Climbing tools
Climbing Grade Converter
Convert climbing grades between the systems used around the world. Pick a grade and see the equivalent instantly. Bouldering uses the V-scale and Font, while sport and trad routes use French and YDS. Grades are subjective, so treat every conversion as a close approximation rather than an exact match.
Bouldering grades
V-scale V12 is about Font 8A+.
V12 to V14: Effectively full-time climbing. Almost everyone operating in this band organises their life around it, whether or not they are sponsored.
Full V-scale to Font chart
| V-scale | Font |
|---|---|
| V0 | 4 |
| V1 | 5 |
| V2 | 5+ |
| V3 | 6A |
| V4 | 6B |
| V5 | 6C |
| V6 | 7A |
| V7 | 7A+ |
| V8 | 7B |
| V9 | 7C |
| V10 | 7C+ |
| V11 | 8A |
| V12 | 8A+ |
| V13 | 8B |
| V14 | 8B+ |
| V15 | 8C |
| V16 | 8C+ |
| V17 | 9A |
Sport and trad grades
French 4 is about YDS 5.5.
French 4 to 5+ (YDS 5.5 to 5.9): Beginner-course terrain. Routes in this band are mostly about getting comfortable with the rope, the height and your belayer rather than about hard moves.
Full French to YDS chart
| French | YDS |
|---|---|
| 4 | 5.5 |
| 5 | 5.7 |
| 5+ | 5.9 |
| 6a | 5.10a |
| 6a+ | 5.10b |
| 6b | 5.10c |
| 6b+ | 5.10d |
| 6c | 5.11a |
| 6c+ | 5.11c |
| 7a | 5.11d |
| 7a+ | 5.12a |
| 7b | 5.12b |
| 7b+ | 5.12c |
| 7c | 5.12d |
| 7c+ | 5.13a |
| 8a | 5.13b |
| 8a+ | 5.13c |
| 8b | 5.13d |
| 8b+ | 5.14a |
| 8c | 5.14b |
| 8c+ | 5.14c |
| 9a | 5.14d |
| 9a+ | 5.15a |
| 9b | 5.15b |
| 9b+ | 5.15c |
| 9c | 5.15d |
And your gym?
Many bouldering gyms grade with their own colours or levels. Which gyms convert their scale to Font, and how, is in our collection of gym grades, sorted by country and city.
Bouldering and roped climbing are graded separately because they ask different things of you, which is why there are two charts above rather than one long one. The V-scale came out of American bouldering and the Font scale out of the forest of Fontainebleau, while French grades and YDS did the same job for roped routes on either side of the Atlantic. None of them were designed to line up with the others, so every conversion here is a close approximation rather than an exact rule.
Common questions
What is V5 in Font?
V5 is roughly Font 6C. The two scales grew up separately, the V-scale in American bouldering and the Font scale in the forest of Fontainebleau, so they line up in bands rather than one to one. A V5 in one gym can easily be a V4 or a V6 in the gym across town, and the same is true of 6C between one boulder field and the next.
What is 6a in YDS?
French 6a is roughly YDS 5.10a. French grades are the common currency for sport routes across Europe, while YDS is what you will see in North American guidebooks. The two run in step through the lower grades and then drift, because one French step covers more ground than one YDS letter higher up the scale.
Can you convert a bouldering grade to a rope grade?
Not really, and it is worth understanding why. A boulder grade describes a handful of very hard moves close to the ground, while a rope grade describes staying in control over twenty or thirty metres. A strong boulderer can be shut down by a long easy-looking route, and a seasoned sport climber can fail on a short powerful problem. If you want a comparison, compare bouldering scales to each other and roped scales to each other.
Are climbing grade conversions exact?
No, and neither are the grades themselves. A grade starts as one person's opinion, the first ascensionist or the setter, and is corrected over time by everyone who repeats the climb. That is why a well-travelled crag has grades you can trust and a brand new gym wall sometimes does not. Use a conversion to decide what is worth trying, not to measure yourself.
Popular conversions
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