I always liked the old Brit system, adjectival as it is:

Moderate (M),
Difficult (D),
Hard Diff (HD),
Very Difficult (VD),
Hard Very Difficult (HVD),
Severe (S),
Hard Severe (HS),
Very Severe (VS),
Hard Very Severe (HVS),
Extremely Severe, (E1 and up)

Me, too:

Hiking poles go in one hand
Hiking poles go in the pack
Climbing shoes go on
Better have a rope because you don't want to downclimb this
Better have a partner because climbing up this might be rough
Better have a partner who can lead this because you can't
Don't know anyone who can climb this

I like the following:

Fun
Not Fun
Impossible

The advantage is that it is simple...

Andinistaloco wrote:Me, too:

Hiking poles go in one hand
Hiking poles go in the pack

Hiking poles better be tough, because I'm going to throw them down a long way!

lisae wrote:I like the following:

Fun
Not Fun
Impossible

The advantage is that it is simple...

That's essentially Gill's B scale, in the steady state.

5.5c

drjohnso1182 wrote:

lisae wrote:I like the following:

Fun
Not Fun
Impossible

The advantage is that it is simple...

That's essentially Gill's B scale, in the steady state.

Do you mean John Gill?

lisae wrote:

drjohnso1182 wrote:

lisae wrote:I like the following:

Fun
Not Fun
Impossible

The advantage is that it is simple...

That's essentially Gill's B scale, in the steady state.

Do you mean John Gill?

Never mind. I just googled it. Interesting idea about avoiding the number games in ratings. And with that I am getting out of here and going to the gym...

ksolem wrote:I always liked the old Brit system, adjectival as it is:

Moderate (M),
Difficult (D),
Hard Diff (HD),
Very Difficult (VD),
Hard Very Difficult (HVD),
Severe (S),
Hard Severe (HS),
Very Severe (VS),
Hard Very Severe (HVS),
Extremely Severe, (E1 and up)

I like it as well. Combined with the technical grade, it gives you a good sense of what a climb is really like.

YDS System for dummies:

Class 1: A trail so easy you could do it hopping on ONE foot.
Class2: The trail has some undulations so you better use TWO feet.
Class 3: There's no more trail and you might have to use both feet and and a hand to keep going up, or more simply you'll be using THREE limbs.
Class 4: There's big exposure so you better use both hands and both feet, which equals FOUR limbs.
Class 5: Technical climbing with severe fall exposure, use all four limbs plus one rope, or FIVE appendiges for protection.

class I: I went for a hike
class 2: I went for a hike and it was hard too
class 3: I went for a hike, it was hard, and I used my hands
class 4: I went for a hike, it was hard, I used my hands, and it was steep too
Class 5: I went for a hike, it was hard, I used my hands, it was steep, and I used a rope

Or sometimes I just use hiking or scrambling or climbing. These three are easier concepts to teach than the full soup of III 5.9 A1 M6 or some such, which imply more precision than really exists. Also the grades are subjective and situational. Some particular climb (the third flatiron comes to mind) might compel one person to use a rope (making it a class 5 for him), while someone else might cruise it in flip flops (making it a class 3 for them). Same thing if the weather intervenes, changing your scramble into a mixed climb. I also sometimes use things like 5.easy, 5.hard, 3.10, etc.