HELP: Topoguide - Description of the fields of outings

Activities

A document can be associated to one or more activities:

• skitouring : ski-touring and ski-mountaineering, snowboard-touring
• snowshoeing : snowshoeing
• snow, ice and mixed : alpinism with snow, ice or mixed climbing (in high mountain terrain)
• mountain climbing : alpine rock climbing (alpinism on rock), big-wall climbs in the mountains (bolted or not)
• rock climbing : bouldering, single or multi-pitch climbing (bolted or not) on lowland cliffs and crags
• ice climbing : lowland ice-falls, dry-tooling crags
• hiking : scrambling, hiking and trekking in the mountains (not in the lowlands), on or away from marked tracks and trails
• paragliding : descent with a paraglider
• mountain biking : mountain biking
• via ferrata : via ferrata

The difference between rock climbing and alpine rock climbing is mainly based on the altitude of the summit, not on the type of equipment. In Europe, the following rules apply:

• Altitude lower than 2100m: rock climbing
• Altitude between 2100m and 2400m: rock climbing or alpine rock climbing, but generally the former
• Altitude between 2400m and 2700m: rock climbing or alpine rock climbing, but generally the latter
• Altitude greater than 2700m: alpine rock climbing
• For altitudes between 2100m and 2700m, both activities can be selected in case of doubt.

Conditions levels

Allows to synthetically indicate the encountered conditions on each part of the route.

• Location / elevation / orientation : characteristics of the location: localization, elevation range, orientation, relief (dale, gully...), time of passing.
• Soft : depth of soft snow in cm (sinking of the pole).
• Total : total snow depth in cm. Leave this field empty if the value is unknown.
• Comment : quality of the snow, rough stratigraphic analysis, ski quality.

Participants

List of participants to the outing who are not registered users on the website.

Avalanche signs

Observations of danger signs, fresh avalanche trace, and natural avalanche or human-triggered avalanche the day of the outing.

Give your observations concerning the snowpack stability:

• Danger signs :

  • recent cornices
  • slab structure detected with ski pole
  • settling sounds ("chiii", "wouff" ou "bang")
  • shooting cracks

• Avalanches :

  • signs of recent avalanche activity (fracture lines, avalanche track, deposit)
  • natural avalanches or skier-triggered avalanches observed directly
  • settling sounds ("chiii", "wouff" ou "bang")
  • For each avalanche, indicate:
    • type of avalanche : dry or wet snow, point or slab release
    • location, elevation and approximate dimensions of the avalanche in the start zone and in the deposit zone

Conditions rating

Global judgment on the conditions encountered on the route during the outing. This criterion can be used to filter outings. The "Conditions" field allows to fill in additional information.

Snow elevation (down)

Elevation at which skis were taken off, on the way down. The "Conditions" field allows to fill in additional information.

Snow elevation (up)

Elevation at which skis were put on, on the way up. The "Conditions" field allows to fill in additional information.

Crowding

Crowding of the route during the outing.

The assessment is of course subjective, but a scale has been built to express crowding and the inconvenience caused by other people on the route.

• nobody : we were alone
• some people : there were other people but not more than our own group (for climbing, there was one other party)
• quite crowded : there were other people, more than our own group, but they caused no disturbance (for climbing, there were 2 or 3 other parties, well spaced-out on the route).
• lots of people : there were many other people, in far greater number than our own group, which caused some disturbance (for climbing, there were 4 or more parties, with queuing at the belays or rappels, etc)

Glacier rating

Condition of the glacier followed by the route: covered and easy to cross, delicate but travel is possible, open and difficult to cross or clearly impossible to cross. The "Conditions" field allows to fill in additional information.

Difficulties height difference

Combined elevation of the main difficulties of a route, for a route where approach is distinguished from the route itself. Do not mix up with the difficulties length: difficulties height is always lower.

Elevation loss

Cumulative negative elevation gain. This includes potential descents on the route to the summit.

Elevation gain

Minimum and maximum altitude reached on this route. If a hut is frequently associated to the route, minimum altitude depends on the route type:

• For a route passing near the hut on the descent, the hut’s altitude should be used.
• For a traverse with no other hut on the route, the altitude of the first hut should be used.
• For a traverse with other stages (e.g. a raid from hut to hut), the minimum altitude will be the lowest point of the route reached between huts.

Hiking rating

The Objective Danger scale evaluates the risk of natural snow avalanches, serac avalanches, natural rockfall, natural stalactite fall and fragility of the waterfall ice. The danger coming from human behavior is not in this Objective Danger scale except for the falling down of the waterfall ice triggered by the climber.Approach, technical section and return are evaluate in the risk scale.

