Grading a Route

When climbing, you will notice that each route is given a grade. This is critical knowledge for a climber. The grading of a route tells the climber exactly what to expect from difficulty, to safety, to the hardest moves, and even the type of rock being climbed. Here in the United States, we use the Yosemite decimal system so grade routes. However, other parts of the world use their own way of grading routes. Some grading criteria is very specific and informs the climber of almost everything there is to be considered. On the other hand, some grading scales offer only minimum information. When you think to yourself about that, would you want to climb a route where there will be no surprises and it is not as much of an adrenaline rush or a route where everything is a discovery and you feel very unsafe. You'd be surprised by who would not actually mind the second one. For the most part, different countries offer their own version of grading scales. Many serious climbers do not stay in the States alone to climb. It is valuable knowledge to know the different grading systems when traveling to climb so that you do not find yourself halfway up a route that is above your difficulty level.


Here are a couple of the more widely used grading systems.




This is a chart that shows each grading system and compares each systems ratings with others.