Rating Systems
It is human nature to categorize and quantify every aspect of our life, and climbing has not been excluded. Climbers have created rating systems (aka grade, class, scale, ...) for a climbs' technical and overall difficulty, length (time and distance), protection, quality and style. Being spat of a climb, however, quickly teaches you the value of rating systems in climbing.
The emergence of rating systems is highly localized; often each country (and sometimes crags) invents and re-invents their own rating systems. This article is written as a technical article to explain the treatment of rating systems in a global index of climbs at www.thecrag.com.
This article covers the following sections:
The Vision
In building a global index of climbs www.thecrag.com's vision for rating systems is:
"To understand grades inputted as they would be written in your local guidebook."
Essentially this means that the site must be able to accept and understand free-text grades in all their wonderful machinations. We have put together a test interface (click here), if you wish to test out some grade formats before you enter them into the site.
Implementation of this vision is an ongoing exercise. Please send constructive criticism to support@thecrag.com.
The Problem
A grade must be read and explicitly categorized it so it can be used in charts, conversions, searches, statistics and scoring throughout the site. It must be able to recognize V4+, B1, P3 as a bouldering grades, 5.12a, 23, 'Hard Severe', HVD, H1, 4b, 7- & VI+ as free climbing grades, A4, C2 & M6 as aid climbing grades, WI2, AI3 and M6 as ice climbing grades, R/X as a protection rating, *** as a star rating as well as other modifiers such as sport route and top rope indications.
It has got to be flexible enough to recognize multi-pitching (eg "5.6, 5.10a, 5.11b, 5.9" as a four pitch climb of overall grade 5.11b), grade ranges (eg "3a to 5a"), straddling (eg "5.10a/b"), and alternation (eg "5.9 A3+ or 5.12a") and different forms of the same grading system (eg 5.10+ verses 5.10d).
If you read the first paragraph very carefully you would see that a M6 might be an aid climb or an ice climb depending on where you are in the world. As you can imagine there are many such conflicts. To overcome these conflicts we must interpret based on who added the climb or where it was added.
Why Bother
Without being able to explicitly categorize grades we would not be able to provide value add service on the index. Also if we forced grade formats (eg a pull down list) the global index would lose local relevance, which goes directly against the aims of the site.
Table 1 describes how our members' benefit from the effort we have put into accepting and understanding free-text grades.
| Grade Search |
- At any point in the index hierarchy (eg country, state, crag, cliff or other area) you can do a Quickfind search on any grade (or combination of grades) using virtually any rating system.
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| Charts |
- At any point in the index you can see a grade profile of climbs, of community ticks and of personal ticks.
- You can chart your combined ticks against their level of difficulty and you can see your progress over time.
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| Conversions |
- Grade conversions are used for charting, searches and statistics. This means that if you tick a climb from another country it will appear on your charts in your local grading system.
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| Statistics |
- One of the unique aspects of the site are the community statistics being created, such as iconic climbs at a particular grade and highest quality climbs in a range of grades.
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| Scoring |
- We score climbs based on the grade and the overall community's ability to climb that grade. This score is used in many charts and statistics as well as being the fundamental unit of your personal 'Crag Score'.
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Table 1: Benefits of rating systems in a global index
Recognized Rating Systems
Recognizing grading systems is an ongoing task. Below are some tables of grading systems we currently recognize. We intend to add to this list as we index areas that include new systems.
| Free Climbing |
| Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) |
Invented for Yosemite, now the North American rating system. Gives finer granularity to Class 5 technical rock climbing ratings (see Sierra Club System).
Examples: 5.7, 5.10a, 5.11+, 5.14d
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| NCCS Scale |
The National Climbing Classification System (NCCS) Scale is now an outdated North American rating system.
Examples: F4, F9, F16
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| Sierra Club System |
Class 1-6. A superset of the YDS system. Class 5 is used for technical rock climbing grades while Class 6 (rarely used) denotes aid climbing.
Examples: Class 3, Class 5
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| French System |
From 2 to 9, usually with a subscript (a, b or c) and an optional +. Similar systems are used throughout Europe, but with different levels of difficulty. The French system is sometimes used for sport routes around the world.
