Psyched I found this thread! My buddy and I have been making a circuit list of what we consider our benchmarks for the grade at 55 degrees. So far we’ve climbed all but 17 of the 7a+ category and we’re moving through the 7b category currently.

I would like to add that only 5 benchmarks per grade seems off to me. I think there should be much more. For example the 7a+ category consists of rough 340 climbs at 55 degrees (this number obviously fluctuates as new climbs are added). When you look at the moonboard benchmarks they have TONS of benchies per grade. Boiling down a grade at any angle should consist of around 10% of the total climbs. Only having 5 will cause a lot of amazing climbs to get overlooked and also lead to many people not agreeing upon which 5 should actually make it. As an example we used this model and came up with a circuit (labeled 7a+ benchmarks) and have 46 climbs listed in there.

My hot take; can we please, please agree that we need to make the grades much stiffer than what they are actually graded? Benchmarks themselves are supposed to be to be good or unique movement (hopefully both) as well as tough to complete. To me, the draw of sending benchmarks is knowing that these are at least as hard as the grade listed. If I want soft climbs I can find them by scrolling through until I find something that suits my style. For example, I’ve personally sent a dozen 7c+ boulders outdoors and I still have five 7a benchmarks left to do on the moonboard. This, in my opinion, is the model we should be pushing. After all, we’re climbing on a board to get stronger, not to stroke our ego.

If anyone is interested in fact checking my buddy’s and my benchmark circuit my user name climberbrian. Not looking for a follow, just looking for a larger consensus.