I had an incredible time climbing today. There was much more climbing today than there was yesterday, because we didn't need to spend all the time going over knots and belaying technique, we just jumped straight into the climbing. I fell for the first time today. It was really exhilarating to "fall" and not really go anywhere because of the rope. Having done it unintentionally once really improved my comfort level. On a harder route later, the last climb of the day, I fell more times than I could count at one particular problem before finally giving up and getting lowered down.
They use the French grading system here, I don't know what the climbing facilities in North America would use. I motored up a 3+ without much problem, and got up a 4+ with one slip, my first fall. I can see where a chalk bag would be useful, when hands and holds get sweaty and slippery. When I tried a 5, I was able to get up it, but did slip a couple times. I met my match quite solidly with a 5+ though. I wasn't able to get more than halfway up before I found a problem that I couldn't get past. I fell off the wall there more times than I could count before I finally gave up and got lowered down. I think if it wasn't at the end of the day, and my hands weren't so tired, I might have been able to do it. I'm hoping to have another go at that one next time I'm there.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
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So I found a table to compare:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(climbing)#Free_climbing_ratings_comparison_table
So: Krista's climbing YDS 5.7, French 5b. She'll be on YDS 5.8 soon, Fr 5c territory. Eric's working on YDS 5.9 problems solidly, Fr 6a. I'm in YDS 5.10d land, Fr 6c ("Have Cape Will Fly" for example). Hmm! So there we go.
Interesting note from that linked page, the French system takes into account the overall difficulty and length, whereas the YDS system tends to be just the hardest single move and you need to quantify the length. A YDS 5.11 could be an entire climb where every move is brutally difficult 5.11 or where the entire route is 5.8 with one 5.11 move in the middle. Gotta say I think the French system makes more sense. But even then, every single local dialect is slightly different; one gym is a little different from another gym especially across cities! Even guide books to climbing areas differ in what the ratings mean, but the are usually internally consistent and that's what matters.
Whoo! So got a chalk bag?
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