If you’re not up on the climbing blogosphere, you might have missed this thoughtful piece over at Moja Climbing; Dude Grades: A Look at Sexism in Climbing Grades.  Now, many longterm readers might remember our previous article on the statistical approach to climbing grades. I agree with Moja, that women’s opinions on grades are under-represented in the determination of climbing grades, unless we’re talking about downgrades. Bobbi Bensman’s ascent of the nails-hard V9 “Better Eat Your Wheaties” is pointed to as the reason it now wears a V8 in the guidebook.

Let me tell you something, I’ve pulled on the only ‘4 Star’ V8 in Hueco (The Egg) and made big links on it despite being 5 days on and fighting to keep the previous night’s burritos on the inside. 2 long days prior I grabbed the starting holds on Wheaties and put my feet on the wall only to discover that I was paralyzed – I just couldn’t find a position or pull that would result in what climbers seek, that direction know as “up”. I tip my hat to Bobbi.

The women have since struck back, they are firing off the benchmark climbs for the grades, making their achievements beyond question or reproach. The smart media didn’t dare suggest Biographie get the downgrade after Margo Hayes sent, it’s the standard bearer.  Similarly, only a few lost souls questioned the difficulty of La Planta De Shiva after Angy Eiter’s historic ascent, seeming to have forgotten that the route was put up by the God of Hard Climbing himself, Adam Ondra. No other person has the experience he has at that level, if anyone knows where 9a+ crests over that invisible demarcation and into 9b, its him.

And that last part is the problem.

There was a kerfuffel earlier this year when Adam repeated Pirmin Bertle’s proposed 9b (5.15b for you YDS types), Meiose, and gave his opinion as 9a+.  Many, given Adam’s experience and Pirmin’s lack of a track record on established hard climbs, considered it a de facto downgrade. This included Pirmin himself judging by his response to the news.  Admittedly, Adam has sent (at least) 18 9b climbs, and excluding Meiose there are currently ~25 9b total. Twelve of those are Adam’s first ascents, and if we ignore Chilam Balam (downgraded) and El  Bon Combat (slash grade), he is responsible for 100% of 9b+ and 9c first ascents.

Clearly the dude is ahead of the pack, and setting the standards. Because of this gap, we’re subject not the just “Dude Grades”, its “The Dude Grades”.  I often refer to a climbs V-grade as “how hard Sherman says it is”, as he created the system. He makes it known in the Hueco guidebook that his grades only apply to “people 6′ 2″ tall, above average strength, below average flexibility, with two bad shoulders, on a perfectly dry day.” Sport climbs 9b+ and above currently seem to be “how hard Ondra says it is.” Climbs at the very highest end of the scale are not just graded through the lens of the male perspective, but Adam’s specific strengths and morphology, and the same caveats need to apply.

“Well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man”

I feel for Pirmin, and being a firm believer in true consensus grading, I don’t think it’s fair to consider Adam’s opinion some sort of fact from on-high. To be clear, I don’t think Adam meant it as anything more than an opinion, but that’s not stopped the internet machine from running with it. The reality is the strength of consensus grades lies in large numbers of data-points and a handful of benchmarks – it’s hard to get a consensus with only one or two ascents, even more so when there’s a 50-50 chance the FA was one dude.

So what is the solution?  How do we combat the tyranny of the strongest? It can’t be done from the arm-chair I’m sitting in.  More of us will need to get stronger, repeat Ondra’s hard stuff, and put up more equally-hard stuff that favors other body types. Its not his fault he’s just so dang strong, and I think with how quickly climbing is growing and expanding, and with the influx of super strong women onto the scene, we’re going to start seeing a shift in what hard routes look like.  Like Lynn Hill in the 1990s, we’re going to see more FFAs, not “First Female Ascents”, but “Female First Ascents”.  Not all the plums have been picked, and I think there are projects out there long abandoned just waiting for someone with a different body-type and skill set than the majority.

Now – anybody know where there’s an unsent line just waiting for the below average height, below average flexibility, moderately strong, 30+ year old demographic?  This dude abides.