Examples: 7a, 7a+, 4b+, 8c+, 9a
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| Ewbanks System |
A pure decimal system invented for Australian and New Zealand climbs. A similar system is also used in South Africa (however the grades do not correspond in difficulty).
Examples: 6, 18, 24, 32
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| British Adjectival |
An overall rating of the climb taking into account many factors. It is often used with the British Technical rating. The system was invented before modern climbing so the grade semantics seam out of sych with today's technical climber (eg 'Very Difficult' being somewhere around a 5.5 is somewhat a misnoma). Note that there is a possible confusion between E meaning Easy and E meaning Extremely Severe. For this reason we interpret E followed by a number as Extremely Severe and E by itself as Easy. Extremely Severe is the E1 - E10 grades, but sometimes it is specified as XS in which case we assign a grade of E1.
Examples: Easy, E, Moderate, M, Difficult, D, Very Difficult, VD, Severe, S, Hard Severe, HS, Very Severe, VS, Hard Very Severe, HVS, E1, E10
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| British Technical |
From 1a to 7c. The hardest move on the route, not taking into account danger, exposure, etc. Notionally grades start at 1a, but practically rarely used below 4a. Sometimes a separate technical grade is given for each pitch.
Examples: 5a, 7c
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| UIAA |
This system was an attempt at creating an international standard. However it is now really only used in Western Germany and Austria. Ranges from 1 to 10 with an optional + or -. Sometimes used with Roman Numerals.
Examples: 6, 7-, 8+, IX-
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| Saxon Rating System |
The old East German rating system. Roman Numerals I - XI, with a, b, or c (for grades VII or higher).
Examples: II, VIIa, IXc, XIa
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| Old South African |
A to J with an optional number (1,2 or 3). This is now replaced by a system similar to the Ewbanks system.
Examples: C, D1, H2, F3
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Table 2: Free Climbing Rating Systems
| Alpine Climbing |
| NCCS Alpine Grade |
Grade I-VII. Grade refers to the overall length of time to climb. Usually used in conjunction with technical ratings (V,5.6). The word 'Grade' is usually omitted.
Examples: I, IV
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| Alaska Grade |
Grade 1-6. Currently not used at the site
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| French Adjectival System (IFAS) |
Facile (F), Peu Difficile (PD), Assez Difficile (AD), Difficile (D), Tres Difficile (TD), Extremement Diffficile (ED), Abominable (ABO).
Examples: F, PD, AD, D, TD, ED, ABO
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Table 3: Alpine Climbing Rating Systems
| Aid Climbing |
| Aid Grade |
A0 - A5+, A6. Sometimes Ac is used for chipped holds. Aid grades are often used in conjunction with free grades (eg A3 5.12a).
Examples: A0, A4+, Ac
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| Hamerless Aid Grade |
C0 - C5+, C6. An optional F may appear at the end of the grade, which means that fixed gear must be relied upon for the climb to be hammerless.
Examples: C0, C4+, C3+(F), C3F+
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| Australian Aid |
M0 - M12. M0 corresponds to A0, M1 to A0+, M2 to A1 and so on.
Examples: M2
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Table 4: Aid Climbing Rating Systems
| Bouldering |
| Vermin V-Scale |
North American based, but now pretty much globally recognized (although many crags have their own bouldering system as well). V0 to V16 and sometimes +/- is used with V0.
Examples: V0+, V1, V8, V14
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| Expanded Gill B-Scale |
Another widely used system for United States. The original Gill B-Scale was B1, B2 & B3. The expanded version allows B5.0 - B5.10+ and +/- for B1 & B2. Technically B3 is meant to mean that the problem has not been repeated.
Examples: B5.8, B5.10, B5.10+, B1-, B2, B2+, B3
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| Smith Rocks S-Scale |
S1-6 with an optional +/-.
Examples: S4, S3-, S6+
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| Phoenix P-Scale |
P0-16.
Examples: P1, P12
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| Joshua Tree Scale |
A-D with an optional +/-.
