Watching paint dry, not the most exciting of activities, now climbers have come up with the mountaineering equivalent a LIVE Great British Grade Debate. Now as far as I am concerned for the vast majority of climbers the Great British E Grade is alive, well and totally functional. Now Shaff are proposing a debate with Nick Colton as chair and several of the UK’s leading climbers (John Arran, Dave Birkett, James Pearson, Steve McClure, Lucy Creamer, Dave Macloed) . Why on earth anyone would actualy want to waist a Sunday to listen to this drivel is beyond me, even if its raining sulphuric acid I think I’d prefer to be pegged out naked on the summit of the wettest peak in the known world.
It seems to me that the grading system is only in turmoil at the end of the spectrum where grades mean money, sponsorship and glory. Looking at the UKC log books me and 99% of climber would be unaffected by anything they choose to debate. I say we lock all the panel in a room and see how long it takes them to realise that no one is interested in whether the personal experience changes the grade (based on this notion, I have seen VS climbers ascend E13), even if the moon being in the vicinity of Uranus was to make a significant difference all I’d want to here is the astral prediction of when its next passing so I can get out the way.
What is total blowing me away, and has the potential to make my blood boil is the BMC is supporting this event, so just how much of our subscription have they put into this event? So we can witness some ‘celebrity’ climbers create a load of hot air. I say bring on “Celebrity Climber Death Match”, we can all debate a scoring system!