Hot Takes 2024

Hot take- that’s what I WOULD say

Cue Pixies outro music

"The g** is in my hand, Jabroni."

Hot take: Simul rappelling is not that dangerous if you tie knots. 

Connor Dobsonwrote:

Hot take: Simul rappelling is not that dangerous if you tie knots. 

Kinda agree, it's not that different than being lowered off a single pitch. I really only do it when I'm familiar with a rap line because it might suck to re-ascend the rope together if you miss the anchor or something

Hot take: totems are mid for free climbing pro

djkyote wrote:

Hot take: there are no mens/women's routes outdoors

No but you come pretty damn close when you look at what a “hand crack” is for both parties on sandstone

almostradwrote:

No but you come pretty damn close when you look at what a “hand crack” is for both parties on sandstone

No such thing as an agendered fisting crack

If you don’t lap coil properly (every loop smaller or bigger depending on swapping/block leads), or can’t pancake stack and flip a rope on a small ledge without tangles, you cannot consider yourself an experienced climber. 

Brooks Kwrote:

If you don’t lap coil properly (every loop smaller or bigger depending on swapping/block leads), or can’t pancake stack and flip a rope on a small ledge without tangles, you cannot consider yourself an experienced climber. 

You're still lap coiling?

Matt Heinenwrote:

You're still lap coiling?

Maybe I’m the gumby here! If I have to, I lap coil while follower climbs then transfer to a basket hitched sling on the anchor. Feeds out nicely. Am I doing it wrong? 

Brooks Kwrote:

Maybe I’m the gumby here! If I have to, I lap coil while follower climbs then transfer to a basket hitched sling on the anchor. Feeds out nicely. Am I doing it wrong? 

Friends don’t let friend belay. Fix and follow bb

Calum TMwrote:

Friends don’t let friend belay. Fix and follow bb

Friends? Real climbers rope solo because of personality defects

Repost from another thread: I don’t believe a single one of you who think you actually have grade fidelity locked in that tightly to be able to say “oh yeah considering conditions, my morphology, my beta reading, how I’m personally feeling, and my choices in equipment - this route is definitively 5.12b and absolutely not 5.12a or 5.12c”. You can tell me a climb is any grade within 2 or 3 letter grades of the consensus in either direction and I’d believe you. Embrace -/even/+ ratings.

Tal Mwrote:

Repost from another thread: I don’t believe a single one of you who think you actually have grade fidelity locked in that tightly to be able to say “oh yeah considering conditions, my morphology, my beta reading, how I’m personally feeling, and my choices in equipment - this route is definitively 5.12b and absolutely not 5.12a or 5.12c”. You can tell me a climb is any grade within 2 or 3 letter grades of the consensus in either direction and I’d believe you. Embrace -/even/+ ratings.

Not a hot take.

John Clarkwrote:

Not a hot take.

Guidebook thread is full of people lamenting slash grades. I made a post in the route development subreddit about using the -/even/+ grades and it was the most downvoted post in the subreddit history. People still complain about movement gyms moving to -/+. Anecdotally, I hear people talking trash about slash grades regularly - but not quite as much as I hear people hmming and hawing about which letter grade they think a climb slots into. Not a scorching hot take by any means though

Tal Mwrote:

Not a scorching hot take by any means though

It's at least a warm take.  People do get bent out of shape about grades and I totally agree -/even/+ makes more sense with different body morphologies, etc., but I seem to be in the minority there.  I have a lot of friends who even argue about easy or hard climbs within a specific letter grade.  You can't win in the grade discussion argument.  

Everyone knows you need to take the lower on a slash grade anyway

Todd Skinner always used to say, "take the lowest grade you can say with straight face."

Tom Rangitschwrote:

Todd Skinner always used to say, "take the lowest grade you can say with straight face."

I used to run that philosophy, but it had a negative effect on the popularity of my routes. People will hate a .10d that they struggle on.... but if the same route is graded .11a,  they love it

Tal Mwrote:

People still complain about movement gyms moving to -/+. Anecdotally, I hear people talking trash about slash grades regularly - but not quite as much as I hear people hmming and hawing about which letter grade they think a climb slots into.

Because -/+ is objectively terrible without at least an (even) in there. PG brought it from 4 discrete increments to 2. Previously 11a and 11c routes (very easy to tell that they're not the same) could be called 11-. I saw three climbs at Sunnyvale literally next to each other with the same grade and they were all wildly different difficulties.

In terms of hemming and hawing, at least in the gym it's part of the social aspect / small talk for me just like chatting about the beta or style of a route. "Yeah, that one move felt harder than 10b, but overall sustained at 10a, so I'd call it..."