Caution: Floor Wet

So yesterday morning i went out to climb and everything was wet. I was wondering what the difficulty increase is on wet rock.It came down to not being able to trust your feet and hands at all, even on jugs.
I was rockin' up a 5.6 that was rated in the 80s, so what was I really doing?

a wet 5.6?

Well, given the fact that it was rated in the 80's AND wet, I'd say it was a solid 5.10b.

Wetness is wetness. It's still the same climb. It's harder that when its dry for sure, but you don't get to grade bump because of it.

As you've alluded to by saying that you couldn't trust your feet, wetness increase the "spice" factor much more than the difficulty rating. The slipperiness makes you more likely to fall because of a slip, not because of the physical difficulty.

Evan

That's what 5.6 felt like in the 80's with 80's style shoes.

It really depends on the type of rock IMO a 5.6 slab might get a lot harder in the rain. While no climb is going to get easier when wet modern gear has made a lot of climbs easier.

Interesting question. I ran a mile the other day, but it was really windy and also I didn't sleep very well the night before. So how far did I really run? I'm thinking 1.5, maybe even 1.75 miles?

The only time I have ever fallen on a .7 was because it was raining.

Wait, i thought that the YDS rating was a subjective rating that reflected the difficulty of the hardest move... So why shouldn't a climb have a higher rating when wet? Certainly some moves will be harder? I can imagine a wet 5.8 being as hard as a dry 5.10, and if its as hard, doesn't that make it a 5.10?

I was his partner and didn't feel harder than 5.7. Stonehouse seems to be around a grade harder than what the 80's Swain Guide suggests. For The BBB, its rated 5.10 and apparently 5.11c. All the routes in the 5.6-5.8 range feel about a grade up.

It also wasn't THAT wet. The crux just made a paste factory out of chalk :)

Jesse Davidson wrote:Wait, i thought that the YDS rating was a subjective rating that reflected the difficulty of the hardest move... So why shouldn't a climb have a higher rating when wet? Certainly some moves will be harder? I can imagine a wet 5.8 being as hard as a dry 5.10, and if its as hard, doesn't that make it a 5.10?

Yes...lets grade every climb with a range based on wetness, humidity, temperature, height, hand size. Lets go climb that classic 5.7-5.10b! We can use it to warm up for that .11c-12b!

haha

This reminds be of a post from a month or so ago...

mountainproject.com/v/gener…

No NO NO NOOOO. I wish that thread would die and be forgotten about already.

I went back today when it was dry and cruised it 3 times on TR solo. As for the 'dry grade' (is that what 5.12d(ry) means?) its no more than 5.7.