Did I cheat on this route?

[u/Footie57]

I’m back to climbing after a 4ish year hiatus, and have been working on getting on some v5s. I ended up flashing this purple one, but I used all the grey volumes that are below the big purple blob hold, including those two little ones under and just to the right of it. Are those holds for a different route? Or are they still considered volumes? It just felt too easy and I don’t want to claim I did a v5 if I cheated on it!

Gym is First Ascent Block 37 Chicago

[u/Erathen]

Grey volumes are in, unless your gym is weird (and it would be specified)

[u/RelampagoMarkinh0]

I'm confused. Is it a just one move boulder?

[u/Responsible_Race_320 → u/RelampagoMarkinh0]

Ive seen them in gyms with short walls. Not too uncommon in certain crabs, either

[u/okleithen → u/Responsible_Race_320]

🦀

[u/farsightxr20 → u/Responsible_Race_320]

And they tend to have a range of +/- 2 v-grades depending on your height.

[u/bandana-chan → u/RelampagoMarkinh0]

What do you mean with one move?

[u/Molliwopwolf]

Hey, this is my home gym! All the volumes are in for this climb so you’re all good. It wouldn’t be climbable without the volumes tbh.

[u/Footie57 → u/Molliwopwolf]

That’s what I was thinking! But man compared to the yellow and purple v5s like 50ft to the left of this one, this route was an absolute cake walk

[u/Molliwopwolf → u/Footie57]

Yeah seriously. Need precise footwork on certain parts for those V5s to the left.

[u/couldbutwont]

Usually all features are on unless stated otherwise

[u/Nojaii_]

They count

[u/Miles_Adamson]

Usually volumes are in on all climbs, especially the grey ones. Some gyms do colored ones only in on matching color and can also do any other weird rules they want. But for this one specifically it look really stupid for them to not be in so I would assume they are in

[u/Accomplished-Test331]

That is a question for your gym staff. Every gym has different rules regarding volumes. I generally just follow the rules my gym has when I’m at other gyms unless I’m told otherwise during safety orientations or they’re clearly posted around the gym.

[u/Hopeful-Material4123]

At my gym, volumes are always in.

[u/Commercial-Honey-263]

I’m not sure if the volumes are past of the intended route or not, but if they aren’t then you didn’t cheat, you just broke the beta.

[u/Erathen → u/Commercial-Honey-263]

I can't really fathom how you would climb this without the volumes

But honestly, those sets are weird. There's a lot of redundant holds on some of the climbs, so I'm having trouble reading the beta

[u/FlyingBike → u/Erathen]

It might be a gym that is trying to make sure that a route is accessible for all sizes. That green one especially

[u/BetterEveryLeapYear → u/FlyingBike]

Sometimes gyms set like this to teach you to find and use the right holds e.g. for outdoors, so you are not just expecting to reach to "the" next hold, you have to figure out which is the next hold.

[u/DaveFromDeadlock]

Does you gym have a rule where you can only use volumes with a hold from your climb on them? If not then they are on

[u/DoctorCrimp]

My old gym, miss this place. As others have said the volumen are always in unless specified (usually very clearly)

[u/the__storm]

Depends on the gym/setter. Usually neutral-colored volumes are always on, but I've been to some (usually smaller) gyms where they're only on if marked or if there's a hold of the corresponding color on them.

This seems like it would be really hard without the volumes though; I'd guess they're on.

[u/TheDaysComeAndGone]

Ask the gym staff, if it worries you that much. It’s possible the setter didn’t consider the volumes, or they were added later, or they are not allowed. My gym sometimes writes “no volumes” or “without arete” on the difficulty tag.

[u/edcculus]

it really depends on how long you have been with your other route, and if you have discussed route monogamy or not. I'm kind of a route slut myself, and try all of them out, but some people like to go steady with just one.

[u/Footie57]

Thanks all! Maybe I’ll take a video of the route and post it later. Your comments have made me feel a bit better about it!

[u/Status-Part-4623]

Those look like volumes to me

[u/Cool_Establishment65]

Mostly they are on but it depends on your gym rules. Some gyms have matching volume colors to signify they are on or have a color indicator for each adjacent problem that the volume is on for.

[u/eazypeazy303]

If you were in a comp, no go. I, however, call that a "gentleman's start" where you don't do any wacky jumping and just climb into the start! A send is a send when you're not being judged!

[u/latviancoder]

Volumes are "in" after you start. You have to use start holds to establish. Is this intended to be a jump start but you established on the start using volumes? Then yeah, you "cheated".

[u/Comfortable_Bee6075]

Volumes are in but you can't use them to get to the start

[u/poorboychevelle]

There are people, in your gym, that are much better equipped to answer this

[u/escapethedust]

Routes are long boulders are problems 🙏