Climbing grades explained: V scale, Font, YDS and French grades compared
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Every climb in a gym or at a crag has a grade, and the first time you look at a guidebook it can seem like several different number systems are fighting each other. They are, a little: bouldering and roped climbing use different scales, and different parts of the world have their own. Here is how the main ones work and why a grade is more of an opinion than a measurement.
Bouldering grades
The V scale (sometimes called Hueco grades) is common in North America and many gyms elsewhere. It starts at VB or V0 for the easiest problems and goes up one number at a time: V1, V2, V3 and so on, into the high teens for the hardest problems in the world. Some gyms add a plus or minus, or use ranges such as V0–V2.
The Font scale (from Fontainebleau in France) is standard in Europe and much of Asia. It uses a number, a letter and sometimes a plus: 4, 5, 5+, 6A, 6A+, 6B, 6B+, 6C and upwards. The plus and the letter give it more steps than the V scale.
Roughly, the two line up like this:
- V0 is about Font 4
- V1 is about Font 5, V2 about 5+
- V3 is about 6A to 6A+
- V4 is about 6B to 6B+
Treat any conversion chart as approximate. At the lower end one V grade covers more ground than one Font step; higher up they match more closely.
Route grades
The Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) is used in the United States and Canada. Technical climbing starts at 5.0; the "5" just means roped climbing on steep rock. Above 5.9 the number keeps counting (5.10, 5.11, 5.12…), and from 5.10 the letters a to d split each number into four steps. The hardest routes are in the 5.15 range. Note that 5.10 is harder than 5.9; it is not a decimal.
The French sport grade is used across most of Europe and in many gyms worldwide. It runs from 1 up to 9c, with letters and pluses for finer steps: 6a, 6a+, 6b, 6b+, 6c and so on. A 5.10a is often given as roughly 6a, but again, charts disagree a little.
The UK has its own two-part system for traditional climbing (an adjectival grade like VS or E1 plus a technical grade), and Australia uses plain numbers (the Ewbank system). If you climb in those places, learn the local scale rather than converting.
Why gym grades vary
Grades are agreed by people, not measured by a machine. Several things make them wobble:
- Setters differ. The person who set the climb gives it a grade, and they have their own height, strengths and preferred style.
- Style matters. A powerful steep problem and a delicate slab can share a grade and feel nothing alike to you.
- Height and reach. A move that is a stretch for one climber is a comfortable reach for another.
- Gyms grade to their own scale. Some are known as "soft", some as "sandbagged" (graded too easily for how hard they feel). Many gyms use colour circuits instead of numbers precisely because of this.
- Outdoor grades are their own thing. Rock type, conditions and history shape how a crag is graded, and people commonly find outdoor climbs harder than the same number indoors.
How to use grades well
- Use them to find climbs of roughly the right difficulty, not to keep score.
- Compare yourself within one gym, not across gyms.
- Expect to climb a range of grades depending on the style. Being a "V3 climber" on overhangs and a V1 climber on slab is normal.
- If a climb feels much easier or harder than its grade, you are probably not wrong; it may just suit or not suit you.
What grading system does your gym use, and have you found one place much softer than another? Tell us in the comments.