In praise of the YDS...
Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 2:43 am
Now that we have a real “spray” forum, and now that all the spray about “You climb the route, not the grade” has kind of died down, lets get down to the basics of our beloved Yosemite Decimal System. What are its good aspects? What does it really mean?
For starters it is a grading system for free climbing. So if you hang on the rope or pull on some gear you’re not climbing the route or the grade. Let’s say you go to do Astroman, but a couple things go wrong and you have to dangle before you can finish the Endurance Corner. No big deal of course, but then back at camp that night do you say “We did Astroman today,” when actually it did you?
I would say “I tried Astroman today, but did the East Face of The Column instead.” A pair of climbers can say, with genuine pride, that they did the route (at its YDS grade) when no one, leading or following, used aid. Accepting anything less is lowering your standards.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to lecture or preach. But it is a fact that the climbers who developed the YDS were grading free climbing, and they were damned fussy about what that meant. They knew they were on the cutting edge, distinguishing themselves from the older generation of the day.
Speaking for myself, in the true spirit of a spray forum, the list of routes I will say I have done is a lot shorter than it could be were I to slack a little on my free climbing standards. And yes, I have done Astroman (unadulterated spray there!)
Regarding aid climbing? I love it. It’s a great expression of the sport, and snobby free climbers who poo poo aid are missing something great. But, if you go to do a free route with a YDS grade, you have to climb the grade to climb the route. Free climbing is an ethic, and lowering the bar leaves one open to slander.
For starters it is a grading system for free climbing. So if you hang on the rope or pull on some gear you’re not climbing the route or the grade. Let’s say you go to do Astroman, but a couple things go wrong and you have to dangle before you can finish the Endurance Corner. No big deal of course, but then back at camp that night do you say “We did Astroman today,” when actually it did you?
I would say “I tried Astroman today, but did the East Face of The Column instead.” A pair of climbers can say, with genuine pride, that they did the route (at its YDS grade) when no one, leading or following, used aid. Accepting anything less is lowering your standards.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to lecture or preach. But it is a fact that the climbers who developed the YDS were grading free climbing, and they were damned fussy about what that meant. They knew they were on the cutting edge, distinguishing themselves from the older generation of the day.
Speaking for myself, in the true spirit of a spray forum, the list of routes I will say I have done is a lot shorter than it could be were I to slack a little on my free climbing standards. And yes, I have done Astroman (unadulterated spray there!)
Regarding aid climbing? I love it. It’s a great expression of the sport, and snobby free climbers who poo poo aid are missing something great. But, if you go to do a free route with a YDS grade, you have to climb the grade to climb the route. Free climbing is an ethic, and lowering the bar leaves one open to slander.