Grade A Bullsh*t is a witty and thought-provoking documentary that asks a deceptively simple question: Who decides a climbing grade?
After adaptive climber Maureen Beck finally achieves her long-sought first 5.12 route, the celebration is short lived when the climb is downgraded. The experience leaves her wondering whether grades are objective measures of difficulty, or reflections of ego, bias, and the culture surrounding climbing.
Determined to find answers, Maureen sets her sights on Far From God, a notoriously difficult Kentucky testpiece. As she battles the route, the film expands beyond one climber’s pursuit into a broader exploration of climbing’s endless grade debates. Through humor, sharp conversations, and a cast of outspoken voices, Grade A Bullsh*t examines how numbers shape identity, fuel online arguments, and influence who gets recognized, believed, or dismissed.
Equal parts comedy and social commentary, the film invites audiences to question the systems we create to measure achievement. Because in climbing, as in life, the hardest thing to define may not be the climb itself, but the value we attach to it.
Are grades real? Or are they Grade A Bullsh*t?
Gareth “Gaz” Leah is an award-winning filmmaker, photographer, cinematographer, and expedition leader whose work explores adventure, humanity, and the natural world. A member of The Explorers Club and former professional climber, he has spent more than two decades pioneering first ascents and leading expeditions across five continents.
Through Well Good Productions, Gareth has created films for Red Bull, Netflix, Peacock, The North Face, Google, Ford, and YouTube Originals. His documentaries have screened internationally, with Death of Villains winning the Audience Choice Award at 5Point Adventure Film Festival and Jamrock: The Birth of Jamaican Rock Climbing receiving a Silver Anthem Award.
His work blends cinematic adventure, thoughtful storytelling, and humor to challenge assumptions and resist easy answers. Grade A Bullshit continues that approach, using comedy to examine climbing’s grade debate and ask broader questions about objectivity, bias, identity, and the value we attach to achievement.
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