Bouldering grade converter
Font to V-scale and back, from 3 (VB) to 9A (V17), the hardest boulders climbed so far.
How close is it?
The V-scale has fewer steps than Font, so some V grades cover two Font grades: V3 is 6A and 6A+, V4 is 6B and 6B+, V5 is 6C and 6C+, V8 is 7B and 7B+, V16 is 8C+ and 8C+, and V17 is 9A and 9A. Log the Font grade if you want to see small steps. It's the same ladder the Blok Sessions app logs grades on.
Gyms grade by feel, and published tables differ by a grade here and there, so take any conversion as a rough guide.
Some gyms grade with colours or circuits instead of either scale, and those don't convert. Ask which grades a colour covers and log the middle of it.
Where the two scales come from
Font grades come from Fontainebleau, the forest south of Paris, and most gyms and guidebooks in Europe use them. The V-scale started at Hueco Tanks in Texas and is the usual one in North America. A step in Font, say 6A to 6A+, is smaller than a step in V grades, which is why the table has more Font rows.
Style moves a grade around more than any table does. A 7A slab and a 7A roof ask for different things, so a send on one tells you little about the other. If you log your boulders, note the style too.
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The full table
| V-scale | Font |
|---|---|
| VB | 3 |
| V0 | 4 |
| V1 | 5 |
| V2 | 5+ |
| V3 | 6A, 6A+ |
| V4 | 6B, 6B+ |
| V5 | 6C, 6C+ |
| V6 | 7A |
| V7 | 7A+ |
| V8 | 7B, 7B+ |
| V9 | 7C |
| V10 | 7C+ |
| V11 | 8A |
| V12 | 8A+ |
| V13 | 8B |
| V14 | 8B+ |
| V15 | 8C |
| V16 | 8C+, 8C+ |
| V17 | 9A, 9A |
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