Free ice climbing grades reddit. Reddit's rock climbing training community.

Free ice climbing grades reddit. I’m very new to ice climbing too, but I’m just here to say that I’m fortunate enough to live within driving distance of an outdoor ice climbing facility near Ann Arbor, MI. The problem with free soloing is that if you do die, best case scenario you're creating a horrific mess somebody else has to clean up; worst case scenario you're damaging the global climbing community with a high-profile accident that will make people think climbing is more dangerous and irresponsible than it is, inspire private landowners to So I'm wondering if there are negative climbing grades so that I can describe how much better I am than you. Whilst not specifically ice climbing related, what’s everyone’s top picks for a mixed technical axe that can have picks swapped out to ice? Preferably not insanely expensive, so no more than £400 for a pair. Learn about the Yosemite and French grading systems and how the two compare. Ice climbing takes place on bodies of frozen water, such as glaciers and waterfalls, and as such, a particular route can change from season to season, day to day, and even disappear from one day to the next! Grade (climbing) Action Directe was a major milestone in free climbing grades when Wolfgang Güllich freed it in 1991 at 9a (French), 5. Jan 4, 2025 · Learn the basics of ice climbing in Banff with our comprehensive guide. See full list on ascentionism. Mountaineering ice axes vs ice tool grades I'm looking to get into ice climbing but only have a straight shaft ice axe for mountaineering/ski touring. In this realm, a select few climbers have pushed the boundaries of what's possible, achieving ascents that leave us mere mortals in awe. I’ve been climbing about 8 years, leading trad consistently for maybe 3. So with rock climbing, the quality of the hand holds and foot holds primarily determines the difficult of the climb. Josh addresses this in the video here. It is important here to note that there is no grade associated with it. You know the feeling your hands get climbing when you have to deal with similar We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. climbing without setting up a rope in advance you need to have a solid background in lead climbing outdoors and in gyms. my climbing gym only has 1-10, 1 being the easiest. I'm also pretty good, at around V5-V6 indoors after only 5 months (my gym is known for harsh grading) and people are telling me that I'm progressing very fast. Although even in the niche others have achieved things nearly as impressive, for example Hans-Jörg Auer's solo of The Fish in the Dolomites, on a similar scale to Freerider, only slightly easier, and done with much less prior Aug 9, 2024 · How does Olympic Sport Climbing work? How is it scoried? How do athletes train? Why do some climbers wear two different shoes? etc. Generally speaking, when you really start getting up into the grades the WI5/6 sections of a climb are viewed as the 'easy' parts relative to the rock bits. 8 outdoors. We were probably 30 ft. Hey friends, I'm new to the scene and have a question on grading a route - My project this winter was to learn to ice climb and then tackle Decew Falls (20m, Ontario, Canada). For most folks, their once-a-week grade 4 ice day ain't going to get them leading grade 5. The relative difficulty seems almost equivalent to me (or other people who climb as a hobby) falling on an approach scramble. most serious climbers at my gym can climb 5-8. Apr 27, 2025 · Rock climbing grades are numbers (and sometimes number-letter combinations) assigned to routes in order to give a guideline on the overall difficulty. I’m getting to a point where I don’t necessarily want to climb harder grades but longer and more committing technical climbs. My question is: Have you personally lost a friend or loved one climbing? If so, how long had you been climbing at that point? In my second year of climbing my best friend died in a top roping accident. ; WI2: Consistent 60 ice with possible bulges; good protection. Is everyone shitposting with these videos the last few days? I know grades are subjective but, really? V9’s with no dynamic moves and hand and foot holds for every move. Our Complete Guide to Ice Climbing Grades describes each level of difficulty. Here’s our guide on some gear, basic techniques, and body positioning to help make your time on the ice rewarding. Your point about gym climbing encouraging bad tactics and habits is spot on. e. If you're interested in grade chasing I suggest getting into board climbing and/or outdoors. 