What's Up With Grading?
 
Maybe it's the rebellious spirit of the North American people, but we've created our very own grading system when a superior system lays just across the pond, in jolly old England. Let me expand on this point:

Britain

During studies, on a year abroad, I learned to climb in England. The people, the rock, and the climbing were a complete and total joy. In my time there, I came to learn all about the climbing scene; what was ok, and what was not. The entire island is a stronghold against bolting. In their view, if you haven't got the balls to get beyond a long stretch with no protection, go climb something you can handle! Persons from a generation other than yours will do it soon enough.

To help you out though, there is a great two tiered grading system to aid you in finding the climb that matches your psyche. Observe:

    
Tier One: Commitment
 
I think commitment is the best way to describe this part of the grade. Within this is included availability of protection, position of crux, consecutive hard moves, and possibly the length. It is based on an adjective system. North Americans have produced a poor cousin to this idea with their "Hollywood Ratings" of PG, R, and X. I think the main advantage here is the resolution of the grading.

 Mild Difficult  

 MD
    This would be where you take a beginner. Lots of holds, little difficulty.
 Difficult  

 D
    (okay, they named these in the days of hobnail boots and hemp ropes, swami
 Hard Difficult  

 HD
    style. I'm sure it was difficult then).
         
 Mild Very Difficult  

 MVD
    The first signs of commitment. Regular placements are available, but some of
 Very Difficult  

 VD
    them may require thought. (you're not the first person to notice that VD can also
 Hard Very Difficult  

 HVD
    be shorthand for "venereal disease")
         
 Mild Severe  

 MS
  
 Severe  

 S
     Runouts begin to occur, or shitty placements occur more often.
 Hard Severe  

 HS
    
         
 Mild Very Severe  

 MVS
    These grades range from large blank spots, to having the crux coincide
 Very Severe  

 VS
    with such blank spots. For most, this is where it begins to get scary.
 Hard Very Severe  

 HVS
    
         
 Extreme  

 E
    All bets are off. If there is gear, it's probably shit.
         

 Tier Two: Difficulty
 
Here is something we are all used to: a difficulty rating. If you can understand that Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin all measure the same thing, then this shouldn't be any trouble.

 British Difficulty Grade

  Yosemite Equivalent
     

 4b

 5.5--5.6
     

 4c

  5.7--5.8
     

 5a

  5.9--5.10a
     

 5b

  5.10b-c
     

 5c

  5.10c-5.11a
     

 6a

  5.11a-c
     

These two grades are presented together to give a commitment and difficulty rating. Pedestal Wall (Mild Severe, 4b) for example has a short runout at the very beginning, followed by solid placements. It's technical difficult is in a protected position, at a level where you could just barely identify it as the crux; "I think that was the crux right there".

If the crux was at the top of the runout, you might expect a grading of (Very Severe, 4b).

 Grading The Comparison: An Example
 

 Coming from Britain and trying to learn how to climb in North America was hell. I put myself in the most heinous situations because I didn't "get" the rating system. I learned the hard way, I guess, that grades are only as good as the system. I remember distinctly walking around with what was purported to be a guidebook and trying to identify the climbs and features. It was as if the author had only a fat black marker, some paper, and rounded stumps instead of hands.

The slick guides in the UK have professionally drawn pictures of the cliff, with all the necessary detail. I still prefer this to photos, which often contain too much information, are foreshortened, or have dark shadows where your route should be. Anyway...

Imagine you're laying in a heap at the bottom of a 5.10b that just destroyed you. You have climbed many other routes of this grade in the area, but this one destroyed you because the crux was at the top. Worse yet, you're destroyed and bleeding at the base of the climb because the crux was sort of unprotected, and you fell a little ways. The following three British grades have the same technical difficulty as a Yosemite 5.10b, but they are quite different from one another.
 VS 5b

 -
   Some runout, but there is likely reasonable protection at the crux.
 HVS 5b

 -
   Expect a runout near the crux, which will likely be in an awkward place.
 E2 5b

 -
  Your gear wouldn't hold a strong breeze, and the crux is likely followed by another one. Watch out!
Admittedly, most North American guidebooks go through some sort of effort to warn you or better describe the route, but some are just brutal in all respects: lousy topo, no description, inaccurate grading. Why not have it built into a universal grading system?

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