Proposed Style Rating

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Messages 1 - 9 of total 9 in this topic
matty

Big Wall climber
Valencia, CA
Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 20, 2009 - 06:39pm PT
Just read the pad/no pad discussion and thought about a style discussion I've had before:

I have been going bouldering a lot with a crew of new friends at a secret spot near LA (no I wont tell you) that they developed over the last 10 years that has hundreds of boulder problems all put up with a staunch ethic of one pad maximum (no stacking), no toprope practice, many of which were done alone or with no pads, or both, kinda like the swimming hole (RIP).

Before I started climbing with this group I had no problem stacking pads etc... but after climbing with one or no pads for a while now, and trying the scary highball problems they put up, I found that I am now comfortable with only one pad, and that it just required a different mentality on my part. I have to raise my awareness and it forces me to think about the landing and my exit strategy before I start up.

This group often talks about new highball problems that are put up using mounds of stacked pads etc... and how one cannot know from a blurb in a magazine what the style of ascent was, which can make a big difference as to ones overall view of the ascent and/or the climber involved.

So I suggested a style rating, the "S" system. This system would work like golf or cross country where a low score is best, no chasing the high numbers trying to outdo anyone.

S0 - the ultimate, no pad, no spot.
S1 - 1 pad or a spot.
S2 - 1 pad and a spot.
S3 - 2 pads stacked w/ or without a spot.
S4 - more than 2 pads w/ or without a spot.

In addition to the normal ratings a style rating would be added to the end, so when you see a description of an ascent you would know how it was done. To take the golf analogy a step further par could be S2 and you could birdie or eagle a boulder problem.
Have briefly discussed this with a bunch of a bunch of the Stoney Point crew (Loomis, Leventhal, Keesee, Waugh, Johnson, Sandlow etc) They all thought it a keen idea? How about you? Questions? Comments? Refinements to the grades?

Matt

ryanb

climber
Seattle, WA
Apr 20, 2009 - 07:02pm PT
Go with an open ended scale or its already obsolete:

matty

Big Wall climber
Valencia, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 20, 2009 - 07:06pm PT
Great photo! I guess it could be open ended on the upper end, and although the "B" system didn't stick very well, the "A" seems to.
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
Apr 20, 2009 - 07:06pm PT
If I stitch 2 Mondos together, is that one or two?

ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
Apr 20, 2009 - 07:08pm PT
I am so S0.
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
Apr 20, 2009 - 07:18pm PT
if ya got stones for it, start chastising people for high scores at the pebbles, that's the only way to gain acceptance for it.

shame
ryanb

climber
Seattle, WA
Apr 20, 2009 - 07:20pm PT
So a couple of months ago I was trucking around index solo enjoying a clear winter day, with full complement of pads as in the photo. There weren't a lot of people out that day but as it happened I ran into Colin Haley and Dylan Johnson both of whom i know from uw rock (pea gravel landing...where does that fit on the scale?)

So Colin, master of the ultralight that he is can't quite believe what he is seeing...his jaw drops, he stops grabbing potato chips out the neighboring parties bag until finally he pulls himself together and says in his best borate:

"GYPSEY!!! Where did you steal these mattress!"
matty

Big Wall climber
Valencia, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 20, 2009 - 07:21pm PT
"If I stitch 2 Mondos together, is that one or two?"

Side by side or vertical? Some new pads have a huge amount of foam, equal to the staking of two smaller pads. Perhaps the ratings should be broken down in a different way, say 2-4inches of pad then 5-10inches instead of the number of pads, go with the thickness.

Matt
the Fet

Supercaliyosemistic climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
Apr 20, 2009 - 07:21pm PT
I'd rather see a scale for nature of the landing area.

S = sand, for pansies
D = dirt, for nOObs
U = uneven, for normal folks
R = rocks, may land on dirt, maybe on rock
AB = ankle breaker, you'll land on rocks
WW = won't walk again
YGD = you're gonna die
Messages 1 - 9 of total 9 in this topic
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