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97-737: Some Gritstone Climbs is a rock climbing guidebook written by British lawyer John Laycock (1887–1960). The book's subtitle, included uniquely on the frontispiece, is Some Shorter Climbs (in Derbyshire and Elsewhere) . It was published in Manchester in 1913 by the Refuge Printing Department (then an insurance company). Although focusing on rock climbing in the Peak District , it covers several adjacent cliffs outside this region, and despite its title, referring to

194-434: A 'Best Guidebook Award' for outstanding guidebooks. Grade (climbing) Many climbing routes have a grade that reflects the technical difficulty—and in some cases the risks and commitment level—of the route. The first ascensionist can suggest a grade, but it will be amended to reflect the consensus view of subsequent ascents. While many countries with a strong tradition of climbing developed grading systems,

291-526: A Scottish VIII, 8 using traditional climbing protection, would be similar in difficulty to a bolted sport climbing M8. The most important grading system in mountaineering is the International French Adjectival System (IFAS) (or French Alpine System, FAS), which is also effectively the "UIAA Scale of Overall Difficulty" (they are the same, only differing in labels), and which is used in all forms of alpine climbing around

388-454: A V6 crux ). In aid climbing (i.e. the opposite of free climbing), the most widely used system is the A-grade system (e.g. A3+), which was recalibrated in the 1990s as the "new wave" system from the legacy A-grade system. For "clean aid climbing" (i.e. aid climbing equipment is used but only where the equipment is temporary and not permanently hammered into the rock), the most common system

485-653: A broader "Scale of Global Assessment" for alpine climbing (the French Alpine System), and created the "UIAA Scale of Overall Difficulty" by assigning Roman numerals I–VI to the six adjectival levels (e.g. F, PD, AD, D, TD, and ED) of the French system. The UIAA also incorporated a "Scale of Difficulty in Aided Climbing" for aid routes with the levels: A1, A2, A3, A4, and (later) A5. In 1978, the UIAA added

582-420: A climb graded (VI, 8) denotes the hardest move is above the overall grade. This dual grade is needed as Scottish winter climbs use traditional climbing protection, placing greater strains on the climber. British climber Ian Parnell wrote in his guide to Scottish winter climbing that Scottish grades are almost two levels above M-grades, and thus a Scottish (VIII, 8) is similar to an M6; but that an onsight of

679-562: A dedication to 'S. W. Herford', referring to Siegfried Herford , a pioneer rock climber and close friend of Laycock. Herford went on to climb the famous Central Buttress route on Sca Fell and was killed at Ypres in 1916, shortly after the book's publication. The following climbing areas are covered in the book. Some are now known by other names, such as Stonnis Rocks (now more commonly known as Black Rocks ), or have ceased to be popular climbing venues, such as Coombes Rocks. All are still subject to modern access arrangements, clearly defined in

776-468: A dual-grading system – similar to the British E-grade – with a Roman numeral denoting the "overall" difficulty (e.g. technical challenge, length, and the level of boldness/physicality/stamina required). A second Arabic number grades the technical difficulty of the hardest move on the route. A climb graded (VI, 6) means the difficulty of the hardest move is standard for the overall grade, whereas

873-586: A full American YDS "X", or essentially a free solo route). Similarly, E3 6a implies a well-protected route, while E2 or E1 6a would imply easily available bomb-proof protection. The two main boulder grading systems are the French Font-grade and the American V-grade systems. Beyond the easiest grades, the two systems can be almost exactly aligned in comparison tables . For people who have little experience with outdoor climbing, it

970-522: A guidebook's grades are materially 'easier' than what they should be so that the listed grades underestimate the challenge and difficulty of the routes, it is known as 'sandbagging'. 'Sandbagging' is a source of debate amongst climbers, some consider it a source of unnecessary danger to visiting climbers, while others consider 'sandbagging' a reflection of local customs and historical grading that should be preserved in guidebook grades. Certain climbing areas are notable for systemic sandbagging (i.e. most of

1067-483: A more succinct style. Like the original book, these later guides acted as a 'snapshot' of their generation, and a basis for the next advances in rock climbing standards in the Peak District. Rock climbing guidebook Modern climbing guidebooks are increasingly available in digital format, and even as searchable smartphone apps with extensive beta and three-dimensional diagrams of routes. Extensive online 'opensource' climbing databases of routes now exist, however,

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1164-916: A region (e.g. the 512-page Lancashire Rock in Britain). The books may be published by national/regional mountaineering bodies (e.g. the British Mountaineering Council and Climbers' Club in Britain, the Club Alpino Italiano in Italy, or the Sierra Club in the US), by commercial publishers (e.g. Rockfax and Cicerone in Europe or Falcon Guides, Wolverine, and SuperTopo in the US), or self-published by local enthusiasts, which

