Editing Yosemite Decimal System

{{Short description|American grading system for rock climbs}}

The '''Yosemite Decimal System''' ('''YDS''') is a five-part [[Grade (climbing)|grading system]] used for rating the difficulty of [[rock climbing]] [[climbing routes|routes]] in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]].<ref name=FoHGrading/> It was first devised by members of the [[Sierra Club]] in [[Southern California]] in the 1950s as a refinement of earlier systems from the 1930s,<ref name=Secor/> and quickly spread throughout North America.

==Description==
[[File:Knife Edge of Capitol Peak.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.25|The Knife Edge on [[Capitol Peak (Colorado)|Capitol Peak]] in Colorado is an example of a Class 4 climb]]
The class 5 portion of the class scale is primarily a [[rock climbing]] classification system, while classes 1–4 are used for [[hiking]] and [[scrambling]].<ref name=FoHGrading/> The current definition for each class is:<ref name=FoHGrading>{{cite book|title = Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills|year = 1997|edition = 6th|publisher = [[The Mountaineers (Pacific NW)|The Mountaineers]]|location = Seattle|isbn = 0-89886-426-7|pages=511–514}}</ref>
; Class 1:[[Hiking]] or [[trail running|running]] on a [[trail]]. 
; Class 2:Simple [[scrambling]], with the possibility of occasional use of the hands.
; Class 3: Scrambling. A rope could be carried. 
; Class 4: Simple [[climbing]], possibly with [[exposure (heights)|exposure]]. A rope is often used. Falls could be fatal. Natural [[protection (climbing)|protection]] can easily be found.
; Class 5: It is considered technical roped [[free climbing]]; [[belaying]] is used for safety. Un-roped falls can result in severe injury or death.
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 [[#Comparison tables|exactly aligned]].<ref name=CAI>{{cite web| first1=G |last1=Mandelli |first2=A |last2=Angriman | date=2016 | title=Scales of Difficulty in Climbing | publisher=Central School of Mountaineering, [[Club Alpino Italiano]], Italy | url=https://www.theuiaa.org/documents/sport/THE-SCALES-OF-DIFFICULTY-IN-CLIMBING_p1b.pdf | accessdate=17 February 2025}}</ref><ref name=Rockfax/> The exact definition of the classes is somewhat controversial,<ref>{{cite web
  | url = http://climber.org/data/decimal.html
  | title = The Yosemite Decimal System
  | publisher = Climber.org
  | access-date = 2009-01-15}}</ref> and updated versions of these classifications have been proposed.<ref>{{cite news
  | last = Rose
  | first = Jeff
  | title = Terrain Classification, Climbing Exposure, and Technical Management
  | publisher = Journal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership
  | pages = 242–257
  | url = http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/jorel/vol5/iss3/6/ }}</ref>

Climbers use class "5" as a prefix, which is then followed by a [[Full stop|period]] (originally 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.).<ref name=Rockfax/> At  5.10, the system adds the letters "a", "b", "c", and "d" as further refinements between levels, and the scale continues upward (e.g. 5.10a, 5.10b, 5.10c, 5.10d, 5.11a, 5.11b, etc.).<ref name=FoHGrading/><ref name=Rockfax/>

The American YDS system is an open-ended scale, with the current hardest climb being 5.15d, established by ''[[Silence (climb)|Silence]]'' in 2017. Like the French system, the numerical component of the American YDS system is focused on the hardest move on the route.<ref name=FoHGrading/>

== Protection rating ==
In 1980, Jim Erickson introduced an additional rating for [[traditional climbing]] routes where the level and quality of the [[climbing protection]] are assessed.<ref name=FoHGrading/> The letter codes chosen were, at the time, identical to the [[MPAA film rating system|American system for rating the content of movies]], except that there is no commonly recognized distinction between PG and PG13:<ref name=FoHGrading/><ref name=CAI/><ref name=Rockfax>{{cite web | website=Rockfax Publishing | url=https://rockfax.com/climbing-guides/grades/ | title=Grade Conversions: Alpine Grading System | accessdate=2 September 2023 |date=2022}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Code
! Description
|-
! G
| Good, solid protection.
|-
! PG
| Adequate protection. Falls will not be long
|-
! R
| Inadequate protection: potential for long fall, leader will likely suffer injuries
|-
! X
| Protection is unavailable or so sparse that any fall is likely to result in death or serious injury.
|}

== History ==
In 1936, the [[Sierra Club]] adapted a numerical system of classification. This system, without the decimals, was initially referred to as the "Sierra Club grading system." Class 1 was a hike, and higher classes were more difficult and technical, going up to class 6, which is referred to as [[aid climbing]].<ref name=Secor>{{cite book|title=The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes, and Trails|first=RJ|last=Secor|edition=2nd|page=31|year=1999|publisher=The Mountaineers|isbn=0-89886-625-1}}</ref>

