Climbing · Grades

What does a bouldering grade mean at The Crux?

What do the colours mean?

Each coloured tag maps to a V grade. The tag is on the starting holds, so look down before you look up.

• Yellow is V1 and the easiest we set.
• Blue is V2, purple is V3, green is V4.
• Orange is V5, red is V6, black is V7, white is V8.
• Multicolour is a wildcard and its grade is deliberately hidden.

Why is a colour a band rather than one grade?

The grades range slightly within each colour, because setters build to a feel rather than to a number. Two yellows can be a little apart.

• Treat a colour as a range rather than an exact V grade.
• A climb that suits your height or your strengths will always feel easier.
• Nobody at the counter will mind you asking which yellow is the friendliest.

What is a V grade?

The V scale is the standard bouldering difficulty scale, counting up from V0. Higher means harder, and the steps get further apart as you go up.

• V grades describe one boulder problem, not a climber.
• Outdoor and indoor grades at the same number can feel different.
• The colour on the tag is the thing to follow here, not the number.

Where is the multicolour tag?

Scattered through the gym. It is a climb whose grade we have hidden on purpose, so you climb it on how it feels rather than on what it is worth.

• Try one before you look for its grade. That is the point of it.
• Ask before giving beta is a Crux Culture policy, so let people work it out.

How often do the climbs change?

We set twice a week, so there is always something fresh on the walls.

• A colour you could not do last month may be reset at a different feel.
• The Grasshopper board is there if you want to train rather than climb.
• Wall sectors get stripped and reset in turn, not all at once.