1261-488: A regional guide. It was never republished and exists solely as the original 1913 1st edition. As noted by subsequent gritstone pioneers such as H. M. Kelly: "Laycock's little book Some Gritstone Climbs has had a much greater influence than its size and subject would indicate". It is regarded by climbing historians as a historical 'snapshot' of the pioneering explorations of 'the first gritstone tigers'. It also disseminated information, publicized recent new ascents, and allowed

1358-575: A route has no ice, and not even the "thin ice coating" common on Scottish Winter routes, it is increasingly common to use a D-grade to indicate dry-tooling . Some M-graded routes in "dry" areas (i.e. places like the American Rockies, but not Scotland), are more of a combination of a WI-graded ice route with a D-graded dry-tooling route. The most dominant ice climbing system is the WI (for "water ice") grading system. WI-grades broadly equate to

1455-471: A single longer bouldering route have been graded as if they were sport climbs. A notable example is the 2004 boulder route The Wheel of Life , which is graded V15  (8C) as a boulder route, but also f9a (5.14d) as a sport climbing route. The Font-grade (from the " Fontainebleau climbing area ") is one of the oldest boulder grading systems whose origins can be traced back to at least 1960 with Michel Libert's L'Abbatoir at Fontainebleau. The Font-scale

1552-604: A small number of dominant systems, such as the Yosemite Decimal System and the V-scale in North America, and the French sport system and Font-scale in Europe. An aspect of climbing guidebooks is the consistency of applying these dominant grading systems with that of other climbing areas and guidebooks so that visiting climbers to an area can accurately assess the scale of a route's challenge. Where

1649-404: A small number of grading systems have become internationally dominant for each type of climbing, which has contributed to the standardization of grades worldwide. Over the years, grades have consistently risen in all forms of climbing, helped by improvements in climbing technique and equipment . In free climbing (i.e. climbing rock routes with no aid), the most widely used grading systems are

1746-406: A wide range of locations and types of rock in their respective countries. As a climbing area develops, new editions of the guidebook for the area will be published to capture the details of new climbing routes, to update details for existing routes, and in particular to show any change in the consensus grade of existing climbing routes. The task of re-grading existing climbs, and ensuring that

1843-588: Is French 9c. While the French system became the dominant scale in Europe, the UIAA scale is still popular in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. The UIAA scale is also commonly found in the grading systems of alpine climbing routes, and particularly those that use the French Alpine System (e.g. PD, D, TD, ED), where the UIAA scale is often used to grade the free climbing component. The most complex grading system

1940-507: Is a typical technical grade for a standard route. For example, E4 is often associated with 6a, so E4 6a means the route has a normal level of risk and other related factors for its technical level of 6a. However, E5 6a would imply that the risk is higher (i.e. closer to an American YDS "R"), while E6 6a would imply a very significant risk (i.e. like the American YDS R/X), and a rare E7 6a would be effectively no protection (i.e.

2037-468: Is about 45m long, the first 20m are about 8b [French sport] climbing with a couple of really really good knee-bars. Then comes the crux boulder problem, 10 moves of 8C [French boulder]. And when I say 8C boulder problem, I really mean it. ... I reckon just linking 8C [French boulder] into 8B [French boulder] into 7C [French boulder] is a 9b+ [French] sport climb, I'm pretty sure about that. In addition, boulder routes that connected various boulder problems into

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2134-428: Is allowed, and other local customs (e.g. use if non-clean aid climbing techniques), and the legal position around access to the location. Guidebooks can locate a given route by verbal description (for example: " start in the third left-facing corner below the large, orange roof, left of the route "Something Interesting" ). Starting in the 1980s, a diagram style was developed, with detailed diagrams (or photographs) of

2231-511: Is also noted that boulder grades on indoor climbing walls tend to feel softer than the equivalent outdoor grades up until about V10 / Font 7C+ (since people climbing at that level generally have plenty of outdoor experience). As of September 2023, the hardest bouldering route in the world is Burden of Dreams in Lappnor in Finland, which is graded 9A (Font) and V17 (V-grade/Hueco), and was

2328-496: Is an "adjectival grade" that covers the overall difficulty of the route and takes into account the: "seriousness, sustainedness, technical difficulty, exposure, strenuousness, rock quality, and any other less tangible aspects which lend difficulty to a pitch". This adjectival grade uses the labels (starting from the easiest): M (moderate), D (difficult), VD (very difficult), HVD (hard very difficult), S (severe), HS (hard severe), VS (very severe), and HVS (hard very severe). After HVS,

