Editing Grade (climbing) (section)

===International French Adjectival System===
{{anchor|International French adjectival system (IFAS)|International French adjectival system|French Alpine System|Alpine system|IFAS}}
{{Main article|Alpine climbing#Grading}}
[[File:Piz Badile - Cassin route.jpg|thumb|Climber on the big wall ''Cassin Route'' on [[Piz Badile]], which is 850-metres, 25-[[Pitch (climbing)|pitches]], and graded TD (IFAS), 5.9 (American), 5c (French), VI− (UIAA-rock), IV (NCCS).]] 
The IFAS system (or UIAA Scale of Overall Difficulty), also called the '''French Alpine System''' (or '''Alpine System'''),<ref name=Rockfax/><ref name=AAJ/> grades the overall difficulty of a route, taking into account the length, technical difficulties, exposure, and commitment level (i.e. how hard is a retreat).<ref name=FoHGrading/><ref name=Ari2/> The system was created by French climbers, and when the UIAA formally adopted it in 1967 they assigned Roman numerals to the six levels, which caused confusion with the [[#UIAA scale|UIAA scale]], and thus the French shorthand for the six levels prevailed:<ref name=CAI/> F–Facile (easy), PD–Peu Difficile (not very difficult), AD–Assez Difficile (fairly difficult), D–Difficile (difficult), TD–Très Difficile (very difficult), and ED-Extrêmement difficile (extremely difficult).<ref name=Rockfax/><ref name=FoHGrading/><ref name=AAJ/>

Later, a + (pronounced ''Sup'' for ''supérieur'') or a − (pronounced ''Inf'' for ''inférieur'') was used to indicate if a particular climb is at the lower or upper end of that grade (e.g., a climb slightly harder than "PD+" might be "AD−"), and the specific degree of the snow slopes was added (e.g. 60 degrees).<ref name=CAI/>

As standards rose, the ED-grade was further expanded into ED1 (is the original ED−), ED2 (is roughly the original ED), ED3 (is the original ED+), ED4, ED5 .. etc., to denote harder levels of grade.<ref name=CAI/><ref name=Ari2/>

Whilst each IFAS grade can ''imply'' certain grades of rock, ice, or mixed climbing difficulties, the UIAA warns against assuming an IFAS grade ''always'' aligns with specific rock and ice climbing grades. This is because the overall objective dangers can vary dramatically on alpine routes with similar technical rock and ice climbing grades. For example, the famous 1,800-metre ''[[1938 Heckmair Route]]'' on the north face of the [[Eiger]] has an IFAS ED2-grade even though the technical rock climbing challenge is only at UIAA VI− and the technical ice climbing challenge is at 60 degrees (which is a WI-4 grade), which are more typically associated with an IFAS D-grade; this is due to the exceptional length and serious dangers of the route.<ref name=CAI/><ref name=Rockfax/> Some guidebooks have still attempted to [[Alpine climbing#Grading|list]] the ''implied'' technical rock and ice climbing grades that are nornally associated with each IPAS grade.<ref name=Rockfax/><ref name=ISM>{{cite web | website=International School of Mountaineering | url=https://www.alpin-ism.com/knowledge-base/news/alpine-grades | title=Alpine Grading | date=1 February 2021 | accessdate=4 May 2023}}</ref><ref name=Ari2/>