
|
|
|
|
