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Why mountain walks need a grade
The yellow signpost says ‘Pass, 2 h 30 min’, the guidebook promises ‘a lovely walk’, and the first section with a fixed cable turns up after an hour. Nothing you read was wrong; nothing said it would be quite this steep, either. That is the whole point of a grade: to tell you how hard a route is before you find out for yourself.
The French Hiking Federation (FFRandonnée) has noted the problem: every GPS track website, guidebook publisher and tour operator had its own method, with no common reference, which led to misjudgements and sometimes to route choices with unfortunate consequences, especially for beginners [1]. Each Alpine country has its own answer. They look nothing alike, but they are all read the same way: by the hardest section, and in good weather. Climbing grades, a different family, follow the same logic: see the climbing grades conversion chart.
The Swiss Alpine Club’s T1 to T6 scale
The Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) grades walks on six levels, from T1 to T6, on a scale revised in 2023. For each level, it describes the typical terrain and the requirements, and gives examples of Swiss routes; a ‘+’ or ‘-’ sign fine-tunes the grade, as in T3+ or T4- [2].
| Grade | Typical terrain | Requirements | Example given by the SAC |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Well-made path or track; any exposed spots very well secured | No specific requirements; route-finding straightforward | Mont Raimeux |
| T2 | Path with a continuous line, terrain steep in places, risk of falling not ruled out | Good balance, basic navigation skills | Moléson |
| T3 | Path not always visible, exposed sections sometimes protected by cables or chains, scree | Sure-footedness, average navigation skills, basic alpine experience | Cabane d’Orny |
| T4 | Traces of a path, often pathless, easy climbing (I), easy snowfields, glacier sections | Used to exposed sections, good navigation skills, basic use of mountaineering equipment | Tour d’Aï |
| T5 | Often pathless, easy climbing (I-II), very steep slopes, glaciers sometimes marked | Very sure-footed, extensive alpine experience, good command of mountaineering equipment | Bristen |
| T6 | Mostly pathless, longer climbing sections (II), very exposed terrain | Perfectly sure-footed, seasoned alpine experience | Tour Sallière |
Summary of the SAC’s hiking grading scale, version of 8 August 2023. The SAC specifies that routes are graded assuming fine weather, good visibility, dry ground and no snow.
The SAC also links its scale to Switzerland’s official waymarking. Most yellow-waymarked trails fall within T1 and T2, mountain trails waymarked white-red-white within T2 and T3, and alpine trails waymarked white-blue-white within T4 and T5; it warns that deviations, both up and down, are common [2].
Blue, red, black: the paths of Austria and Germany
In the Austrian and German Alps, the Alpine clubs borrow the principle of ski runs: blue for an easy mountain path, red for a path of intermediate difficulty, black for a difficult one. The colour appears as a dot on the yellow signposts; the waymarks painted along the way, on the other hand, are usually red-white-red, whatever the difficulty [3].
- Blue (T2): mostly narrow paths, sometimes steep, with no section where a fall would be serious [3].
- Red (T3): narrow paths, often steep, with sections where a fall could be serious and sometimes short stretches protected by fixed cables [3].
- Black (T4 to T6): narrow, steep and exposed paths, with frequent protected sections or easy climbing that needs your hands; sure-footedness and a head for heights are essential [3].
Two rules matter when you read these colours. The difficulty of a path up to the destination shown is judged by its hardest section, and the grading assumes good path and weather conditions [4]. The German Alpine Club is emphatic: wet ground, rain or old snow can increase the difficulties massively [3].
In France: effort, technical difficulty and risk, from 1 to 5
In France, waymarking distinguishes types of route, GR, GR de Pays and PR, by their length, not by their difficulty: GRs are long-distance paths of several days or weeks, GR de Pays are multi-day loops within one region, and PRs are walks of a few hours to a day [5]. For difficulty, the French Hiking Federation has developed, with its partner IBP Index, a grading system based on three criteria, each scored from 1 to 5: effort, technical difficulty and risk [1] [6].
| Level | Effort (IBP index) | Technical difficulty: the biggest obstacle | Risk in a fall |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Easy (0 to 25) | Practically no obstacles | Low: minor injury |
| 2 | Fairly easy (26 to 50) | Obstacles up to ankle height | Fairly low: sprain possible |
| 3 | Moderate (51 to 75) | At least one obstacle up to knee height | Moderate: serious injuries possible in places |
| 4 | Fairly difficult (76 to 100) | At least one obstacle up to hip height; poles needed for balance | Fairly high: danger of death possible |
| 5 | Difficult (over 100) | Obstacle higher than the hip; hands needed | High: a fall would certainly be fatal |
Summary of the French Hiking Federation’s practical grading guide (2020). Effort is calculated by uploading a GPS track to the federation’s tool; for technical difficulty and risk, the highest level encountered is the one that counts.