2425-411: Is an open-ended scale that starts at 1 and increases in single-digit steps but uses a "+" for additional refinement between steps; from grade 6 it introduces a capitalized "A", "B" and "C" for further refinement, and was at 9A in 2023 with Burden of Dreams . The Font-scale has no regard to any risk and is purely focused on the technical difficulty of the movements. The Font-scale is distinguished from

2522-568: Is done as pure dry-tooling , which is ice climbing on bare rock with no ice section, the M-grade is usually replaced by a "D" grade prefix (but all other aspects of the two systems are identical). The most extreme dry-tooling route in 2023 is Parallel World (D16) in the "Tomorrow's World Cave" in the Dolomites . Mixed climbing in Scotland is known as "Scottish Winter climbing" and uses

2619-450: Is entitled to unqualified approbation: he has not sinned the sin of understating difficulties". The same review critiqued the selection of crags and climbs, some of the latter being described as "merely fancy gymnastics". Some Gritstone Climbs has been widely cited in subsequent literature relating to climbing and the Peak District. It was first referenced in its year of publication by a Baddeley Guide to The Peak District of Derbyshire and

2716-593: Is how climbing areas get started. Regardless of publication, in many cases, the authorship of the climbing guidebook will explicitly (i.e. named on the front cover), or implicitly (listed as contributors/advisors), include well-regarded climbers who are associated with the climbing area in question. There are however notable climbing guidebook authors who are not specifically associated with an area, but whose authorship and climbing insights are equally well-regarded, examples being Britain's Ken Wilson and America's Steve Roper , who wrote many notable climbing guidebooks for

2813-489: Is identical to the "UIAA Scale of Overall Difficulty" (e.g. I–VI)–is used to grade the "overall" risk and difficulty of mountain routes (with the gradient of the snow/ice fields) (e.g. the 1938 Heckmair Route on the Eiger is graded: ED2 (IFAS), VI− (UIAA), A0 (A-grade), WI4 (WI-grade), 60° slope). The related "commitment grade" systems include the notable American National Climbing Classification System (e.g. I–VI). In 1894,

2910-548: Is in the Hanshelleren Cave , in Flatanger Municipality , Norway; the severely overhanging Silence is graded 9c (French), 5.15d (American YDS), and XII+ (UIAA), and is the first-ever climb to have those grades in history. The French numerical system for free climbing was developed from the UIAA scale in the 1980s but uses Arabic numbers instead of the UIAA scale's Roman numerals, and also uses

3007-589: Is less common to find traditional climbing routes graded by the French system, and thus it is also called the French sport grade . To avoid confusion between French grades and the British E-grades, a lowercase "f" (for French) is used as a prefix (e.g. f6a+); this should not be confused with the use of the capitalized "F" or "fb" prefix in Font boulder grades . The American YDS (or 'Yosemite Decimal System')

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3104-470: Is not normally overhanging, aside from Helmecken Falls routes). M-grades do not take into account the "danger" of the route (i.e. how good is the protection in the event of a fall) as they are mostly pre-bolted routes; they, therefore, focus on the technical and physical challenge of the route, and is thus more akin to the French and American free climbing rock grades, although as with the American system,

3201-422: Is significant for its early date, its rarity, and for the historical perspective on both the format and the sport. It was one of the earliest British climbing guides to use a system of detailed Grade (climbing) for specific climbs. It included the following different classifications for climbs: Moderate; Moderately Difficult; Difficult; Decidedly Difficult; Distinctly Difficult; Very Difficult; Severe. This extended

3298-404: Is that his publisher would not print the book without some kind of rating of his 900 routes. The V-scale is an open-ended scale that starts at V0 (although a slightly easier "VB" has been used for beginners), and increases in single-digit steps (i.e. V5, V6, V7), and was at V17 in 2023 with Burden of Dreams . The V-scale doesn't consider risk and is purely focused on the technical difficulty of

3395-618: Is the British E-grade system (or British trad grade ), which uses two separate open-ended grades for each route. This structure is particularly adapted to traditional climbing routes (which are more common in Britain), but it is still considered complex and unlike the American YDS system (which has the R/X labels for traditional climbing routes), never came into wider use for traditional climbing outside of Britain. Within Britain,

3492-518: Is the C-system (e.g. C3+). Aid climbing grades take time to stabilize as successive repeats of aid climbing routes can materially reduce the grade. In ice climbing , the most widely used grading system is the WI ("water ice") system (e.g. WI6) and the identical AI ("alpine ice") system (e.g. AI6). The related sport of mixed climbing (i.e. ice and dry-tool climbing) uses the M-grade system (e.g. M8), with other notable mixed grading systems including

3589-467: Is used instead for "alpine ice", which is year-round and usually firmer, more stable, making AI-grade routes slightly easier than WI routes. In 2010, ice climbers began to put up new ice routes at Helmcken Falls in Canada that had unique characteristics. Unlike the sheerest WI7 ice routes, these routes were significantly overhanging like extreme M-graded routes. This was due to the intense spray from

