OMFG GRADING. Yes, basically, bigger numbers are always more badass.
But there are ten zillionty different grading systems, some of which are cunningly designed to look like each other while meaning something completely different! And sometimes the grade measures "average difficulty of the whole thing" and sometimes it measures "maximum difficulty" and sometimes overall strenuousness gets factored in and it's all subjective and OMFG.
In the UK, we have a special grading system for trad routes which exists purely for the purpose of confusing foreigners and allowing endless grading wank (grading wank being one of the perennial climbing wanks.)
It includes a technical grade (for example, "6c") which says how difficult the moves are in pure technique terms and then an adjectival grade (for example, "E7") which says how dangerous/exposed/hardcore/badass the route is, and then everyone fights viciously over the latter in internet forums. And then some Americans come over and do it incredibly easily and hardened British trad climbers cry into their beer.
I am a simple bouldering soul and just do V-numbers (V for John "Vermin" Sherman).
You start with V0 (or "VB" for even-easier-than-V0, though some walls just roll that up into V0). It gets harder as the numbers go up. Because bouldering problems are essentially the point of maximum badassitude with the rest of the climb taken away -- bouldering is the espresso of the climbing world -- it's usually fairly clear what it's measuring.
Now I hope that some kind people will chip in and explain other grading systems.
no subject
But there are ten zillionty different grading systems, some of which are cunningly designed to look like each other while meaning something completely different! And sometimes the grade measures "average difficulty of the whole thing" and sometimes it measures "maximum difficulty" and sometimes overall strenuousness gets factored in and it's all subjective and OMFG.
In the UK, we have a special grading system for trad routes which exists purely for the purpose of confusing foreigners and allowing endless grading wank (grading wank being one of the perennial climbing wanks.)
It includes a technical grade (for example, "6c") which says how difficult the moves are in pure technique terms and then an adjectival grade (for example, "E7") which says how dangerous/exposed/hardcore/badass the route is, and then everyone fights viciously over the latter in internet forums. And then some Americans come over and do it incredibly easily and hardened British trad climbers cry into their beer.
I am a simple bouldering soul and just do V-numbers (V for John "Vermin" Sherman).
You start with V0 (or "VB" for even-easier-than-V0, though some walls just roll that up into V0). It gets harder as the numbers go up. Because bouldering problems are essentially the point of maximum badassitude with the rest of the climb taken away -- bouldering is the espresso of the climbing world -- it's usually fairly clear what it's measuring.
Now I hope that some kind people will chip in and explain other grading systems.