Climbing Grades

What are rock climbing grades / ratings?

Grades are a means of estimating the difficulty of a climb. The main purpose of grades is to determine if you should even bother going to an area (or if it will too hard/easy). There is no science involved when determining the grade of a climb. Grades are simply an opinion. Grades are traditionally assigned by the climber who completed the first ascent of the climb.

Sub-Grade (Yosemite Decimal System)

The sub-grade ranges from 1 to a theoretically infinite number (today the highest number is 15). The number is increased when a ‘harder’ climb is developed.

5.1-5.6 Easy

5.7-5.9 Intermediate

5.10-5.11 Difficult

5.12-5.13 Very Difficult

5.14-5.15 Expert

International Grading Systems

There are unique grading systems throughout the entire world. The following table compares them.