Bouldering to rope grades

So I've just gotten into climbing and I was wondering what rope grade i would be climbing if I'm bouldering at v4-v5?

If your in the Gunks or Eldo, I would say about 5.5+ or MAYBE 5.6.

Try this

Keep in mind that that chart means practically nothing if you don't have the endurance for a lead route

This question comes up every so often and the reality is that so many factors go into different types of climbing that there's really no way to tell. V4 moves (outside, not in a gym) supposedly translate into 5.12- moves, but endurance, mental and intestinal fortitude, placing protection, etc all make the translation difficult to impossible. I have friends who can boulder solid V6-7 outside but get scared and tired leading a .10a sport climb. I am lucky if I can get up a V3 outside but can redpoint somewhere in the 11s on bolts and mid 5.10 on gear. Of course, grades vary a ton from location to location!

The only way to find out is to go try it! Have fun and be safe.

Sweet! Thanks guys. I've really only been indoor climbing. I need to get into more out door

I agree with the other post they don't really translate well at all. I have sent dozen V5s but have only done a few 11s on lead and 12s I can get up on lead but generally hanging at alot of the bolts. Which really does make since that I can lead a 5.12 taking a break between every other bolt since that would make them like mini V5 boulder problems back to back.

THEY DON'T TRANSLATE! Doing V5 in a gym doesn't mean Shoit! You will find V2 outside that will shit you down! Outside holds are smaller and grades vary. Also bouldering indoors where a lot of V routes are set by young egotistical clowns who don't have a clue don't mean crap. In my experience, gyms tend to set big juggy monkey crap on most all boulder problems, they aren't realistic at all.

start out on easy sport climbs, get your rope management and clipping dialed, then find some projects.

Nivel Egres wrote:I always thought that the crux boulder problem puts a floor on the grade - for example, V7 problem in the middle of a 5.8 slog would go at 5.13a. However, multiple boulder problems would make a route much harder. I think for boulders I've heard the rule of X + X = X + 2, meaning that a linkup of two V5s makes a V7. In the endurance thread I was asking for empirical lower bound (easiest crux move for a grade) and there does not seem to be one.

No

I'm pretty sure bouldering grades are predicated on the same basic ideas behind the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS), which sets the rating of the route as the single hardest move on that route.

A route with 20 5.12 moves is 5.12. A route with one 5.12 move is 5.12.

There is not supposed to be inflation for the number of hard moves (whether that reflects real-world grading is another issue).

C Runyan wrote:I'm pretty sure bouldering grades are predicated on the same basic ideas behind the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS), which sets the rating of the route as the single hardest move on that route. A route with 20 5.12 moves is 5.12. A route with one 5.12 move is 5.12. There is not supposed to be inflation for the number of hard moves (whether that reflects real-world grading is another issue).

I believe this is the case, theoretically, but as you said I'm not sure this is the case with real-world grading, and I'm not sure it should be. I think a climb's grade should reflect the difficulty of sending the climb as a whole. A climb with 20 5.12 moves is much harder than one with just one 5.12 move, so grading them the same way defeats the purpose of a grading system in the first place - letting you know how difficult the climb is.

You just got into climbing and you're doing V4-V5s? I'd say hit another gym first or, better yet, boulder outside and then see if your number hold up. It's a pretty different world once you get outside. Also, as someone pointed out, if you have no endurance, it doesn't matter that much how strong you are.

I wish there was a "fear factor" worked into this chart. I give props to people who primarily boulder. If get a body length or two off the deck on anything that is even close to challenging me with nothing but pads and broken rocks beneath, it definitely affects how well I climb. I often panic and downclimb when I run into a challenging move up higher on a boulder, whereas if I were roped up I wouldn't panic in the first place. Definitely ion my head on boulders outside. Not so in the gym - I'm a much "bolder-boulderer" there.

Nivel Egres wrote:PS. Only talking real world outside boulders and routes, in established areas

I would have it no other way. The gym scale is completely arbitrary and impossible to accurately compare to real climbing as rock is infinitely subtle and varied.

As to why? What Runyan posted.

Lots of misconceptions here that have been covered on MP many times. A 5.8 with one 5.12 move is 5.12. A route with 20 .12- moves (v4/5) that is sustained with little rest, could be as hard as 13+ or more. A great example is Zee wicked witch at enchanted tower. It has no move harder than v2, but checks in at 12c/d.

I think I must be very lucky in that I climb in a gym where the grades are much closer to outside than in other gyms. I climb V5 in my gym, and I climb about V5 outside. My gym also uses 20+ year old holds, and has setters who primarily climb outside so maybe that helps.

I went to a comp at another gym and I found that I was climbing 2-3 grades higher than I could at my regular gym...

Why do gyms seem to grade really softly? To make people feel good about how they're climbing and buy more passes?

Just like climbing on real rock, it depends on the gym. Some gyms (e.g. Planet Granite in PDX and SF) have such absurdly soft grades that anyone who goes outside thinking "oh, I can lead 5.11" after climbing there is bound to stain their britches. There are some gyms where the grades can be every bit as stiff as the local crag. In general, I think gyms do it so that beginners have more to climb and have an easier time gauging improvement.

Oh boy grade squabbling on the internet. So subjective- areas,developers,conditions,style,rock type, ego,etc. No definitive answer will ever come. Climb things that inspire you forget about chasing numbers.

R. Moran wrote:Oh boy grade squabbling on the internet. So subjective- areas,developers,conditions,style,rock type, ego,etc. No definitive answer will ever come. Climb things that inspire you forget about chasing numbers.

Yeah, OP should get on Jumbo Love asap.

Don't you think it's important for a beginner have an idea if the route is within his ability before starting? I climb 5.12 so I go look for inspiring 5.12s, it would be a waste of my time to find an inspiring 5.15 and start pulling away.

If the grading at the gym is in line with your sport crag you should be able to do all the moves on most 11s as a v5 climber imo. My local gym workers have always been a great source for recommendations of outdoor routes to try as well.

C Runyan wrote:I'm pretty sure bouldering grades are predicated on the same basic ideas behind the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS), which sets the rating of the route as the single hardest move on that route. A route with 20 5.12 moves is 5.12. A route with one 5.12 move is 5.12. There is not supposed to be inflation for the number of hard moves (whether that reflects real-world grading is another issue).

That is an old way of grading that has not been used by most for a long time.

Bouldering should only be graded on the hardest move. I hate when a problem is say V4 and then the guide says the sit start makes it V5 when the sit start is maybe V2. I'm looking at you Tree Problem in Castle Rock. (Wonderful problem though!)