3686-431: Is used. This confusion is amplified by the tendency for modern sport-climbers to describe the crux moves on their routes in terms of their bouldering grades – their routes are effectively a series of connected boulder problems. For example, here is Adam Ondra describing his 2017 redpoint of Silence , the first-ever free climb in the world to carry a grade of 9c (French), 5.15d (American), XII+ (UIAA): The climb

3783-489: The French sport grade by using capitalized letters (i.e. Font 6C+ vs. f6c+), and also the use of "Fb" or capital "F" (for "Font") as a prefix. The distinction is important as the scales are very different (i.e. Fb6C+ is closer to f7c). The V-grade (short for "Vermin" or "Verm", and also known as the "Hueco" scale) was first published in 1991 by American bouldering pioneer John "Verm" Sherman in his climbing guidebook , Hueco Tanks Climbing and Bouldering Guide . Legend

3880-474: The French sport grade is more popular for British bolted sport climbing routes. As of April 2024, the highest consensus E-grade on a traditional route in Britain was on Lexicon (E11 7a) and on Rhapsody (E11 7a), which are considered equivalent to American 5.14 R or French f8b+/f8c+. Outside of Britain, the highest consensus E-grade was Bon Voyage in Annot, France at E12, or 5.14d / 9a. The first grade

3977-621: The Millstone Grit (or gritstone ) geology of many of the cliffs, it includes several cliffs consisting of other rock types, including mountain limestone and red sandstone . It is regarded as the first-ever published rock climbing guidebook for the Peak District National Park . Some Gritstone Climbs is one of the earliest guidebooks to rock climbing in the United Kingdom: Climbing in

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4074-399: The crux and any special techniques needed (i.e. bridging , laybacking , or the need for aid climbing )—when the information on 'how to climb' a route is very detailed it is collectively known as beta , and can affect the style of the ascent (i.e. onsighting ). The guidebook may also include the type of equipment needed and particularly for climbing protection . In a definitive guide,

4171-498: The first-ever boulder to reach those grades. The Font-grade system is easily confused with the French sport grade and the British E-grade systems as they use similar symbols, however, boulder grades are very different from free climbing grades and they start at much harder technical levels. For example, the entry-level Font-grade 4 / V-grade V0 is equivalent to the free climbing grades of 6a to 6a+ (French), VI to VII− (UIAA), and 5.9 to 5.10c (American YDS), depending on what table

4268-482: The " R/X " suffix is used for danger. In his 1996 book, Ice World , mixed climbing pioneer Jeff Lowe ranked his new M-grades to the level of physical exertion needed on a free rock climb; for example, Lowe estimated that M8 was equivalent to 5.12 (American YDS). Other authors have tried to align M-grades with rock climbing grades, and now equate M8 to 5.10/5.11, however, there is some variation and no consensus that such comparisons are valid. When mixed climbing

4365-570: The "A" suffix is replaced by a "C" to denote "clean climbing". In Yosemite, an "F" suffix is placed after the "C" if fixed gear (e.g. bolts) is required to go clean (or hammerless). The most dominant system internationally for ice climbing is the WI-grade, while the most dominant international system for mixed climbing is the M-grade (with the Scottish Winter grade also notable given the unique nature of Scottish mixed routes). Where

4462-459: The "PG-13" is usually omitted as it is considered the default). A suffix of " R " is added where protection is inadequate and any fall could risk serious injury, and " X " for routes with little or no protection and where any fall could be very long and potentially fatal (i.e. also known as a " chop route "). American big wall climbing routes will often include the NCCS grade (Levels I–VII) with

4559-438: The "seventh grade" was added—though climbers had been climbing at that level for years—and by 1985 it was formally made into an open-ended scale that went beyond Grade VII. The UIAA scale is closely aligned with the French system up to Grade V+, which is French grade 6a, but thereafter begins to diverge, although the two can be reasonably aligned in comparison tables . The UIAA scale was at XII+ in 2023 with Silence , which

4656-472: The 1990s as "new-wave" grades – dominated aid grading. The two main free climbing grading systems (which include the two main free climbing disciplines of sport climbing and traditional climbing ) are the "French numerical system" and the "American YDS system". The "UIAA scale" is still popular in Germany and across parts of Central Europe. Many countries with a history of free climbing have also developed their own free climbing grading systems including

4753-470: The American YDS system, an " R/X " suffix is sometimes used alongside the WI-grade to grade additional risks. The WI-grade is for "hard ice"; steep snow slopes, which are encountered frequently on alpine climbing routes, are not explicitly graded but instead, their steepest angle (approximate figure or a range) is quoted (e.g. 60–70 degree slope). WI-grade is for "seasonal" hard ice; an AI prefix

