22 September 2020

Hard to give personal (up-)grades based on onsights and for quick ascents

Adam Ondra has given personal grades for hardcore routes for more than ten years, which makes him unique. The dilemma is that he is the best climber in the world especially when it comes to onsight, meaning that he often does not base his personal grades on the best possibly beta. When Ondra onsights a route listed as 8c in the topo and says it felt like 8c also for him, this should not be used as he confirms the 8c, just that he used sequences that felt like 8c for him.

The guys who should confirm grades are the ones who have worked it so much so they have found the very best sequences. If I spend ten sessions on a route I will most likely be able to do 7b+ or 7c, if it is a route that fits me. If Ondra, or another top climber, onsights it and suggests 7c+. The topo producer should not pay so much attention to this as he most probably did not find the best solutions.
1 comment
Sort by:
Date
Reply
Most commented
Jernej Kruder sends Martin Krpan (9a) sans knee pads

Jernej Kruder, who won the Boulder World Cup in 2018, has done Martin Krpan (9a) in Mišja Peč. “I would like to expose something here: I spent many tries on t…

Welcome to Vertical-Life Web

Six years after partnering with 8a.nu, we’re excited to announce the unification of the 8a.nu website and the Vertical-Life app into a single platform: Vertical…

Will Bosi repeats Return of the Sleepwalker (9A)

William Bosi has made the second ascent of Daniel Woods’ Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) in Black Velvet Canyon, after projecting it for 12 sessions. This was th…

Favorites
Katie Lamb makes history

Katie Lamb has become the first woman to climb 8C+ by completing Box Therapy (8C) in RMNP. Daniel Woods made the FA back in 2018, and only Drew Ruana and Sean B…

"It was dramatic to the very end." On the 8a finish of Project Big in Flatanger, Jakob Schubert explains that a horn broke and he was close to falling. The last three minutes of the video show just how much this climb means to him."This horn could have ended my career... This was the biggest mental …

Will Bosi repeats Return of the Sleepwalker (9A)

William Bosi has made the second ascent of Daniel Woods’ Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) in Black Velvet Canyon, after projecting it for 12 sessions. This was th…