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There are a variety of different systems used around
the world to grade snow, ice and alpine climbs. On this
page we'll describe the two main systems that British climbers will come into contact with. The first is the Scottish winter grading system
used throughout the UK. The second is the Alpine grading system used in
the European Alps and increasingly in the greater ranges.
Scottish Winter Grading
The Scottish Winter Grading system was developed by
the SMC
and is a two tier system made up of an overall grade
and a technical grade. The overall grade describes the
overall difficulty of the climb taking into consideration
its length, angle of slope and the different climbing
techniques required. The technical grade as with the
UK rock climbing
system, describes the hardest section (crux) of
the route.
The following table outlines the different overall
grades available:
Overall Grade |
Description |
I |
Snow gullies of around 45 degrees or easy ridges.
A single ice axe is all that is usually required,
although cornices can present problems. These routes
are often used as descent routes by climbers coming
of other routes so beware descending traffic! |
II |
Steeper snow, with potential for short ice pitches.
Ridges at this grade would generally be easy scrambles
in the summer. A second tool should be carried and
cornices maybe difficult. Any difficulties encountered
will generally be short in duration. |
III |
Sustained gullies or ridges and steeper than grade
II routes. |
IV |
Routes start to become more technical in nature
at this grade, with snowed up easy rock routes being
climbed. Route will normally contain steep sections
of ice, either long sections of between 60-70 degrees
or short vertical steps. On mixed routes, more advanced
techniques such as torquing will generally be required. |
V |
Potential for sustained steep ice at 60-70 degrees.
Mixed routes could be up to VS summer routes and
may require the linking of multiple advanced moves. |
VI |
Long vertical sections of ice, sometimes poor
in quality and with little chance of rest. Mixed
routes will be as for grade V but harder. Mixed
routes will be at least VS summer routes. |
VII |
As VI but longer and harder. Could include overhanging
sections so strength, stamina and skill is required! |
VIII onwards |
As VII but even longer and even harder! |
Scottish winter routes are easily susceptible to changes
in the weather. To cater for this it is quite common
to find routes that are given a split grade, for example
II/III. This indicates the wide variation in the route
depending on conditions.
The following table outlines the different technical
grades available:
Technical Grade |
Description |
1 |
Easy angled ice with no particular problems |
2 |
Slight steeper than 1 but of good quality with
excellent protection available |
3 |
Ice up to around 60 degrees, generally of good
quality with good belays |
4 |
Ice up to 70 degrees, good ice and gear |
5 |
Ice up to 80 degrees, ice is generally not as
good as grade 4 and there may be few opportunities
for rest |
6 |
Vertical ice! Ice formations such as overlaps
may exist and protection will be limited and difficult
to place. |
7 onwards |
As 6 but longer, harder, poorer ice and less protection! |
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Alpine Grading
The Alpine system is popular in the European Alps and
increasingly in the greater ranges. As with the Scottish
system, routes are given an overall grade to describe
the difficulty of the route. In addition to this, the
UIAA rock
grading system is used to describe any rock pitches
on the route.
The overall grade takes into consideration all of
the following factors:
- the approach route, length and complexity
- the descent route, method, length and complexity
- the quality and availability of stances
- the quality of rock, snow and ice
- the level of objective danger
- the location of hardest section on the route
- the aspect of slope
- the exposure to weather
It should be noted that as with all grading systems
incorporating snow and ice, the alpine grade can be
significantly effected by the weather conditions, not
only during the climb but in the weeks before.
The following table outlines the different alpine grades
used:
Overall Grade |
Description |
F
Facile (Easy) |
A straight forward route, possibly describing
a glacier approach with simple scrambling. Any snow
or ice will be of an easy angle allowing the climber
to walk up it. |
PD
Peu difficile (not very hard) |
Harder than routes graded F, with more complex
glacier routes, harder scrambling and objective
dangers. Routes may also be longer and at altitude.
Snow and ice slopes of up 35-45 degrees may be encountered. |
AD
Assez difficile (fairly hard) |
More significant slopes of snow and ice will be
encountered up to 40-55 degrees. Rock climbing up
to grade III may also be encountered but are unlikely
to be sustained |
D
Difficile (hard) |
A more serious undertaking with possibility of
rock climbing at around grade IV & V and snow
and ice slopes of up 50-70 degrees. |
TD
Tres difficile (very hard) |
Significant and sustained snow and ice slopes
of up 65-80 degrees are likely encountered. Hard
rock climbing is also a possibility at grades V
- VI with some aid routes also a possibility. Routes
at this grade are a serious undertaking with high
levels of objective danger. |
ED
Extremement difficile (extremely hard) |
Extremely hard routes with vertical ice slopes
likely and rock climbing at VI to VIII. Aid pitches
are also possible with exceptional objective danger. |
ABO
Abominablement difficile (Abominable)
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Pretty self explanatory! |
It is now common for routes to be given a + or - within
the grade to cater for superior of inferior routes.
In addition to this, if you are reading an Alpine
Club guide, you may also find that some of the ice
pitches are described using the Scottish Technical Grade
(see above).
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Further Information
If you'd like more information about the different
winter grading systems or more information about winter
climbing in general, then I would recommend taking a
look at the following sites:
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