UKC

I'm  probably being very thick, but I'm struggling to understand the concept of circuits in the context of bouldering venues.  Obviously I'm nothing close to being an keen boulderer, otherwise I'd know this stuff already, but I do like to use it as a way to practise a bit of climbing on my own from time to time.  I'm used to the system at a nearby bouldering wall where they just put a grade number against each problem: not even one of the recognised grading schemes AFAIK, just 0 for the easiest ones and progressively harder as the number gets larger.  I guess that just seems logical, based on how the routes that I normally climb are graded.  However, a new indoor venue has opened recently that's a lot closer to where I live - but it uses coloured circuits and as I say I'm struggling to understand how that is supposed to work.

I'd be very grateful if someone could explain the reasoning behind and the intended benefits of using circuits instead of just putting a grade against each problem.

The answer lies in Fontainebleau 

Basically the system is the same. All walls give their problems  a grade, be it B grades, V grades F grades or Font grades Life would be easier if there was a standard system but there isn't and in any event there will almost inevitably be a grade disparity between walls and even setters at the same wall.  A lot of walls try to get round this by giving  problems a spread grade ( eg V3-5, V4-6 and so on) rather than a single definitive one.

Setting problems of the same grade with the same coloured holds  just makes it easier to spot which are which rather than having to go looking for scratty tags that may be lost over the life of a problem. You can choose to do all the problems of a particular colour as  a 'circuit' or you can pick and mix the grades as you wish. Or even spend your whole session working a single desperate problem if  that's your thing.  It's entirely up to you. Nothing more complicated than that.

Each colour represents a grading band (say black Font 6a to 6b+). So if you go around doing black problems, they’re all in that grade range. There’s usually a board up somewhere with the colour circuit grades on. Colours, and indeed grading are not consistent from one centre to another. Problems on a circuit are numbered so you can go around following the circuit as the setter intended. Some centres will have a board with all the problems on, with an indicator of where individuals problems are situated in the grade band.

I think the benefits are that if you’re looking to progress in a grade band, it’s easy to identify the climbs you want to do as you go around. I don’t think it’s ‘either or’. Most good centres now have colour circuits plus a competition wall and circuit boards with non circuit problems on. This mirrors developments in Font, with colour circuits with individual problem grades in the guidebook, plus ‘off piste’ individual problems with associated guidebooks.

if you ever go to an indoor facility in the States, and the bewildering setting of routes with insulation tape, you really appreciate colour grades when you get back.

the early circuits at Fontainebleau were intended as training for the Alps with a series of problems at a similar grade to be done one after another, sometimes without ever touching the ground.

Sorry folks, I forgot that I don't have the Bouldering forum on my "My Forums" list.

Thanks for the advice.  I will give the place another go and see if I can make better sense of it second time around.  I think maybe the first time I suffered a bit of brain fade on account of being in a new place surrounded by unfamiliar people all of whom seemed to know what they were doing a lot better than I did!