but that's the beauty of it;
neither do I.
A1: Aiders needed; bolt or piton ladders, reliable placements, and straightforward cracks.
A2: More awkward, strenous or tricky than A1, with or without occassional less-than-perfect placement.
A2+: Consecutive placements that won't hold hard falls, but few bodyweight placements and limited danger in the event of a fall; easy hooking and bathooking; scary rivet ladders and fixed copperheading.
A3: "5.11" aid; huge air unlikely but considerable know-how required for safe passage; sections requiring multiple tricky or bodyweight placements; expando hazards; complex rope maneuvers.
A3+: Crux sections of sustained trickery and body weight placements; bad falls possible, either short and hazardous or clean but long (60+ feet).
A4: Extreme aid; many consecutive body weight placements; huge falls possible, with obstacles to hit.
A4+: Sustained A4; falls unthinkable from most parts of the pitch.
A5: Usually the maximum pitch rating; full rope-length of body weight placements, no drilled holes, dire consequences if a piece blows.
A6: Seldom used; reserved for A4+ or A5 pitches above unreliable belay anchors, where a blown piece would strip the entire team from the wall.
Note: Pitches done without hammered placements are often given C ratings, where C1 means clean A1, C4 is clean A4, etc.
M1: Requires an occassional drytool move.
M2: Involves a couple of drytool moves; beginners should have no problem with this grade.
M3: Several bodylengths of very easy M1 or M2, or single drytool moves that require some thought.
M4: Mixed routes of any real difficulty usually start at this grade; solid ice climbers shouldn't have any problems.
M5: Drytooling requires considerable efforts. Placements can pop, but are generally straightforward.
M6: Real possibility of falling; lengthy sections of drytooling.
M7: Feels like 5.11+ rock climbing; usually little ice involved..
M8: Feels like 5.12; mostly drytooling on severely overhanging rock; ice is usually spotty patches or detached, free-hanging icicles..
M9: This unconsolidated grade is difficult to pin down, but can involve entire pitches - or numerous pitches - of M8.
M10: Generally regarded as 5.13 drytooling.
M11: Generally regarded as 5.13+ drytooling.
M12: The highest grade; not fully defined, as there are only a couple in the world.
A travel journal by Karla. That's me, not you.