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Starting out?

Climbing Grades and Other Questions
 
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Climbing Grades and Other Questions
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hawthorn
08/12/10 19:22
 Rookie 38 forum posts

Hey All,

I am fairly new to mountaineering and hiking etc. But I am very confused by the whole grading system of hill climbing and mountaineering.

Like what are the Scottish Grades, I have heard of Scottish Grade II so I assume there are higher and lower grades, what are these and what do they involve?

What about the Alpine grading system like AD? and Level 4/A?

And how do I go about progressing through the different climbing levels?

Finally one other question,

Myself and a friend are planning to do the 3 peaks challenge for a charity we support in Lesotho and we are both very competitive and would like to beat the record time? Does anyone have any idea what the record time is?

Cheers,

Craig x

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huskyman
08/12/10 21:26
 Rookie 3635 forum posts 2 photos 7 reviews 1 bookmark

Your best bet is to 'Google' climbing grades, for some reason most countries use their own grading system. They all go 'upwards' and some also have two or more parts to them.

 The 'overall' grade of most of climb, the grade of hardist part/s of climb, called the "crux", how long climb might take can make grade harder. A climb of 100m is going to take more effort than 50m, but the smaller climb could be "harder" because of 'difficulty', ie, getting the right 'holds or line' to complete climb.

 When you get winter it changes again, what might be a very easy climb in summer is usually far more difficult in winter.

 A 'grade 1 scramble' in summer, might, become a 'Scottish IV' in winter, (French AD+), etc.

 I've seen a table that compares grading systems to each other, but can't remember where, might have been BMC web site. Not really much help!!!

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Mr Fuller
09/12/10 17:01
 Rookie 495 forum posts 3 reviews

Record time? No idea but it will be RIDICULOUS. If you drive at 90 mph the whole way and run all the sections at 7 minute mile pace you might get close.

Grades-wise, it's a massive area.

Rock climbing - two main grading systems in this country. They are (1) sport grades (clipping bolts) which start at 3 ish and go on to about 9b. Bigger number = harder. If you climb indoors they're most likely sport grades. (2) is the traditional grading system, which is for trad climbing (clipping natural pro). Starts at moderate, through diff, severe, very severe, up to E (extreme) grades. Moderate is like hard scrambling, whereas E11 is mental. There is an additional grade given to hard trad routes, but don't worry about it. It is very hard to convert between the two grading systems, but http://www.rockfax.com/publications/grades.html is the best known conversion table. In other countries there may be other systems.

Bouldering - again, two main grading systems. (1) is V grades. Bigger number is harder. Starts at VB, then V0, V1... up to V16ish. Basically, anything beyond V2 outdoors is pretty hard and you'd need to train for. (2) is Font grades. Starts at 4 and goes up to about 8c. These grades are quite straightforward to convert between. See http://www.rockfax.com/publications/bgrades.html. Indoors, all walls will use one of these two systems.

Winter climbing - two main systems. In the UK we use Scottish grades, starting at I and going up to about XII, but it's open ended. I wrote this a while ago to give you an idea: I - equivalent to PD snow plod I reckon (very very roughly). Probably don't need to pitch anything. Move together. II - You'll have to pitch a fair bit, but move together on some sections. Might come across some ice, but will mostly be snow.III - may get quite a bit of ice, more technical, may be long run outs on pitches. People sometimes say that a Scottish IV leader is the equivalent of VS summer in terms of hours needed, dedication, etc.. The second winter grading system is WI, which I know little about. They do it for ice. Anything beyond WI4 is pretty balls out.

Alpine - for mountaineering routes in the Alps. F, PD, AD, D, TD, ED, from easy to hard. 'Easy' doesn't mean 'easy', though. It'd still require use of crampons, an ice axe, glacier crossings, ropework, etc.. There may also be a UIAA grade for the route. This relates to rock climbing difficulty, and can be roughly converted to UK rock grades. 

There are a few other systems too. Don't get caught up on grades, though. No one has ever come up to me at a climbing wall, offended by the lowly grade I climb. 

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hawthorn
09/12/10 21:06
 Rookie 38 forum posts

Thanks for the advice gents has been very helpful.

Well my attempt on the 3 peaks challenge is for a charity I do some stuff for in Lesotho, so if I make it in a record attempt will anybody be willing to donate??

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huskyman
09/12/10 21:49
 Rookie 3635 forum posts 2 photos 7 reviews 1 bookmark
Doesn't have to be a "record" attempt, people might donate for you completing it!!
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lilo
05/01/11 18:41
 Rookie 99 forum posts 4 reviews

                                         yes less is more........(more or less)

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