Examples: A+, C-
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| Others |
Other bouldering systems may be indexed after climbs have been added covering that system. If you have added a few bouldering routes from a different system please contact us and tell us about the system.
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Table 5: Bouldering Rating Systems
| Ice Climbing |
| Water Ice |
WI1-6 with optional +/-. Sometimes used in conjunction with Alpine Ice and Mixed Ice and Rock.
Examples: WI1+, WI2-, WI6
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| Alpine Ice |
AI1-6 with optional +/-. Sometimes used in conjunction with Water Ice and Mixed Ice/Rock.
Examples: AI1+, AI2-, AI6
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| Mixed Ice/Rock |
M1-12. Rock climbing with crampons! You can find some conversion tables on the web that show the technical rock climbing grades to which these grades correspond. However because the experience is so different this site does not attempt such conversions.
Examples: M1, M7
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Table 6: Ice Climbing Rating Systems
| Protection |
| (North American) Protection Rating |
What can I say, do a web search for what each rating means. But don't be fooled, you can still die on a climb rated G.
Examples: G, PG, PG13, R, S, VS, X.
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Table 7: Protection Rating Systems
| Quality |
| Guidebook Star Ratings |
Some guidebooks use a five star rating system, others a three star, others a one star. Some also use a negative star system as well. The absence of a star can sometimes mean that a rating has not been provided (rather than a zero star climb).
For better or for worse the website assumes a 3 star system. When we index a guidebook using another system we use some statistical rules to convert.
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| thecrag.com Quality Ratings |
An internal quality system based on member contributions using a seven-point scale from crap to mega classic. This is associated with climbs ticked by members.
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| Crag Star Ratings |
A three star rating system based on member Quality Rating contributions and comments. This is used for PDF print friendly lists of climbs (Crag Planner).
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Table 8: Quality Rating Systems
Technical Concepts
We have had to introduce several concepts, some fairly obvious, as a framework for understanding grades. These concepts are outlined in Table 9.
| Rating System Contexts |
There are many instances where a grade belongs to more than one rating system. We have introduced rating system contexts in order to minimize these conflicts.
From a technical point of view, contexts define the rating system priority for associating a grade to a rating system. Internally there are currently about half a dozen contexts, typically set to a country. It is possible to override the specified context by preceding the grade by the rating system identifier (ask us if you want to do this).
For members inputting climbs, the site works out the context either by the grading system they have set up in their preferences or by the native grading system for the index area (if the member has specified native grading system preference).
The complexity of contexts should be hidden from members. If you notice a problem then contact us.
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| Multi-pitch specifications |
You are able to input grades as comma separated list of pitches. The grade assigned to the climb as a whole is the most difficult grade in the list.
Examples (use without quotes):
- "5.6,5.7,Class3,5.10a,5.6" (interpreted as 5 pitch 5.10a)
- "IV 5.3 A0, 5.8 X, 5.7 A1, 5.8" (interpreted as 4 pitch, IV 5.8 A1 with protection rating X)
- "E1 4a, 4b, 4b" (interpreted as 3 pitch E1 4b)
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| Grade ranges |
A 'climb' in the index may have a range of grades because:
- it is actually a wall with several climbs (not encouraged in the index)
- may depend on conditions (eg mid-season ice climbing verses late season).
Ranges will be displayed in the index, but the easiest grade of the range will be used for ticks.
If you are inputting rock climbs please do not use ranges, because it will restrict members to recording only one tick for several separate climbs.
Ranges are used extensively in ice climbing, because level of difficulty of an ice climb is temporal (ie changes throughout the season).
Examples (use without quotes):
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| Alternation |
This is where a climb may have two grades (grade1 or grade2) because of:
- elimination of aid
- alternate starts
- height dependent
From the point of view of the index there is only one valid reason to use alternation, which is the elimination of aid. You should designate a separate climb to alternate starts. As for height dependent climbs, what about finger size dependent, strength dependent. But if you insist you can add a height dependent grade (we will just pick the easiest).
Where alternation is used, we will pick the 'purest' climb. If it is an aid climb verses a free climb we will pick the free climb. Within a rating system we will pick the easiest.
