UKC

Sorry if I'm asking a newbie question and naively put but here goes:

You look at the climbing guide grade conversions and they tell you that 6a is equivalent to E1 or whatever ... I told you I was naive so don't shout at once! I do understand about level of protection being included in the grade.
outdoors I don't think I can repeat that grade, except on sport.
I'm probably not going to explain myself well but I do crack climbs at HVS 4a/b outdoors, they seem far harder than any routes at my local wall at grade 6A, ... I thought the route was hard but do-able yet folk seem to say 'only graded a 4" at the indoor wall, yet I think it prepares me for outdoors. Do those grade tables really convert?

In reply to Lobsbelow:

Not really, especially if trying to compare indoor wall with gritstone cracks. Overhanging indoor walls compare more readily with dry, juggy limestone sport routes in southern Europe. A major difference is trying to work out which hold to use before getting pumped instead of just following a coloured trail. Indoors is good for strength training & practisingcertain types of moves/body shapes, but trad/outdoor climbing is a different game; it's a bit like road biking v mountain biking. Nik

In reply to Lobsbelow:

I've just started climbing outdoors and I'm finding exactly the same. I think a lot of it is about spotting the right holds and the right moves which just isn't as easy outside, especially if you're not used to it. Also, there is just so much more variation in gradient etc. There seem to be certain routes outdoors that really lend themselves to those who have done a lot of indoor climbing; clear holds and near vertical. A lot of it is about your style of climbing as much as the route itself.

It's the subject of another discussion I'm sure but the grading at indoor walls can vary greatly as well so it will depend a little bit on where you climb.

In reply to Lobsbelow:

Doesn't really compare especially for those who start indoors and who seem to find the transition more difficult than those who have a few years of trad under their belts. At it's most extreme I have seen f7a indoor climbers wet themselves on a VS. For me personally the comparisons work but I was climbing before indoor walls were even thought about. 6b+ indoors is my limit but I can climb E3,5c outside. Indoors is just too intense and physical for my old body.

In reply to DaveGoesClimbing:

Hi yes I've found that the grading of indoor wall varies massively. If there are any locals at Northampton, I find the grades there very hard, and at the Climbing Station, Loughborough, there are only a few climbing routes there but they seem to be set at bouldering routes, I'm not saying any of that is a bad thing as I enjoy the challenges. They have a fantastic bouldering facility there.

De-railing my own thread!

I started out scrambling, so I'm used to looking for holds outdoors, I only went climbing to learn how to protect my scrambles and I got hooked on the climbing. Having come to it this way around, sometimes I go up climbing easy routes and know I could scramble up them.
But then having done 6a or more indoors or outdoors sport I can still totally panic on grit slabs at V diff
I don't think it's the same game indoors/outdoors ... the grades don't seem to be equivalent, I do enjoy it all the same

In reply to GridNorth:

I can see that. I think that's what I'm trying to say, you can be at a level indoors but it has no comparison to outdoors.
I posted the thread because I thought that I had climbed well (for me anyway) up a crack HS, I was pleased with myself, then indoor wall climbing partners said 'only a 4b'
E3 ... that's way beyond my aims. As I've said above, I only wanted to learn to protect my scrambles, I got hooked on the climbing, but I don't think I'll ever reach that level. I'm a late starter, I'm not sure where my ambition lies but that is bloody impressive to me

In reply to Lobsbelow:

im confused as to how you have found a HVS 4a/b crack climb? is that a typo? a HVS crack is gonna be at least tech 5a 99% of the time.

In reply to Lobsbelow:

Be aware, that whilst trad is a very different sport (or not so, depending on how you look at it), climbing indoors will noticeably help your strength and technique for trad. Unfortunately it doesn't work the other way around really, so you need to be doing both at the same time.

In reply to Lobsbelow:

Maybe I am pointing out something too obvious....but something graded say, HVS 5a, is not the equivalent of f5 indoor grading (if that's how the walls you visit are graded)....it's more like f6a....

So anyone telling you that HVS 4a/b is "only a 4" and the indoor wall is wrong.

Personally I have found climbing outdoors very hard having started indoors - it takes a lot of getting used to. Techniques are very different and it soon becomes apparent that endurance is much more important outside than in!

In reply to Webster:

Yes both a typo and naivety. VS or HS, I'll have to look it up. Thanks for the correction. All adds to my learning curve!