4850-592: The American system, French system, and latterly the "UIAA scale" became popular internationally (with the American and French dominating sport climbing). The UIAA "Scale of Overall Assessment" dropped its six Roman numbers in favor of the six adjectival grades of the French Alpine System (to avoid confusion with the "UIAA scale") and dominated alpine climbing grading, while the UIAA "Scale of Difficulty in Aided Climbing" – amended and expanded in Yosemite in

4947-478: The Austrian mountaineer Fritz Benesch  [ de ] introduced the first known climbing grading system, which he introduced to rock climbing. The "Benesch scale" had seven levels of difficulty, with level VII the easiest and level I the hardest; as more difficult climbs were made, the grades of level 0 and level 00 were added. In 1923, German mountaineer Willo Welzenbach  [ de ] compressed

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5044-646: The British E-grade system (e.g. E4 6a). In bouldering (i.e. rock climbing on short routes), the most widely used systems are the American V-scale (or "Hueco") system (e.g. V14), and the French "Font" system (e.g. 8C+). The Font system often attaches an "F" prefix to further distinguish it from French sport climbing grades, which itself uses an "f" prefix (e.g. F8C+ vs. f8c+). It is increasingly common for sport climbing rock routes to describe their hardest technical movements in terms of their boulder grade (e.g. an f7a sport climbing route being described as having

5141-490: The British E-grade system and the Australia/New Zealand "Ewbank" system. The evolution of grade milestones in traditional climbing, and latterly sport climbing (as it took over from traditional climbing as the main focus of the leading free climbers), is an important part of the history of rock climbing . As of September 2023, the hardest free climb in the world is the sport climbing route Silence which

5238-649: The British Isles by Walter Parry Haskett Smith was published in 1894 and the climbing guide The Climbs on Lliwedd , by J. M. A. Thompson and A. W. Andrew, in 1909. The book is 16 cm × 12 cm, contains 14 leaves of plates, and has 116 pages. It has 11 initial pages (including the frontispiece and preface), and 116 pages of content. It is in hardback format, with a dark green cover. The book has three short, single-page appendices: Appendix I (Limestone Climbs), Appendix II (a short list of 'severe climbs'), and Appendix III (a brief bibliography). The book contains

5335-658: The British Mountaineering Council, who have been compiling an updated Bibliography of British and Irish Guidebooks (from 1894) . The library of the American Alpine Club is also noted for its collection of climbing guidebooks. A noted online database of information on climbing routes—including verified ascensionists—is the late Elizabeth Hawley 's, The Himalayan Database . The Banff Mountain Book Festival has at times given

5432-569: The Buxton Boss, an excrescence of gritstone on the side of Coombs Moss, not far from Buxton. If this be the boulder I have in my mind, it is also known as the Buckstone and Robin Hood's Stone and, in addition to presenting several attractive little problems, possesses a peculiar historic interest all its own." Some Gritstone Climbs is regarded as "the first pocket climbing guidebook". The book

5529-430: The French grades, it does not also use the "+" refinement, and simply goes: 4a, 4b, 4c, 5a, 5b, 5c, 6a, ... etc.,). British climbers use the prefix "f" to distinguish French sport-grades from British technical grades, which is important as they are not equivalent (e.g. British 5c is f6b+). The secret to understanding the British E-grade system is the relationship between the two grades. For each adjectival grade there

5626-427: The French numerical or sport system (e.g. f7c+), the American YDS system (e.g. 5.13a), and latterly the UIAA scale (e.g. IX+). These systems are focused on technical difficulty, which is the main focus of the lower-risk activity of sport climbing . The American system adds an R/X suffix to traditional climbing routes to reflect the additional risks of climbing protection . Notable traditional climbing systems include

5723-582: The Neighbourhood as "A recent work gives an excellent synopsis of climbing in the district on millstone' grit – viz.: "Some Gritstone Climbs in Derbyshire and Elsewhere." By John Laycock. 3s. 9d. net. Refuge Press, Manchester." It was also referenced in the club documents of several climbing clubs at the time, including by the Yorkshire Ramblers' Club in 1913, who stated: "In his little volume, Some Gritstone Climbs , Mr. J. Laycock speaks of

5820-577: The Peak District and was jointly published by The Rucksack Club , Gritstone Club, and the Yorkshire Ramblers' Club . This in turn started the trend for increasingly regular regional climbing guides, both in the Peak District and elsewhere in the UK. This led, after the Second World War , to the first series of guidebooks to cover all the gritstone crags in the Peak; a publication pattern that continues to

