I don’t think we should be giving a sport grade for this, at least not in the main title. I can see why we might do it for a trad route that’s a clip up, but this is not.
Haven't got a strong opinion so happy to remove if you want. I think it had come up somewhere, so just recorded it for interest.
Pedantically, 7b+ is a French grade, not a sport grade (French trad. routes get French grades; conversely 5.12c could be a sport route). If Rhapsody is given E11, 8c+ why not Master's Edge E7, 7b+?
I vote French grades (or bouldering grades) alongside UK trad. grade for all trad. and mixed routes.
Vive la révolution! 🫡
I think it's fine to include a French grade as meta because it is interesting for harder trad routes (E6+). I always liked this on the grit list. But I don't think it should be rendered a split grade in the top-level heading, because that gives the impression that the route is a clip-up, a bit like we give split grades E8/7C+ for highballs which used to be solos. If it was a in small metadata below the tile that would be fine and quite interesting. (e.g. '7b+ physical difficulty')
I don't like it on more moderate routes; I think it detracts from the history and mystique of them, and basically has no meaning. Cenotaph Corner 6a+ WTF.
Possibly a conversation for the pub, but since we are attempting to be a record of international climbing for an international audience, attaching a grade to UK routes that has some meaning to non-UK climbers seems reasonable to me. It makes it easier to compare what was happening in different places at the same time: how do the Brown-Whillans routes rate alongside what was being climbed in the USA at the same time for example.
Why only for E6+? What is different about Lord of the Flies over Right Wall? You're quite right about Cenotaph Corner though: must be Fr6b with it's current level of polish!
It makes it easier to compare what was happening in different places at the same time: how do the Brown-Whillans routes rate alongside what was being climbed in the USA at the same time for example.
We are doing this with the E grade. I just don't think we should be giving split grades for routes which aren't clip-ups. It's a presentation thing primarily. It's also inconsistent with the way highballs are treated, which are usefully served by a split grade.
Why only for E6+?
More of a guide than hard and fast rule. Sport grades below ~7a aren't very useful for trad routes in my opinion; below this a lot of the difficulty comes from route finding, gear fiddling, being gripped and general ledge-shuffling epicing. With Right Wall your major challenge is finding the route, with Lord it's having the juice to climb straight up.
I'm not disputing the sport grade for Cenotaph, I really have no idea what it would be. I just felt that giving it a split grade doesn't convey the multivariate nature of the challenge and ultimately diminishes it.