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Hiking Difficulty Scale

Let's examine the topic by starting with a necessary premise: establishing the degree of difficulty of a route in absolute terms is practically impossible. Each person perceives difficulties based on their own experiences, limits, sensations, and psychological reactions. Knowing oneself and gaining full awareness of all these elements is essential in order to make a correct assessment of the itinerary you are about to undertake.

But the need to classify is too strong, a real obsession that has haunted humankind ever since it began to ask questions about everything around it. Thus, even the world of hiking has ended up being packaged and divided into categories, fortunately more or less homogeneously at the international level. In Italy, CONAGAI and CAI have adopted a scale of difficulties that takes into account numerous parameters, primarily the elevation gain, the planimetric distance, and the signage of the route. The result is the definition of the following five classes of difficulty:

T = Tourist

Itinerary accessible to everyone, generally on wide dirt roads, mule tracks, or broad paths. The routes are generally not long, present no orientation problems, and do not require specific training other than that typical of a walk. They are located in the immediate vicinity of towns, tourist resorts, communication routes, and are of particular interest for easy walks, mostly of a cultural or tourist-recreational nature. Typically, the elevation gain remains below 300/400 meters and the distance does not exceed 10 km. On average, these itineraries are tackled at a speed that can vary from 200 to 250 meters of positive elevation gain per hour.

E = Hiking

Itinerary that takes place on paths with clear traces on various types of terrain (pastures, debris, scree...) and which largely corresponds to mule tracks built for agricultural, forestry, pastoral, or military purposes, or to access paths to refuges or connections between nearby valleys. The vast majority of routes fall into this category and are almost always well marked with signposts, painted trail markers on tree trunks or rocks, and cairns. However, it still requires orientation skills and a fair amount of physical training, even though the elevation gain remains between 500 and 1000 meters and the distance rarely exceeds 15 km. On average, they are tackled at a speed of 300–350 meters of positive elevation gain per hour.

EE = Experienced Hikers

These are generally marked itineraries but require the ability to move easily on rough and treacherous terrain, with equipped or rocky sections. They can be paths or even faint traces that cross steep and slippery slopes, scree, and short snowfields that can be crossed without the use of mountaineering equipment. Good physical preparation is essential, as well as having acquired more than basic technique and being able to rely on solid experience in mountain movement. It is also essential to have suitable equipment and gear. The elevation gain starts to become demanding, generally exceeding 1000 meters, and distances are covered even while maintaining a speed of 400 meters of positive elevation gain per hour.

EEA = Experienced Hikers with Equipment

This acronym refers to equipped paths or via ferratas that lead the hiker onto rock faces or along ridges and ledges, previously equipped with ropes and/or ladders without which progress would be real climbing. It requires adequate preparation and equipment such as a helmet, harness, slings, and via ferrata kit. It is necessary to know how to use the technical equipment safely and to be somewhat accustomed to exposure and mountaineering terrain.

EAI = Hiking in Snowy Environments

Itineraries in snowy environments that require the use of snowshoes, with clear and recognizable routes, easily accessible, often at the valley bottom, in non-challenging wooded areas or on open ridges. Generally, they do not have exposed sections and the slopes remain below 25°, with limited elevation gain and difficulty, thus ensuring safe passage.

Having acquired the list of acronyms and specifications, in order to achieve greater safety in choosing the excursion most appropriate to your abilities and for the best choice of equipment, it is advisable to supplement the conventional definitions with the information listed below:

v The average travel time, excluding stops;

v The total elevation gain (positive) and loss (negative);

v The quality of the trail surface;

v The presence and quality of signage;

v The maximum altitudes reached;

v The location along the route of refuges, bivouacs, springs, supplies, equipped passages, snowfields, fords, and tunnels;

v The morphology of the environment in which the route unfolds.

The boundary between the different classes of difficulty is often thin and blurred. In fact, poor maintenance of the trail may be enough to make a hiking route more suitable for experienced hikers, due to obstacles along the way and orientation problems.

Consulting a professional is the best way to make the most suitable choice and set out in complete safety.

Climbing difficulty scale

The most commonly used scales for climbing difficulty grades

All over the world, there are different systems used to establish the degrees of difficulty in rock climbing. Below are the most commonly used grading scales for assigning the difficulty levels of climbing routes, while in the table below, the different climbing grades are compared across the five most popular systems (countries).
The (indicative) level of the climber's abilities has also been included. The difficulties are listed in ascending order of difficulty.

Rope climbing

New supplementary scale of difficulty grades in climbing

French – The French system is an internationally recognized system for the classification of sport routes, that is, equipped with bolts.
UIAA – This system is used in Germany, in other areas of Eastern Europe, and in Italy for classic traditional routes.
YDS – Yosemite Decimal System is a classification system commonly used in the United States, starting with a 5. followed by another number (sub-grade). Grades from 1 to 4 refer to walks of increasing difficulty, up to 5, where you also start to use your hands (scrambling) on the rock.
GB – Great Britain. The British system is composed of two subclasses, an adjective grade and a technical grade. The adjective grade describes the overall difficulty of the climb, taking into account how strenuous the route is, the exposure, and the available protection. The adjective grades are as follows: Moderate (M), Very Difficult (VD), Hard Very Difficult (HVD), Mild Severe (MS), Severe (S), Hard Severe (HS), Mild Very Severe (MVS), Very Severe (VS), Hard Very Severe (HVS) and Extremely Severe. The Extremely Severe grade is then divided into 10 further sub-grades from E1 to E10. The numerical technical grade describes the hardest move (crux) encountered on the climb
AUS – Australian. The system used in Australia and New Zealand is perhaps the most logical of all. There are no letters or secondary grades, just a single number that gets higher as the climbs become more difficult.