5917-455: The Scottish Winter system (e.g. Grade VII). Pure dry-tooling routes (i.e. ice tools with no ice) use the D-grade prefix (e.g. D8 instead of M8). In mountaineering and alpine climbing , the greater complexity of routes requires several grades to reflect the difficulties of the various rock, ice, and mixed climbing challenges. The International French Adjectival System (IFAS, e.g.TD+)–which

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6014-541: The UIAA Roman numerals with Arabic numerals, and where French 6a equaled UIAA VI+. The two scales were summarised as "Plaisir Grades" and aligned in a UIAA table where French grades 1–6a aligned with "UIAA scale" grades I–VI+; beyond that level, the two systems diverged and for example, French 7a+ equates to UIAA grade VIII and French 9a equates to UIAA grade XI. In America, a version of the Welzenbach Scale

6111-459: The VII (seventh grade) to its "UIAA scale", implying that the scale was open-ended, a concept formally adopted in 1985. By the 1980s, French guides had customized the "UIAA scale" beyond V+ with the letters "a", "b", and c" (e.g. V+, VIa, VIb, etc.). At the end of the 1980s, French climbing guidebook author Francois Labande  [ fr ] published the "French numerical scale", which replaced

6208-631: The YDS grade (e.g. the Salathé Wall at 5.13b VI). The UIAA scale (or UIAA Scale of Difficulty) for free climbing was developed from the original "Welzenbach scale" in 1967 and uses the Roman numerals of that scale with "+" and "−" symbols for refinement between numerals after Grade III (i.e. III, IV−, IV, IV+, V−, V, V+ etc.,). Initially, the UIAA scale was closed-ended and went from Grade I (easiest) up to Grade VI (hardest), where it stopped. In 1978,

6305-559: The Yorkshire Ramblers Club Journal in 1913, in which it was noted that the book was "liable to be dismissed by a percentage of mountaineers as a Baby Book on Toy Climbs". It was also stated that: "Mr. Laycock has modelled this unpretentious little volume somewhat on the lines of "Climbs on Lliwedd" and "Climbing in the Ogwen District," and is, I think, to be congratulated on his effort. In one respect he

6402-434: The benefit of continuous updates, as well as rapid searching, and in some cases, GPS navigation and three dimensional diagrams. There are now several major online climbing route databases including 'theCrag.com' and ' MountainProject.com ', however, climbing authors note that the need for 'physical guidebooks' that can be carried by climbers to (often) remote crags remains (many have physical and online editions). Some of

6499-586: The crags described, including those on Kinder Scout , were on private property and the club was concerned about trespass law. The club committee, influenced by the solicitor Charles Pickstone, withdrew its support. Laycock resigned from the club, of which he was a founder member, in disgust. The book was finally published by the Refuge Printing Department at Strangeways (a branch of the Manchester and Salford Boys' and Girls' Refuges and Homes ), with financial support from four friends. A very early review appeared in

6596-474: The crags featured in the book, such as Blackstone Edge, and it has been regarded as the first 'modern' approach to climbing guides. Some cliffs, such as Laddow Rocks, had already been documented in private climbing club publications, and in the 1903 book Moors, Crags & Caves of the High Peak and the Neighbourhood by Ernest A. Baker, but Some Gritstone Climbs was the first to collate cliffs and climbs into

6693-573: The earliest dedicated climbing guidebooks can be dated back to the mid-19th century and the Golden Age of Alpinism , with the British Alpine Club 's Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers in 1859 being arguably being one of the earliest published guidebooks dedicated to climbing. Climbing guidebooks became an important part of developing the culture of climbing, and the promotion of the activity as a sport, and they became increasingly common by

6790-483: The easiest grades, the two systems can be almost exactly aligned in comparison tables . The French system is an open-ended scale that was at 9c in 2023 with Silence . The system is only focused on the technical demands of the hardest movement on the route. Unlike the American YDS system, there is no allowance for any risks in the route, and thus the French system is more closely aligned with sport climbing (i.e. where pre-bolted protection removes some risk). It

6887-603: The grades in their guidebooks understate the true difficulty of their routes), with examples in North America being Yosemite , Shawangunk Ridge (the "Gunks"), and Eldorado Canyon . Some guidebooks will try to aleart the reader on sandbagged routes (e.g. "often considered sandbagged at the grade"), or with more subtle wordings to avoid upsetting local climbers such as "stiff at the grade". Guidebooks may be compilations of selected popular or well-regarded routes (e.g. Fifty Classic Climbs of North America or Hard Rock ), or exhaustive compilations of all known climbing routes in

6984-425: The guidebook accurately and fairly reflects the assessments of respected climbers in the area, can be lengthy—and can lead to many heated debates amongst climbers, which need to be 'consensus-driven'. Between editions, 'new routes updates' are often held online. In recent years, many climbing guidebooks have been published in digital format, often for display in smartphone applications as apps. This medium offers

