5.14a climbers

A meaningless bit of trivia I'm curious about--how many people in the world do you think have ever redpointed a 5.14a route? I can't even begin to think about how to estimate it. About half the population of Spain, I would imagine, for starters.

Thousands. A quick look through 8a.nu shows that pretty much everyone in the top 500 has sent 8b+, and this is just random spot-checking, there could be many more on there. That's just the folk ticking their sends on 8a, I am sure that's a fraction of the people who have sent the grade.

so you're saying there's a chance!

Anyone sufficiently dedicated has a chance, it's been the grade of mortals for a while now

Alexander Blum wrote:Anyone sufficiently dedicated has a chance, it's been the grade of mortals for a while now

What's the current grade of gods?

15c

Does 8b+ hold any arbitrarily special meaning to the euros? It's the mid-point between 8a and 9a, but the number doesn't have the same ring to it even though euro grades sound cooler in general.

Alexander Blum wrote:Thousands. A quick look through 8a.nu shows that pretty much everyone in the top 500 has sent 8b+, and this is just random spot-checking, there could be many more on there. That's just the folk ticking their sends on 8a, I am sure that's a fraction of the people who have sent the grade.

Ah, good strategy. So maybe 2,500 to 5,000 or so, give or take a couple thousand. That's a lot of sport climbers out there!

How about 5.15a? A dozen climbers? 20? Or is it more than that?

Pretty great discussion here:

Who has climbed 15a?

A little digging got me a count of 19, I am surely missing people as well. I figure most 15a ascents get a press release somewhere, just not necessarily in English, through our common news outlets.

This is a good site for the 15a question

escalade9.wifeo.com/par-cot…

I did a 13d 20 years ago that's been upgraded to 14a since then... not because holds broke either. Legit? I still don't see how that truly counts or that I truly care. 14a is the realm of mortals for awhile now? Oh my!

I have nothing to say in this conversation. Nothing by 3 or 4 number grades. I'll just quietly lean against the wall and nod occasionally like I'm cool and belong here.

Hank Caylor wrote:I did a 13d 20 years ago that's been upgraded to 14a since then... not because holds broke either. Legit? I still don't see how that truly counts or that I truly care. 14a is the realm of mortals for awhile now? Oh my!

Which one?

I think it's unfair to sell yourself short simply because the grade was unconsolidated at the time you climbed it. Grading at the upper end is extremely difficult and inaccurate, because there often aren't a lot of comparable routes for calibration. And, many of the people establishing such routes are mostly doing FAs, rarely repeating existing lines, so they wouldn't be well calibrated anyway. There's a lot of extrapolation by necessity, and when few ascents have been made, variations in perception due to body geometry and strengths/weaknesses can lead to significant discrepancies. Some FAs disregard these factors while others overcompensate for them because they really don't want their rig downgraded. We should expect grades to fluctuate as top end routes see more ascents.

That said, there is certainly a mental component to slaying the 5.14 dragon (or any new number grade for that matter). Perhaps you missed out on that aspect of the challenge, but if you were French it would just be 8b+ and there would be no added pressure of breaking through to a new number grade.

Anyway, I say legit, but I can see how it may never quite feel that way in your own estimation.

Monomaniac wrote: Grading at the lower end is extremely difficult and inaccurate, because there often aren't a lot of comparable routes for calibration.

Fixed that for you. I am willing to bet there is a greater percentage of sandbagged 5.9s than 5.14ds, or whatever "high end" consists of. If there is one thing I have learned about sandbagging, it is that as the grade gets harder there is a much lower chance of sandbagging. I have climbed a whole shit load of 5.9s that went at solid 10+, but almost no 5.12-s that went at solid 5.12+. Granted I dont climb 5.15, so I cant honestly say if that continues through the .15s, but through .13s, no doubt. Far more inaccurate grades in the 5.10a and lower range IMO.

I would like to add to the discussion: how many had to hang their own draws, also how many lead it on gear. Not to take away from the great accomplishments of people. I am just curious. My bet is 2 in the US.

Joan Lee wrote:I would like to add to the discussion: how many had to hang their own draws, also how many lead it on gear. Not to take away from the great accomplishments of people. I am just curious. My bet is 2 in the US.

I dont think 5.15 trad exists. I dont recall ever hearing of someone leading anything beyond 5.14c on gear.

Watch out for feeding the troll, 20kn.

I have two words for you: Tommy Caldwell. And we are talking 14a, not 15.

Rob Dillon wrote:Watch out for feeding the troll, 20kn.

Oooo scary!

The 5.14c beauty conquered by a brit.

The Walk of Life