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The routes in this book are given one
of two different grades depending
on whether they are a trad route or
a sport route. The table to the right
gives a rough comparison of the sport
and trad grade with other international
grading systems.
On trad routes the majority of the
gear is carried by the lead climber
and is hand-placed.
A sport route is defined as one where
all the major protection comes from
gear fixed in the rock (bolts).
British Trad Grade
1) Adjectival grade (Diff, VDiff,
Severe, Hard Severe (HS), Very
Severe (VS), Hard Very Severe
(HVS), E1, E2,.... to E10).
An overall picture of the route including
how well protected it is, how sustained
and a general indication of the level of
difficulty of the whole route.
2) Technical grade (4a, 4b, 4c,..... to 7b).
The difficulty of the hardest single
move, or short section.
Sport Grade
The sport grade is a measure of how
hard it is going to be to get up a certain
section of rock. It makes no attempt to
tell you how hard the hardest move is,
nor how scary a route is.
Colour Coding
The routes are all given a colour-
coded dot corresponding to a grade band. The colour represents a level that a climber
should be happy at, hence sport routes tend to be technically harder than the equivalent
coloured trad routes because the climber doesn't need to worry about the protection.
1
- Up to Severe / Up to 4+
Mostly these should be good for beginners and those wanting and easy life.
2
- HS to HVS / 5 to 6a+
General ticking routes for those with more experience.
3
- E1 to E3 / 6b to 7a
Routes for the experienced and keen climber. A grade band which includes many of the
Peak's great classics.
4
- E4 or 7a+ and above
The really hard stuff including some of the top sport routes in the country.
30
Grades, Topos And Symbols
Pe k Limest ne Climbing
Grades