Bouldering Cheltenham Route Grades Explained
As you walk into a UK bouldering wall, you will notice that most of the problems will be labelled with numbers, letters or even colours. In this article we will explain what most of them mean.
The Font Grade Scale
The Font grade scale is used on most UK indoor walls. This scale starts at Font 3 (which is for complete beginners) and goes up to Font 8c (and beyond). The following gives an idea of the skill involved for each Font grade. For each grade in the 6a and above range, a plus symbol (+) is used to indicate that the problem is in the upper half of the grade range. So a problem graded 6a+ would be expected to be harder than a typical 6a but not as hard as a 6b.
Colour Circuits and What They Signal
Bouldering walls organise problems by ‘colour circuits’, and within each circuit the problems are roughly graded within the same Font range. Typically Orange problems are grade 4 to 5, red problems are grade 6a to 6b, yellow problems are grade 6c to 7a, and so on. The grade key for the current ‘colour circuit’ is usually displayed at the wall or on the desk nearby.
V-Grades and Why You Might See Both
Other bouldering walls use V-grades (as used in America for example) and are written as V0, V1, V2 etc and go up to V17. The grade of V0 would be similar to a Font 4/5 grade. For example V4 would be similar to a Font 6b grade. We will use Font grades in our Bouldering Cheltenham sessions, but it is useful to know how to read other grade systems around the world for climbers who follow videos of other climbers etc for example.
For Bouldering Cheltenham, see https://www.270climbing.com/.
Picking Your Next Problem
Instead of opting for the hardest problem in the climbing area, opt for the top of what you can do for a clean finish. If you have been finishing most of the Font 5s that you have been climbing then consider climbing a Font 5+ or a 6a bouldering problem for your next climb.
What a Grade Jump Feels Like
Each grade represents a rise in the demands required for completion. Therefore, the difference between Font 6a and 6b is far greater than that between 6a+ and 6a for example. On average one can expect to have to complete a problem a couple of times in order to figure out how to complete it in ascent of a grade or two. In some cases though, particularly in terms of strength or ‘beta’ i.e. different ways of completing a problem, a ‘sudden’ jump in grade can occur in a single session.
After understanding how the grade system works you will realise that it can be a useful guide for your training.