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From: eli@cvl.UUCP (Eli Liang)
Newsgroups: net.rec
Subject: Re: Yosemite rating system
Message-ID: <808@cvl.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 9-Sep-85 10:41:40 EDT
Article-I.D.: cvl.808
Posted: Mon Sep  9 10:41:40 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 12-Sep-85 08:45:45 EDT
References: <1578@utah-gr.UUCP>
Organization: Computer Vision Lab, U. of Maryland, College Park
Lines: 49

> A couple of comments on the Yosemite rating system:
> 
> In his guide to the Winds, Joe Kelsey said he could never tell the
> difference himself between a Class 2 and a Class 3 scramble - so in
> that book, the distinction is that if his golden retrievers could make
> it up the pitch it was Class 2, and if they couldn't it was Class 3!
> That's one of the clearer distinctions I've heard...
> 

I think its all sort of random.  Some purported class 3 scrambles I've seen
(the only ones that get rated seem to be associated with climbing areas --
I wonder why :-) could easily be scrambled by my keeshond and seem to be
barely harder than some class 2 scrambles.  Climber's don't seem to worry
much about classifying anything which one can scramble up.

> In his book Wasatch Quartzite, John Gottman said that as a general rule,
> the average beginner on his/her first outing could climb a 5.5, hang
> on to a 5.6, and would fall off a 5.7.  I've found this to be pretty
> consistently true.  He added that the same beginner would be amazed that
> anyone would be willing to lead a 5.8, and would be totally uncomprehending
> of 5.9 and 5.10.
> 

I'm not sure which book it was in, but either in Roper and Steck or Loughman,
the author claimed that a good novice might be able to struggle up a 5.10a
but would be stymied by a 5.10d.  I'd like to see the novice that can do a
5.10a on his first climb in non-rock shoes!

> I'll second (third? fourth?) the recommendation of /Learning to Rock Climb/
> by Loughman.  That's the book I always recommend to everybody I teach to
> climb.
> 
> Anybody interested in starting net.rec.climb?

I'd be interested.  But are there enough climbers out there?

> 
> Cheers  -- Walt Haas    ARPA: HAAS@UTAH-20.ARPA
> 			...{decvax ihnp4 seismo}!utah-cs!haas

-eli

-- 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eli Liang  ---
        University of Maryland Computer Vision Lab, (301) 454-4526
        ARPA: liang@cvl, liang@lemuria, eli@mit-mc, eli@mit-prep
        CSNET: liang@cvl  UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!cvl!liang