Indoor Climbing Grades
After nearly a year of consultation, we have a good idea of how you all feel about the introduction of tooling grades. Thanks to everyone who took time to put their case forward, the overwhelming response was a 'yes', perhaps with a couple of reservations. The general gist is:
- A system using the 'T' grade is needed. This is particularly because D or M grades cannot be tweaked to take into account hanging logs, tyres, chains etc, unique to tooling events and venues.
- It was felt that grading should not be applied to competitions, but just to long-term tooling routes/venues, such as at Redhill and Aviemore. This is to stop competitors either mobbing the easy routes or avoiding the harder ones. It would also take away the 'unknown' factor, where reading a route from the ground is an essential skill. Venues and events could obviously choose what they want to do.
We will come up with a draft grading system and have another consultation with wall owners, competitors, toolers etc.