Yosemite Decimal System (YDS)

How does this system work? It used to be based off of the hardest move pulled and now its not. I appreciate your time.

oh boy...

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The Stoned Master wrote:How does this system work? It used to be based off of the hardest move pulled and now its not. I appreciate your time.

Read this:
Grades

The Stoned Master wrote:How does this system work?

It doesn't.

Last I heard, the current formula is:

Hardest move pulled (V Grade) / (Amount of hard moves compared to the last gym you climbed in + sport or trad) X Value of climber's outfit X (length or route + location) - Ego(squared, on a one to Kanye West scale)/ ("gnar factor" -1).

The Stoned Master wrote:How does this system work? It used to be based off of the hardest move pulled and now its not. I appreciate your time.

I still use the hardest move pulled rule. If a pitch has 30 moves at 5.10 and under plus one 11a move necessary to complete the climb. I rate the pitch 11a.

If the climb has 30 10c moves in a row, the climb is a sustained 10c, although I know guys who bump the grade because of the sustained nature. I don't agree with the practice, but since ratings usually end up as a consensus of hundreds of different climbers I don't think if makes a huge difference.

My understanding is that it's based on the crux of a route, whether that be a single move or sequence of moves.

I've been poring over some alpine guidebooks the last few evenings trying to cook up some big plans for next summer. If YDS seems complicated on its own, stay away from those! The authors, to their credit, do a great job explaining it, but quantum mechanics is probably simpler.

Pleeeease could someone read what we have written here:

grades

And let me know if we have anything wrong about the YDS system. Neither Andy or I are from North America.

Thanks in advance.

It used to be based off of the hardest move pulled and now its not

It is still the same.

5.9+ = 5.11b

Stick with that formula and you will understand.

mucci wrote:It used to be based off of the hardest move pulled and now its not It is still the same. 5.9+ = 5.11b Stick with that formula and you will understand.

This.

Harder than 5.9 = 5.9+
Everything else = 4th class

Ryan Watts wrote: Harder than 5.9 = 5.9+ Everything else = hiking 14ers

Corrected for you

David Coley wrote:Pleeeease could someone read what we have written here: grades And let me know if we have anything wrong about the YDS system. Neither Andy or I are from North America. Thanks in advance.

David,

What you have written RE: YDS is pretty much correct. I would change this: "but now on hard pitches it tends to be used to measure the overall physical difficulty of the pitch, much like the French system."

to this: "but now on hard pitches it is used to measure the overall physical difficulty of the pitch, like the French system."

David Coley wrote:Pleeeease could someone read what we have written here: grades And let me know if we have anything wrong about the YDS system.

I agree your description, or the slightly tweaked version suggested by monomaniac, is accurate.

I thought an additional comment about the protection ratings could be in order. They were originally devised by Jim Erickson, and the ratings themselves are the ones in use in the U.S. to help families determine the appropriateness of movie content. PG, for example, stands for "Parental Guidance suggested." See filmratings.com/how.html for the ratings and amusing graphics in which the children progressively disappear from the appropriate audience. Sadly, the salacious "X" rating seems to have been replaced my the utterly pedestrian "NC 17."

I grade based on overall difficulty and single-move difficulty, whichever is higher. A 5.12a with a single 5.12a move will get a 5.12a rating, but a 5.12a route with 50 5.11- moves before will receive a harder grade. There are routes in the Red that are almost entirely 5.11+ climbing, but receive a 5.13- grade because it is nonstop 5.11+ with no real rests for the entire route. Routes at the Motherload are good examples that fit this profile.

Monomaniac wrote: David, What you have written RE: YDS is pretty much correct. I would change this: "but now on hard pitches it tends to be used to measure the overall physical difficulty of the pitch, much like the French system." to this: "but now on hard pitches it is used to measure the overall physical difficulty of the pitch, like the French system."

Thanks. Correction made and will appear during the next upload.

rgold wrote: I agree your description, or the slightly tweaked version suggested by monomaniac, is accurate. I thought an additional comment about the protection ratings could be in order. They were originally devised by Jim Erickson, and the ratings themselves are the ones in use in the U.S. to help families determine the appropriateness of movie content. PG, for example, stands for "Parental Guidance suggested." See filmratings.com/how.html for the ratings and amusing graphics in which the children progressively disappear from the appropriate audience. Sadly, the salacious "X" rating seems to have been replaced my the utterly pedestrian "NC 17."

Thanks. Addition made and will appear during the next upload.

mucci wrote:5.9+ = 5.11b.

Sounds about right to me

mucci wrote: 5.9+ = 5.11b Stick with that formula and you will understand.

Only for routes graded before, hm, the mid-90s or so.