Friday, September 12, 2008

Suggested categories for 8a

I've been thinking that 8a really ignores some of the subtleties in rock climbing with their scoring system.  Seriously, there are all kinds of difficulties that we face when rock climbing, and I think that 8a should recognize that we tried hard, even if we didn't send, or if we did send, we should get a few extra points for some stuff.

So here are my suggestions:

1.  They should allow us to log class 2 climbs.  I mean, some of those approaches are damn hard!
2.  "I fell on the last hard move"
3.  "I high-pointed and would have sent for sure, but I had to go back home" (this one only works for road trips.  Sorry weekend warriors.)
4.  "I didn't poop this morning"
5.  "I looked especially hot"
6.  "Chris Sharma was watching me"
7.  "I'm saving it for the onsight"  (The honor system works here. You can't log your future onsights unless you actually think you can onsight the climb.  But I know all climbers have accurate assessments of their abilities, so this shouldn't be a problem.)
8.  "There was a gong show next to me filming a famous climber and I got nervous."
9.  "My belayer short-roped me/was chatting to the cute guy/girl next to me/made me fall some how."

Any other suggestions?

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