.
   
Todays date: . ••• > Home > Special How-to Sections > Rock Craft > Sport > Ratings
 
 

No 186, June 15, 1999
click to order online

Home

Subscriptions

Current Issue

Special How-to Sections

Products

Buy Back Issues

Secure Ordering
Order from year:
2000, 1999, 1998 or
order this issue.

Readers Index

Search back issue
table of contents for
issues 58-165.

Link Pages

Retail Purchases

Contributors Info

Site Map

Contact us
Climbing Magazine
0326 Highway 133,
Suite 190
Carbondale, CO
81623
(800) 493-4569

climbing@climbing.com

 
Rock Craft | Sport Climbing | Destinations | Training
Recommended Reading | Gear | Higher Education | Ratings

What's the grade?

Sport climbers sometimes get accused of number chasing, and I won't deny that there's an element of truth to the slur. Part of the attraction of sport climbing is seeking out physical difficulty, and that is quantified in the rating of a route. Without ratings it would be hard to find routes that match our abilities or to measure our progress over time.

Still, it's important to remember that ratings are subjective. They depend on someone else's opinion of difficulty, and that person probably has different strengths and weaknesses than you. Thus, don't be surprised if you cruise a 5.11 and then struggle desperately on a nearby 5.10. The lesson? Use ratings for guidance and self-motivation, but don't take them so seriously that they spoil your fun or inflate your ego.

Like trad routes, sport climbs are rated on the Yosemite Decimal System (see the traditional-climbing sidebar on ratings for more details). Unlike trad routes, it's rare to find sport climbs that are easier than 5.8 — a stiff level for most novice climbers. If you're just starting out it may help to toprope easier non-bolted lines at the cliffs and begin leading in rock gyms, which often have bolted routes as easy as 5.5.

The Yosemite Decimal System is open ended, but currently tops out at 5.14c in America. Three routes — Necessary Evil at the Virgin River Gorge, Arizona, Just Do It at Smith Rock, Oregon, and Ice Cream at American Fork, Utah — are given this grade. Most European countries use the French rating system for sport routes; the top standards over there are a notch higher at 9a (5.14d), and are currently the hardest in the world.

The Australians and Germans also have their own rating systems for sport routes. Use the following table to translate.

GRADE COMPARISONS

 
USA

5.5
5.6
5.7
5.8
5.9
5.10a
5.10b
5.10c
5.10d
5.11a
5.11b
5.11c
5.11d
5.12a
5.12b
5.12c
5.12d
5.13a
5.13b
5.13c
5.13d
5.14a
5.14b
5.14c
5.14d
5.15a
FRA

4a
4b
4c
5a
5b
5c
6a
6a+
6b
6b+
6c
6c+
7a
7a+
7b
7b+
7c
7c+
8a
8a+
8b
8b+
8c
8c+
9a
AUS

15
16
17
18
19
20

21

22

23
24
25
26
27

28
29
30
31
32
GER

5-
5
5+
6-
6
6+
7-
7

7+

8-
8
8+

9-
9
9+

10-
10
10+


11-
Rock Craft | Sport Climbing | Destinations | Training
Recommended Reading | Gear | Higher Education | Ratings

Top of page

.