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Gym Colours and Grades: What the Colours in a Bouldering Gym Mean

· by Cruxbook

Bouldering gym colours are not standardised: each gym decides which colour means which difficulty, and there is no universal standard. A blue can be a warm-up in one gym and a solid mid-level problem in the next. If you treat colours as grades, you will often be off.

The good news: most gyms follow a similar logic, and you can build your own translation in a few steps.

How gyms mark their problems

Almost every gym uses one of three systems. You usually see which one at the base of the wall or at the start of the problem.

1. Colour circuit: the holds tell you the grade

All holds of a problem share one colour, and the colour stands for difficulty. A circuit usually has six or seven steps, from easy to hard, for example from yellow to black. The order differs from gym to gym. This is the most common system and the reason "What does red mean?" has no fixed answer.

2. Tape at the start: colourful holds, grade on the tape

Here the holds can be any colour, which gives route setters more freedom. Difficulty is shown by a tape strip at the start or the top. So you look at the tape, not at the holds.

3. Numbers: steps instead of colours

Some gyms number their problems, for example from 1 to 8. Often Font grades are printed next to them. This is the clearest variant, but every gym still has its own scale.

Why there is no fixed colour-to-grade mapping

Several reasons make a simple conversion impossible:

  • Gyms set their own level. A beginner-friendly gym starts its scale lower than a gym full of strong climbers.
  • A colour is a range, not a grade. One colour often hides two or three grades, because setting is never exact.
  • Circuits change. When a gym resets, the level of single colours can shift.
  • The number of steps differs. Six colours in one gym cover a different range than seven in another.

So a colour tells you how hard a problem is in that gym. To compare gyms, you need a shared scale.

The shared scale: Font and V grades

Two scales are common in bouldering:

  • Fontainebleau (Font) comes from France and uses numbers, letters A to C and a plus, such as 6A, 6B+ or 7A.
  • The V scale (Hueco) comes from the US and counts in whole steps from VB through V0 to V17.

The two scales do not line up step by step. Font is finer, so a V grade sometimes covers two Font grades. According to the comparison tables at Wikipedia, theCrag and Mountain Project, V3 is roughly 6A to 6A+, V5 roughly 6C to 6C+ and V8 roughly 7B to 7B+. These are approximations; depending on the table and region a grade sits a little higher or lower.

The grade converter converts V and Font grades into each other and lists its sources.

How to translate your gym's colours

You do not need an official table. This works in any gym:

  1. Ask. Many gyms post an overview or give rough Font grades per colour when you ask.
  2. Estimate from your sends. If you know the grade of a problem from outside, for example from a database or a course, map the colour to the nearest Font grade.
  3. Use ranges. Give a colour two grades instead of one, such as "6A to 6B".
  4. Adjust after a few weeks. If a blue is consistently much easier or harder than expected, change the mapping.

This gives you a scale that fits your gym and stays comparable to other gyms.

What about progress?

If you only count colours, progress is hard to see. "I climb red now" means nothing once you switch gyms or the gym resets. A translation into Font or V turns it into a curve that keeps working.

That is what Cruxbook is built for. You add your gym with its system, as a colour circuit, tape or numbers, and give each colour a Font grade. At the wall you then log only the colour and tap attempt or top. Your stats run on one shared scale, even if the gym only knows colours. With the Garmin app you can do this straight from your watch. For the bigger picture of logging, see How to log bouldering sessions.

FAQ

What do the colours in a bouldering gym mean?

Each gym decides. Usually each colour is one step in a circuit of six or seven colours, from easy to hard. There is no mapping that applies everywhere.

Is black always the hardest problem?

Often, but not always. Many gyms put black or a dark colour on top, others use a completely different order. Check the gym's chart.

How do I convert gym colours into Font grades?

Ask the gym for a mapping or estimate it from problems whose grade you know. Use ranges and adjust after a few weeks.

How do V grades and Font relate?

Roughly: V0 is about Font 4, V3 about 6A, V5 about 6C and V8 about 7B. Font is finer, so a V grade sometimes covers two Font grades. Details are in the grade converter.

Can I log in any gym with Cruxbook?

Yes. You add your gym with its own system yourself, as a colour circuit, tape or numbers.

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