Does elevation affect climbing grades?

I was surprised to find no discussion of this after googling and using MP search.

Would a certain pitch's grade be lower if they were brought from 14,000 ft to sea level, or vice versa?

Or is a climbing grade meant to only describe the rock itself, and not the condition of the people climbing it (reduced strength and stamina at altitude)?

Acclimation is just another excuse to put on the the Fell/hung tick, don't stress about it.

I've thought about this and it probably does scale a little bit with altitude because grades are subjective; nobody is up on the diamond measuring crimps and saying, oh this move is on a half-pad edge, has to be x-grade. 

Also, from an exercise-physiology perspective we're obviously more aerobically limited so a climber is going to get less back between hard moves but the hard moves themselves are probably fueled by anaerobic metabolism and therefore not as limited? This is all to say, I don't know that climbing sees as much of a reduction in performance as compared to endurance sports at altitude. 

It sure affects the approach.

Yes, all those 5.12 and 5.13's in the Trango towers would be 5.8 at sea level

Kevin Mokracekwrote:

Yes, all those 5.12 and 5.13's in the Trango towers would be 5.8 at sea level

Lol what Kevin said.

Though I do find alpine grades to be frequently soft. I've found myself on-sighting the occasional mid 5.12 in the alpine and projecting it at the sport crag. I think it's more to do with people being all gripped/worked in the mountains then elevation (at least in the lower 48).

So how would grades on mars look? It’s one third the gravity, but no air to breathe? On the one hand you’re suffocating, unless you’re using an oxygen tank, which is aid, but on the other hand, every day is a low gravity day.

Yes. The Higher, the Fewer.

I'm not sure it matters that much since you'll never find the exact same route at a different altitude, so it might be as well be as much a part of the climb as the holds themselves or the angle of the rock

I think the people who are really sweating about fine grade distinctions are mostly not going to bother with the approaches and logistics required to get to those altitudes... If high altitude redpoints become a sudden trend on social media, I expect they're gonna start arguing about it.

But traditionally, the problem kinda solves itself.