FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Climbing grades and ...big egos!
Grades is just a means of estimating the difficulty or the danger factor of a route or a boulder problem. Tha gading system is there to just give us a rough idea so we don't bother to start a route that's way out of our leage. There is no scientific way to determine the grade of a route, it's just an opinion based on the suggestion of the first climber that climbed the route. Of course there has always been a hot dispute about the grades and who climbed what in the climbing community. Egos sore high, especially with the advent of modern climbing, and most of the times grades is all that matters..... I say rubbish! Of course everyone wants to break certain limits, myself included but I have to say something especially to young climbers.....! Guys, enjoy life and climbing, enjoy hanging around with nice people and friends at the rocks and the grades will come depending the time and energy you will put but when the higher grades come don't think that you are the only ones that achieved that. Climbing is a nice game we should all enjoy and not let it stress us.
There has been a lot of sndbagging(downgrading) the last years around the world and it has become kind of in fashion thing. You have to sandbag a number of routes if you want to gain the respect of the climbing community. Don't get me wrong, sandbagging because of a number of reasons such as new technology in climbing gear, or stronger and younger athletes is good! Sandbagging for the pleasure of sandbagging is bad!