10s are rare, there’s usually only one in the gym at a time since not many people can climb the. I'm a rock climber, but I still quite like gym climbing, and I find it hard to throttle myself in the gym. Hey all - beginner ice guy trying to get into the sport without spending my entire paycheck. Oct 5, 2022 · What are ice climbing grades? Ice climbing grades, or ratings, are used to assess the difficulty level of a route. Posted by u/white_goblin_ - 1 vote and no comments Bouldering grade VS Sport Grade (and what to expect) Stumbled across this article and found it quite useful/interesting as I'm a sport climber who basically uses bouldering as a tool to get stronger. Often you can't judge how hard a move is without actually trying it, because micro changes in a foothold could change how much strength one needs to do the move. Aug 30, 2021 · It is possible to relate high-standard water ice and mixed grades to free climbing difficulty, but only abstractly. Jul 5, 2025 · Ice is an ephemeral medium, so ice climbing grades can vary widely from the grades given for the climb & the actual climbing experience. So you either have to find someone who climbs harder than you to lead it for you, or try and find top ropeable areas that are hopefully long enough and steep enough to prepare Why are we restricting climbing grades to integers and a few letters? I'd like to formally propose the breakdown of our climbing grades into further decimals. The quotes in the URL are fucking up reddit's hyperlinking so just copy and paste. If you were ice climbing at Johnston Canyon, AB on Sunday afternoon (March 10), I took quite a bit of video that I can share We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. learn everything about climbing grades and quickly convert any climbing rating with our free climbing grade conversion chart. I was wondering where people (on average) max out on their grade. Reddit's rock climbing training community. Whilst that isn't a high grade in itself, it becomes a much greater difficulty given that it occurs 1000m up a face whilst carrying a heavy Not to mention the media has made everyone think we’re always free soloing (thx honnold) and painted climbers as suicidal maniacs. This meant that instead of climbing for 3 hours as I typically would, I would climb for 1. Mixed climbing is a discipline where you use both dry rock and ice to climb a route, relying on your crampons and ice tools to gain purchase on either surface. Ideally you can climb trad, but that isn't necessary. The stuff he's doing is BANANAS, super impressive, totally awesome, a little different than big wall climbing but just as hardcore and dangerous as the stuff Honnold is pulling off - maybe more so when you consider avalanche risk, and increased risks of ice climbing. (V11) E8 doesn't really translate all that well without Dave providing the tech grade although I haven't checked the article for this, but is anywhere from 7b to 8a+ in french sport. Their day passes ($20) were less expensive than the indoor rock climbing gym in my city. But also, whooosh. As to Emil’s video and the supposed incongruencies, well he had responses giving a perceived idea on what grade they would give these strength benchmarks. 3M subscribers in the climbing community. 11a. Jun 23, 2024 · Ice Climbing Grades: A Guide for Rock Climbers Are you a rock climber looking to take your skills to the next level? Ice climbing is a challenging and exhilarating sport that offers a whole new set of obstacles and experiences. Climbing grades are opinion, not fact. The 10+ grades mean something entirely different. A climber friend remarked to me a while ago that, wasn't it interesting that sometimes a 5. Case in point: yesterday I went to the gym on a "rest day", without a plan except to have fun, and ended up climbing about 50 boulder problems, including five in the hardest circuit (which is way too taxing for Dec 9, 2024 · Ice climbing doesn’t have to be scary. In this guide, we will break down the different ice It's still a pretty big deal. But I also might take year to learn ice climbing and do alpine enduro climbing. Yeah I'm a rock climber and love snow activities, but ice climbing just seems like a more dangerous and less fun variant of rock climbing. Where I used to flash V2-V3, I'm now having to project them. Well, safe-to-say everything went according to plan and I sent it. i can only climb up to a 5 though since i haven’t been climbing for long RP grades between sport climbing and bouldering of athletes who do both also would be interesting. 10 level indoors and 5. Looking at the topo this climb is so far below his normal climbing grade even if he fell on the hardest part. Other strong I did a combined glacier hike and ice climbing at Solheimajökull called Blue Ice with Arctic Adventures with 3 other friends and it was a lot of fun! It was an 8 or 10 person group (can't remember) and we had some practice ice climbing before being dropped into a crevice and climbing out. I want to get into alpine climbing but am not sure where to start. 4M subscribers in the climbing community. These numbers are based on a variety of factors and work for both indoor and outdoor routes, and are I performed the climbing related training on the same day as climbing, as I don’t have the facilities at home, and I only have two free evenings per week. The same principle applies on ice and mixed terrain, though free soloists typically use crampons and ice tools. Yeah he’s a fuckin idiot. Here are the best climbing destinations this year. Ice climbing is foundational to traditional mixed, a little less so for bolted drytooling routes but still pretty damn important. But all of a sudden, all the boulders being set at my gym feel 2-3 grades harder than they used to. 7, but it took so long to get here that it feels like I’ll never be a 5. Well, I can climb sevens, maybe an eight or two at boulder lab and I can climb v4 benchmarks ish on a hard board (grasshopper or moon), make of that what you will. comparison of alpine, ice, snow, aid, and commitment grading systems. This