What does 5.12a mean to you?

This summer I've been able to send 5.12a at my local crag after years and years of practice. While this grade is not the ultimate goal in climbing it should be considered something to pat someone on the back for accomplishing. My question is what does this grade mean to other climbers? Did you achieve the grade after many years of struggling through lower grades or did you achieve it by hang dogging on a favorite 5.12 until you got the send? Did you find yourself going through a personal epiphany when you achieved the grade or was it just another day of climbing? Did you train to achieve 5.12a or did it just come as natural as any other grade below it? What does 5.12a feel like? Is the number and letter of the grade important or is the beauty of the line itself what you were after when you starting climbing 5.12a? What does 5.12a mean to you?

It means Brent Larsen is to be commended for his years of dedication, skill, and overall badass mofo abilities.

It means you climb stuff I can't toprope.

I wasn't that psyched the first time I sent 5.12. The reason is I selected the softest chipped pile of crap I could find and sent it in two goes. I knew it wasn't a real 5.12(more like low end 5.11), but that really wasn't the point. I told my wife and friends, "You know I'm not going to consider this my first 12, but it will serve a bigger purpose because now I know I'm capable of sending that grade." It got me over the mental side of climbing 5.12.

Once I sent that route within the next couple of weeks I hopped on lots of 12's. Shortly after that experience I was sending that grade pretty regularly. I've known several people throughout the years that try to have this 5.12 experience where they would get on the most aesthetic and truly badass 5.12 they could find and would try for literally years because for them it didn't count until they sent that particular 5.12. For me and I'm sure others that would be a mental climbing nightmare. It wasn't that physically they weren't capable of sending it, but they were failing because of the mental side of completing that mythical grade. I would just tell them to just go jump on something really easy for the grade to get over the mental side of the numbers game, send that first and then go back to the project.

Some people listened and sent others had kids, got fat and quit climbing without ever sending their dream project.

"What does 5.12a mean to you?"

Its 3 numbers, a decimal point and the letter 'a'.
In climbing terms it represents a difficulty grade that I cannot and do not aspire to climb.

Congrats though.

My first was trad and an onsight. It meant that I should have been trying routes that hard years before.

Nowadays it means the grade that I can pretty much get first time every time regardless of style. It also represents the plateau that I've never truly been able to break, regardless of the routes I've sent that are harder than that.

12a onsights = 100+
12b onsights = 3 or 4
12c and above onsights = never

Brent... good on you.

I love it when some one points out.. "It's Just a number"....

Its a special number, just like 5.11 was really special to me cause our local GB writer called it " impossible for humans to freeclimb that hard" well we got to 5.11. A decade later 5.12 was the new impossible.

I had to really work, train and train and run and train somemore... all the while keeping the sensation of getting really worked over by a climb in my mind. That got me motivated to go run some more...

When I finally got "IT" it felt great, I knew that I put in the work and my climbing had improved because of that work.

So Brent, go run somemore.... and look for 13.a

I guess I'll have to climb a 5.12a to find out.

Probably something similar to what 5.10a meant to climbers back in the 70's.

It's also an easy warmup for a LOT of climbers, especially in Europe.

jarthur wrote:I wasn't that psyched the first time I sent 5.12. The reason is I selected the softest chipped pile of crap I could find and sent it in two goes. I knew it wasn't a real 5.12(more like low end 5.11), but that really wasn't the point. I told my wife and friends, "You know I'm not going to consider this my first 12, but it will serve a bigger purpose because now I know I'm capable of sending that grade." It got me over the mental side of climbing 5.12. Once I sent that route within the next couple of weeks I hopped on lots of 12's. Shortly after that experience I was sending that grade pretty regularly. I've known several people throughout the years that try to have this 5.12 experience where they would get on the most aesthetic and truly badass 5.12 they could find and would try for literally years because for them it didn't count until they sent that particular 5.12. For me and I'm sure others that would be a mental climbing nightmare. It wasn't that physically they weren't capable of sending it, but they were failing because of the mental side of completing that mythical grade. I would just tell them to just go jump on something really easy for the grade to get over the mental side of the numbers game, send that first and then go back to the project. Some people listened and sent others had kids, got fat and quit climbing without ever sending their dream project.

good post, a lot of truth to that.

12a is my favorite grade to climb. it is hard enough that i feel good when i get one. it's hard enough that i fail on a lot of them, which keeps me motivated. but, it isn't so hard that i feel like i am never succeeding. i also know that there are a million of them out there, and i will never be able to send all of them, which is reassuring in a way.

nicelegs wrote:My first was trad and an onsight. It meant that I should have been trying routes that hard years before. Nowadays it means the grade that I can pretty much get first time every time regardless of style.

i would give my left nut, actually probably both of them, to be able to say this.

5.12a means a number I seldom reached when I was a good climber (and 5.13 was just becomming the top of the chart). I'll never see those kind of numbers again. Got my auto serviced the other day and my customer number hanging off the mirror was a big bold print 511, so I saved it and keep it in my window these days. I can dream of the old days....

I would give Slim's left nut, actually, probably both of them, to be able to say this!