7081-407: The impact of repeated ascents that subsequent aid climbing teams make to a route. It is not uncommon for a new A5 route in Yosemite to become a "beaten-out A3+ route" due to the effect of repeated hammering of cracks (which widens them), and to the build-up of permanent in-situ aid climbing equipment. The original "UIAA Scale of Difficulty in Aided Climbing" system went from A0 to A5 and focused on

7178-416: The label switches to E (extreme), but then rises as E1, E2, E3, E4, ... etc., in an open-ended scale. The second grade is a "technical grade" that focuses on the hardest technical movement on the route. This technical grade has a very similar format to the French sport grade , being an Arabic number that starts at 4 and uses the additional "a", "b", and "c" symbols for refinement between the numbers (unlike

7275-442: The letters "a", "b" and "c" and the "+" symbol to give additional refinement between the numbers (whereas the UIAA uses only the "−" and "+" symbols). The French system starts at 1 and closely aligns with the UIAA scale up to UIAA V+, which is French grade 6a, but thereafter begins to diverge. The French grading system is the dominant system in Europe, and it and the American YDS system are the most dominant systems worldwide; beyond

7372-488: The level of difficulties can vary significantly on long routes, and thus the use of aid in places is still common (e.g. The Nose on El Capitan is graded '5.9 (American) C2 (aid)' with aid, but an extremely difficult '5.14a (American)' without any aid; guidebooks will mark such routes as '5.9 & C2 (5.14a)', with the no-aid/fully free option in brackets. The grade of an aid climbing route can change materially over time due to improvements in aid equipment but also due to

7469-405: The mixed climbing M-grades from WI1 up to WI6/WI7, but after M6/M7, mixed climbs become overhanging, which ice does not. WI-grades try to take some account of the difficulty of placing protection on the route but, as with M-grades, are more focused on the technical and physical challenge of the route, and are thus more akin to the French and American YDS free climbing systems, although as with

7566-592: The movements. The V-scale is the dominant scale in North America, and it and the Font scale are the most dominant systems worldwide; beyond the easiest grades, the two systems can be almost exactly aligned in comparison tables . The main aid climbing systems are the A-grade (usually the "new wave" version) and the C-grade systems. While aid climbing is less popular as a standalone pursuit, aid techniques remain important in big wall climbing and alpine climbing, where

7663-488: The nascent Yosemite Decimal System as the dominant grading system in North America. Similarly, John Sherman 's 1991 bouldering guidebook Hueco Tanks Climbing and Bouldering Guide introduced the V-scale to American bouldering, where it became the dominant system. Climbing guidebooks that are considered historically notable include: Several mountaineering organizations maintain extensive libraries and collections of current and historical climbing guidebooks, including

7760-476: The next generation of climbers to develop newer and harder routes. For example, it was in the hands of Piggot, Wood, and Wilding in 1920 when they made the first ascents of Lean Man's Climb, Sand Buttress, and Lone Tree Gully at Black Rocks. A supplement to Laycock's book was published in 1923 as Recent Developments on Gritstone , edited by Fergus Graham. This was in response to new explorations in Yorkshire and

7857-428: The number and quality of "bodyweight placements" (i.e. can only take static bodyweight and not a falling bodyweight) versus "bombproof placements" on a given pitch. The grades were less concerned with the physical demands of the route (although there was some mention), and risk was only introduced later with A5. In the 1990s, Yosemite aid climbers created what they called a "new wave" aid grading system that expanded

7954-485: The numerical component of the American YDS system is focused on the hardest move on the route. In 1980, Jim Erickson introduced an additional rating for traditional climbing routes where the level and quality of the climbing protection is assessed. A suffix of "PG-13" (using the American cinema classification system ) denotes the climbing protection is adequate, and if properly placed a fall will be short (in practice,

8051-480: The present day. This series commenced in 1948 with The Climbs on Gritstone Series, Volume 1: The Laddow Area , edited by Harry Parker. Subsequent volumes were published for The Sheffield Area , 1951 (Volume 2); Kinder, Roaches and Northern Areas , 1951 (Volume 3); Further Developments in the Peak District , 1957 (Volume 4); West Yorkshire Area (Volume 5). These and other guidebooks used the format, grading system, and approach of Laycock's original Peak guide, but with

8148-442: The publication of 'physical guidebooks' for technical climbing routes is still ongoing given the unique demands of climbing (with many having both a physical and online edition). Climbing route guidebooks began to proliferate at the turn of the 20th century in Europe and became an important chronicle of the history and stories of climbing areas and routes (e.g. who made the first free ascent ) and played an important part in promoting

