Wednesday, September 2, 2009

i thought this was impossible!



ok, i don't know anything really about aid climbing, except that it can be the scariest shit in the universe, but i thought A6 was a theoretical grade. that it can't get worse than A5. that A5 equals imminent death, and here are some dudes claiming A6+!!!!
i once saw an interview that said for some route to truly be A5, someone has to die on the ascent. yeah that's right, die. in comparison to sport climbing, or trad even, there is no redpointing in aid climbing. redpointing is the method used by everyone to climb their hardest. how do you redpoint something where a fall equals certain death to you and your partner? 

i am confused as to how this is possible. please enlighten me.

3 comments:

  1. It's possible to grade a climb 5.17e, but that does'nt mean that it's 5.17e.

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  2. I guess if you really want to be enlightened you could go and repeat the route.

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  3. I'm not sure A5 equals "imminent death". We've all seen the videos - The Wall Pirate taking whippers on A5... still alive and ransacking novices on the sea of stone. Grades are theoretical anyways... what Ryan thinks is 11c slab, I think is 10d!

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