Climbing grades have always been an entirely subjective affair. Part of the reason for this is the variability in conditions of both weather and self that one might find themselves in while attempting and/or completing any given climb on any given day. Body morphology and style familiarity add still vastly more variability to the opinions of grade that might exist for any given route. With enough people to try a particular climb and offer their grade opinion, a consensus can be formed and a grade more or less agreed upon, but even so, this consensus number explains barely anything other than the vague sensation of difficulty that a selection of people have felt while climbing it. What any given grade really means for what to expect of a climb is anyone's guess.
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The IFSC World Cup circus rolled into Seoul, Korea, for the final leg of this year's series. It has been a huge year for competition climbing, with the Paris Olympics the undeniable epicentre, the tail end of the season has seen a decline in participation by the top athletes and a decline in form for some who have kept competing. Nevertheless, in Seoul there would be Speed, Boulder and Lead events, a chance to finish the major competition calendar of the year with a bang and to crown overall champions for the World Cup series in all disciplines.
As the chalk dust from the Olympics climbing event...
