I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while now. Understanding that every climbing gym has its own way of representing the grade of a boulder problem or roped route, but particularly in the case of boulder problems, there are limits on how practical inventing your own system of labeling such things is. For example, there is a climbing gym I visit that grades its boulder problems using their own “S” system. S0 = VB. S1 = V0-V1. S2 = V2-V3. S3 = V4-V5. S4 = V6-V7. S5 = V8 and above. Now, it is their gym. They can use whatever system they want to grade and label boulder problems. I get tired of running over to the opposite side of the gym to look up what “S3” meant because I forgot, though. I just want to climb! That, and the fact that each of the “S” grades covers a range of V-grades. There’s a big difference between a V2 and a V3, but you have no way of knowing what you’re even attempting with that range encompassed within a single “S” grade. I’ve run into the same problem with another climbing gym that used a single color to represent a range of V-grades for their problems. You never quite know what you’re really trying to do, or if you’re even close to being able to do it! Fortunately, that gym has gone to a straight V-grade system. Sometimes, it’s hard enough to figure out what you’re trying to send. Why make simple complicated?
Content Rating PG, for the most part
I try to keep the content of my posts in the PG range (meaning that maybe your 13-year-old should not read it... Just kidding!) - you know, something I could get away with tastefully in the town square without getting lynched, tarred-and-feathered, or hung (and something my mother would NOT wash my mouth out with soap for). As far as what age you have to be to understand some of the subtleties of my humor in writing and/or speaking, well... That may vary. A lot.