is extremely cool, but for the life of me I cannot find any media (photos, videos, etc) of these events. He asked how far the anchor was and I said, 25 ft. we have a pretty balanced number of grades, and most of them are a 3-8. You have to know the ice, you have to know that the ice you are about to swing your pick into has all of the right properties to make it a safe move. I live in Europe, I started climbing in January 2019 (10 months). The only thing i could find interesting was Eric hörst beginner routine. V4-V5, which used to be boulders that took me a day or two to climb, I can't even do the first move anymore. The climbers I know that have gone ice climbing seemed like they just did it because ice axes look cool Reply reply more replyMore replies EctoplasmicJesus • Alex Honnold is the best in the world, and the best of all time, in the particular niche of climbing he has chosen to specialise in, namely free soloing big walls. Iv been told the competitions are very hard and I’m well aware that I’ll most certainly fail, but I figure I need to start at some point and it Apr 30, 2023 · The definition of free soloing according to Merriam-Webster is: a climb in which a climber uses no artificial aids for support and has no rope or other safety equipment for protection in case of a fall. Ice Climbing Grades Comparison. I know endurance comes with time, but there should be a proper way to improve endurance without "just climbing". I started bouldering 5 months ago and I absolutely love it. Now I’m comfy to around 5. This changes the character of what the grades mean. " But when I was climbing outside awhile back, while rappelling after cleaning a climb, I saw a man free-soloing past me. What’s happening here? Or does my gym just grade way too difficult? Mar 19, 2025 · Nine different climbers tell us where they want to climb most in 2025. So if you're comparing new school sport to old school trad grades, the trad climbing is likely to be noticeably harder than the sport climbing before you even start to factor in trad gear management skills. Progress isn't only made by acheiveing a higher grade. Nov 16, 2023 · Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is the practice of climbing rock or ice without a rope. The “middle of the bell curve” climber at each grade trends upward from 125-175%bw hangs from V3-V13. And especially until like v6 or above will it get a little easier to grade. I tell people that indoor climbing and outdoor climbing are two different sports. To get into leading ice, i. Free soloing ice is not usually the time to try and pull off completely unnecessary and avoidable tool swaps, especially just for some GoPro footage that no one but your mom and granny will care about unless things go horribly wrong. While grades are usually applied fairly consistently across a climbing area, there are often perceived differences between grading at different climbing areas. Are there however any routes/boulder problems/trad problems or ice climbs that have some very disputed grading, or have graded much harder or lower than their initial grade? My point being I don't think soft gym grades are doing a disservice to climbers, if anything I think the fear of outdoor climbing being harder probably inhibits more people from performing better than the soft grades. Dedicated to increasing all our knowledge about how to better improve at our sport. It gets european alpine grade of ED2! I'm not sure how the grades convert to other systems, but the difficult crack and waterfall pitch (often cobsidered the crux) roughly equate to grade VI Scottish winter in British guides. I'm talking infinitesimals deeper. The most commonly used May 31, 2020 · Everything you need to know about climbing grades in one place. 1. 7 grade) in boots and being comfortable climbing on steep firm snow and ice. I've been climbing for 3 months now (once a week), and I've so far progressed from V2 to V4, with projects at V5. 5 hours and then train for 1. Anyways, since I had a hard time I just made one. I'm a newbie when it comes to ice climbing, and I'm trying to learn more about ice conditions. Grades can help you to push yourself, but unless you're a professional climber, it's dumb to focus on 'pushing grades'. 14d (American YDS), XI (UIAA). I'm 173cm/5'8" and use a 52cm Summit evo. In rock climbing if you're trying to break into the next grade you can simply throw yourself at it taking whipper after whipper. At what grade does an ice axe become mandatory, like WI3? WI4? We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. I have an old pair of sabertooths that I pair with sportiva trangos for hiking and snow travel. In the case of rock climbing, free soloists use only their hands, rock shoes, and sometimes climbing chalk to ascend a wall, with no rope to catch them in the event of a fall. Some free Most, if not all, mixed climbers know how to ice climb. And yes we are scared of falling. 