Starting I think from Vedauwoo, pure crack climbs that are boulder problems are given YDS grades alongside v-grades, presumably with the understanding that if this was the crux of a route, that's what the route would go at, but there's rarely such a yawning abyss between the accepted V/YDS equivalency and the grade. Although, it is 5.9+
I bolded the plus-sign in my previous comment. I do find it a bit weird that its 5.9+ V2. Maybe we're to interpret 5.9+ to mean 5.9+n where n is the difference between the real grade and the sandbag grade.
so n is the difference between the real grade and the sandbag grade... a difference of n=V2. So the sandbag grade is 5.9+ and this* says V2 is 5.11d, so 5.9++5.11d=5.12b range for the real grade? I'm not sure how this works...
No, if V2 is called 5.11d (which is news to me, but that's why I hate the V-grades), then n is approximately 2.
If it was 5.9+ V7, then n is approximately 4. Get it? The idea is that we print both grades so that the average crack climber (who may or may not boulder that much) can figure out how difficult a crack line is without having to refer to a reference sheet. Mind you, it only works when both grades are sandbagged equivalently, rather than differently as in this case.
By Conor Raney From: Pinedale, WY and Larchwood, IA Nov 21, 2009
the route is actually 5.9+, I gave the V2 rating because it's 35 feet with an easy but sketchy crux towards the top. So, I just figured that the mental aspect would contribute towards the grade...idk, but is that ok if I do that? or is in looked down on?