15 November 2011

Grade inflation: No blame just logical

Debate/Jens: We all know about grade inflation.  It's especially true on steep boulders in Switzerland. Thanks to Dave Graham and the personal grading approach of the new generation, most of these hardcore boulders have been downgraded.

The first steep boulders were put up by vertical experts from Fontainebleau. These climbers started to work in the new steeper terrain: not surprisingly, the moves felt super hard.  They had limited experience and indoor training of that type of boulder. 

So when they started setting the first steep boulders, grades were inflated.  Those too-high grades became the standard.  This is how inflation spread.

Later on, climbers got more experience on steep boulders.  They trained more in steep indoor gyms.  They realized many grades were inflated: it took a lot less time to climb steep 8B boulders, compared to vertical 8B's in Font.

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