I've never been on a single route more than 10 times unless I was being paid for it so maybe my opinion is worthless on this matter but to me... 5.12a means I'm probAbly not gonna onsight.

RED SAID Probably something similar to what 5.10a meant to climbers back in the 70's.

It's also an easy warmup for a LOT of climbers, especially in Europe.

In the 70's if one could climb 5.10 you were "Pretty Good, Solid climber" ..... 5.11+ was about the top grade, intill 1978 or so than some 12s show up... supermen did those climbs.

Today if someone climbs 5.12 ... I figgure they are: #1 sort of young and can climb pretty good... Pretty Good, Solid climber. And yes LOTS of climbers today warm up on 5.12.

We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.

But sadly one of the things I see all to often today are good climbers who don't even try hard and just go TAKE when the going gets rough....

Ah, 12a. My first was a short, bouldery (40 ft) problem in bocan. It gets a consensus grade of 11d these days (and in retrospect, I agree more with that grade), but in 2009 when I sent it, most people called it 12a. It took me two tries to get it clean and I was very stoked to nab it. I remember it being very hot out, and I was literally gasping for breath as I climbed the easy slab at the end to the chains. But it felt good. Real good.

Since then, and almost four years later, I've had a host of personal and professional distractions, disappointing injuries, spicy falls, and lead head struggles that seem to have held me at that grade (at least for redpointing).

To me, 12a is a plateau of sorts, but also a benchmark. Whenever I visit a new area, I always pick one to work in between onsights, and in doing so, I've learned that '12a' includes a myriad of different styles and difficulties (mostly because of the subjective scale of the grading system). But I imagine most a's are that way. Climbers of a certain number grade must protect the integrity of that grade at all cost!! ;)

Anyway, 11a certainly felt that way back in '08. But somehow, 12a has been much harder to step up and move past. Hopefully I will experience the 13a plateau one day.

12's mean no lines and super engaging climbing. For me I can usually work a 12's moves out in an hour or so and then just try to send in the next however many goes... It serves as a litmus test as to how my life is going. Physically everything can be fine but if I'm stressed at work or whatever else then I won't send.

My first 12 came from climbing tons of 10's. I prefer big days of fun climbing, 10-20 pitches of 5.10 sounds RAD to me. Then one day I got bored and tried a 12. The moves didn't seem so bad so I worked it out and sent. I still climb with that philosophy today but am looking for a 13a that suits my style...

I also think 12's seem crazy to a lot of climbers only because it is 2 number grades above 10's I have lots of friends that I think should be working 12's but they don't because they can't send 11's with ease. There are a few mental blocks in climbing like leading your first 5.10 and I think 5.13 is the next big one to me. Probably because of something silly like it's in the 'teens which is close to 14 and 15 which seem so very far away...

Guy Keesee wrote:RED SAID Probably something similar to what 5.10a meant to climbers back in the 70's. It's also an easy warmup for a LOT of climbers, especially in Europe. In the 70's if one could climb 5.10 you were "Pretty Good, Solid climber" ..... 5.11+ was about the top grade, intill 1978 or so than some 12s show up... supermen did those climbs. Today if someone climbs 5.12 ... I figgure they are: #1 sort of young and can climb pretty good... Pretty Good, Solid climber. And yes LOTS of climbers today warm up on 5.12. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. But sadly one of the things I see all to often today are good climbers who don't even try hard and just go TAKE when the going gets rough....

Seem every time I'm at the Red in KY, 5.12 is the normal day warm up for a vast majority of those camped for weeks at Miguels. Motherlode or PMRP every day out climbing.

Nowdays to me, 12a means I'll be TRing, falling and gonna be really sore the next day.

I see .12a as V-4. Something that should be in the realm of accomplishing with proper mental preparation. I have seen a ton of arguments against comparing bouldering grades and climbing grades..on trad 12a there is a TON more mental focus..your up looking for rests, placing gear downclimbing to the rest, climbing up again etc....12a sport is more holding on to make often funky clips, and then milking rests as much as possible. If I send a V-7, then I feel confident approaching climbs .12c and harder..Best bet is to keep faith in your own abilities, and not to forget your climbing talent. I have seen climbers become beknighted on stuff that is 500' off the deck, when they would send easily at 5' off the deck...Belive in yourself, and you may be suprised what you can accomplish..Plus, the hearder stuff tends to stick in your mind longer, so cryptic cruxes are just more fun...if you need to justify climbing at harder grades...

I think many people consider 12a a breakthrough grade because 12a climbs are often the hardest climbs on easier walls. By that I mean that when you're on a wall climbing 10s and 11s, you may be beside a few 12a/b but you tend not to see 12+ very much. It's inspiring to look at the hardest climb on a wall and say "I want to do that someday". Many gyms even stop at 12, and there are often only a few of them to choose from.

I was definitely psyched when I got my first couple 12s, thinking I was all hot shit. Now, however, I find the opposite is true...when I'm looking for a nice 12a/b to project, it seems like they're often the EASIEST climbs on the wall. They're the warmups for the legitimately good climbers...