UKC

I've wondered this for a while but why do most bouldering walls only grade up to something around the V9 mark. I understand that 95% of the people that use the wall will never climb at that grade but there are quite a few at my local wall that I'm sure are capable of climbing that grade and harder outside. V9 is only ~7c in font grades which is not super hard. Is it simply due to the lack of people climbing at those grades and the fact that most walls have some sort of 45 degree board which can fulfil needs of the best climbers?

In reply to mctrials23:

For a start most indoor problems are changed regularly so you don't get much time to work a problem. Also if you are climbing that hard you can probably find other ways to train - lots of newer walls e.g. Loughborough, Climbing Works, Depot have training rooms/boards where people mark up their own hard problems.

In reply to mctrials23:

If you think of problems as taking up a certain amount of the finite space at a wall then setting a lot of 8a and harder problems which only a few percent of climbers will attempt is not a good use of resources.
The two walls I go to get it about right with circuits going up to 7cish and just a few 'project' problems (why are they always white?) scattered about.

In reply to mctrials23:

I'm not sure, but I think Font 7c might be super hard for more than 99% of climbers. The strong people who are good enough are probably able to make their own problems indoors and on 45 degree boards, which are common. They probably also have the commitment level to get outdoors and try projects.

In reply to Cake:

Mm, 7C counts as fairly tricky for most people I think. Unless it's one of those ridiculous walls with flattering grades

In reply to mctrials23:

I climb mainly at the arch in london and I have no idea if the grades are a bit soft or not.

In reply to Cake:


I think that's probably true.

I'd also add its not necessary to climb at your absolute limit when training. At indoor walls people tend to go from one problem to the next without as much rest as when seriously trying to complete a long term outdoor project at their limit. For someone to do a bunch of 7c's indoors in one session they'd have to be better than a 7c climber.

In reply to mctrials23:

You also need setters who are good enough for such grades. Not all walls/setters have regular opportunity/ability/experience to set 8a and above. That's if they have the angles and holds to make the problem that technically hard and interesting to boot. Granted many walls do have high achieving setters/staff, but not all.
I'd also second that if I were good enough to look for 8a boulders, I'd put the effort in when it matters outside on real rock than spend days trying indoors with the risk of injury etc for a few bits of plastic.

K.

In reply to mctrials23:

The La Sportiva legends comp is a good way for a reality check on indoor bouldering grades and illustrates why such hard grades aren't necessary.

This invite only comp is for six of the world's very best boulderers. The real cream of the cream. This year it was Adam Ondra, Alex Megos, Jan Hojer, Jimmy Webb, Daniel Woods and the relatvely unknown Jernej Kruder. The competitors get to work the 5 problems on a day before the actual comp so they know the moves in advance. On the comp day they had 3 tries each with some rest between tries. Only Ondra managed to complete all 5 problems. Megos was fairly close. Interesting was the fact that grades given were between font 8a and 8b. So if the world's top boulderers can't complete routes like that after practice on a previous day then you can see why such grades aren't needed at bouldering walls.

In reply to stp:

Also as climbers approach their limit conditions become important.
Even a climber who regularly climbs a given grade probably couldn't do so in the hot humid conditions of a wall on filthy holds.