The fifth class began to be refined by climbers at [[Tahquitz Peak]] in [[Southern California]] in the 1950s.<ref name=CAI/> [[Royal Robbins]], Don Wilson, and Chuck Wilts came up with a decimal subdivision of the fifth class consisting of 5.0, 5.1, and so on up through 5.9. This system was implemented in the early 1950s, with new routes and ratings at Tahquitz being described in [[Mimeograph|mimeographed]] newsletters of the Rock Climbing Section of the Angeles Chapter of the [[Sierra Club]].{{cn|date=February 2025}} The system was originally referred to by names such as "Southern California" or "Wilts-Sierra system," but eventually came to be referred to as the Yosemite Decimal System, even though it was devised and standardized at Tahquitz, not Yosemite.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Vogel|first1=R|last2=Gaines|first2=B|year=1993|edition=Interim|title=Rock Climber's Guide to Tahquitz and Suicide|publisher=Chockstone Press|oclc=551221227}}</ref> The first systematic presentation was in the 1956 edition of Wilts's guidebook for Tahquitz. Mark Powell is said to have exported the system to Yosemite around the same time.<ref>{{cite video|title=Open Book: The Story of the First 5.9 Rock Climb|publisher=climbing.com|date=November 12, 2020|url=https://www.climbing.com/videos/open-book-the-story-of-the-first-5-9-rock-climb/}}</ref>

The standards for the fifth-class climbing grades as of 1979 were as follows:<ref name=Wilts>{{cite book|title=Tahquitz and Suicide Rocks|last=Wilts|first=Chuck|date=1979 |oclc=1392029277|edition=6th|publisher=American Alpine Club|url=https://archive.org/details/tahquitzsuicider0000wilt|isbn=0-930410-07-6}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Grade
! Route
! First free ascent
|-
! 5.0
| The trough
| 1936
|-
! 5.1
| White maiden's walkway
| 1937
|-
! 5.2
| Frightful variation of the trough
| 1944
|-
! 5.3
| East lark
| 1950
|-
! 5.4
| Angel's fright
| 1936
|-
! 5.5
| Ski tracks 
| 1947, 1957
|-
! 5.6
| Sahara terror
| 1942
|-
! 5.7
| Fingertrip
| 1946
|-
! 5.8
| Mechanic's route 
| 1937
|-
! 5.9
| Open book
| 1952 
|}
[[File:Emily Harrington sends Golden Gate (5.13 VI) in El Capitan - 02.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.15|[[Emily Harrington]] on [[El Capitan]] in Yosemite, [[free climb]]ing a 5.13a route]]
The original intention was that 5.9 would be the hardest possible free climb, with class 6 describing aid-climbing routes. Initially the scale was based on ten climbs at Tahquitz, and ranged from the "Trough" at 5.0, a relatively modest technical climb, to the "[[Open Book (Tahquitz)|Open Book]]" at 5.9, considered at the time the most difficult unaided climb humanly possible. In later years, as gear and athletic standards in the sport became more advanced, many aid routes were "freed" (i.e., climbed without aid), and the class 6 label fell into disuse, so that 5.x could be a label for any technical rock climb, regardless of whether most people were doing it free or aided.{{cn|date=February 2025}} By the 1960s and 70s, increased athletic standards and improved equipment meant that class 5.9 climbs from the 1950s became only of moderate difficulty for some, while new 5.9 climbs were much harder. Class 5.9 began to be subdivided as 5.9- and 5.9+.  Eventually, climbers began adding classes of 5.10 and 5.11 (rendering the "[[Decimal]]" part of the Yosemite Decimal System name technically inaccurate). In the early 1970s, it was determined that the 5.11 climb was much harder than 5.10, leaving many climbs of varying difficulty bunched up at 5.10.  To solve this, the scale has been further subdivided for 5.10 and above climbs with suffixes from "a" to "d".<ref>{{cite news
  | last = Bridwell
  | first = Jim
  | title = Brave New World
  | publisher = Mountain #31
  | year = 1973
  | url = https://web.stanford.edu/~clint/yos/brave.htm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171002033956/https://web.stanford.edu/~clint/yos/brave.htm
 | archive-date = 2017-10-02
 }}</ref>  {{As of|August 2021|}}, only one climb is considered to have a difficulty of 5.15d: ''[[Silence (climb)|Silence]]'', first climbed by [[Adam Ondra]] on September 3, 2017.<ref name="silence" >{{cite news
  | last = Carpenter
  | first = Hayden
  | title = Adam Ondra – Silence (9c/5.15d), a.k.a. "Project Hard", Interview
  | publisher = Rock and Ice
  | url = http://rockandice.com/climbing-news/adam-ondra-silence-9c-5-15d-interview/
  }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Aid climbing]]
* [[Ice climbing]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Climbing]]
[[Category:Rating systems]]
[[Category:Sierra Club]]