5 hours. Dry tooling mixes ice climbing and rock climbing technique, along with a few moves that are completely unique to the sport Im curious what everyone’s climbing progression/timeline has been like? How quickly did you progress from V1 to V2, and then V2 to V3 etc (not limited to bouldering grades). Advice on letting go of grade-driven motivation and comparison to other climbers? NCCS grades are often called the Commitment Grade; they primarily indicate the time investment in a route for an average climbing team. Reply reply [deleted] • Nov 15, 2023 · This is the exhilarating world of free solo climbing, where the stakes are as high as the peaks themselves. Find & Download the most popular Ice Climbing Grades PSD on Freepik Free for commercial use High Quality Images Made for Creative Projects But that isn't what he said. Hey everybody. Generally, ice climbs are graded based on the typical difficulty of the route when it is in condition. Hire a guide? Post in the ice climbing chats or mountain project that you’re a newb looking to learn? Go to the climbing festivals and sign up for their clinics? Edit- if you’re going to down vote the advice you’re given from people who actually do what you’re interested in learning how to do then don’t ask for help. There are some free scheduled routines for bouldering, but It seems like specific Sport/lead climbing training is summarized as "just climb". If you're doing graded routes (scrambles/low grade winter climbing if you're a brit) you'll probably be happy on gentle ground anyway and the reduced weight and bulk makes for a much nicer carry in the hand. com Dec 2, 2010 · Find rock climbing routes, photos, and guides for every state, along with experiences and advice from fellow climbers. This climb requires climbers to have previous experience rock climbing (5. The home of Climbing on reddit. Free-soloing is dangerous, simul-climbing is dangerous, crossing glaciers is dangerous, driving to the crag is dangerous, crag dogs can be dangerous. Will that be ok? Or is a dry rope Climbing finger strength is not the same as hangboard strength. I would love to get to a level where I can put a good fight in a competition and maybe even get to the finals, but all of the Helmcken falls contains the only WI10+ routes so far, and the routes were graded with the mindset of "if this were a mixed route, what would it be?". At which grade did you start to plateau? When did you start seriously training? As not every person on earth can be Caldwell, Honnold or any other professional climber. As others in this thread have pointed out, for ice climbing that generally means getting stronger/fitter so you don't get pumped out. The majority of the climbing was vertical with a platform before the I've never ice climbed, but consider this. Explore top routes, essential gear, safety tips, and expert advice to make your ice climbing experience unforgettable. Edit: so it turns out that the v0's I was climbing were actually v10's with the 1 scratched out. Understanding the grading system for ice climbing routes is essential for safely navigating the icy terrain. Now climbing 6B/6C boulders and sometimes even almost a full 7A sport climb. For brevity sake I'll post this like a list rather than paragraph Experience: -From Utah USA and have climbed the major peaks on the wasatch front in addition to many others. 10b sport outside when I started getting into trad, then kinda had to start over when learning on gear. With ice climbing, your hand holds are always axe handles and foot holds are always crampons, so what makes one climb harder than another? In addition, there are separate grading systems for ice climbing, mixed climbing, drytooling, aid climbing, scrambling, bouldering and so on - it's a mess. It was such a great way to learn and try it out, and it was really affordable. other climbing styles with their own grade systems are ice climbing, mixed (rock/ice) climbing, and mountaineering. Grades are based on how steep and sustained the ice typically is (which is more consistent year to year than you'd think) but this doesn't necessarily correlate with difficulty and the "chasing grades" mentality of rock climbing doesn't carry over well. Along with the technical level, summit day on the Eiger is an extremely physical day requiring climbers to be in excellent physical condition. But after a few years of continual climbing and training It seems to be my only turn for competitive climbing is USA climbing. 10 trad climber. Climbing plastic picked-out WI5 in balmy Colorado doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to get up virgin, brittle WI4 in the Canadian Mixed Climbing To understand the grading system, it’s important to first understand what mixed climbing is. Climbing outdoors, the grade is only a tiny part of the experience, and to focus solely on climbing the hardest grades possible at a crag is incredibly limiting, and, imo, leads to disrespectful behavior. Sep 21, 2023 · Check out some of the world's most legendary, frightening, and ground-breaking free solos of all time. Indeed, as there are many climbing styles, many grading systems have emerged throughout climbing history to cover the different types of movement and technologies climbers use to ascend varied terrains like rock, ice, and snow. While you will get your normal deviation around a grade, it can feel vastly different between two people. Jan 28, 2022 · Climbing grades describe the objective difficulty of a climb and are organized into grading systems based on the climbing style and the region. I was leading up to about 5. Generally WI7 means committed WI6 (or unprotectable WI6). Hangboarding only trains force in one direction, while climbing require three dimensional strength, even on crimps. You have to set screws into ice in safe spots so that when you fall the screws stay in and you can fall relatively safely. Specifically, how does weather affect it? Aspect? Recent Snow? I don't plan on leading for a while, but I would like to start learning things about screw placements, like how thick does the ice need to be? How do you evaluate it? Also, how thick does the ice usually have to be before you climb it 10K subscribers in the iceclimbing community. Will these be ok to start out on? I feel like I only see vertical points when looking at climbing pictures… Also - I mostly do rock climbing, so I have a non-treated rope. Here's the link if you're interested. Maybe I'm dumb and it's all over the Internet, not sure why I had a hard time with this. