Climbing in the Western Alps: Ratings

Climbing on a good grade 4 (Martinet Fall, Val Varaita; Ph.: R. Guastalli).

For comparison down below is Francois Damilano on a grade 7 (Cascade de la Massue, Fer a Cheval).

Each climb description comes with two separate ratings. The star rating is a purely subjective indication of general quality of the climb, and it has nothing to do with difficulty, even if continuity is aknowledged in this valuation. Other parameters that act on the star rating are the beauty of the location and the overall length of the climb. Keep in mind that all the climbs that got a detailed description are at least very nice. Occasionally if some rock climbing is involved, it is rated following the usual UIAA open scale (latin number followed by °).

Star rating:

• * A good climb. It is worth investing half a day to do it.
• ** A very good climb. It is worth investing an entire day and a few hours of driving.
• *** An exceptional climb. Catch a plane, grab your axes and do it.

The second rating refers to the difficulty of the climb itself. I use the rating system estabilished by the Canadian and French climbers. Each climb is described by two numerals: the first one, a roman number from I to VI describes the overall engagement of the climb, the second number (from 1 to 7) describes the techinal difficulty of the climb itself. So you can have an extremely difficult icicle at the side of the road rated I/6. In contrast you can have an easy climb losts on some very remote mountain rated VI/3. UK climbers beware! The technical rating is similar in aspect to the Scottish rating, but the associated difficulties are not the same. As a rough rule a Canadian/French grade 4 is comparable to a Scottish grade 5. So Point 5 Gully would be rated grade 4. You can find a full quotation of Abi Sole's original description of this rating system on an excellent page in Berkeley.

This is a brief description of the ratings. For simplicity I will only discuss the human grades.

Engagement rating:

• I A short climb nearby the road. The belay is sound and the descend is easy.

• II A couple of pitches nearby the road. Little objective dangers, descent with rappel or by simple down-climbing.

• III A climb of several pitches requiring a few hours of climbing, or an easier route but requiring a long approach. At this level is required a good knowledge of winter mountainering.

• IV A route of several pitches at high elevation or placed in a difficult to reach. Good alpinistic skills and experience is required. The descent is usually delicate. At this level of engagement the climb can end up late in the day or in the evening, so wear good clothing. Danger from falling rocks or avalanches is likely, so be always weary.

Keep always in mind that the technical difficulty of a climb depends directly from the quality of the ice. This is the dominating factor, and it can make a 70º section in thin and brittle ice look much harder, and being far more dangerous, than a vertical icicle in good ice. The ice steepness itself changes little during the year and from year to year, except that, ice that is vertical early in the season, usually becomes less steep as the fall builds up. When the slope is almost vertical even a few degrees make a big difference. The technical grade describes the hardest pitch of the route.

Technical rating:

• 1 Walking up ice with crampons.

• 2 A pitch of 60º-70º degres ice, reasonably consistent, with few short steep steps. Good protection and belays.

• 3 Sustained 70º-80º degres ice, usually thick and solid. May contain short, steep sections, but will have good resting places and offer good protection and belays.

• 4 Sustained 75º-85º degres ice, separated by good belays or a less steep pitch with significative vertical sections. Generally good quality ice, offering satisfactory protection.

• 5 A noticeably more strenuous pitch of good but steep (85º-90º) ice.

• 6 A very steep strenous pitch with few resting places and often an hanging belay. The ice may not be of top quality and protections are usually dubious. High level of technical skill and strength are required.