• T1 : Footpath is well marked. Terrain is even and flat, or slightly sloped. There is no risk of falling.
  Requirements: None, you could also follow the itinerary in running shoes. Orientation is not a problem, usually even without a map.
• T2 : Parts of the path can lack markings. Terrain sometimes steep. Falls are not to be excluded.
  Requirements: Good footing. Hiking boots are recommended. Basic orientation know-how.
• T3 : Path is sometimes invisible. Hands might be needed for balance. Some stretches might be exposed to stone fall o cross moderately steep scree or rocky slopes where exposed stretches might be equipped with ropes or chains.
  Requirements: Very good footing. Good hiking boots. Average orientation capabilities. Basic experience in the mountains is advisable.
• T4 : At times there is no path. Hands might be needed for overcoming certain difficulties. Terrain is somewhat exposed with delicate grassy slopes or slopes mixing rocks, easy nevés or glacier which are not snow covered (no crevasse danger). Requirements: Familiarity with exposure. Rigid soled hiking boots. Ability to evaluate terrain and good orientation capabilities. Alpine experience is advisable. In case of bad weather, retreat could be complicated.
• T5 : There is often no path and some easy climbing. Terrain is exposed and demanding with steep slopes and rocks. Glaciers and nevé increase the risk of slipping and falling, and may need the use of crampons, but not usually of rope. Alpinism gear and technical may be used for a small part of the route. Requirements: Mountaineering boots. Confident evaluation of terrain and very good orientation capabilities. A good experience of the high mountains and basic use of ice axe an rope are required.

T6 grade was deleted. For routes that are graded over T5, you may use activities "rock-climbing"/"alpine rock climbing" and the associated grades.

See also the help about hiking grades.

Global ski rating

The global grade offers an overall estimation of the difficulties of an itinerary and how sustained they are, as well as altitude and the normal duration of the itinerary.

WARNING! The grade uses the same letter coding as the global alpine climbing grade but <u>they do not overlap</u>: A snow couloir can easily be graded D for skiing while it’s mountaineering grade would not exceed PD or AD.

• F : Easy.
• PD : Slightly difficult
• AD : Somewhat difficult.
• D : Difficult.
• TD : Very difficult
• ED : Extremely difficult.

The last grade is open: ED- or ED1, ED or ED2, ED+ or ED3, then ED4, ED5, ED6.

See also the help about grades for ski-touring and ski-mountaineering.

Mountain bike rating down

Technical grade for downhill mountain bike difficulties:

• V1: description_rating_MTB_V1
• V2: description_rating_MTB_V2
• V3: description_rating_MTB_V3
• V4: description_rating_MTB_V4
• V5: description_rating_MTB_V5

See also the help about mountain bike grades

Mountain bike rating up

Technical grade for uphill mountain bike difficulties:

• M1: description_rating_MTB_M1
• M2: description_rating_MTB_M2
• M3: description_rating_MTB_M3
• M4: description_rating_MTB_M4
• M5: description_rating_MTB_M5

See also the help about mountain bike grades

Ski rating

Technical grade for downhill skiing difficulties (toponeige).
This is not a punctual rating: it depends on the length and configuration of the difficulties rather than the hardest section only.
It includes 5 levels. Each level is divided into 3: 4.1 = 4-, 4.2 = 4, 4.3 = 4+. The 5th level is open-ended: 5.4, 5.5, 5.6..

• 1.x : Initiation. Slopes do not exceed 30° with no narrow sections. Vertical descent is less than 800m.
• 2.x : Few technical difficulties. Slopes do no exceed 35°.
• 3.x : Some technical sections. Long slopes at 35° with very short sections at 40-45°.
• 4.x : Couloir or steep skiing : slopes between 40 and 45° over more than 200m vertical.
• 5.x : Starts with slopes of 45°-50° during more than 300m vertical or above 50° for more than 100m vertical.

See also the help about grades for ski-touring and ski-mountaineering.

Snowshoe rating

Some technical sections. Long slopes at 35° with very short sections at 40-45°.

• R1 : Gentle slopes (< 20°), with frequent and/or specific markers on established, well-traveled routes.
• **R2 ** : Unmarked, less-traveled routes on gentle slopes (<20°). No switchbacks required to move uphill.
• R3 : Routes on steeper, more exposed slopes (<30°), which may require switchbacks in the trail.
• R4 : Similar as R3 but steeper (<40)°. On harder snowpacks it may be necessary to remove the snowshoes, or use snowshoe crampons.
• R5 : Routes on very steep slopes (short sections >40° or longer sections >35°), requiring crampons, ice axes, or rope to progress upward over obstacles (couloirs, thin or exposed ridges, cliffs, etc.). Long homogeneous slopes >35° without obstacles are considered R5 as well.

Warning! If most of the route is too difficult for snowshoes, or if snowshoeing is used for approach purposes, then the route should be graded as an alpine route (select the appropriate activity as well). If the route is borderline, both activities can be selected.

Via ferrata rating

Technical grade for via ferrata difficulties:

• K1: description_rating_via_ferrata_K1
• K2: description_rating_via_ferrata_K2
• K3: description_rating_via_ferrata_K3
• K4: description_rating_via_ferrata_K4
• K5: description_rating_via_ferrata_K5
• K6: description_rating_via_ferrata_K6

See also the help about via ferrata grades

Taken routes

Associate the route(s) you took on your outing:

• Enter a discriminatory part of the name of the waypoint (summit, crag ...), and/or of the name of the route.
  • It is also possible to enter the route's Id in the search box (that's the number appearing in the URL).
• A list of routes is shown: click on the route you wish to associate (you need to click, even if there is only one result).

If you have mistakenly associated a document, and submitted, you cannot dissociate it by yourself. You have to ask the guidebook moderators: insert a comment to this document and write "@Moderation_Topoguide" at the beginning of the message. This will alert moderators. Describe your problem, and post the comment.

Associated participants

Registered participants can be directly associated to the outing, thus allowing them to modify the outing, add pictures, and associate other registered participants.