Other Options for Climbing Grades

Existing Solutions

Images

Software

Tables of grades

A slight outlier from theCrag

This conversion page from the theCrag has a chart similar to the images above, and an Interacive Grade Converter that resembles the software above. So technically, this is more of an outlier in spirit than practice. The spirit, behind the interface, is grade ranges and however they establish that range. Assuming their charts reflect their ranges, popular scales are carefully algined. However, on top of that potentially solid base, there are bugs and quirks:

  • There's no option under Grade Context for the Vermin/Hueco/V scale
  • The Interactive Grade Converter transforms YDS 5.2 → French 2a+ and then French 2a+ → YDS 5.1
  • There is conversion to and from the B scale, perhaps the only scale more nebulous and unconvertible than the British Trad Scale
  • Charts have a Joshua Tree Bouldering Scale that, as far as I can tell, only exists on theCrag's website

There are other issues but they're similar to at least one of those examples. Also, this mostly dosen't matter because 1) this isn't the tool that the crag uses to set those nice ranges 2) whatever tool theCrag uses, they haven't shared. There's still good reason to build something better that the community can use.

Is it hard to create?

the threshold differs widely.

not particularly

moderately, but can be quite frustrating to align (though it looks like most people copy-and-paste)

Is it adjustable?

blindly, unless there are tests. if there are tests, then the creation step was much more work.

unpleasant

it's easy to insert an extra row to clear up nuance this breaks any regular cadence and makes the table feel awkward.

Is it human friendly?

if the software is an application and the users are climbers?

if the software is a library and the users are programmers?

Is it computer friendly?

Is it Repurposable?

Other Notes

Software

Images

raster images are unpleasant to update.

Tables

tables are slow to edit.

The one thing this site does well, is model climbing scales in a reusable way.

Takeaway

biggest strengths and weaknesses

Software Takeaways

Pros:

Cons:

Image Takeaways

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Cons:

Tables Takeaways

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Cons:

The one thing this site does well, is model climbing scales in a reusable way.

More

Also, grade input is an issue

There are no well-established solutions to grade input. It's not hard, but it's also not simple. Supposing someone is building a collaborative online guide. What is 5.10+? is it…

  • pretty much the same as 5.10c/d?
  • roughly in the upper half 5.10s? because 5.10- and 5.10+ cover the lower and upper halves of 5.10
  • the upper third? because the sequence goes 5.10-, 5.10, then 5.10+?
  • harder than a 5.10d?
  • a particularly sandbagged 5.10 that's should probably get re-graded as 5.11, but "it's always been 5.10"?
  • similar to 5.10/5.11? should you write 5.10/11 instead?

Does the app allow slash grades like 5.10/11 5.10/5.11 or 5.10c/d?

This can feel pedantic, but people have lots of opinions. Suppose you've projected 5.10cs and find a 5.10+ that looks great. You're expecting that 5.10+ is analagous to 5.10c/d. If the uploader meant that it's closer to a 5.11, then the communication was bad. The grades weren't doing their job.