route grading

[dassie]

just want to know, I know it's bad of me not to find out when I first started climbing two years ago, but what do these mean?

7a, 6+, 8b, and so on.

Sorry if I sound unprofessional, but I need to know. It's driving me crazy
not knowing. I usually climb 16-20, so do any of these fit into that rankings? cry:?

One other thing, has anyone felt that(for example) an 18 at Strubens is not the same as an 18 at Boven?

[JonoJ]

Those are French grades. 7a for instance, is about 24/25.
Do a search on this site for \"Grade Conversion Table\"

No 18 is the same as any other 18, ... nor any grade for that matter. Grading is quite subjective, offering just a basic guideline. Strubens does however seem a little overgraded, if not in terms of actual technical moves, definitely in terms of route length and how sustained each route is at it's particular grade.

[Tigerclaw]

If you dont know the answer to any question it has to be a question worth asking.

There is a topic lower down in the forum called \"SA to French conversion\" which gives you an idea of what you are talking about, there is also a reference http://www.saclimb.co.za/codes.html#Grades which will give you a comparative table.

I'm also keen to know how Bowen compares to Strubens because I am planning to go to Bowen for the first time.

Because grading is subjective, you are going to have people saying that routes are harder than they actually are \"I climbed it, it was a 32\" and then those who say \"Oh you climbed that route, thats only a 15\" and somewhere in the middle of this is a general concensus but not an exact answer.

[Tigerclaw]

Hi Jonoj, are you saying an 18 at strubens (according to the topos) is a generally accepted 19 or the other way around? So far I have only climbed at Strubens so I am keen to know.

[Justin]

http://www.climbing.co.za/gradetable.asp

[JonoJ]

Hi Jonoj, are you saying an 18 at strubens (according to the topos) is a generally accepted 19 or the other way around? So far I have only climbed at Strubens so I am keen to know.

Hi Tigerclaw

Thanks for point out my mistake.... actually meant to say OVERgraded - have now corrected it in the my original post.

What I mean by this is as follows. A route at Strubens, lets say that 21 cracky handjammy one with the little roof on the righthand side of the carg, may have grade 21 moves on it.... but when you compare it (at less than 10m in length) to a longer Boven or Montague route of the same grade (and closer to 30m in length), you'll probably find the longer routes feel a lot harder. This is purely because you have many more sets of grade 21 moves to go through to complete the climb.

So, if you have only climbed at Strubens thus far, be wary of jumping on to longer routes of the grades you currently climb. First test yourself on a long route, a few grades below your top grade, and see how you feel.

I s'pose you could train at Strubens for longer routes, by only claiming a redpoint once you ascended, and then downclimbed the route without falling or resting!

[Q20]

the age old grade debate...

Just from my experience, coming from the Western Cape, Strubens did seem generally overgraded (compared to Montagu etc), but more so I found it was rather inconsistent within the crag.

By way of example there is a supposed 20 called Judgement Day that is about as easy as the 14 next to it, and I found some 20 to the right was about 3-4 grades harder than the Cosmic Politician which is written up as 21???

blah blah blah, its not about the numbers, just go and have fun

[Bron]

Yeah, I must say I find the Strubens grades a lot easier than Boven.
The Boven routes are longer, but I think that even taking that into consideration doesn't account for the difference. I don't think a lot of people would disagree that Strubens is probably overgraded.

[?]

...only climbed at Strubens...? u poor deprived individual, u havent climbed yet!! get a life get in your car and travel!!!

[red dragon]

Strubens valley is called 'valley' for a reason. There is actually no cliff, I even went there and looked. Boven however has cliffs and real climbs and grades. You gotta get there. Though Strubens isnt a bad place to start, its not really rock climbing. Go experience the real thing..er flying is fun..

[tinky boy]

oi, cape grades are overgraded too.not aal of em, but lots of the climbs compared to boven grades are easy.this could be due to the friction of thecape being more. personally,I think that if a really strong climber grades a climb that is well below his limit it will be sandbagged [undergraded] I dont agrre with climbs being graded straight after they are bolted. rather, a general ballpark grade should be used and after some time a concensus should be reached.

And...dudes, if you think strubens is climbing then you need your head read.it is the crappest venue and the routes are so lame it sucks.get in u'r frikken car and try some real climbing.