HELP: Guidebook - Grades for snow, ice and mixed routes

Commitment grade

Snow, ice and mixed climbs, in the mountains or on ice-falls on lowland cliffs are given a commitment grade in order to give an indication of the level of danger an climber would be exposed to should a problem arise. It takes numerous criteria into account and is subjective. Among the main criteria are distance to civilization (hut, valley, etc...) and the possibility and difficulty of retreating as well as elevation...

I: The route is short and covered fast. It is possible to turn back at any moment. Rescuers can rapidly be alerted and can assist in all weather conditions.

II: The route is not so short (4h or so). It is possible to turn back at any moment. Rescuers can be alerted pretty quickly.

III: The route takes most of a day and may not be visible from civilisation. Retreat is possible but may be more complicated. In case of bad weather, rescuers may have difficulties in assisting climbers.

IV: The route takes a full day to complete. The route is long and is generally not visible from civilization. Retreat is tricky and a point of no return may be encountered. In case of bad weather, the route may be hazardous and rescuers might not be able to assist.

V: The route is very long and requires between 12 and 24h hours of effort. Access is difficult. Retreat is tricky from the start. turning back rapidly becomes impossible. Options for retreat are few and difficult. In case of bad weather or any other problem, alpinists will have to rely on themselves only.

VI: The route is long and may requires several days. Approach is also long and tricky, the route is totally isolated. Once committed, it is not possible to retreat or turn back. Retreat options are hard climbs in themselves. Climbers must be completely self-sufficient in the level of difficulty.

Difficulties on snow

The maximum steepness summarizes the difficulties in snow but the length of each section provides more useful information: 45° for 800m or 60° for 50m (written as 45°/800m).

Difficulties on ice

Ice climbing grades take into account several factors such as steepness, height of the section, configuration of the ice (curtain, cigar, free-standing, dagger or runnel/goulotte) and how technical the ice might be: fin, aerated or compact...

• Grade 3: Moderate overall steepness with several short walls of up to 75°. The ice is usually compact and plentiful.
• Grade 3+ : Same as grade 3 ice but with walls up to 80°.
• Grade 4 : The ice can have sections at 85° that are up to 10m hight. The ice is plentiful and compact.
• Grade 4+: Same as grade 4 but with the steeper section approaching vertical and longer, up to 15m.
• Grade 5 : The climb offers a vertical section of up to 20m and the ice can take special shapes such as cauliflowers etc. In lowland ice-falls, grade 5 pitches are usually cigars (hollow tubes leaning against the cliff).
• Grade 5+: A 30m vertical section. Climbing becomes pretty technical.
• Grade 6: Grade 6 pitches will have 40 to 50m high vertical sections. Climbing is technical and sustained. The ice can become very aerated and protection difficult.
• Grade 6+: The pitch is completely vertical and can even offer short overhangs, for example for going from one curtain to the next. The Dame du lac is a good example.
• Grade 7: Extreme ice climbs that are very steep with large overhangs. The techniques and moves used by the climber become very similar to those of rock climbers on steep rock routes.

Difficulties on mixed terrain

Mixed grades describe the difficulty of climbing rock or rock, snow and ice using crampons and ice-tools. It does not describe the difficulties of a route that has clearly separated sections of ice and rock for example.

The mixed climbing grade is very recent. It goes from M1 à M12 and can be summarized as follows:

• M1-M3: Easy climbing. Ice-tools are not necessary.
• M4: The climber will need to use dry-tooling techniques.
• M5: Some vertical sections.
• M6: Vertical with some slightly overhaning sections.
• M7: Overhanging: Difficult dry-tooling but on a short section (<10m).

Very rarely will one encounter difficulties above M7 in the mountains. Grades above M7 describe the steepness and length of the overhang and are very specific to dry-tooling routes.

Other grading systems exist (Scottish, russian, canadian etc.). You can find comparisons on the American Alpine Journal (available in pdf here).

The alpine grade

The alpine grade of a climb incorporates the highest difficulties likely to be encountered as well as how sustained these might be. It also takes into account the overall duration of a route or climb. This is explained in detailed in a specific article.

For alpine climbs, either on rock or snow/ice and mixed terrain, we follow the standard alpine grading system:

F = Facile (Easy):
A straight forward route, possibly including a glacier approach with simple scrambling. Snow or ice slopes will be at angles of less than 35° allowing the climber to walk up them.
PD- PD PD+ = Peu Difficile (Somewhat difficult):
Routes harder than grade F with more complex glacier routes, harder scrambling and objective dangers. Routes may also be longer and at altitude. Snow and ice slopes with angles of up 35 - 45° may be encountered.
AD- AD AD+ = Assez Difficile (Fairly difficult):
More significant slopes of snow and ice with angles of up to 40 - 55°. Rock climbing up to UIAA Grade III may also be encountered but unlikely to be sustained.
D- D D+ = Difficile (Difficult):
- A more serious undertaking with possibility of rock climbing at around UIAA Grade IV or V and snow and ice slopes at angles of up to 50 - 70°.
TD- TD TD+ = Tres Difficile (Very difficult):
Significant and sustained snow and ice slopes at angles of up to 65 - 80° are likely to be encountered. Hard rock climbing a possibility at UIAA Grades V or VI with some aid routes also a possibility. Routes at this grade are a serious undertaking with high levels of objective danger.
ED- ED ED+ = Extremement Difficile (Extremely difficult):
Extremely hard routes with vertical ice slopes likely and rock climbing at UIAA Grades VI to VIII. Aid pitches are a possibility with exceptional objective danger.
ED4 and beyond = Climbs harder than ED+ and other abominalities:
Self-explanatory!