There is a sea of grading styles worldwide for climbing, view a scale comparison, courtesy of the American Alpine Club. Also, view the explanation of climbing grades below (very useful for climbers new and experienced).

climbing-grades

National Climbing Classification System (USA)

NCCS grades are often called the “Commitment Grade”; they primarily indicate the time investment in a route for an “average” climbing team.
Grade I: Less than half a day for the technical portion.
Grade II: Half a day for the technical portion.

Grade III: Most of a day for the technical portion.
Grade IV: A full day of technical climbing, generally at least 5.7. Grade V: Typically requires an overnight on the route.
Grade VI: Two or more days of hard technical climbing.
Grade VII: Remote big walls climbed in alpine style.

French System

The overall seriousness of the complete route based on all factors of the ascent, descent, and final approach. This system is increasingly being used worldwide, including in the Americas.
F: “Facile” (easy); rock scrambling or easy snow slopes, some glacier travel, often climbed ropeless.
PD: “Peu Difficile” (a little difficult); some technical climbing and more complicated glaciers.

AD: “Assez Difficile” (fairly hard); steep climbing or long snow/ice slopes above 50o; for experienced alpine climbers only.
D: “Difficile” (difficult); sustained hard rock and/or ice/snow; fairly serious.
TD: “Très Difficile” (very difficult); long and serious.

ED1, ED2, ED3: “Extremement Difficile” (extremely difficult); the most serious climbs with the most continuous difficulties.

Alaska Grade

An overall grade reflecting the remote, cold, stormy nature of Alaskan climbing. Grade 1: Easy glacier route.
Grade 2: Not technical, but exposed to knife-edged ridges, weather, and high-altitude. Grade 3: Moderate to hard, including some technical climbing.

Grade 4: Hard to difficult, with technical climbing.
Grade 5: Difficult, with sustained climbing, high commitment, and few bivouac sites.
Grade 6: Sustained hard climbing over several thousand vertical feet requiring high commitment.

Russian Grade

The overall grade factors in UIAA technical ratings (the Roman numerals). 1B: Some easy roped climbing.
2A: Several pitches of easy roped climbing.
2B: Some II+ and III climbing on a multi-pitch route.

3A: Contains 1-1.5 pitches of III climbing on a multi-pitch route. 3B: One or two pitches of III+/IV climbing on a full-day route. 4A: A full day route with IV+ climbing.
4B: Several pitches of IV+ or some V+ climbing.

5A: Contains several pitches of V climbing on a 1- to 3-day route. 5B: Two-plus days with some VI climbing.
6A and 6B: Multi-day routes with considerable VI or harder climbing.

Aid Grades

In general, older routes, routes with little aid, and those put-up by climbers without extensive big-wall experience use the original aid rating system. Newer routes put-up by big-wall aficionados often are given a “New Wave” aid rating using the same symbols with new definitions. When the letter “C” replaces “A,” the rating refers to “clean” climbing—i.e., without a hammer.
Original Aid Rating System:
A0: Occasional aid moves often done without aiders (etriers) or climbed on fixed gear; sometimes called “French free.”
A1: All placements are solid and easy.
A2: Good placements, but sometimes tricky to find.

A3: Many difficult, insecure placements, but with little risk.
A4: Many placements in a row that hold nothing more than body weight.
A5: Enough body-weight placements in a row that one failure results in a fall of at least 20 meters.
New Wave Aid Ratings:
A1: Easy aid. No risk of a piece pulling out.
A2: Moderate aid. Solid gear that’s more difficult to place.
A2+: 10-meter fall potential from tenuous placements, but without danger.
A3: Hard aid. Many tenuous placements in a row, 15-meter fall potential, could require several hours for a single pitch.
A3+: A3 with dangerous fall potential.
A4: Serious aid. 30-meter ledge-fall potential from continuously tenuous gear.
A4+: Even more serious, with even greater fall potential, where each pitch could take many hours to lead. A5: Extreme aid. Nothing on the entire pitch can be trusted to hold a fall.
A6: A5 climbing with belay anchors that won’t hold a fall either.

