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Grading Systems Compared

In an impossible attempt (for reasons to be outlined later) to publish a valid and correct comparison table, here is our effort. Before I start my rant on just why a table like this should be only used as a loose guide, and before you get all huffy because you thought you were a 5.13 guy but now only boulder V7 instead of V10, read this:

A practical guide to applying the V-system
Copyright 1998 John Sherman

• V0 A problem you wouldn’t admit to doing no matter how cool it was.
• V1 A problem you would admit to doing, if it had loose holds, a death landing, and your partner backed off of it.
• V2 A problem, if cool enough, that you would recommend to others to prove you’re not a ratings snob.
• V3 A problem you ruthlessly wire and incorporate into your warm-up routine, in the hopes that visiting partners will struggle on it.
• V4 A problem that might give you trouble, but “Hey, anything below V5 is so easy I can’t tell the difference.”
• V5 A problem, if you were to live in Boulder, Colorado, that you might actually flash.
• V6 A problem, if you were to live in Boulder, Colorado, that you would expect your girlfriend to flash.
• V7 A problem you fell on repeatedly, but really, you could have flashed it.
• V A problem you religiously avoid, because you’re “saving it for the flash.”
• V9 A problem you have no chance of flashing.
• V1 A problem you knew you could have done, even though your spotter took 10kg off for you, so you counted it anyway.
• V1 A problem, if flashed, that you might get free shoes for, but only if you fax the mags this month.
• V12 A problem you would do if only your fingers were a bit smaller, your reach a bit longer, your spotter more attentive, the weather more amenable, your > shoes not so blown out, your elbow not so sore from training, the sun not in your eyes, and you didn’t eat that funky take-out Chinese the night before.
• V13 A problem commensurate with your well-published abilities, that you deserve credit for, even though you didn’t do it, because as the mags reported, “It > was too humid.”
• V14 A problem only Fred Nicole could do, after you gave him the beta.

Now back to why these tables never really work:

The basic flaw or real truth of V-grading is it is area specific. What this means is the system was never envisioned to cross pollinate with the YDS, Font, J.T. or whatever. As Sherman said in the first Hueco guide: "The V rating system is an open ended system for grading boulder problems. It originated in Hueco Tanks." He went on to say, " Whether a problem is intimidating, scary, loose or has a bad landing has no effect on the V grade. Only the physical difficulty counts, that is the technicality of the moves combined with the demands on one’s power and endurance." He added, "…the ratings are consensus of opinions of expert boulderers in excellent shape, or when lacking a consensus, my opinion of how hard it felt when I did it." A sample of boulder problems followed this advice and listed the standard problems for each V grade at Hueco, with a few from other areas thrown in to help those from out of town and clueless. Nowhere did it say that V4 was 5.12a or any other grade. So, when bouldering in the Bishop area, use our sample problems for each grade as your guide to how the area is graded. If you do one of our V4 standards and then do a problem that is easier, it is probably V3….if it is harder, it is probably V5. If it is 25 feet high and rated V0, that does not mean it will be easier than a sit down 5 footer graded V0…it should be just as hard…maybe right up to the last move. Bad landing? Who cares… V2 is still V2, whether you are landing on a lawn or Punji sticks.

Addendum: In the winter of 2000, a stack of Brits were here for an extended stay. They reworked the chart below to help out with the Font and Peak grades. These were no ordinary slackers, but guys and gals who have been pulling hard for years and have a great experience in all the areas and grades up to V11 or so. The thing that rang most true was this: If you are used to Hueco grades (ie: pulling hard, positive holds, power, steep) and go to the Font, chances are you will get your butt kicked. The Font is mostly slopers, not so steep, and requires technique. The Peak is somewhere in the middle, with power problems and slopers in the mix.

"Remember that grades are not a measuring stick for the size of your ego, they are merely a guide to the routes that you may consider attempting. "

- Dave Pegg, author of the Rifle Guide by RockFax Guidebooks.

"…Bollocks, Dave Pegg, and you know it. Grades are a measuring stick for the size of your ego they are also directly proportional to the amount of free gear some gullible company gives you and how often you get laid."

- Mick Ryan, publisher of the Rifle Guide by RockFax Guidebooks.

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