Examples (use without quotes):
- "5.10 A3 or 5.12a" (interpreted as a 5.12a)
- "17 or 27" (yuk, interpreted as a 17)
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| Grade Straddling |
This is where you think that the level of difficulty is somewhere between the two grades. In other words you believe that the level of granularity of the rating system you are using is not sufficient for the purpose of rating the climb or you just can't make up your mind.
Straddling may be specified using a for forward slash '/'. When we encounter this we simply use the second (harder) grade.
Examples (use without quotes):
- "5.10a/5.10b" (interpreted as a 5.10b)
- "5.10d/11a" (interpreted as 5.11a)
- "5.12c/d" (interpreted as 5.12d)
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| Alternate Formats |
A grade may have a standard format, however the community may accept alternate formats. For example 5.11+ may be used instead of 5.11d.
This is an internal mechanism for the site to understand the obvious, which is sometimes not so easy for computers.
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| Grade Modifiers |
Use of special characters to specify additional information about the climb. For example
- (S) at the end of a rating will flag the climb as a sport route
- TR will flag the climb as a top rope
- Solo will flag the climb as a solo
Note that an S without the parenthesis may be a protection rating specification. If you think we need others just contact us.
Examples (use without quotes):
- "5.12a (S)" (interpreted as a 5.12a sport route)
- "22 TR" (interpreted as a 22 first put up as a top rope)
- "5.5 solo" (interpreted as a 5.5 first put up as a solo)
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| Comments |
Use the character '#' to add comments to a grade. We will not try and interpret anything after a #.
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Table 9: Technical concepts for reading rating systems
Grade Banding
Grade Banding is the aggregation of several grades within grading system for free climbing and bouldering rating systems. They are created for thecrag.com's climbs database, essentially for convenient presentation of statistics. Their creation is based on statistical and behavioral observations we have made by looking at climbing ticks of members. Table 10 summaries what the bands are.
| Easy |
Easy from the point of view of a rock climber with rubber shoes, maybe not so easy for an average Joe with sandshoes.
You could probably top rope climbs in this range on your first days climbing, depending on how you go with the fear factor.
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| Intermediate |
Most of climbing is done in this range. In fact the most climbed grade is typically at the top of this range.
The grades are all fairly accessible with a little bit of experience. The predominant behavior is onsighting.
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| Advanced |
Still a lot of climbing is done in this range, however at the low end of this range the community's ability to climb grades starts to drop.
Many people can climb in this range with out training. Just getting to the top seems to be more of an issue, onsighting becomes less important.
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| Hard |
Hard, even for experienced climbers with tight shoes (ie not the British idea of hard). The community's ability to climb this range drops at a faster rate. Working a route and doing it clean dominates this range. Onsighting, no longer possible for many, is relatively less common.
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| Elite |
Your probably sponsored if you climb in this range. If you are not then make more noise.
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Table 10: Grade Bands for free climbing and bouldering
Table 11 provides a download of single page PDF which relates free climbing grades and bouldering grades to each band.
Table 11: Download Grade Band Conversions
Grade Conversions
Grade conversions is another ongoing project for the website. The site uses conversions extensively in the background. Examples include:
- Find climbs using a Quickfind search for grades in a one rating system, in an area where climbs have been rated using another rating system.
- Chart ticks from all rating systems using your preferred rating sytem.
- Get statistics about iconic climbs for a grade in a particular grading system even though no climbs in the area are rated using that grading system.
Conversions are intrinsically very difficult because the design of one rating system may differ from another. For example one system may take into account the danger of a climb, while the other does not. An example of this is the British Adjectival system and the British Technical system. This leads to considerable fuzziness for grade conversions. The site currently does not take into account this fuzziness.
There are a million and one conversion tables on the web, interestingly most of them different. We are a little reluctant to publish yet another conversion table. But if you really want to know what we think, use the Grade Bands PDF documents.
Help
We need your constructive criticism so that we can continuously improve our treatment of rating systems on the site.
BTW, our current implementation for rating systems is 3,000 lines of code.
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