steep grades
Challenging uphill climbs
Steep grades are sharp inclines or declines in a road, railway, or path.
The term comes from grading—the process of leveling or sloping land for construction.
A steep grade makes climbing difficult and descending dangerous: The truck's brakes failed on the steep grade.
Highway signs warn of steep grades ahead, often expressed as percentages indicating the ratio of vertical rise to horizontal distance.
- inclineAngled rising surface
- slopeAngled terrain or steepness
- climbAscend using effort
- descentDownward slope or lineage
- switchbackReversing mountain path
mountain · hill · brake · engine braking · low gear · downshift · hairpin · blind curve · elevation · pitch · rise · mountain pass · drop · treacherous · gravel · truckers · runaway · road sign
- HillclimbingPikes Peak, Prescott, hairpin turns, switchbacks, elevation gain
- hill climbsPikes Peak, ascent, elevation gain, switchbacks, hairpin turns
- driving hazardspotholes, black ice, debris, road debris, icy roads
- off-roadingoff-road, 4x4s, ATVs, 4WD, four-wheel drive
- off-road terrainmud, rocks, boulders, ruts, ditches
- railwaystrains, train, locomotives, locomotive, tracks
steep gradesbeginner slopes
Easy trails for novices
straightaways · flat ground · smooth sailing · easy going · valley floors
steep, steeper, steepest, steeply, steepness, steepen, steepened, steepening, grade