Rock Climbing Grades Explained: From YDS to French to UIAA¶

Climbing grades are notoriously confusing — every country uses a different system, and converting between them requires a PhD in chaos. This guide demystifies the major grading systems (Yosemite Decimal, French Sport, UIAA, British Trad, Australian), explains what each grade actually feels like, and provides a comprehensive conversion table.

Introduction¶

Why So Many Systems?¶

Yosemite Decimal System (YDS)¶

Class 1 to Class 5 — Hiking to Technical¶

The 5.x Scale — What Each Grade Feels Like¶

French Sport Climbing Grades¶

1 to 9c — The World Standard for Sport¶

Subgrades — a, b, c and +¶

UIAA Scale¶

Roman Numerals I to XII¶

Usage in the Alps¶

British Trad Grades¶

Adjectival and Technical — The Two-Part System¶

VDiff, VS, HVS, E1-E10¶

Other Systems¶

Australian (Ewbank)¶

South African¶

Nordic¶

Bouldering Grades¶

V-Scale¶

Font Scale¶

Grade Conversion Table¶

All Systems Side by Side¶

Tips for Reading Grades Abroad¶