British Trad Grade Table Adjective Grade Technical Grade Comment Moderate Difficult Very Difficult

Severe 4a Average 4b Safe 4a Bold/Sustained? Hard Severe 4b Average 4c Safe 4b Bold/Sustained? Very Severe 4c Average 5a Safe 4c Bold/Sustained? Hard Very Severe 5a Average 5b Safe 5a Bold/Sustained? E 1 5b Average 5c Safe From E2/3 upwards the tech grades start to spread out a bit compared to the adjective grades

Bold/Sustained?- a serious (hard to protect) and/or sustained route Average- an average difficulty route for the grade with adequate protection Safe- a route with a well-protected, and often short, crux section

How Trad Grades Work

The Adjective Grade

The first part of a trad grade gives you an overall holistic impression of the route, taking into account the rock quality, overall difficulty of the climbing, and how sustained and potentially serious it is. The grades start and ascend as follows: Moderate (M), Difficult (D), Very Difficult (VD), Severe (S), Hard Severe (HS), Very Severe (VS), Hard Very Severe (HVS) and Extreme Severe (E). The ‘E’ grades are then categorised with a number and ascend in difficulty as follows: E1, E2, E3, E4, and so on all the way up to (currently) E11.

The Technical Grade

The second part of the grade is the technical grade, which purely relates to the difficulty of the hardest move on the route- the crux. It worth noting that it doesn’t take into account how well protected the climbing is. The technical grades generally start at 4a, though some guidebooks start at 3c, and ascend as follows: 4a, 4b, 4c, 5a, 5b, 5c, 6a, 6b, 6c, 7a, 7b.

The Relationship between the Grades

When the two grades are combined (e.g. VS 4c) then the relationship between the two will tell you a lot about a route. A route of a given adjective grade will often have an average technical grade associated with it. These loosely run as follows: S 4a, HS 4b, VS 4c, HVS 5a, E1 5b, E2 5c and after E3 the system starts to fall down a bit- but once you’ve got there you’ll know how it works! Depending on the relationship between the grades you’ll be able to tell if the route is ‘Bold’, ‘Average’, or ‘Safe’ (see the definitions above). So a low adjective grade and a high technical grade (e.g. VS 5a) would imply that it’s a safe route with a short but well protected crux. Whereas a high adjective grade and a low technical grade (VS 4b) would imply its either a bold route- one with easier climbing but a serious undertaking due to it being harder to protect- or a sustained route with lots of 4bish climbing. It’s worth remembering that these are loose guidelines rather than hard and fast rules, and some routes out there will not fit with them. So take care, do your homework, and spend some time 'reading' your route to decide if it's any appropriate choice for you.