By clicking on this link you can see additional grading systems for climbing difficulties used in other countries.

Below we can see an excerpt from the C.A.A.I. proposal for a new classification of mountaineering difficulties

The parameters to be established are two: “R” (risk) and “S” (distance between one bolt and the next – spacing).

The letter "R" is followed by a number from 1 to 6 that represents the level of danger (where 1 is the lowest risk and 6 the highest risk).
On bolted routes, the letter "S" is used, followed by a number from 1 to 6, and the rating refers only to the distance between the bolts, where 1 indicates closely spaced bolts and 6 very distant bolts.
For mixed routes, the abbreviation "RS" will be used.
For each grade of difficulty, a definition is established based on the distance and reliability of the protections.
The rating is the average of the most demanding sections of the route, in order to provide an overall picture of the protectability.

R = Risk

R1	Easily protectable with always solid, safe, and numerous protections. Limited mandatory sections. Potential fall length a few meters at most and a fall without consequences.
R2	Moderately protectable with always solid and safe but more sparse protections. Mandatory sections between protections. Potential fall length a few meters at most and a fall without consequences.
R3	Difficult to protect with protections not always good and spaced apart. Long mandatory sections. Potential fall length up to 7-8 meters at most and a fall with possible injury or a fall without fatal consequences.
R4	Difficult to protect with poor or unreliable and/or distant protections that would only hold a small fall. Long mandatory sections. Potential fall length up to 15 meters with the possibility of anchor failure and a fall with probable injury or a fall without fatal consequences and a fall up to 25–30 meters.
R5	Difficult to protect with poor, unreliable, and distant protections that would only hold a small fall. Long mandatory sections. Possibility of long falls and anchor failure that can result in a very long fall with probable injury or a fall without fatal consequences and a fall of over 40m.
R6	Unprotectable except for short and insignificant sections far from the key passages of the pitch. Any fall can have even fatal consequences and can cause the belay to come out.

S = Splitting

S1	Bolting as normally used in sport climbing. Distance never greater than 3/4 m between one bolt and the next. Potential fall length a few meters at most and a fall without consequences.
S2	Bolting spaced out and mandatory sections between protections. Potential fall length up to about ten meters at most and a fall without consequences.
S3	Bolting sometimes very far apart, almost always mandatory moves. Distance between bolts can be more than 5 meters. Long falls, but not necessarily dangerous.
S4	Bolting very far apart (over 7 meters), mandatory moves. A fall can cause injury or, if without consequences, a fall up to 20 meters.
S5	Bolting over 10 meters. Mandatory moves and sections where a fall can easily cause injury (falling onto ledges and terraces at ground level). Even falls without consequences are never less than 25m.
S6	Only partial bolting and placed far from key sections, very long stretches, even over 20m, where a fall can have even fatal consequences. Even falls without consequences are never less than 40 m.

Difficulty scales in mountaineering and ice/mixed

Scale of mountaineering difficulties (French scale):

F, F+ Easy (does not present particular difficulties, the use of a rope is required for safety but the route is trivial and borders on advanced hiking)
PD-, PD, PD+ Not very difficult (presents some mountaineering difficulties on rock up to grade II-III and/or snow/ice slopes up to 35-45°)
AD-, AD, AD+ Fairly difficult (mountaineering difficulties on rock around grade III+, IV and/or snow/ice slopes up to 45-55°)
D-, D, D+ Difficult (mountaineering difficulties on rock up to grade V and/or snow/ice slopes between 55-70°)
TD-, TD, TD+ Very difficult (strong mountaineering difficulties on rock up to grade VI and/or snow/ice slopes up to 80-85°)
ED-, ED, ED+ Extremely difficult (extreme mountaineering difficulties on rock grade VII and VIII, and/or sustained snow/ice slopes at 90°)
EX Exceptionally difficult
ABO Abominable

Icefalls and Dry Tooling

Difficulty scale

The difficulty of a climb is defined by distinguishing three different parameters:

Assessment of the objective difficulty of the climb: approach, objective dangers (avalanches, ...), length of the route, descent
Technical difficulty on ice. It was decided to eliminate the half grades -/+ to simplify the scale and encourage a more comprehensive reading of the difficulty
Possible mixed difficulty

Engagement

Technical difficulty on ice

Mixed difficulty / Dry Tooling (M1 .. M14)

The difficulty of mixed or dry tooling was introduced at the end of the years

the 90 to give a grade to the difficulties encountered on mixed sections. Climbs that feature sections of ice alternating with rocky stretches, which must always be tackled with ice axes and crampons, are evaluated with this scale

I	short climb, almost no approach, no objective dangers, easy descent
II	climb with short approach, easy descent or abseil, limited objective dangers
III	climb with long approach, limited objective dangers, descent by abseil or obvious but long
IV	long climb, with long approach, marked objective dangers, descent not very obvious or by abseil on threads
V	climb with long approach, marked objective dangers, complex and long descent, abseiling is not recommended

1	sections at 50°-60°. Experience in the use of ice axe and crampons is still necessary. Knowledge of belaying techniques.
2	sections at 60°-70°. The ice always offers good belay possibilities.
3	sections at 70°-80°, usually on good ice. Vertical sections of up to 4/5 meters alternating with sloping sections where you can take breaks.
4	sections at 75°-85°, with vertical sections up to about ten meters. Usually good belay possibilities.
5	A length that requires great experience and technique, also due to the quality of the ice (medusas and cauliflowers). Long vertical sections even up to about twenty meters.
6	A very demanding pitch with vertical sections of over 30 meters or with overhanging sections to connect sequences of stalactites. Ice often fragile and delicate. A grade 6 waterfall can also result from a sequence of several grade 5s.
7	Like grade 6 but with more extreme characteristics