Gym grades
Many bouldering gyms grade with their own colours or levels instead of the Font scale. There is no standard for this, and a step only means something in its own gym. Some gyms do publish how their steps convert to Font, though. Those tables are collected here, exactly as the gyms state them, with the source and the day we last checked. So far most of them are in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Click a Font value to open it in the grade converter.
Get the weekly climbing briefing
One curated email a week with the ascents, comps, gear and the stories worth your time.
Free. Weekly. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bielefeld
Levels 1 to 6 as circuits.
| Step in the gym | Font, per the gym |
|---|---|
| Level 1, easy | 2a-3 |
| Level 2, not easy | 3-4a |
| Level 3, a bit hard | 4a-5a |
| Level 4, hard | 5a-6a |
| Level 5, very hard | 6a-7a |
| Level 6, mega hard | 6b-8a |
The levels overlap, level 5 goes up to 7a, level 6 starts at 6b. That is how it is published.
Source: gym website, checked on 8 October 2026
Munich, Frankfurt, Dortmund, Regensburg, Hamburg, Karlsruhe
Level 1 to 9 on small cards at the start, the hold colour says nothing about difficulty.
| Step in the gym | Font, per the gym |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | 2a - 3b |
| Level 2 | 3c - 4b |
| Level 3 | 4c - 5a |
| Level 4 | 5b - 5c |
| Level 5 | 6a - 6a+ |
| Level 6 | 6b - 6b+ |
| Level 7 | 6c - 6c+ |
| Level 8 | 7a - 7b |
| Level 9 | 7b+ - 8b |
Applies at all eight sites, in Munich East, West and South. The pages for Hamburg and Karlsruhe still describe the old system in the text, the table next to it is the current one.
Source: gym website, checked on 8 October 2026
Munich, Duisburg
Seven colours, explained in the “circle of difficulty” in the gym.
| Step in the gym | Font, per the gym |
|---|---|
| Yellow | 1 – 3 |
| Blue | 4 – 5 |
| Red | 5 – 6a |
| Green | 6a-6b |
| Black | 6b-6c |
| White | 7a-7b |
| Brown | 7b-8b |
Listed in the FAQ for the Munich and Duisburg sites. The lower colours come without sub-grades.
Source: gym website, checked on 8 October 2026
Radolfzell
Colour of the start card. The gym belongs to the Konstanz section of the German Alpine Club (DAV).
| Step in the gym | Font, per the gym |
|---|---|
| White | no grade given |
| Yellow | grade 3 |
| Green | grade 4 |
| Blue | grade 5 |
| Red | grade 6 |
| Black | 7a and harder |
Source: gym website, checked on 8 October 2026
Zurich
Seven colours, the same at Flüela and Leutsch.
| Step in the gym | Font, per the gym |
|---|---|
| Yellow | 1a – 4c |
| Green | 5 – 6a |
| Orange | 6a+ – 6b+ |
| Blue | 6c – 7a |
| Red | 7a+ – 7b+ |
| White | 7c – 8a |
| Black | 8a+ – almost impossible |
Source: gym website, checked on 8 October 2026
Kranj, Ljubljana
Seven colours from light blue to black.
| Step in the gym | Font, per the gym |
|---|---|
| Light blue, very easy | 3 – 4 |
| Pink, easy | 4 – 5b |
| Green, moderate | 5b – 6a+ |
| Blue, medium hard | 6a+ – 6c |
| Yellow, hard | 6c – 7a+ |
| Red, very hard | 7a+ – 7c |
| Black, extreme | 7c – < 8c |
Hangs as a board in the gym, where the steps have Slovenian names. Each colour overlaps the next by one grade, and the top step goes up to “< 8c”. That is how it is posted. The gym confirmed by email that Ljubljana uses the same scale.
Source: board in the gym, photographed on 9 October 2026. Gym website
Zagreb
Eight colours from orange to black, each with a name from “curious” to “ace”.
| Step in the gym | Font, per the gym |
|---|---|
| Orange, curious | 3-4 |
| Green, beginner | 4-5 |
| Dark blue, motivated beginner | 5-6a |
| Yellow, climber | 6a-6b |
| Pink, good climber | 6b-6c |
| Red, boulderer | 6c-7a |
| White, strong boulderer | 7a-7b |
| Black, ace | > 7b |
Hangs as a board in the gym, where the steps have Croatian names. The board gives V grades next to Fb. Each colour shares its top grade with the next, that is how it is posted.
Source: board in the gym, photographed on 9 October 2026. Gym website
Nothing to convert here, the Font grade is on the boulder.
These gyms grade on a scale of their own, and we could not find a conversion to Font on their website. Then a level stays what it is: a ladder within that one gym.
If your gym posts a conversion, or you have a table for another scale at hand, send it to me at stephan@climbersdelight.de. A photo is fine. And if something here is out of date because a gym has changed its system, I would be glad to hear that too.
How the Font scale works and where to start as a beginner is in the guide on how climbing grades work. And the best of the climbing world, every week, comes with the Climbers Delight newsletter.
