How to Log Bouldering Sessions: Attempts, Sends and Grades That Show Real Progress
If you want to see progress in bouldering, log three things per problem: the grade, how many attempts, and whether you sent it. That's all you need to start. Almost every number that tells you something later comes from those three: sends per week, how often you flash, and where your limit sits right now.
The hard part isn't knowing what to log, it's doing it. With chalky fingers and your heart rate at 150, nobody wants to type long notes. So this post is also about how to log with as little typing as possible.
Why log your bouldering sessions at all?
Because how a session feels lies. After a night where you fell off one problem twenty times, everything feels stuck. Then you open your logbook and see that last month you sent three problems in a new color for the first time, and the picture changes.
A logbook answers questions your memory can't answer reliably:
- Am I getting better? More sends in harder grades over weeks.
- Am I climbing enough? Volume per week, so how many problems you actually do.
- Am I climbing clean? How many problems you send first go.
- Am I sticking with things? Which projects are open and for how long.
What should you log per problem?
Per problem, the grade, the number of attempts and the result are enough. Everything else is a bonus. Log those cleanly and you can work out flashes, sends and projects from them later.
In practice it looks like this:
- Note the grade. In most gyms that's a hold color, tape at the start, or a number. Log what's on the wall.
- Count every attempt. Every time you leave the ground on a problem is an attempt.
- Mark the send. Both hands on the last hold, under control.
- Flag open problems as projects. If you want to come back to it, keep track of it.
Optional, if you feel like it: style (slab, overhang, roof), what didn't work, how you felt.
Attempt, send, flash and project: what's what?
Keep these four apart in your logbook. Every stat you'll look at later is built on them.
| Term | Meaning | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Attempt | Every start on a problem | How much you're putting in |
| Send (top) | Problem done | What you can climb |
| Flash | Send on the first attempt | How well you read and climb |
| Project | Problem you work on across sessions | Where your limit is |
In your own logbook, a flash is simply a send with no earlier attempt on that problem. If you count every attempt, you never have to log flashes separately. They fall out on their own.
What is a grade pyramid?
A grade pyramid shows how many problems you've sent at each grade. The easier grades with lots of sends sit at the bottom, the hard ones with few sends at the top. The shape tells you whether your base can carry you.
A few common shapes and what they mean:
- Wide base, narrow top: The classic. Lots of sends in easier grades, working your way up.
- Tower: Few sends per grade, but already high up. You jump to the next grade quickly. Often it pays to collect more volume in the middle grades.
- Flat disc: Lots of sends in one or two grades, almost nothing above. Time to try harder stuff more often.
A pyramid isn't a target you have to "fill". It's a picture of where you're climbing right now.
Why gym colors make comparisons hard
Every gym sets differently. Blue is easy in one gym and mid-range in the next. Some gyms use one hold color per difficulty, others use mixed holds with tape at the start, others use numbers.
For your logbook that means:
- Log each gym in its own system. Don't translate in your head, it only blurs the data.
- Only compare gyms through a shared scale. Many gyms give a rough Font grade for their colors. The Fontainebleau scale is common in Europe, the V-scale in North America (overview of bouldering grades). If your gym doesn't give one, skip the comparison.
- Expect resets. When the gym resets, old problems disappear. Your old sends should still stay in your logbook.
What a watch can and can't measure while you boulder
A smartwatch helps with logging, but it doesn't do the thinking for you. It's good at time and heart rate. It doesn't know on its own whether you topped out or which problem you were on.
| Measurement | Smartwatch | What you have to enter |
|---|---|---|
| Session length | Yes | Nothing |
| Heart rate | Yes, from the wrist | Nothing |
| Which problem | No | Color, tape or number |
| Grade | Only if you enter it | The grade |
| Send or attempt | Only if you enter it | The result |
| Flash | Not as its own category | Comes from your attempts |
| Projects across sessions | No | In your logbook |
A few details on the big platforms:
- Garmin has a dedicated Bouldering profile on many current models. According to the fēnix 8 manual, you pick a grading system and a grade per route, then save each route as Completed or Attempted. The watch doesn't know your gym's colors.
- Apple Watch has a Climbing workout type in the Workout app. Apple doesn't describe any climbing-specific metrics for it. The Workout app doesn't save grades or attempts.
Bottom line: the watch is good for time, heart rate and, on a Garmin, a simple list of grade and result. For gym colors, flash rate and projects you need a logbook.
Which numbers show real progress?
Focus on a few numbers you compare over weeks. Single sessions swing too much.
- Sends per week (volume). If it goes up, you're climbing more. Good for your base.
- Flash rate. The share of your sends that went first go. When it rises at a grade, that grade has "arrived" for you.
- Pyramid per gym. Shows whether more sends are slowly showing up at a harder grade.
- Attempts to send on projects. If similar projects take fewer attempts, you're getting better.
You can log rest between attempts too, for example with the rest timer that Garmin starts automatically in its indoor climbing profile. For most recreational boulderers, though, volume, flash rate and the pyramid say more.
How to log with Cruxbook
We're building Cruxbook for exactly this. It's a bouldering logbook that runs in the browser and on your phone today.
- Add your gym. Enter a name, tap the colors from easy to hard, done. Cruxbook knows three systems: color circuit (hold color is the grade), tape at the start, and numbers. You can add a Font grade per color if you want.
- Start a session. Tap the gym.
- Tap at the wall. Color, then attempt or top. Two taps per problem. You can undo the last tap.
- Flashes come for free. A top with no earlier attempt on that problem counts as a flash.
- Keep a project. You can keep an open problem as a project and keep working on it in later sessions.
- Gym reset? Start a new circuit. Your old tops stay with the old circuit.
The free stats show the last 30 days: tops per week, flash rate, sessions, tops and attempts, and a pyramid per gym. A gym comparison via Font grades is part of Premium, which you can't buy yet. Even then, Cruxbook only compares gyms you've mapped to Font grades and never guesses. You can export your data as CSV or delete it any time.
What Cruxbook doesn't do today: there's no watch app yet. Garmin is planned next, then Wear OS and Apple Watch. Until then, your phone in your pocket or on the bench does the job.
FAQ
Do I have to log every single attempt?
If you want flash rate and project tracking, yes. Without attempts you only know what you sent, not how easily. At two taps per problem, it's not much work.
Does a send on the second attempt still count as a flash?
No. A flash is a send on your first attempt. Once you've been on the problem before, it's a regular send.
How do I compare two gyms with different colors?
Only through a shared scale, usually the Font grade many gyms list for their colors. Without that mapping, any comparison is a guess.
Can my smartwatch do the logging for me?
Partly. A Garmin with the Bouldering profile saves grade and result when you enter them. The Apple Watch Workout app saves time and heart rate, but no problems. Neither one knows your gym's colors or your projects.
How often should I look at my stats?
Once a week is plenty. Single sessions swing a lot with how you feel and with resets. The trend over several weeks is what counts.