Grade

From PaddleGuide

Many of the rivers descriptions on this sites mention a grade, based on 'International Scale of River Difficulty'. These are provided as very rough guide to the nature of the river, but grading is a contentious issue for a number of reasons, some of which are given below:

• They are prone to being very subjective, one paddlers' grade IV is another's grade V.
• They are dependent on water levels. While in most cases more water will push up the grade, in many cases it may reduce it by providing alternative lines or washing out features.

PaddleGuide uses the common III(IV) style of notation to indicate a river that is generally grade III in nature, but with one or two grade IV features. It us usually the case that the higher grade features can be portaged, and they will probably be mentioned explicitly in the guide. A '+' or '-' may also be applied, indicating that the river or feature is at the lower or upper end of the given grade respectively.

So, with all that in mind, here is our take on the six grades as defined by the 'International Scale of River Difficulty'.

Grade I

Grade II

Grade III

Grade IV

Grade V

Grade VI