9 March 2016

Should La Bongada be reported 9a (8c+) or 8c+/9a?

Ramon Julian made the FA of La Bongada in Margalef in his second go and proposed 8c for it in 2012. In 2014, Alex Megos repeated it in four tries and suggested an upgrade to 9a, as he also did four 8c+'s on his second try. "The route is called La Bongada and when it was a project they thought it might be around 8c+/9a. Then Ramon did the first ascent of it calling it 8c. I repeated it and would definitely suggest 9a. It was nothing to do with 8c! Ramon might be just too strong ;-). When you compare it to some of the 8c+ in the same sector, it is a hard 9a. But for me it felt like a normal 9a." Last month, Daniel Fuertes did it and recorded it as a 9a in his super nice video and in his scorecard with a comment "for me 8c+/9a". Now Dani Andrada writes on his Instagram, adding a great picture of Javi Pec that he has also repeated it. "I think it is a hard 8c+ or 8c+/9a." Personal grades are good and it is really great that we have had four different opinions to make the foundation for the consensus grades. The question now is: How should La Bongada be reported in topos and media headlines? I think Fuertes did it in a perfect way but as we now know also Dani's opinion, we have chosen to give the video the 9a (8c+) headline in order to show that there exist different opinions. Sure we could have given it 8c+/9a it in the headline but this indicates an accurate grade which is the total opposite of the two first ascentionists' minds, normal 8c and normal 9a. To sum up, the more climbers and media use and report personal grades, the less important grades become.
17 comments
Sort by:
Date
Reply
Most commented
Jorge Diaz-Rullo FAโ€™s Cafรฉ Colombia (?) after 240 sessions
Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, heโ€™s already stacked four 9b+ sends and now heโ€™s adโ€ฆ
Sean Bailey FAโ€™s Duality of Man (9c)
Sean Bailey reports on Instagram that he has done the first ascent of Duality of Man (9c) in Dry Canyon. โ€ After four total years and three seasons of climbing,โ€ฆ
Jorge Diaz-Rullo proposes 9c for Cafรฉ Colombia
Jorge Diaz-Rullo elaborates on the reasons for him to suggest 9c for Cafรฉ Colombia on Instagram, which he took down last week after projecting it for 240 sessioโ€ฆ
Related
25 March 2008

9a by Ramonet

Ramon Julian has done El templo del cafe, 9a in Alquezar and as he did it in only three tries he says - 'Soft'. Ramonet is #5 in the world ranking but only #4 among the Spaniards!
Ramon Julian has had some productive days around Lleida, onsighting Falconetti, 8b+ and Oxigen, 8b and Marroncita 8b. Ramonet is the new runner up in the world ranking.
9a and 8c OS by Ramรณn Julian Puigblanque
Ramon Julian has had productive couple of days with a 9a, Supernowa in Valdiello and an 8c (8b+) onsight, Amistad in Rodellar as highlights. Furthermore, he didโ€ฆ