Scottish Winter Grades

These apply to ice and mixed conditions and are used primarily by climbers familiar with Scottish conditions.
Grade I: Snow gullies and easy ridges.
Grade II: Steep snow where two ice tools may be required but technical difficulties are short. Grade III: More sustained than Grade II. Mixed ascents of moderate rock routes.

Grade IV: Steep ice with short vertical steps or long pitches up to 70o, or mixed routes requiring advanced techniques.
Grade V: Sustained ice to 80o or mixed climbs with linked hard moves.
Grade VI: Vertical ice and highly technical mixed routes.

Grade VII: Multi-pitch routes with long sections of vertical or thin ice, or mixed routes with lots of highly technical climbing.
Grade VIII and above: The hardest routes in Scotland.

Canadian Winter Commitment Grade

This combines length, hazard, and overall challenges.
Grade I: Short, easy, and with no alpine hazards.
Grade II: One or two pitches near the car with few alpine hazards.
Grade III: Requires most of a day including the approach, which may require winter travel skills (possible avalanche terrain, placing descent anchors).
Grade IV: A multipitch route at higher altitude or remote location. Multi-hour approaches in serious alpine terrain.
Grade V: A full-day climb in alpine terrain with a long approach, long technical descent, and objective dangers.
Grade VI: A long waterfall with the character of an alpine route; usually requires at least a day to complete. Significant alpine objective hazards.
Grade VII: Longer and harder than Grade VI, with considerable dangers even to expert climbers.

Mixed Grade

These routes require considerable dry tooling (modern ice tools used on bare rock) and are climbed in crampons; actual ice is optional but some ice is usually involved.
M1-3: Easy.
M4: Slabby to vertical with some technical dry tooling.

M5: Sections of sustained vertical dry tooling.
M6: Vertical to overhanging with difficult dry tooling.
M7: Overhanging with powerful and technical dry tooling.
M8: Some roofs (nearly flat overhangs) requiring very powerful and technical dry tooling. M9-12 and above: Longer and longer stretches of horizontal roof, with increasingly tenuous tool placements and/or increasingly long and powerful moves.

Water Ice, Alpine Ice, and Canadian Ice Technical Grades

Ice climbing ratings are highly variable by region and are still evolving. The following descriptions approximate the average systems, at least as used by North Americans. The WI acronym implies seasonal ice; AI is often substituted for year-around Alpine Ice and may be easier than a WI grade with the same number. Canadians often drop the WI symbol and hyphenate the technical grade with the commitment grade’s Roman numeral (ex.: II-5).
WI 1: Low angle ice you can walk on.
WI 2: Consistent 60o ice with possible bulges; good protection.
WI 3: Sustained 70o with possible long bulges of 80o-90o; reasonable rests and good stances for placing screws.
WI 4: Multiple pitches of continuous 80o ice, or a single pitch containing fairly long sections of 90o ice broken up by occasional rests.
WI 5: Long and strenuous, with a ropelength of 85o-90o ice offering few good rests; or a shorter pitch of thin or bad ice with reasonable protection that’s difficult to place.
WI 6: A full ropelength of near-90o ice, or a shorter pitch even more tenuous than WI 5. Highly technical and very scary.
WI 7: As above, but on thin poorly bonded ice or long, overhanging poorly adhered columns. Protection is impossible or very difficult to place and of dubious quality.
WI 8: Coming soon.

Snow

Snow is often described by its steepest angle (ex.: 70o) or by a range approximating its steepest angle (ex.: 70o-80o).

