In reply to mikekeswick:
> all this down-grading of other peoples routes does stick in my throat a bit - why not wait until others agree with him? After-all a consensus is normally reached by more than one person!
http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/southern-smoke-direct-514d-woods-l...
Golden Ticket was graded 8c+ by the FA. It was upgraded to 9a by subsequent ascents. Ondras grade of hard 8c+ isn't exactly a massive change from either.
Southern Smoke Direct has had an easier sequence (by a few grades!) found for the boulder problem start since the FA so arguably it was on the cards anyway. It's now been repeated twice more, by people who haven't publically challenged Ondras suggested grade. It was also only originally graded 9a+ because it was a grade above Golden Ticket, which by that point had been suggested at 9a by subsequent ascentionists. It's still a grade above Golden Ticket, and with an easier sequence for the start too.
Pure imagination had been repeated shockingly fast by some of the other wads out there at the moment, and Seigreist, the FA, has welcomed the grade rationalisation at RRG despite the fact it downgrades one of his FAs.
None of them seem exactly unjustifiable...?