ROTSBLOK

Currently the ninth grade in climbing is getting settled and a 9a as a climbing number might not surprise you any more. Now we want to hear about the new frontier 9a+ don’t sound to inspiring 9a/+ even less, 9b however sounds better. Among a few others (the number is less then 10) one of the hardest routes in the world is Ali-hulk sit start extension 9b. To break down this mysterious codename; the route is in the Ali-Baba cave, is a variation on Ali-Baba 8c, called Ali-Hulk 9a, which if you make it a bit longer is called Ali-Hulk extension 9a+, than if you sit down, put your hands and feet on the wall first, before lifting your butt up, you do the 9b called ‘Ali-hulk sit start extension’.

Although this may sound a bit contrived one of the great things is everyone can walk to the cave, feel most of the holds and difficulty without the need to climb a single move and be able to say ‘wow this looks hard’. (see the movie).  It is a great testpiece put up by Dani Andrada. He is one of those people who made the grade 9a, so I guess he knows what he’s talking about. I for one am happy that he shared this line with us and didn’t keep to himself he climbed this strange variation. It is there it is hard and it is testable, i.e. a good way to advance ‘our’ sport.

We may not all come to the current boundaries of climbing difficulty, but as with our economy we like a rising trend. The maximum grade might reflect on the mere mean of our achievements, so like stock market speculation I will be your stock broker and keep you informed about the development and direction of the global-grade-index.