Bouldering grade pyramid
Pick your hardest grade and fill in what you've sent. The pyramid shows how many more sends you need before your next grade is worth projecting.
Filling the gaps
Short at the bottom? That's volume, and it's the quickest part to fill. 8 boulder pyramid climbs the whole shape in one session: 8 boulders from flash to limit, then back down 7 to 1. Up to 3 attempts each.
Short at your hardest grade? Give it one session a week with full rests. Hard projecting: 1 or 2 boulders at your limit, 30 min each. Work the moves, then link them. 3-5 min rest. How long to rest is in this guide.
Full, and still stuck? Then more of the same won't do it. How to break a bouldering plateau starts with finding out what stops you.
On easy days, Circuit climbing and Climb with flow add sends at the bottom without tiring your fingers. Converting grades first? Use the grade converter.
In the Blok Sessions app
Your pyramid, drawn from your logbook
Log each boulder as a flash, a send or an attempt, and Trends draws your grade pyramid from your logbook, next to your flash grade and your send rate by wall angle. It changes every time you log a send.
Get it on the App StoreOr plan in your browser
Planning and logging are free with an account. See what Pro adds.
Questions
What is a grade pyramid in bouldering?
A count of the boulders you have sent at each grade, drawn as bars from your hardest grade down. A healthy one is wide at the bottom: a few sends at your top grade, more one grade below and more again below that.
How many boulders should I send before moving up a grade?
A common rule of thumb is 2 at your hardest grade, 4 one grade below and 8 two grades below. Then the next grade is worth projecting. Take it as a guide rather than a law: a gym that grades soft or hard shifts it.
Which sends should I count?
The last three months or so, so sends from a stronger season don't prop up the pyramid. Count flashes and sends; an attempt that didn't top out doesn't count.
My pyramid is full but I still can't climb the next grade. Why?
Then more of the same volume won't fix it. Look at what stops you on the hard ones: small holds, big moves or fading halfway up. The free quiz asks exactly that and gives you a plan for it.
Find out what's stopping you
Seven questions about your climbing, then a plan built from your answers. Free.
Seven questions · about a minute