Just when you thought Nadia had received every honor and accolade, she rises again in the unlikeliest of places.

In the Spring of 1977, rock climbers Joe Herbst and Mark Moore were pioneering new trails in Red Rocks, Nevada.  In an area known as Willow Spring, they scaled a two pitch wall, rating it a very difficult 5.9.  Climbers who are credited with "first ascent" name the climb.  This one they named "Nadia's Nine."

"In those days we were putting up a lot of new routes and running short of names," said Joe Herbst in a recent e-mail.  "The name was a play on the difficulty level of that particular climb."

Most climbers in the United States use a difficulty scale called the Yosemite Decimal System.  It consists of five classes to rate climbs. Class 1 is for hills that are suitable for hiking or biking. The most difficult, Class 5, requires technical moves, protective hardware, "and where serious injury or death is very likely if you take an unprotected fall."  Hence, Nadia's Nine, at 5.9, is at the high end of Class 5.

"We were unsure of whether the climb should be rated as a 5.9 or a 5.10," Joe Herbst recalls. It reminded him of Nadia's performances during the Montreal Olympics the previous summer, when judges had to decide between 9.95 or a 10.0.  "Our indecision in terms of a rating brought (Nadia's) name to mind."

The rating for rock climbing has also changed with the times.  "It seemed obvious that (Nadia) had established a new standard of excellence and that the judges had given her a few 9's simply because they had trouble accepting the fact that she had blown the doors off of the old rating scale," Mr. Herbst observes.  Todd Swain, author of " Rock Climbing: Red Rocks" explains that, "the rating system became open ended, which obviously ruins the decimal part of the system."  Ratings can run as high as 5.14, with subcategories of a-d (-/+).  "Nadia's Nine is 5.9+, which means it's a 'hard' 5.9.  Some would argue 5.10-," states Mr. Swain. 

Nadia's Nine, along with two other climbs, Dark Star and Wheat Thick, is part of an area near Lost Creek Canyon called Nadia's Niche, a name given years later by author Todd Swain.  "Nadia's Niche was coined rather than (a name) that had nothing to do with the route," says Mr. Swain.

In keeping with the gymnastics theme, Todd Swain's team marked a new route in 2000 dubbed "Geriatric Gymnasts."  "That route's name referred to us, rather than Nadia Comaneci," promises Mr. Swain.

Note: Red Rocks, Nevada is not to be confused with Red Rocks, Denver, Colorado, where Nadia and Bart performed for John Tesh and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in 1995.