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bouldering woes


iain

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What gives? I'm leading some 5.10 at smith. I got up some V2 stuff at the gym when I started there, but months later I'm still struggling on V3. Frustrating. I gym boulder just to stay in some shape (I find it kinda boring and contrived), but it's a pain in the ass to see some outtashape dude cruising V4 and up while I can't keep my carcass attached to the wall. [laf]

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It seems like those V-ratings are wicked hard compared to 5.10-whatever ratings. I think it's not realistic to compare the two when (speaking in generalities) bouldering is more about pure power and climbing (vertical) is more about endurance with some power moves sporadically thrown in. Fast twich vs slow twich thing. Just my .02

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guess I had never heard the V stuff compared to YDS. Maybe I need a beanie cap? [Confused] I'll keep on w/ the flailing. Just feels rough when you're on a rating system of V0-(is it V15 now?) and it takes so damn long to do this stuff down at the base of the ratings. Guess I'll just pay less attention to the ratings and keep on keep'n on. Thanks for the input. [rockband]

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hold on let me get my notebook, I have to put that one down. Maybe one of those toothbrushes that has like a 10 foot handle would help too. I've seen some teenage mutants carrying those around. Just its presence is worth a V3 every now and then, no? Note that I'm basing my comments purely on bouldering at PDX rock gym, where there are V1's I can't deal with and V3's I dispatched in a few tries. Ratings seem way less consistent than yds stuff. Whatever.

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"where there are V1's I can't deal with and V3's I dispatched in a few tries. Ratings seem way less consistent than yds stuff."

 

I also think it's easier to be consistant with a rating the longer the route is. Boulder problems are short and try to focus on a few key moves that involve a speciffic technique (if it is a good problem), and sometimes this comes easier or harder depending on a lot of factors - how tall you are, how short you are, how you are at sidepulls, etc. Longer routes seem to have multple ways around cruxes and stuff and you can often use a variety of techniques.

 

Also, for what it's worth, FOTH tries to match V ratings to the YDS, don't recall the mapping.

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quote:

Originally posted by b-rock:

sometimes this comes easier or harder depending on a lot of factors - how tall you are, how short you are,

yeah; a v8 for one guy might feel more like a v14 for another. when you hear about "pro" boulderers being able to pull v10, they might have only pulled 4 or 5 of them; it doesn't necessarily mean they can just walk up to any v10 and send it. aside from trying to conquer very classic problems, their secret is to find the ones they *can* conquer.

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Leading some 5.10's at smith? 5.10's at smith don't have anything on them that's harder than v.0-...and most of the actual climbing wouldn't even make the v scale on them...

 

5.11's at smith typically have nothing harder than v.1/v2...

 

5.12's at smith may or may not have v3 climbing on them w/ the odd shorter .12's having something around v4 or v4+...Take Chain Reaction, for example,...benchmark .12c for short routes...that thing in the gym would be v4-ish if plastic...Another example would be Churning at .13a...any 5 move chunk of that route would be v2 to v4...you just don't get much of a rest.

 

The YDS rating will reflect the endurance to hang on, rest when given the opportunity, and protect yourself...so, if your top-end leading is 5.10, you'd be maxed to climb a short v4.

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Leading some 5.10's at smith? 5.10's at smith don't have anything on them that's harder than v.0-...and most of the actual climbing wouldn't even make the v scale on them...

 

5.11's at smith typically have nothing harder than v.1/v2...

 

5.12's at smith may or may not have v3 climbing on them w/ the odd shorter .12's having something around v4 or v4+...Take Chain Reaction, for example,...benchmark .12c for short routes...that thing in the gym would be v4-ish if plastic...Another example would be Churning at .13a...any 5 move chunk of that route would be v2 to v4...you just don't get much of a rest.

 

The YDS rating will reflect the endurance to hang on, rest when given the opportunity, and protect yourself...so, if your top-end leading is 5.10, you'd be maxed to climb a short v4.

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I saw Tommy Caldwell redpoint that route...he said you finish w/ some v9 moves (the crux) at the top...the endurance factor is what gets you on that thing...If you think about it, Jam Master J has only got 4 "real" moves...but its only been done a few times...the moves on that have been equated to V11-V12...the current standard for bouldering is around V13 to V14 or something like that, right?...Yet JMJ is only given .13d...a few hard moves (but not limit-moves) are absolutely sick when you have to clip, recover and keep climbing...

 

I'm only talking about observations that i have made over 17 years or so...I don't climb anything hard...

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No need to sandbag yourself rumr, thanks for the info, enlightening. chain rxn always seemed like more of a boulder problem than anything. if it's roughly a v4 thing, seems funny that there aren't more people on it considering how many people dispatch v4 all the time at gyms. or maybe I just go during the off months.

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