Datum Heights: writing on the world’s great hiking and alpinism routes
The mountains we’re writing about
One label, whether "moderate", three stars, or a single grade, can't hold effort, technical ground, exposure, remoteness and navigation at once. Here's the five-axis way to read how hard a hike really is.
Almost every difficulty rating tries to fold the only question that matters, "is this route for me," into a single mark: a colour, a star count, a grade. But "how hard" is not one thing. It is at least five, and they move independently. A short, easy path can kill you if you slip. A long, exhausting slog can be perfectly safe.
Read the essay
Route Guides
03Skills
05- Trail difficulty, honestly: the five things one grade can't tell you9 min
- Average hiking speed: the pace to actually plan for8 min
- Naismith's Rule: how to estimate hiking time7 min
- How long will your hike really take? An honest way to plan hiking time8 min
- The SAC Hiking Scale (T1 to T6), explained8 min