V-scale progression vs YDS progression

I have recently gotten stoked on bouldering. As an avid trad and sport climber, I find that I move through a new grade (ex: 5.10b to 5.10c) every six months to a year. This obviously depends on how much I am training and how much trad climbing I am doing vs sport climbing.
my question: how fast do you move through V grades vs 5. Grades? Every year do you bump up the V grade you are climbing by 1? IE V2 -> V3? I find my progression to be fairly linear on 5. scale, whereas I have friends who are climbing V10 and they haven’t been climbing for a crazy long time.
i know there are a multitude of factors that go into this, like the moving from V11 to V12 is much harder than going from V0 to V1. I am interested in hearing peoples’ experience with this.

(Figured this should go in general climbing because I’d like to hear from people that boulder and climb on ropes)

Personally, my v-grade progression went faster than my yds grade. I’ve been climbing for just over a year and have led 5.11b outdoors but bouldered v6 outdoors. For context, when I started climbing I was climbing about 5.7 and v0, so I’ve progressed roughly 4 ish yds grades and 6 v grades in about the same time. Take it with a grain of salt, though, as I boulder much more often than sport climb.

Porter Archibald wrote:

Personally, my v-grade progression went faster than my yds grade. I’ve been climbing for just over a year and have led 5.11b outdoors but bouldered v6 outdoors. For context, when I started climbing I was climbing about 5.7 and v0, so I’ve progressed roughly 4 ish yds grades and 6 v grades in about the same time. Take it with a grain of salt, though, as I boulder much more often than sport climb.

You've progressed 8 YDS grades though.

Maybe a better way to look at this is how fast your progression was after you acquired basic technique. For example, it was a few weeks between leading my first 5.7 and first 5.9 because progression was just acquiring basic climbing technique. It wasn’t until I got to 10c where progression became much slower because pulling the moves is what was limiting me. I have basic technique down in bouldering and still feel that I can’t pull harder than V0 lol

Depends on what you consider climbing a certain grade. I've sent sport 5.12a but don't claim to climb that grade, since I've only sent one, it was a one move wonder, my style, and probably one of the softest 5.12a's in Colorado, if not the known universe (and it still took me 6 tries). Are we talking flash grade? Send after 2-3 tries grade? Multi session project grade? And that's without accounting for style and regional grading differences. 

Generally speaking I think the progression looks like a log curve where you progress very fast in the early stages and progress more slowly as you go on. And the curve is going to look different for everyone based on how much you climb, age, athletic background, body type, etc.

I have basic technique down in bouldering and still feel that I can’t pull harder than V0 lol

V0 is supposed to equate to the crux of a ~5.10a, so if you climb 5.10c that's about right. Also, you live in Boulder, where the bouldering is sandbagged AF. I have friends who have sent V5 in Joe's Valley who literally could not send V1 at Flagstaff Mtn after multiple attempts. Check out Three Sisters or Mt. Sanitas for more reasonably graded V0-3 boulders.

Here is my % of lifetime routes by grade 

TLDL: I got to v4 before I consistently climbed 5.10 then I got to 5.12- before I climbed v5 or v6.

Ah, the old 12a is equal to V4 but really how do they equate. First off many people lately say they sent v6 in their first year, but very few people say they redpointed a 12a outdoors their first year. That should tell you what you need to know about relative progression. A short V6 (with perhaps 1 crux throw) can be wired more easily than a 75 foot 12a with 40 moves on it.

Kind of on topic: The dominant paradigm has people evaluate their climbing ability in terms of their hardest ever redpoint and bouldering send. While it's nice to have those high numbers attached to one's self, over time and with experience most climbers start to evaluate themselves by the grade at which they can usually send most kinds of routes. If you've redpointed a few 12a routes pointed out to you as "easy 12a" but haven't sent dozens each of 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d it's not really accurate to say "I lead 12a." Same thing if you did a few V6s but not dozens if not hundreds of v4 and v5. This matters more in trad where the consequences can be more severe.

To reframe the paradigm, lately I ask new partners " if the gear/bolting is less than perfect and the route is tricky to onsight or feels committing, what's the hardest grade you feel comfortable trying to onsight?" Framed that way, most people say say 5-8 or 5-9 - but if I'd asked "how hard do you climb trad?" I might hear "I've sent 5-10 on gear." But it's not helpful if they one time sent a 10c that has a short crux on perfect gear - I want to know they have stacks of experience at 5-8 and 5-9 and can make good decisions about sewing it up, doubling pro, knowing when to down climb or bail, etc. so I don't put them on lead over their head.

TLDR: Especially if you're young it's easier to progress in bouldering than roped climbs, but you are not equal to the highest rated climb you've done once - you are equal to the level you've done many times, in many places, on many kinds of rock.

If your measure of success is being able to climb a grade consistently progression is pretty much the same from V grades to YDS. 

My experience if I'm platueing in either YDS or a V grade tends to happen because I'm struggling with a style of climbing, not enough of a base of lower grades (like bryans is talking about) or just working a project that scares me.  

Also to echo if someone says the boulder/climb V6/5.12a and they've only done once chances are they really only boulder/climb V4/5.11b or less. 

Being able to consistently climb a grade is much more helpful and motivating to me than focusing on what my next max level climb is. 

That said you always got to have a project. 

I always go back to the way climbers place grades. I was always under the assumption that grades are given to the single hardest move. The other climbers will place a grade on single hardest move and then fluff depending on length. The rate of progression for me depends if I am training power endurance or endurance and cross training. Don't skip leg day. 

What? Wait... you're progressing? 

I don't know about all you other folks but I just decided to be ok with maintaining. 

R E R wrote:

I always go back to the way climbers place grades. I was always under the assumption that grades are given to the single hardest move. 

Wrong assumption.

Just to follow up on JohnWesley and Rollin: how V-grades and route grades relate to one another.

As to how fast you move up each scale - it depends 110% on what your goals are. Do you want to become a better boulderer? You will move through V grades more quickly. Are you focused on improving your route climbing? You will move through route grades more quickly.  Care equally about both? They'll progress are a similar pace.