Eagle Ski Club Tour Grades

Eagle Ski Club members pages:

Grading of tours: (2010 Season Onwards)
Club tours are graded with reference to particular skills: E1-5, S1-5 and M1-5.
The gradings will reflect the conditions expected by the leader, who should specify more detailed skill requirements in his tour information sheet. The actual conditions on the tour will depend on the prevailing weather and snow conditions, consequently they could be substantially different from those indicated.

Effort required: How fit do I need to be	E1	Easy Tour or Off-piste. Off-piste skiing. Day tours with up to 900m of ascent. Guarded Hut Tours with up to 800m daily ascent.
	E2	Normal Hut to Hut Tour. Day Tours with over 900m ascent. Guarded Hut Tours with 800m to 1200m daily ascent, usually at a pace of 250m per hour or less.
	E3	Strenuous Tour. Guarded Hut Tours with 1200m to 1600m daily ascent, usually at a pace of 300m per hour or more. Other tours carrying equipment for unguarded huts or additional mountaineering equipment.
	E4	Arduous Tour / Expedition. Guarded Hut Tours with over 1600m daily ascent. Other tours carrying significant loads. Expeditions to remote regions, where significant equipment is needed, but airlifts or pulks ease the burden.
	E5	Strenuous Expedition. Long duration expedition where pulks are impractical and all equipment must be carried.
Ski technique: How well must I ski	S1	Beginner off-piste Skier. Confident piste skier (black runs), but only just beginning to venture off-piste on slopes up to 28°.
	S2	Intermediate off-piste Skier. Used to skiing off-piste with a pack and able to cope with difficult conditions by a combination of side-slipping, traverses and kick-turns. Able to cope with short sections up to 30°.
	S3	Experienced off-piste Skier. Able to link turns continuously in powder snow and to control speed and follow a precise line in crevasses or confined spaces. Able to link turns on longer slopes up to 35° in good snow.
	S4	Advanced off-piste Skier. Skis the fall-line in most conditions and rarely falls. Confident on steep slopes up to 40° using jump turns or short swings in couloirs.
	S5	Expert off-piste Skier. Able to ski all types of snow with panache and enjoys the challenge of slopes of 45° or more.
Mountaineering skills and knowledge:	M1	No Mountaineering Experience Required. No use of ice-axe, crampons or ropes.
	M2	Limited Mountaineering Experience Required. Previous experience of ice-axe and crampons is preferable. Participants should be able to tie into the rope. Tour may involve ascents and descents of short snow slopes (up to 40°) where skis need to be carried; or mixed snow and rock ridges where hands may be needed.
	M3	Intermediate Mountaineer. Proficient with ice-axe and crampons and able to take in coils on the rope. Tour may include exposed pitches where the rope is needed, and where a fall would have serious consequences. Crevassed areas may be unavoidable, so knowledge of crevasse rescue techniques is desirable.
	M4	Experienced Mountaineer. Tour may include pitched climbing or abseils. Confident moving un-roped on steep snow (up to 50° &ndash the normal limit for a single axe), ice or rock but able to deploy the rope quickly and efficiently when it is needed. Tour may have serious crevasse hazard &ndash familiarity with crevasse rescue techniques is essential.
	M5	Advanced Mountaineer. Mountaineers with significant alpine and winter climbing experience.

Notes:

The grades reflect the tour itself and not the equipment used, so there is no distinction in the tour grade for the use of alpine, freeheel or any other type of kit.
The type of terrain found on Nordic tours (of the type traditionally undertaken in Norway, using leather boots, three pin bindings and fairly narrow skis) is somewhat outside the scope of this grading system. Any tours of this type should probably be graded S0.

Example Grades:

The following examples of classic tours show how the new grading system will work. Note that 2 tours over essentially the same ground may have different grades, for example if one tour leader is planning to include additional peaks along the way, or perhaps run it at a much slower pace. Note that in the Alps only off-piste training courses would normally use the S1 grade – any tour in the Alps would normally have an S2 grade or higher.

Tour	Grade
Seniors’ Tour	E1 S2 M2
Relaxed Silvretta Tour	E1 S2 M2
Western Oberland Traverse	E2 S2 M2
Classic Albula Traverse	E2 S2 M2
Haute Route – Verbier	E2 S2-3 M2
Haute Route – Classic	E3 S2-3 M3
Haute Route – Grande Lui	E3 S3 M3-4
Hoch Tirol Skiroute	E4 S3 M3

Comparison with Ski Club of Great Britain Off-piste Skiing Grades.

The following table gives a rough comparison with SCGB off-piste skiing grades. The SCGB system only covers the skiing aspects of a tour.

ESC Grade	SCGB Off-piste Grade
S1	Red
S2	Silver
S3	Silver – Purple
S4	Purple – Gold
S5	Gold – Gold Plus

The Eagle Ski Club has sought to ensure that the information on this website is accurate and fair. However, members should verify all information before use and non-members should not rely on the information on this site. The Club's officers and members accept no responsibility for any decisions based on the information on this site.