Chapter Eight

Grade by grade

In this chapter

Each grade band from VB to V8+ gets a guide in the same six parts, from what problems look like to why people stall. Read the guide for your grade and the one above it. If you climb most V4s, read the V4 guide, the step to V5 (Section 8.6) and the V5 guide.

Indoor grades are local. A setter (the person who designs a problem) grades it against the other problems in the same gym, so the same grade can feel different elsewhere [75]. Many walls grade by circuit (a colour that spans two or three grades) [32]. Treat the guides as a picture of what is typical, not as a test. Chapter 2 explains how gym grades vary. The appendix converts V-grades to Font grades (the European scale).

The badges. Each band lists every technique whose Part II badge, such as V4+, falls at that grade. The badges are judgement. No coaching scheme, such as the UK’s NICAS, ties named techniques to V-grades [160, 252]. The nearest thing is the technique clinics gyms run for named grade bands, and this chapter leans on those [78, 79, 253].

The physical side. The max-hang numbers are averages across men and women, from a large database of tested climbers [254]. Climbers at the same grade differ widely. The descriptions under “What problems look like” are judgement, not measurement.

How long climbers have been climbing

Lattice Training holds data on about 65,000 climbers. Climbers at V1–V4 report 5.8 years of climbing on average. The average rises to 8.6 years at V5–V7 and 9.7 years at V8–V11 [255]. Lattice’s author suspects that casual long-time climbers inflate the V1–V4 figure, and calls that a hunch without data.

Older climbers at a grade report more years of climbing. At V8, climbers under 25 report 3.8 years on average. Climbers over 40 report 13.0 years [255].

Haven’t climbed a V5 after a year? These figures give you no reason to think that’s slow. All of them are self-reported. Lattice, a training company, reports how long climbers at a grade have been climbing, not how long the grade took. One forum thread does ask what grade people reached after a year. Its answers range from about V4 outdoors to V8 indoors, but the posters are self-selected [256].

8.11 Progression map

Each row lists key techniques badged at that grade in Part II, and what to focus on.

Progression map
Band	Key techniques	Focus
VB–V0	Precise footwork, Edging, Weight shift, Straight arms, Jug	Place feet by eye; push with the legs; learn to fall
V1	Smearing, Rockover, Frog position, Matching hands, Stemming, Sidepull	Hips over the foot before you reach
V2	Foot swap, Turning the hip in, Side flag, Layback, Half crimp, Undercling, Mantle, Slab technique	Climb side-on; stop the swing
V3	Pulling with the toes, Heel hook, Backstep, Drop knee, Body tension, Lock-off, Sloper, Pinch, Gaston, Deadpoint, Overhangs	Toes into the wall; first momentum; climb V3s first go
V4	Toe hook, Compression, Dyno, Latching, Cutting loose and swing control, Run-and-jump, Roofs	Straight-arm starts; plan the swing; try a V5 every session
V4→V5	Those of V3 and V4, done precisely and linked	Find your limiter; work three to five V5s over sessions
V5	Bicycle, Heel–toe cam, Knee bar, Full crimp, Double dyno, Campus move, Jumping to a foothold, Pogo, Competition set pieces	A broad V5 base across styles
V6	No new techniques; hooks as main holds, Compression and Cutting loose and swing control	Weak styles; small holds; precision
V7	No new techniques; precise latching, hooks and compression	Test for weaknesses; projects over weeks
V8+	No new techniques; grip-specific strength	Moves worked out for your body; specialist strength