Like its neighbours, this grading comes with instructions for use. It applies to an adult of average height, with no snow, on dry ground and in mild weather; on a multi-day walk, it applies to each stage. The federation points out that the real difficulty also depends on the weather, the weight of your rucksack, your preparation and how you feel on the day [6].
Reading a grade without kidding yourself
The three systems do not measure the same thing. The Swiss scale and the Austrian and German colours mainly describe the terrain and the exposure; the French grades separate physical effort, technical skill and how serious a fall would be. None of the bodies cited publishes a correspondence between the French grades and the Swiss scale: do not try to translate a ‘3’ into a ‘T3’.
Walking time, finally, is not part of any of these grades. To estimate it, our guide to walking time explains the French, British and German methods. And if you are planning a route of several days, such as the Tour du Mont-Blanc, read the grade of each stage, not just the one for the whole route.
A good habit to get into: look up the grade of the hardest section on the route, then ask yourself honestly whether you have tackled one like it before, and in what weather.
FAQs
What does a T3 grade mean on a mountain walk?
It is the third level on the Swiss Alpine Club’s scale, the one the club calls ‘difficult mountain hiking’ in English: a path not always visible, exposed sections sometimes protected by cables or chains, scree, and hands sometimes needed for balance. It calls for sure-footedness, average navigation skills and basic alpine experience. The German Alpine Club equates it with its red paths.
What do the blue, red and black dots on Austrian signposts mean?
They give the difficulty of the path up to the destination shown, based on its hardest section: blue for an easy mountain path, red for a path of intermediate difficulty, possibly with exposed sections, black for a difficult, exposed path with protected sections or easy climbing. The grading assumes good conditions.
How does the French Hiking Federation’s grading system work?
It scores three criteria from 1 to 5. Effort is calculated by uploading a GPS track to the tool run by the federation and its partner IBP Index. Technical difficulty depends on the size of the biggest obstacle, from ankle height to above the hip. Risk depends on how serious a fall could be. It assumes an adult, no snow, dry ground and mild weather.
Can a walk graded as easy be dangerous?
Yes. Every one of these grades assumes good conditions: fine weather, dry ground, no snow. Rain, a late-lying snowfield or fog can make an easy section dangerous, and the German Alpine Club warns that wet ground or old snow can increase the difficulties massively. Check the forecast and the conditions, and turn back if you need to.
Sources
- French Hiking Federation (FFRandonnée), ‘Cotation des randonnées pédestres’ (in French), 3 February 2025, accessed 22 October 2026. ffrandonnee.fr https://www.ffrandonnee.fr/randonner/securite/cotation-des-randonnees-pedestres ↩
- Swiss Alpine Club (SAC), ‘Échelle CAS pour la cotation des randonnées : définitions’ (in French), 8 August 2023, document published by the SAC’s Geneva section, accessed 22 October 2026. cas-geneve.ch https://www.cas-geneve.ch/pdf/20230808_CAS_echelle_cotation_randonnee_final.pdf ↩
- German Alpine Club (Deutscher Alpenverein), ‘Schwierigkeitsgrade von Bergwegen’ (in German), 2 July 2025, accessed 22 October 2026. alpenverein.de https://www.alpenverein.de/artikel/schwierigkeitsgrade-von-bergwegen_8de95a6d-b490-4963-86cf-a0907c48a331 ↩
- Austrian Alpine Club (Österreichischer Alpenverein), ‘Wegekategorien und Schwierigkeitsangaben’ (in German), accessed 22 October 2026. alpenverein.at https://www.alpenverein.at/portal/huetten-wege/wegenetz/wegekategorien/index.php ↩
- French Hiking Federation (FFRandonnée), ‘Les itinéraires de randonnée’ (in French), accessed 22 October 2026. ffrandonnee.fr https://www.ffrandonnee.fr/randonner/ou-pratiquer/les-itineraires-de-randonnee ↩
- French Hiking Federation (FFRandonnée) and IBP Index, ‘Guide pratique de cotation des randonnées pédestres’ (in French), 2020, accessed 22 October 2026. ffrandonnee.fr https://www.ffrandonnee.fr/Media/Default/Documents/randonner/Guide-cotation-ffrandonnee-2020.pdf ↩
Camping, wild camping, bushcraft and hiking
Guillaume Hoarau writes for Outfarer about camping, wild camping, bushcraft and hiking. A survival-skills enthusiast and a collector of old field manuals, he likes clear explanations, lists that earn their place and other people’s stories, which he tells well.
