Difficulty rating

[Guest Czar Of Ridgeland]

place my own. Are there on guidelines on how to rank the difficulty? I understand that for terrain, a "1" is flat ground and easy, and a "5" requires climbing gear. Any annecdotal guidelines for difficulty factor?

[Guest Scout]

My personal system for terrain rating:

 

1 = handicapped accessible

2 = suitable for small children; generally on trail

3 = off trail; requires some risk of getting scratched, wet, or winded

4 = off trail; likelihood of getting scratched, wet and winded; probably requires special equipment (boat, 4WD, etc.)

5 = requires specialized equipment and knowledge/experience (rock climbing, SCUBA, etc.)

 

The difficulty rating generally mirrors the terrain rating, unless there are special circumstances. For example, a geocache where the final waypoint's coordinates are given in the form of a puzzle may earn a higher difficulty rating, even if the terrain is easy.

 

FWIW

[Guest Markwell]

I agree with Scout's terrain ratings, and I've seen them posted before.

 

However, I don't know if the difficulty will always mirror the terrain. I could see that a handicapped accessible stash might be hidden in the middle of a natural corn maze. The terrain might be "1" but the difficulty would be 4.

 

When I choose the difficulty rating in particular, I look for ratings like this:

 

1 - My five year old would stumble across it in his path

2 - A ten year old could probably figure it out without too much difficulty

3 - An average adult would be able to find this in about 30 minutes of hunting

4 - You might have to have some indepth knowledge or experience of the area or history

5 - Mensa or equivalent