Thoughts on Chasing Grades

If you dont climb "strong" then make sure you climb long

If yr gonna spend time doing moderates ... Then get 10-20+ pitches of moderates in everytime u go out

Start running em out a bit more or perhaps alot

And downclimb em

Or do long multi

Folks climb however they want its up to them ... But if you have a few years under yr belt carrying a double rack and doing a few 5.8s a day isnt doing very much IMO

The truth is the harder you climb the more routes you have available, the easier it tends to be to find partners, and the greater yr safety margin

Im not a hard climber by any means as im a lazy old phat AZN ... But its something even "less hard" climbers should recognize

;)

Scott E. wrote:Eliot, I never said anything about my being humble. I merely made a statement about the type of person I would rather climb with.

Fair enough, you didn't explicitly state it and I inferred it. But it looked like it was implied.

Scott E. wrote:I climb with people that overwhelm me with the details of their last greatest send AND THE GRADE in big bold letters, and I climb with people that calmly walk up to a shockingly difficult route and quietly crush it. I prefer the latter.

I don't find the details of their latest send and grade to be any different than the competitive nature of other sports, or even those inherent in the roots of climbing. A guy saying he ran the 40 in 4, swam a 20s 50m freestyle, benching 300, or Royal Robins and Warren Harding on a crusade to one up the other. I like hearing my friends be enthusiastic about anything that makes them happy.

Nivel Egres wrote: Climbing hard is fun. Failing at your limit and trying again is awesome fun. Actually getting up something that 3-4 years ago was a pipe dream is outright orgasmic. If by chasing the grades the OP means "using the grades to track my progress" then yeah, I am chasing the grades. Unlike other guys that chimed in, I don't climb hard at all. My best redpoint last year was 7c - with age and health ganging up on me, I don't know if I can ever get above that. But I will certainly try and trying will be a ton of fun.

Climbing friend,

Fight of internet wang-slap style is for obvious way more fun than being on the climbing rocks!?!? Myah?!?

Mathias wrote: Now I understand that raising your grades does open up new routes and problems, and so in some ways does open doors to new places. But does it also CLOSE doors?

If you climb 5.hard any climbs below that will never be closed, you just have more choices of doors to choose from. Are you going to wait in line for that 5.6 or 5.7 or will you move on to something harder?

Grading system from a long-ago friend and partner who died BASE jumping (not Dean):

Easy
Interesting
Hard
Desperate
Why?

He thought it was all fun, or should be, however one defined fun.

One way to read Lowe's quote is that the climber who is the best is going to be having the most fun. Because harder stuff is more fun to climb.