Grades
From SCWiki
In Scotland the British grading system is used for traditional climbing, with a few local twists (such as Scottish VS). Sport climbing uses the french Grading system. Winter climbing in Scotland uses the Scottish Winter grading system. Bouldering in Scotland uses V-grades and Font grades.
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Grading Systems Used in Scotland
British
The British grading system for traditional climbing has (in theory) two parts: the adjectival grade and the technical grade. (Sport climbing in Britain uses the French grading system, often prefixed with the letter "F".)
The adjectival grade attempts to assess the overall difficulty of the climb taking into account all factors, for a climber leading the route on-sight in traditional climbing style. In the early 20th century it ran Easy, Moderate, Difficult, but increasing standards have several times lead to extra grades being added at the top. The adjectival grades are as follows:
- Easy (rarely used)
- Moderate (M)
- Difficult (D, or 'Diff')
- Very Difficult (VD, or 'VDiff')
- Hard Very Difficult (HVD)
- Severe (S)
- Hard Severe(HS)
- Very Severe (VS)
- Hard Very Severe (HVS)
- Extremely Severe (E1, E2, E3, ...)
- XS is used for climbs that are on loose or crumbling rock that are seldom repeated after the first ascent
The Extremely Severe grade is subdivided in an open-ended fashion into E1 (easiest) then E2, E3 and so on. As of 2006, the hardest climb is graded E11, but many climbers consider such high grades provisional as the climbs have not yet been climbed by anyone on-sight. The hardest confirmed grade is E9.
Some guidebooks make finer distinctions by adding the prefix "Mild" or "Hard" (thus, Hard Very Difficult and Mild Severe lie between Very Difficult and Severe).
The technical grade attempts to assess only the technical climbing difficulty of the hardest move or moves on the route without regard to the danger of the move or the stamina required if there are several such moves in a row. Technical grades are open-ended, starting at 1 and subdivided into "a", "b" and "c", but you are unlikely to see any mention of them below 4a. The hardest recorded climbs are around 7b.
Usually the technical grade increases with the adjectival grade but a hard technical move very near the ground (that is, notionally safe) may not raise the standard of the adjectival grade very much. VS 4c might be a typical grade for a route. VS 4a would usually indicate very poor protection (easy moves, but no gear), VS 5b would usually indicate the crux move was the first move or very well protected. On multi-pitch routes it is usual to give the overall climb an adjectival grade and each pitch a separate technical grade (such as HS 4b, 4a).
French
The French grading system considers the overall difficulty of the climb, taking into account the difficulty of the moves and the length of climb. This differs from most grading systems where one rates a climbing route according to the most difficult section (or single move). Furthermore, French grades are not onsight grades: they are used to convey the difficulty of redpointing a route. Hence two routes of equal grade can be wildly different in difficulty when attempting an onsight. Grades are numerical, starting at 1 (very easy) and the system is open-ended. Each numerical grade can be subdivided by adding a letter (a, b or c) from the number 6 upwards. Examples: 2, 4, 5, 6a, 7c. An optional + (no -) may be used to further differentiate difficulty. Many countries in Europe use a system with similar grades but not necessarily matching difficulties.
Grade systems for Winter Climbing
The Scottish Winter grading system comprises two numbers the first, a roman numeral, tells you how hard the route is to lead, the second, a arabic numeral gives the tecnical difficulty. Grades go from I to XI, with technical grades going from 1-11, although both are open ended.
Grade systems for bouldering
In bouldering, problems are assigned technical grades according to several established systems, which are distinct from those used in regular climbing. Bouldering grade systems include the "B" system, Hueco "V" grades (also known as the V-scale), Fontainebleau technical grades, route colours, and overall difficulty grades, Peak District grades, and British technical grades.
The old "B" grade system, introduced by John Gill, has only three categories, B1, B2 and B3. B3 problems are those that have only been completed once. B2 as problems that are "harder than B1". B1 problems are those relating to "a hard toprope climb".
In Europe the Fontainebleau grading is the most widely used. This system ranges from 1a to 8c (the equivalent of V15 or B15), it is rare to find problems easier than 2b. The system was first devised to classify the sandstone climbing in the Fountainebleau forests in France, but is now widely used also in other bouldering areas around the world.
In North America, the "V" grades devised by John Sherman at Hueco Tanks are prevalent, having largely displaced the older "B" grades. The "V" system currently covers a range from V0 to V16. At the easier end of the scale, some use the designation VB (for V-basic) for problems slightly easier than a V0. Particularly at the lower end of the scale, the grades can also be postfixed with "+" (harder) or "-" (easier) to further distinguish the difficulty range within a single grade.
It is difficult to directly compare bouldering grades to climbing grades; however, a V0 boulder problem would relate approximately to the crux of a 5.9+ climb using the Yosemite Decimal System that is also common in North America. A B1 problem was defined by John Gill in 1969 as a 5.10, but in 1987 as a 5.12. This highlights the constant evolution of the "B" scale.
Comparison table
The following table has a basic comparison chart for some of the different free climbing rating systems that are in use around the world:
| Rock Climbing Rating Systems | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra (USA) | British (UK) | French | UIAA (Central Europe) | Australian | GDR (Eastern Europe) | |
| 5.4 | ||||||
| 5.5 | 4a | VS | ||||
| 5.6 | 4b | |||||
| 5.7 | 4c | 15 | ||||
| 5.8 | HVS | 5a | 6- | 16 | VIIa | |
| 5.9 | 5a | 5b | 6 | 17 | VIIb | |
| 5.10a | E1 | 5c | 6+ | 18 | VIIc | |
| 5.10b | 5b | 6a | 19 | |||
| 5.10c | E2 | 7- | 20 | VIIIa | ||
| 5.10d | 5c | 6b | 7 | 21 | VIIIb | |
| 5.11a | E3 | 7+ | 22 | VIIIc | ||
| 5.11b | 6c | 23 | ||||
| 5.11c | 6a | E4 | 8- | 24 | IXa | |
| 5.11d | 7a | 8 | 25 | IXb | ||
| 5.12a | E5 | 8+ | 26 | IXc | ||
| 5.12b | 6b | 7b | ||||
| 5.12c | E6 | 9- | 27 | Xa | ||
| 5.12d | 6c | 7c | 9 | 28 | Xb | |
| 5.13a | E7 | 9+ | 29 | Xc | ||
| 5.13b | 8a | |||||
| 5.13c | 7a | 10- | 30 | |||
| 5.13d | E8 | 8b | 10 | 31 | ||
| 5.14a | 10+ | 32 | ||||
| 5.14b | 7b | 8c | ||||
| 5.14c | E9 | 11- | 33 | |||
| 5.14d | 7c | 9a | 11 | |||
