The V-Grade Debate: "We've got to be sensible about these things"

Daniel Woods' latest cutting edge bouldering ascents seemed to have stirred the pot. Once again, the V-grade debate recommences!

Before I got into a more recent response, we shouldn't forget what Malcolm Smith said after finishing his boulder problem Monk Life 8b+ in 2004: "I see Monk life as a bottom end 8b+, only just scraping into the grade. It's a bit harder than some things I've done like The Ace which get 8b. I think in Britain we have a harsher scale than in Europe and there's loads of room in 8b+ for absolutely sick things which are harder than Monk Life. I can't see any reason to give anything 8c. That grade is unbelievable and I struggle to believe anyone around can climb it. We've got to be sensible about these things."

In some ways, that sensibility has been echoed by Nalle Hukkataival. He's weighed in with the most sensible thoughts I've heard on the matter in a long time. His rhetorical wonderment at the probably accurate statistic that "99% of the time" climbers' grading mistakes come in the form of over-grading points implies the answer obviously enough: eager to reap the higher value and reward of a higher grade, climbers are getting the best of themselves.

Nalle asks too, "Why do people always choose the egotistical approach to these things instead of "playing it safe"?" It's the vulgar, ugly truth, but the egotistical drive to be the best leads climbers to overestimate their ability and thus, over-grade.

Mind you, encouraging down-grading can serve this same purpose in reverse. If I down-grade lots of the climbs I repeat, it sure could serve to make me look good, and my own climbs even harder.

So we have to be nuanced in our interpretation of people's intentions. But if we can take someone's intentions to be pretty good, like Nalle's, then we've got a good conversation going.

Just the other day, I listened to my own friend patently lie about his ability. Under a popular test-piece, another climber he knew from his old gym turned to him and asked, "So, what are you climbing these days?" My friends responded, "Sevens and eights." It was embarrassing, and yet another instance of a climbers' ambition getting the best of them.

Don't think I'm some hippie who doesn't want to improve. I'm not. I want to climb as hard as I possibly can, and I am always inspired by the ability of the highest level climbers. But if we're truly concerned with measuring progress, at each level we need to pack down the grade and make it solid and tight. Otherwise, we won't be able to say we've improved without telling ourselves a sad little lie. Without solid grades, our achievements are like Enron's books.