UK Climbing Grades Comparison Chart
...and what the climbing grades mean.

The System of Climbing Grades - Climbing grades are an attempt to give a climber some idea of how difficult or easy a climb will be. There are many different systems which cause much confusion and debate. This is further complicated by the fact that the grading is subjective and not scientific. “Difficulty” also comes in many disguises, such as technically difficult, a measure of danger, the distance to climb and the amount of muscle power needed, to name but a few.

British traditional rock climbing grades have two parts; the first part (eg VS - Very Severe) tells how hard a route is overall, taking into account all its aspects; the second part (eg 4c – not specified for every route) tells how technically challenging the most difficult part is; both assume the climber has no pre-knowledge of the route. The higher up the scale the more subjective the climbing grades become (over E7 it is almost a guess as few E7’s are climbed with no pre-knowledge).

This system of climbing grades only works for traditional climbing where protection is placed in by the climber as he goes. It is therefore not appropriate for climbing walls with bolted on protection (and frequently with quickdraws in place as well). For climbing walls the French Sport Grading System (eg 6a – sometime written as f6a) is usually used. This was developed for rock climbing routes where bolted protection is left in place for future climbers and is sometimes referred to as “Redpoint” grades. It also assumes the climber has some prior knowledge of the route. This grading system also describes the whole route so it could be long and difficult or short and very challenging. It is the system that is used by many UK climbing walls.