(FRENCH under the tableau/table)
During my last expedition on the GTA. I started thinking of a classification system for adventures. I mean expeditions that are adventurous (so not related to exploration, scientific purposes omitted) and I'm building a 5 class system. I started working on this last August and today I'm still not finished but I classified my 19 expeditions and also the 20th expedition that I'm slowly preparing as well.
Class 5 is of course the hardest and class 1 is easy. I'm not detailing here the criteria as I'm not done yet but for example I'd consider a regular guided Everest summit expedition as Class 2 and sailing an Ocean solo in a race like Class 1. The classes are risk based and somehow subjective but based on a mix of criteria like danger (animal, human, weather, terrain), type of progression, difficulty to plan and to get to (permits, remoteness...), potential rescue in case of an injury. World Firsts adventures get extra points because the adventurer shows s/he has done all the work to make it possible. This means the next person doing the same expedition will get around 1 point less. If the person is very young/old, the person could get a Class+ for the expedition. Example: The next people kayaking around Lake Titicaca would get a 1 or 1+ class for the expedition. Yes the class is for the expedition, not the person. In the work I'm developing, you must have several class X expeditions to be a class X adventurer.
And once an expedition is done many times by others or becomes a guided expedition (because logistics made easy, risks decreased, higher availability of rescue services), it can lose 1 or 2 classes. Class 4 and 5 are only for long duration solo (or duo) unsupported adventures as it is obviously much harder.
Obviously, for Everest, if you do it alpine style, without fixed ropes, without guides, without oxygen and in winter, you increase the risk of success so much that you would have a class 4.
- WF = World First
- Dist Fly = flying distance between points of for off track parts or distance measure on official hiking routes.
- Real = real and reasonable distance covered if we add the distance between each step.
# |
Cl |
Name |
WF |
Days |
Dist.Fly/Real |
1 |
2 |
The Mountains
of the Outback – NT, Australian Outback |
Y |
11 |
267
/ 334 |
2 |
2 |
The Great Sand
Island – Fraser Island, QLD, Australia |
Y |
9 |
230
/ 250 |
3 |
4 |
Wild Mountains
of Tasmania |
Y |
49 |
450
/ 548 |
4 |
5 |
Simpson Desert Trek - NT/SA Australia |
Y |
36 |
560
/ 800 |
5 |
1 |
Chocolate
Sherpa Everest, Katmandu to E. Base
Camp |
|
24 |
400 |
6 |
2 |
Iceland Trek Summer |
Y |
19 |
369
/ 560 |
7 |
1 |
Belgikayak – Belgium |
Y |
23 |
602 |
8 |
2 |
Poland Trek |
Y |
28 |
+-1200 |
9 |
1 |
Clipperton
Island – Pacific Island, France |
|
29 |
/ |
10 |
2 |
TitiKayak – Peru |
Y |
38 |
1100 |
11 |
1 |
Rio Marañon – Peru |
|
6 |
? |
12 |
3 |
Salar Trek
(attempt) - Bolivia |
|
7 |
180 |
13 |
3 |
Death Valley
Trek – California, USA |
Y |
8 |
246
/ 250 |
14 |
3 |
Simpson Desert Trek 2- NT Australia |
|
12,5 |
/ +-300 |
15 |
3 |
Salar Trek 2 - Bolivia |
Y |
7 |
250 |
16 |
5 |
Tasmania
Winter Trek |
Y |
52 |
450 / +-500 |
17 |
4 |
HRP – Haute Route
Pyrénéenne – France/Spain/Andorra |
Y |
43 |
700 |
18 |
2 |
Kungsleden - Sweden |
Y |
19 |
515 |
19 |
3 |
GTA - France |
Y |
24 |
623 |
20 |
5 |
Not announced
yet : Project SDT34 |
+- |
+55 |
1050 / 1300 |
- WF = World First
- Dist Fly = distance en vol entre les points de pour les parties hors piste ou distance mesurée sur les itinéraires de randonnée officiels.
- Real = distance réelle et raisonnable parcourue si l'on additionne la distance entre chaque point.