8245-479: The publication of a guidebook due to differences in opinion on local climbing ethics, and/or the prospect of attracting increased visitors (e.g. at Pike's Peak in Colorado). Certain guidebooks had a significant impact on the standardization of climbing and the adoption of grading systems in particular. For example, Steve Roper's 1964 big wall climbing guidebook, A Climber's Guide to Yosemite Valley , cemented

8342-408: The range of the original UIAA system to A6 (they had already re-defined parts of the UIAA system), and introduced an intermediate "+" grade from A2 onwards for specific tricky or strenuous sections, and gave more detailed definitions at each grading level than the original A-grades. When the original or the "new wave" aid climbs can be ascended without the use of a hammer (for pitons or copperheads),

8439-466: The relevant current guidebooks. Some of the major climbing venues in the Peak District were omitted, such as Stanage Edge and Wharncliff Crag, due to access restrictions at the time. The manuscript was finished in 1911, but not published for another two years. The book was originally sold for 3 shillings and 6 pence. The Rucksack Club was opposed to the publication of the book as a number of

8536-462: The route's history (e.g. credits for first free ascents ) would also be included. In 2022, two Austrian climbers published Klimafreundlich Klettern (or Sustainable Climbing ), a guidebook on the Tyrol whose climbing routes could be accessed via public transport or bicycle, thus reducing the carbon footprint of the climbers. The grading of modern climbing routes is increasingly concentrated around

8633-405: The routes with the key obstacles and challenges encountered explicitly marked/overlaid, which came to be called " topos " (see image opposite). Modern guidebooks include a range of standard details for each specific route, including the length of a route and its climbing grade . The description can also include varying amounts of information about how to climb the route, such as the location of

8730-534: The scale and reversed the order so level 00 became level IV–V, and it became popular in the Alps. In 1967, the "Welzenbach scale" formally became the "UIAA scale" for rock climbing (or "UIAA Scale of Difficulty") with Roman numerals I–VI, and a "+" and "−" to refine each level. The UIAA also incorporated proposals made in 1943 by Lucien Devies  [ fr ] and the Groupe de Haute Montagne  [ fr ] on

8827-406: The scale continues upward (e.g. 5.10a, 5.10b, 5.10c, 5.10d, 5.11a, 5.11b, etc.,). The American YDS system is the dominant system in North America, and it and the French numerical system are the most dominant systems worldwide; beyond the easiest grades, they can be exactly aligned . The American YDS system is an open-ended scale that was at 5.15d in 2023 with Silence . Like the French system,

8924-600: The simple 4-grade system published in Owen Glynne Jones 1900 book Rock Climbing in the English Lake District . Laycock pioneered much of the early exploration at many of the cliffs included in the guide. For example, at Helsby, where 'The Overhanging Crack' was considered at that time to be one of the hardest "gritstone" climbs in England. Laycock's guide was the first to document climbs at many of

9021-399: The sport of climbing and the attractiveness of particular areas. Certain notable guidebooks played an important role in standardizing the grading systems that are in use today. Before discussing individual routes, a climbing guidebook will outline the history and current status of climbing ethics applicable for the location including for example whether the use of bolts for sport climbing

9118-458: The turn of the 20th century in Europe and after World War Two in North America. As well as promoting an area to outside climbers, guidebooks chronicle the history and stories of climbing areas and individual climbing routes, and delineate what is considered to be good and/or acceptable style in a particular area and what is not acceptable (e.g use of sport climbing bolts ). There have been instances where local climbers have strongly objected to

9215-536: The waterfall, which covered the overhanging routes in ice so that there was little dry-tooling (i.e. all the movement was on hard ice). The routes were bolted like M-grade climbs and the result was a series of new WI-graded routes that laid claim as the "world's hardest ice routes"; by 2020, they reached WI13 with Mission to Mars . The grading of mixed climbing routes approximates the ice climbing WI grades, up to M6, but they then diverge as mixed routes can become very overhanging and eventually turn into roofs (ice

9312-434: Was developed independently by climbers at Tahquitz Peak who adapted the class 5 rating of Sierra Club Class 1–5 system in the 1950s. As a result, the system has a "5" as its prefix which is then followed by a decimal point and a number that starts at 1 and counts up with increasing difficulty (e.g. 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, etc.). At 5.10, the system adds the letters "a", "b", "c", and "d" as further refinements between levels, and

9409-535: Was introduced for rock climbing in 1937 by the Sierra Club , which in the 1950s was further adapted into the Yosemite Decimal System that added a decimal place to the class 5 grade (e.g. 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, etc.), and which by the 1960s was again amended to introduce the letters "a", "b", "c", and "d" after 5.9 to further refine the levels (e.g. 5.9, 5.10a, 5.10b, 5.10c, etc.). While individual countries developed their own rock climbing grading systems,

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