How do you interpret safety ratings?

Lots of people mis-interpret falling and getting hurt. Just because you could take a big fall doesn't mean you'll die. The same if gear rips,,doesn't always mean an r/x route...maybe you placed shitty gear .

R is not really that common IMO and a true X route is kinda rare these days.

ViperScale wrote:G - No Risk. PG - May hurt a little. PG-13 - May end up in hospital if you fall at the right spot but likely just get hurt really bad and get carried / limp home. R - Good chance a fall will end up in a hospital, if you are lucky your friends will carry you to the car and you will go have a beer afterwards. X - At least half the route you are free soloing or are placing only mental gear to help stop the shaking.

This. /thread

They aren't 'safety' ratings...

frank minunni wrote:G- It's the Shit PG- Pretty Cool PG13- Shit! R- Shit Fuck! X-I am so Fucked!

i like this scale. But here's mine:

G- fuck around
Pg- don't fuck around
Pg-13 broken bones
R Serious injury
X your belayer is just holding the rope.

G -As much pro as you can place
PG -Pro every 2-5 feet
PG-13 -Pro every 5-8+ feet or a potential nasty ledge fall at or near crux
R -Pro every 8+ feet. Very tenuous placements may not be solid placements either. High risk of injury, serious injury, possibly death if you make a bad enough of a mistake. Big falls, very exciting. Ground falls possible if not likely, for certain climbs.
X- 0-1 placements (if that), or ground falls guaranteed. Death.

WOW ! i gotta re grade every climb I have ever done

Tylerpratt wrote:G -As much pro as you can place PG -Pro every 2-5 feet PG-13 -Pro every 5-8+ feet or a potential nasty ledge fall at or near crux R -Pro every 8+ feet. Very tenuous placements may not be solid placements either. High risk of injury, serious injury, possibly death if you make a bad enough of a mistake. Big falls, very exciting. Ground falls possible if not likely, for certain climbs. X- 0-1 placements (if that), or ground falls guaranteed. Death.

You really need to rethink your scale here. 1 piece every 10ft G anywhere I have ever climbed. Where I live we have more than 10ft between most bolts. 0-1 piece for an X? That isn't a trad climb it would be a free solo only pitch.

If you used that same scale for all the sport climbs I have ever done all 95% of them would be R.

Tylerpratt wrote:R - Pro every 8+ feet

Hmmm....

I figured i would throw a bunch of shit into the mixer =) have fun!

Nice Tyler....quick..name me a G rated climb in CT that's not a crack

I don't know about G/PG/PG-13 - their introduction always seemed a bit pointless and superfluous. And neither R nor X really directly relate to pro or it's absence or the distance between placements per se.

R basically means 'this is a serious endeavor' - bring your A game, be more than competent at the grade and be prepared to deal with runouts and tenuous pro placed from less than convenient stances.

X means you better have some damned compelling rationale for even contemplating doing the route - aesthetics, obsession, compulsion - something really driving you. It means you'll definitely be dealing with serious runouts, potentially bad falls, distant and marginal placements (and possibly bad rock depending on where you are). It means both you and your belayer had better have your shit together in a big way.

Trad routes are sometimes R/X affairs on the FA and you may or may not have figured that out before leaving the ground - usually they are fairly obvious at a distance that you're talking about some deep business if you leave the ground. Sometimes they're R/X for the first couple of times anyone does them, but after you do them a couple of times they become both familiar and manageable or more manageable - sometimes not.

