How to Rate a Rock Climbing Pitch

The Yosemite Decimal System is the most widely used rating system for rock climbing pitches. Most climbers rate a climb based on how they feel after ascending, but here’s a more precise, reliable way to rate a climb.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Go out on the rocks.

2. Pay attention to the hardest part as you climb. What you do at the hardest part determines your rating.

3. Class one is not really a climb at all. It’s walking up a gentle slope on a well established trail.

4. Class two is steep hiking where you need your hands for balance.

5. Class three is scrambling on the rocks when you need hands as well as feet.

6. Class four is the first class that requires a belay. It’s about like climbing a perfectly vertical ladder; you’d probably survive if you fell, but you’d sustain serious injuries.

7. Class Five is where things get a little complicated. This is generally what people think of when they hear rock climbing, and it’s always vertical or near vertical.
   5.0 to 5.4 is where there are two hand- and footholds for the entire climb. The holds get smaller as you go from 5.0 to 5.4.
   5.5 to 5.6 also has two hand- and footholds for the entire climb, but you can only find them if you’re an experienced climber.
   For a 5.7, you may have one foothold and two handholds, or one handhold and two footholds for every move.
   For a 5.8, you may have one foothold and one handhold, or two footholds, or two handholds for every move. You may also have three of the four holds, but it’s very strenuous.
   5.9 is where you have only one reasonable hold.
   A 5.10 has no holds, so you rely on friction and God.
   A 5.11 is next to impossible. There’s nothing there so you pretend there is and hold on with both hands.
   A 5.12 is as smooth as glass. You only ascend this with the aid of equipment.
   A 5.13 is also as smooth as glass, but it’s overhanging.

Tips & Warnings

• Some climbs are not one rating the whole way up; in fact, most aren’t. There will be parts of a climb that are much easier or more difficult than the climb as a whole. The most difficult part is called the crux of the climb, and that is the rating for the entire pitch, regardless of how easy the rest of it was.
• Don’t overrate a climb; it’s tacky and you’ll only embarrass yourself.
• Don’t get in a fight over pitch ratings. Nobody actually agrees on the exact definitions of pitch ratings.

[mattbeowulf]

on 5/29/2008 Nice clarification on the pitch ratings... you are right; nobody agrees on them :-) but your designations remove a lot of ambiguity. "A 5.10 has no holds, so you rely on friction and God" lol i love it