Comments on: The Star System

By: Count the Stars « Karakorum Climbing.com

Count the Stars « Karakorum Climbing.com — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 17:53:04 +0000

[...] a grading system for boulder greatness on his blog, B3Bouldering. You can read his thoughts here, but basically he suggests a scale using stars to describe the quality of a boulder problem. [...]

By: leopold

leopold — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:30:23 +0000

excellent idea. very objective, and merit based.

By: ????????

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By: cardboard_dog

cardboard_dog — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:30:26 +0000

It seems to me that some guidebook authors give stars to problems based solely on the their level of difficulty. Like, “Yo this shit is HARD!” 4 stars. Even though it’s pile.

Anyone else notice this odd trend or am I just a guidebook pessimist?

By: campusman

campusman — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:39:06 +0000

dont be discouraged je

you are around the best athletes in the world

you are very psyched, and focussing on time off

the proper ammount of time off (not more than 12 days)
you will succeed more. try resting more, you will notice your muscles recovering and feeling like they are fresh and ready to pull very hard every time.

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:04:58 +0000

I totally agree with being strict about giving out stars. If you browse 8A, it appears most people don’t know what a quality problem is. There are a lot of folks who hand out 3 stars to most of the lines they do.
I would agree that just because a problem only has 1 or no stars doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing.

I would disagree however, on your point about movement. I think movement is a very important factor. If you look at a climb such as Checkerboard, beyond it being a beautiful wall with incredible rock, I think the movement is fantastic. And I think the movement is excellent for most body types, tall & short etc. Some climbs might have great rock etc, but they just don’t flow well. And that is a critical aspect of a classic problem, in my opinion.

In regards to the Mandala, even though holds have broken, I still feel it deserves at least 3 stars. The wall is just beautiful and it is a totally pure line. You’re right it doesn’t start on a jug but it does seem like an obvious place to start the line.

I guess my take is that stars should be subjective, I don’t think you can calculate a problems’ stars based on a set of criteria. But if you’re writing a guidebook you should definitely get a consensus, rather than solely using your own opinion about a climb.

By: B3

B3 — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 02:21:20 +0000

Camp, chipping other boulders to improve dab potential would def. take away stars. You should ask Capps, but Against Humanity is two stars.

By: sock hands

sock hands — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:16:35 +0000

my lenghty comment was deleted because i forgot to put an email address, but suffice to say:

v7: 5 stars
not v7: zero stars; wash vigorously afterwards, sinner.

^^undeniable truth

By: camper8000

camper8000 — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:59:07 +0000

better landing and rock than greener grass. not any lower than the greener grass start but the boulder does have many lines on it. ***. just standing up for the poudre. we could destroy the puffing stone and then the poudre will have a four star boulder.

By: Narc

Narc — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:37:41 +0000

I wonder where a problem like Midnight Lightning would fall on the scale. Does its historic nature outweigh the incredible polish on all the holds? Does the small rock in the key landing zone detract a star?