ATT GREPPA DET OMÄTBARA. Ledbyggares arbete med svårighetsgrader i en klätterhall

Abstract

In many contemporary contexts, numbers and measurements are used to make subjective and qualitative phenomena measurable and comparable. This can be understood as a process of commensuration (Espeland & Stevens, 1998). The study examines how such a process takes shape in practice through route setters’ production of difficulty grades in a climbing gym. Through bodily and subjective assessments, climbing grades are transformed into quantifiable grades. This study is based on ethnographic methods, including participant observation and interviews. The participant observation involved my own participation in climbing practices as a researcher, which made my own body part of the ethnographic process. The informants consisted of route setters and managers working at climbing gyms in Gothenburg. Findings show that difficulty grades are not objective measurements, but are produced through bodily experiences, social collaboration, and shared negotiations between route setters. At the same time, the grades appear stable and trustworthy to climbers, which is connected to the route setters’ expertise and the organized structure of the gyms. The study therefore contributes to a broader understanding of how standards and systems of evaluation are created, stabilized, and given legitimacy in practice, also beyond the context of climbing. The thesis is written in Swedish.