The Gill "B" System
The B-System conceived by John Gill in the 1950s was a universal rating scheme for bouldering, having three categories: "B1" was defined as "... the highest level of difficulty in traditional roped climbing", "B2" was harder than B1, or "bouldering level", and the grade "B3" designated a route ascended only once, although tried by others on several occasions. When a B3 was ascended a second time, it was reclassified as a B2, or B1. Gill's idea was to attract climbers to the "new" sport of bouldering, but discourage turning that sport into a numbers race. His system depended heavily on traditional climbing standards, long before sport climbing came into existence. It was assumed that the scale would shift as traditional difficulty levels rose. Thus, e.g., a B1(1958) would be easier than a B1(1968).
The system - designed in the early days of "modern bouldering" (i.e., bouldering interpreted as a legitimate form of rock climbing to be practiced anywhere the terrain is suitable, and not simply as training or as a minor, playful divertissement) - has never been in worldwide use. Occasionally climbers visiting bouldering destinations in North America encounter boulder problems with B ratings. The difficulty of these problems are now commonly quantified by John Sherman's V-Scale. The Gill B-System is respected, and has amusing and historical connotations, but has limitations in modern, competitive bouldering involving many climbers. Gill, citing the fragmentation of his categories into "B1-", "B1+", etc., blames the decline in popularity of his B-System upon it being "against the grain of normal competitive structures, where a simple open progression of numbers or letters indicates progress."
Read more about this topic: Grade (bouldering)
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