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North face of Mt Hicks, RH buttress

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1 September 2011 - 6:51pm
the ghost who walks
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does anyone know the reasons why this yardstick climb was upgraded from alpine grade 6 to alpine grade 6+ in the last guidebook?  I need to know who the climbers were who felt that upgrading this climb was appropriate, and I need to comprehend their motivations for doing so.  Was this done simply to merge the top grades of alpine rock relative to alpine ice, or what?

My reason for asking is that I have always taken this route as the definitive example of a classic grade 6, and I have graded quite a few new routes relative to this one.

I am so over the all the stress from attempting to give fair and honest gradings.  I really don't need the hassle anymore.

Would anyone object if the Hick RH buttress north face remains as a straight 6 ?

I havent climbed the Central buttress but I understand it is less sustained.  I have no opinion about the grade, it might seem easy as a summer climb in rockshoes, but this is the definitive winter alpine rock climb, and should always remain so, so deserves it's straight grade 6 rating to my way of thinking.

 

 

Shutchoassup biarch njus climb ehbro ?

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3 September 2011 - 8:03pm
#1
the ghost who walks
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without any feedback then my feeling is to give this climb an alpine grade 6.   I see no reason at all to give it a 6+ grade, and i have no idea why this climb was upgraded from a straight grade 6 to a grade6+ in the first place.

Shutchoassup biarch njus climb ehbro ?

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5 September 2011 - 8:19pm
#2
kuotadriver
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Who has the right to override the judgement of the first acensionists anyway? These sort of actions typify the dumbing down of everything these days to the lowest common denominator.

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5 September 2011 - 9:03pm
#3
the ghost who walks
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I agree totally with you. Only repeat ascentionists have the right to change the grade of a route.

This route was climbed back in the days when grades were not foramlly used.

 

The first Mt Cook guidebook gave it the grade of Alpine 6 (17 sustained).  That grade has been used in subsequent guidebooks until the most recent one, where it was elevated to being a 6+.  That difference does not sound significant but it is.

This climb represents the hardest big mountain rock route in NZ, and has done so for 3 decades.  Modern climbs have been graded relative to this one, so to upgrade it would meaning changing the gradings of alpine rock routes done in the last 25 years. 

This isn't a nice job for someone to have to do.

Shutchoassup biarch njus climb ehbro ?

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11 October 2011 - 8:59pm
#4
Lindsay
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I agree that I can't see why it has been upgraded. I think it can be regarded as the same grade as the Central Buttress, which is a little easier, but neither route is sustained. They are both long and have difficult access, and a point or so difference in technical difficulty scarcely warrants a difference in the alpine grade.

The South Face LH Direct is a technically harder route with three tough pitches. It's colder too, but the access is pretty trivial. In my opinion The Gates of Steel is harder than all three. The Noeline is challenging and there is a spot of front-pointing before you get to the NW Couloir.

Of course it's a long time ago I was on any of these so my recollections could be quite inaccurate.

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14 October 2011 - 8:33pm
#5
the ghost who walks
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Can't agree with you more Lindsay, the Central on the NF Hicks should always be graded 6, because the first ascent was done in mountain boots during winter.  Just because some rockgeek does it it in rockshoes in summer in 4-5 hours should not detract from the audaciousness of the first ascent.  And that rock geek will surely understand the history of the first ascent, so will know that he has got away with something that is easy on a good day, but much harder when done in genuine alpine conditions.

Likewise, the Balfour Face of Tasman, regarded at the first grade 6 ice route done here.  Those who have repeated it comment that it mat be only a 6- technically, but remember that just getting to the bottom of this face involves climbing up and over our 4th highest mountain.  The West coast of the Main Divide is a committing place when the things go wrong or when the weather changes.  When this ascent was done I think the climbers were using positive curved azes, instead of the reclined curves used now.  Also they were not using stilff plastic boots.   

We should never forget that just because a climb is easy now with modern tools, that is was not a really big deal at the time.  I bet all most of those climbers who do this and say it is only a 6- will never ever be able to climb anything harder.

 

Shutchoassup biarch njus climb ehbro ?

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