Dan's Outside

A New Terrain Rating System?

Hikers and climbers are familiar with systems designed to quantify the difficulty of particular routes. Those of us who occasionally wander across trail-free Sierra passes relax when we see one rated as class 1 but prepare for some hard slogging when the pass is rated class 3. Climbers are familiar with the various sub-flavors of class 5 – 5.1 being easy and 5.13 requiring you to be part fly and part contortionist.

Tom Mangan shares an alternative system that he recently encountered while reading a post by a city woman.

Rating system:

• Heels: So easy you can hike it in heels
• Flip-flops: Too long or hard to hike in heels, but flat flip-flops would work
• Pumas: A nice stroll not much harder than walking in the city
• Trailblazers: If you want to be nice to your feet on this hike, they’ll need some more serious protection and support.
• Hiking boots: Pull out the ugly shoes and summon your closet granola. This hike is going to kick your ass.

I love it!

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August 21, 2008 - Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary