Understanding Climbing Grades

Whether you’ve been climbing for ages or just started sending, deciphering climbing grades can be confusing. Even once you get the gist down, the meaning behind these grades may remain a mystery! What’s with the 5. before those other numbers? Why are bouldering and sport climbing grades so different? How the heck do you figure out where to start? To learn the basics of climbing grades, get a little background, or just get an explanation as to why we climbers have succumbed to this grading chaos, read on!

Sport Climbing: Grading Overview

First, let's talk about the basics: what you'll see sport routes (top-rope and lead) tagged with and what those numbers mean. While some gyms will create their own grading systems with color coordinated or beginner, intermediate, and advanced tags, most sport climbing gyms use the Yosemite Decimal System. The Yosemite Decimal System or YSD is a grading system used for hikes and sport climbing. Using this system, climbs will be labeled with numbers beginning with 5 and followed by a decimal, for example, 5.6 or 5.11b. The five represents the YDS class climbing routes are categorized under, something we’ll explain in more detail in the next section. For now, let’s focus on what this 5.X means when climbing. 

The decimals tell us just what you'd expect– as the decimal goes up, so does a route’s difficulty. While technically this grading system starts with 5.0, most gyms won't have routes below 5.5 or so. As route difficulty increases, you're more likely to see an 'a' or 'b' following the decimal, like our 5.11b example. This letter is used to help sort routes under similar grades, as not all routes under the same decimal number are equally challenging. A 5.11a will be slightly less challenging than a 5.11b, and so on. 

More on the Yosemite Decimal System

The Yosemite Decimal System is a grading system for hiking and climbing. Within the YDS there are five classes, 1-5. As a way to remember the general progression of these classes, you can think of each class as the number of limbs or support points needed to scale the given terrain. 

Class 1 begins with the calmest terrains. Think of a hiking trail flat enough that you could hop down it on one foot! In class two, you’ll need two points of contact or both feet on the ground to feel steady. Class 2 can sometimes require a hand for scrambling, but in class three handholds become necessary (two legs + one handhold = class three!). Class 3 terrain is generally when the risk of serious injury emerges. In class 4, both feet plus both hands or other points of contact (two feet + two hands = class four) are required for more exposed scrambling and simple climbing. Finally, class 5 terrain requires five points of contact, the fifth one being a rope. Sport climbing grades are 5.X as they are class 5 terrain! 

Bouldering Grades

Finally, let’s talk about bouldering grades. Just like sport climbing, bouldering routes are most often graded using a number system. The two most commonly used grading systems for bouldering are the V scale, named for its creator, John “Vermin” Sherman, and the Front scale, named for the area in France where it was first created!  

In North America, the V Scale is the most commonly used grading system for bouldering. This scale begins with V0 as the least difficult and increases with route difficulty. You may also see VB labels for ‘basic’ or ‘beginner’ routes; these routes will be less challenging than V0’s. A fun part about both the V and Font scales is that they’re open ended, meaning they’ll continue to expand as more challenging routes are discovered! To date the V scale goes up to V17, a grade that only two bouldering problems currently hold. 

In many other parts of the world, the Font scale is preferred for grading bouldering problems. While there are general conversions for V to Font scale grades, they don’t translate directly. The Font scale begins with level 1 one and increases with route difficulty. However, routes rated lower than level 3 or so are not common. These levels would be closer to the class 2-4 terrain talked about in the YSD, requiring some basic climbing or scrambling but generally not yet considered a climb. The Font Scale currently tops out at around 9A(V17). 

Similar to sport climbing, an ‘a’, ‘b’, or ‘c’ along with a ‘+’ or ‘-’ can be added to Font scale routes graded 6 or higher. These labels help organize and clarify the difficulty of routes graded under the same number category. If you’re interested in comparing the two scales, check out the V to Font Scale conversion chart below!