What does a bouldering grade mean?
It is a rating of how hard a climb is. At The Hold the grade is a coloured tag beside the starting holds, so you read a colour rather than a number. Yellow is easiest and purple is the joker. Each colour maps to a range on the V-scale, the international bouldering system, for anyone who already climbs. You never have to learn the numbers to use the gym.
What do the colours mean at The Hold?
Yellow is V0 to V1, green V2 to V3, blue V4 to V5, red V6 to V7 and black V8 and up. Purple is the joker - it sits outside the ladder. Start on yellow whatever your background, because a gym's easiest grade is the only reliable way to read how that gym sets.
- The tag sits beside the starting holds, so you can see a problem's grade before you commit to it.
- The colours are a guide rather than a promise - two problems at the same grade can feel very different.
What is the V-scale?
The international bouldering scale, sometimes called the Vermin scale, running from V0 upwards with no ceiling. It rates a single boulder problem rather than a whole route. Our colour tags sit in front of it so a first-timer does not have to learn it on day one.
- V-grades are open-ended: the hardest problems climbed anywhere are around V17.
- A gym's V0 and a crag's V0 are rarely the same thing.
What grade should I start on?
Yellow. It is the easiest grade we set and it is built for people who have never climbed. Climbing a few yellows first tells you more about how our walls feel than any number will, and green is the natural next step.
- Only the holds of your colour count, plus the volumes, which are part of the wall.
- Starting holds are marked - both hands on them before your feet leave the ground.
Why do grades feel different at different gyms?
Because a human being sets every problem and grades it by feel. There is no measurement involved, so one gym's green can be another's blue. Climbers call this soft or stiff grading, and it is normal rather than a mistake.
- Outdoor grades are usually stiffer than indoor ones.
- Compare within a gym, not between gyms.
Do I need to know my grade to come in?
No. Nobody asks, and there is nothing to declare at the desk. Walk in, take the induction, start on yellow and move up when a problem stops feeling hard. The grades exist to help you choose a climb, not to qualify you for one.
- No booking needed for individuals, couples or small groups.
- Our glossary explains the rest of the vocabulary - beta, flash, crux, send.
First visit? Walk straight in.
No booking needed for you and a few mates. Fill in your waiver online, wear something comfortable, bring socks if you are hiring shoes. We will take it from there.