TL;DR: REBOOTING E-GRADES
“Rebooting E-Grades with linear consistency
Why it’s maybe necessary, and how it can be done.” - but shorter
Firstly, we highly recommend you read the full article which Mark Bullock wrote on behalf of the eGrader team, regarding the development and thought process behind the eGrader. click here for the UKC article link
Many won't get through it before they launch into a frenzy on their keyboard so with the kind permission of Mark, here is a shortened (as short as we could get it) version for understanding the tool for the busy 2023 weekend warrior with only minutes to spare.
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The eGrader won’t radically alter British grades and it’s not meant to. It’s a tool that can help inform, similar to the way that online ‘voting’ can help climbers build a comprehensive picture of what a route will feel like. With that said, it is by its nature based in logic and reason, and built on data and its linear nature should only provide a positive influence on the grading of new routes, as well as help to inform and understand existing grades.
After being established in September 2021, through the following autumn and spring, Lexicon - the UK’s latest ‘E11’ saw what felt like a flurry of repeats, by some of the most experienced hard Trad climbers in the UK. A steady stream of debate ensued, both in public on-line forums and more privately between the more experienced professionals.
In the months that followed, Neil Gresham, Steve McClure, James Pearson and Tom Randall, started to discuss how they might improve understanding around the British grading system. Particularly at the top end, where there is seemingly repeated controversy; but also, by creating a more linear model that works consistently, they wanted to demonstrate that same consistency can be applied right across the E grading spectrum.
There are a myriad of variables that further complicate the subjective nature of grades and grading worldwide will never be a 100% agreed upon practice. There will still be outliers and anomalies, subjectivity to consensus will always exist and nuance & variables will always enter debate. But the eGrader will lessen the abundance of outliers (partly through increased discussion as to why they’re outliers), and also help reopen the compression that’s developed at the top end of British trad climbing.
Ultimately this tool should be a positive contribution to the community, and a tool that can be made further robust by the contributions and thoughts and discussions of the climbing community. The team would invite people's comments!
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Hopefully, we’ve saved a few of you from major spikes in blood pressure and periods of rage typing. The creation of this tool is a hot topic and opinions are extremely strong both for and against it’s use. Where do you stand on this new tool ? Let us know in the comments, is it something you'd use, do you agree with the methods behind it or do think it’s a bucket of todd and should be sent to the graveyard?
Ilia - Team Gekco
