Seven or eight years ago, when I first heard about the now-popular climbing Web site 8a.nu, I cringed, as if inhaling a putrid waft of a buddy's old rock shoes.

Ranking? Direct competition? Boiling climbing down to mere numbers? Everything about it seemed tacky at best.

I climbed for personal, nay, spiritual reasons. I was a soul climber who wanted nothing to do with that spray-laden Web site. Or so I thought.

The idea is simple: 8a.nu tallies the 10 hardest climbs a person has done in the last 12 months, with the option of ranking participants according to their score.

It's also brilliant.

Since the birth of the Swedish Web site in 1999, nearly 24,000 climbers worldwide (776 in the United States) have become members. If you choose to be ranked, which most members do, you can see how your score measures up to other climbers around the globe, in North America, or just the United States.

Separate scorecards exist for routes and boulder problems, but you can view a combined score and ranking. There are categories for women, juniors, and over-the-hillers, the latter meaning (gulp) 35 years and older.

Despite my visceral distaste for the site and all it represented, I, like most climbers, occasionally peeked at 8a.nu to see what and where my (sell-out) friends with scorecards had been climbing. I also found it to be a useful resource for consensus route ratings, climbing news, and a shot of inspiration (and humility) from the top scorecards on the planet, like those of Dave Graham, Daniel Woods and top-ranked Patxi Usobiaga.

It's kind of like Facebook for obsessive, geeked-out climbers, complete with friends and personal messaging.

Eventually I learned to let go of judgment (and perhaps my dignity), and by mid-summer 2007 I was logged on to 8a.nu like the number-chaser I am. I mean, why fight it? And one thing's for sure: Whether climbers have scorecards or not, they all seem to have an opinion about the site. I interviewed 10 Boulder locals, half with scorecards and half without, in order to get their opinions:

Nick Martino (5.13 climber, no scorecard): "Most people have a scorecard because it motivates them. I'm plenty motivated and inspired by the climbs I want to do and the goals that I have. Even if everyone in the world had a scorecard it still wouldn't be an accurate representation of how people are ranked. There are so many things about difficulty that can't be reflected in a grade."

Heather Swallow (No. 49 U.S. female, No. 270 world female): "What's cool about 8a.nu is that you don't have to be an elite climber to have a scorecard. Anybody with an ounce of competitive spirit is going to respond to the field of comparison, which translates to you climbing harder. The potential to move up the ranks drives me."

Jonathan Siegrist (5.14 climber, no scorecard): "The Web site is driven by people's egos. I'm not sure why people are so infatuated by comparing themselves to others. It doesn't inspire me to see how many people are stronger than me. That said, it's a cool resource for looking up routes and their difficulty and quality."

George Squibb (No. 24 U.S., No. 166 world): "The best thing about 8a.nu is that I get to downrate other people's routes. There should be an automated feature that highlights a route in red when someone takes the highest grade (when it's not consensus) . . . so that they feel bad. We should all be keeping each other honest."

Benny Randolph (5.13 climber, no scorecard): "I don't care enough to compare myself to others. I just like rock climbing."

Taylor Roy (No. 55 U.S., No. 421 world): "It's fun to be part of an online community. Seeing what others are climbing gets me psyched."

Matt Samet (5.14 climber, no scorecard): "Climbing is the one part of my life where I don't need to catalog things, or stay super organized, or think about it in terms of progress and accomplishment."

Ted Lanzano (No. 118 U.S., No. 798 world): "There's some value in friendly competition. That's what the site is for, right?"

Kelli Rayburn (5.13 climber, no scorecard): "I don't have a scorecard because I haven't done (expletive) in the last two years."

Justen Sjong (No. 13 U.S., No. 99 world): "Keeping a scorecard is entertaining; it prevents me from becoming stagnant. After a season of trad climbing my sport routes disappear and I realize that I gotta get back to work. I'm fully addicted to it."

Now that I've accepted my own addiction to the site, I can embrace the fact that in a mere nine months I'll be included in the 35+ (read: elderly) category. So watch out Squibb! Next August I'm bumping you down a notch, even if you downrate a few of my routes.

Contact Chris Weidner at cweidner8@gmail.com