Names-

I'll give Bachar Yerian R even after failing twice

next door is You Asked For It X for sure in my mind

Healyje wrote:I don't know about G/PG/PG-13 - their introduction always seemed a bit pointless and superfluous. And neither R nor X really directly relate to pro or it's absence or the distance between placements per se. R basically means 'this is a serious endeavor' - bring your A game, be more than competent at the grade and be prepared to deal with runouts and tenuous pro placed from less than convenient stances. X means you better have some damned compelling rationale for even contemplating doing the route - aesthetics, obsession, compulsion - something really driving you. It means you'll definitely be dealing with serious runouts, potentially bad falls, distant and marginal placements (and possibly bad rock depending on where you are). It means both you and your belayer had better have your shit together in a big way. Trad routes are sometimes R/X affairs on the FA and you may or may not have figured that out before leaving the ground - usually they are fairly obvious at a distance that you're talking about some deep business if you leave the ground. Sometimes they're R/X for the first couple of times anyone does them, but after you do them a couple of times they become both familiar and manageable or more manageable - sometimes not.

If you cats ever get to Oklahoma you'll know what X and R really mean. R=Runout X=dangerous runout. But there's always a bolt or placement at or below the crux. You guys are "over the top" with this you will die crap. Over half the routes at my home climbing areas are "X" and "R" rated. Apparently sport climbing and the over use of bolts in general seems to have "softened" the climbing community. Zero risk is the same as the elevator.....where's the fun in that? If you are a strong 5.10 climber but won't do a 5.7 or 5.8 because it has an X or R behind it you will miss a lot of fun climbs. JB

The "Dunn Route" on Moses. As I've found is typical in the desert frequently gets no G, PG, R or X is given for anything.

The description on MP for the 2nd pitch:

P2 (60m): Climb the corner (10-) and continue up to the base of a chimney. You should probably belay here if you do not have a 60m rope or are experiencing rope drag. Climb partway up the chimney and then exit left, face climbing (5.9 PG) and then following a left facing corner all the way up to a gigantic ledge (5.8). There are 2 bolts on the right side of this ledge. If you follow the chimney too far it turns into a 5.10+ squeeze ending atop a flake (slings). From here you can still traverse left to the big ledge.

Move the belay left 50' to the base of the crux corner.

This pitch is certainly every bit of 10+, yes 60 meters of pro that isn't going to hold you at all if you pitch, you and your belayer are going into the talus. Call it 10+ but I was very surprised there's just no mention that there's refrigerator blocks perched all over, defying gravity and the pro is just junk. It was fine and we had a blast, it was just an eye opener..

I can almost visualize Jimmie right now....EB's,, some pins,,a tube chock or 2....then probably saying "Not bad, a nice climb"

Totally right?! I was going to complain, then I quickly realized desert rats wouldn't give a crap and that's just how the topos are and promptly stopped caring. Been in a state of bliss since then.

Hank, you ever gonna get around to telling us some good stories?

Hank knows all about x-ray'ted routes.

John Barritt wrote: If you cats ever get to Oklahoma you'll know what X and R really mean. R=Runout X=dangerous runout. But there's always a bolt or placement at or below the crux. You guys are "over the top" with this you will die crap. Over half the routes at my home climbing areas are "X" and "R" rated. Apparently sport climbing and the over use of bolts in general seems to have "softened" the climbing community. Zero risk is the same as the elevator.....where's the fun in that? If you are a strong 5.10 climber but won't do a 5.7 or 5.8 because it has an X or R behind it you will miss a lot of fun climbs. JB

I think you're confusing something else for the real deal.

Tylerpratt wrote:G -As much pro as you can place PG -Pro every 2-5 feet PG-13 -Pro every 5-8+ feet or a potential nasty ledge fall at or near crux R -Pro every 8+ feet.

Pro every eight feet is the standard distance between bolts on most sport climbs, and there are plenty of sport climbs with further bolt spacing. I'd call eight-foot pro spacing G rated and I am not that ballsy of a climber. Most of the PG13 routes I've done or rated had spacing of 15 feet, crux moves several feet past the last piece, ledge falls or tricky pro. The R rated climbs had maybe a handful of placements for the entire pitch, but mostly were just extremely runout slab runs where I would reach the anchor and I couldent even tell where my last placement was.

Really wasnt serious about those ratings lol