Transcript for: What are Rock Climb Ratings?
"Hi, I'm Bill with Zoar Outdoor on behalf of expertvillage.com. We're today at Chapel Ledges in Ashfield, Massachusetts, Trustees of the Reservation Property and in this series I'm going to be talking about preparing to climb. Rock climbs are rated for their difficulty so you'll know what you're getting into before you go up there. The most common system that you'll encounter is the Yosemite Decimal System. You'll know this because it starts with a 5 and then there's a decimal point and then there's a number after it. You'll find these numbers associated with climbs in any guide book and they'll help you decide where to start. So this climb that we're standing in front of is a 5.6, got a lot of options for your hands and feet, it's going to be a good start for a lot of beginners, maybe too difficult for some, maybe to easy for others, but that's somewhere in the middle. Yosemite Decimal climbs use to stop at 9, which it would make sense mathematically, now they don't, now they go all the way to 15, thanks to some very talented climbers out there. Above 10, they are typically graded in shades of A-D after the number, so for instance a 5, 11D is written down 5.11D, really difficult to climb, have to work to get to it. Other climbing rating systems that you might notice in bouldering, there's the V system. Starts at V0 goes up to, I think 15 still at this point. V0 is equivalent to about 5, 9 in the Yosemite Decimal System, take it from there, gets pretty difficult. Jim's Indoor Climbing will often have their own unique rating system, that way it cuts down on arguments about what that rating was, it's the gym's rating and they'll be whatever the gym decides. But you'll get use to it if you climb there often enough. So Yosemite Decimal, rock climbing rating starts with a 5, decimal point, number after that, start easy, figure out what works for you, then move on from there."