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Maybe with filters only including more than 10 in either discipline in the last 2 years or so. Though many climbers have free soloed routes with technical grades that they are very comfortable on, only a tiny group free solo regularly, and at technical grades closer to the limit of their You can pair it with a single climbing axe (like a Quark) too for easier roped-up routes. VIII is an ice climbing grade. Look at it positively, you might try climbs that you would've otherwise never jumped on. We need to go deeper. 8A is font boulder grade. . With every grade the holds get harder and the techniques coincide with climbing strength, like upside down knee bars. There are things you do outdoors that you rarely do indoors: smearing, stemming, crack technique, tiny edging. The Eiger is a technical alpine rock and snow/ice climb. Really highlights that accidents can happen well within our comfort zone. Have necessary climbing 8a is french sport grade. Find rock climbing routes, photos, and guides for every state, along with experiences and advice from fellow climbers. These are averages as every climbing gym is different but I went to some major climbing gyms How do you feel about free-soloing? When I read about free-soloing, for the most part I think, "Whatever floats their boat. After a few hours of google searching I wasn't able to find a grade for the route. Using tools and crampons on rock is a lot different than using one’s hands and feet. I think its really important to distinguish the difference between climbing to a better standard, and climbing to a higher grade. To me, one of the great things about climbing (all of it, from mountains to ice to sport to trade, whatever) is that it's all about acceptable risk. With difficult aid climbing you are deliberately putting yourself in danger, you know you're putting yourself in danger, and you have to stand there and watch that flake you're hooking onto flex with nothing but body weight placements for the last 20 feet. I had a hard time finding a chart online that converts the Sherman V-grade system for bouldering into the Yosemite Decimal System for climbing. Never loved something so much in my life so far. WI 6 is like WI 5 but longer sustained vertical ice with no rest, ice quality can be tricky (cauliflours), sometimes climbing can be quite 3 dimensional (ice pillars), possible short sections of overhanging ice. And there have been routes in ridicules grades like WI11 and more. Hard crimp boulders often require pushing down with one hand while pulling with another, or wide outside the shoulder strength, or messed up inside the shoulder crosses. up. It’s a scale where the lower numbers represent easier climbs, and they gradually increase to the most difficult climbs currently established. 10d is harder than a 5. I'm not too good on ice climbing grades, but I'll ask my college (who is a very good ice climber), so I'll get back to you shortly:) Also ice climbing is something you really should try of you get the opportunity! It looks like Ice Climbing (Difficulty) was an event from at least 1997-1999, and has some legendary names on the podium. For fans of ice climbing. Currently live in Oregon USA -rock climb sport routes (leading up to 10a) and have basic anchor building skills. Hello, I came out of high school a few years ago and really enjoyed competing for the local youth events my area has. Climbing ice you have to know 100% that you are capable of climbing it before you lead it. 469 votes, 211 comments. Free soloing is the most dangerous form of climbing, and, unlike bouldering, free soloists climb above safe heights, where a fall can be fatal. I genuinely like climbing but more often than not I've become obsessed with constantly improving and being really hard on myself for not being a better climber. more. I've sort of developed a theory that each number grade relates to certain types of moves & holds, while letter grades seem to correspond more to the relative difficulty of the move within that number grade. The colors are nice because they tell you how the free climbing grades roughly correspond to the bouldering grades below. 11K subscribers in the iceclimbing community. So, for example, a really tough crux based on tiny crimps might be I've been climbing consistently for 2 years, I'm hovering around the V4 / 5. Climbing grades are inherently subjective [1] - they are the opinion of one or a few climbers, often the first ascentionist or the author (s) of a guidebook. rbsuq lxrj lde orsry lxe eztcr wcq zolj itnp fnq