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Camille de Bueger
Camille de Bueger
2022-10-28
Amazing experience with Himalaya Alpine Guides. Super professionnal team, listening, and leading us at the top with determination. Ladakh was an amazing trip, we loved nature, People, culture and food. Thanks again!!
Lillian Llacer
Lillian Llacer
2022-07-02
I recently returned home from a ski mountaineering expedition to 6,000 m peaks in the Ladakh region of northern India with Luke and Himalaya Alpine Guides. I pretty much had a smile stuck on my face for the entire two weeks. Just thinking about it brings me back to that happy place, cruising up the Markha Valley in awe of the grandeur, slowly climbing higher through the culturally and historically rich local settlements, and finally reaching the snow. Our beautiful horses carried our camp, our local crew, who Luke has worked with for over a decade, took care of every comforting detail, Luke kept us laughing, learning, exploring, climbing, safely moving through the vast wildness of the Himalaya. Phuntsok fed us amazingly delicious and nutritious curries, dahls, warm bread, chai, espresso, and somehow we had fresh fruit and vegetables the whole trip. Luke has a mellow and respectful attitude, with a high value on keeping the fun factor high in every stage of the trip, including planning and training. He’s got a pristine safety record and works diligently to keep it that way. We all know that Luke has the technical skills, strength, and managerial experience to be an exceptional guide. He also has a genuine appreciation for people, from both near and far, and a deep dedication to protecting the places he loves, through environmental activism (recently moving HAG towards carbon neutrality) and education. I sit in gratitude for the experiences I just had, and eagerly await when my turn to return to the Himalaya rolls around again.
Jonathan Stead
Jonathan Stead
2022-06-17
Luke was constantly sharing local knowledge, contextual background, local language, and historical insights on our six-day approach. the food was superb, prepared fresh daily by the local cook. the tents and dining tent were ample, in excellent condition, and comfortable. on the approach we covered glacier travel, as well as skills for the technical aspects we might encounter on the mountains. by the time we got to the mountains themselves, everyone in the team had rehearsed and we all felt safe. a safe, comfortable trip to a completely remote zone of outstanding descents, with local insight, great food, and a professional guide. i have no notes.
Peter Nilsson
Peter Nilsson
2022-01-13
Luke is a fantastic guide, he takes amazing care of his guided clients and his professional crew. In addition to the adventure of the mountains, he takes time to explore and understand the local culture, and is interested in pursuing an authentic experience. Our trip was once-in-a-lifetime… until I can free some time for the next one.
Kathryn Sullivan
Kathryn Sullivan
2021-12-28
When I was 18 my mom and I took a trip to the Himalayas and used Luke Smithwick’s guiding services. 10 years later I still have yet to find mountains that compare to the Himalayas not just in magnitude or intensity but in the experiences that these mountains can give you, they can change you if you let it. It’s a place so special not just because of its big mountains but also because of the people that live there, their culture, and the perspective it can give you. Of course it’s a place you wouldn’t ever want to over exploit, a place you would want to keep secret from the world so that flocks of people don’t go and try and change it, westernize it. However, it’s also a place that I urge everyone to go experience because of what it gave me. I understand why luke has spent so much of his time exploring and guiding in these landscapes. I feel very lucky to have been able to see it and be exposed to it through his eyes. You can tell his love for this place exudes through his whole being and it’s unique how he is able to share that love with the people that he guides there.
Ed Lunken
Ed Lunken
2021-12-23
Did a ski mountaineering trip with Luke to the Karakoram back in June '18 and highly recommend. Luke is an enthusiast and is keen to explore less obvious spots, keeping it to a small group without seeking to become an impersonal commercial operator. He takes safety seriously, with tons of experience from running the safety team in Gulmarg. He had great on the ground knowledge, so always felt in good hands - and had a top time.
Michael Lekawa
Michael Lekawa
2021-12-02
Trekked the Karakoram in June with 2 friends along with 2 others. Had an amazing and surreal experience. Luke was absolutely outstanding in all aspects. I always felt informed and safe. High quality tents and authentic food. Best of all, great company and conversation all day, especially at dinner. Highest recommendation….. if you have considered this on your bucket list, Luke is your guide.
Jeremy Grant
Jeremy Grant
2021-11-30
Himalaya Alpine Guides toured us through Ladakh India and it was a once in a lifetime trip. Although I’m sure logistics were challenging we never felt that. Luke and his team made it feel easy and streamlined.
Keree Smith
Keree Smith
2021-11-27
Skiing in the Himalayas is an experience like none other. Luke has an extensive background and network in both the local culture and as a professional ski-mountaineering guide. Each trip with Himalayan Mountain Guides is customized and unique. I highly recommend this for exploratory backcountry skiers and mountaineers.