Route grades are always subjective, especially when it comes to indoor bouldering. Every gym seems to have their own interpretation on grading and it can vary wildly between facilities. Why in the world is this the case?
Many facilities use their own 'coloured grading' system with no reference or connection to the globally recognised V Grade system. And we reckon that's absolutely ok. It helps to understand where the grading system has evolved from and why.
The V Grade system is established by the outdoor climbing community and these routes ... well don't get changed. They're there to stay. When many people traffic these routes a pattern of consensus emerges and the grade is defined. Some people are obviously more qualified than others to help refine this but the fact remains and it's commonsensical.
Indoor bouldering is another beast altogether.
Modern boulder gyms have attracted a lot of 'beginners' / new faces to the industry and the v-grade system can be rather unforgiving to this market. Outdoor grades can often be significantly more difficult than indoor grades when comparisons are made. Are comparisons important or they relevant? Well yes and no. It depends.
Nobody enjoys getting their arse kicked on a V1. Simple. It doesn't make you feel good. So gym grades tend to be a bit softer. Not always but often. Modern day Boulder is becoming even more subjective as the route styles (problems) evolve.
Inclusiveness is important so perhaps the coloured grading system is a better way to avoid the direct comparison and run it's own race. And we agree to a point but this has it's limitations.
Standards are applied across all industries for a reason. Consistency is important. What you can't measure you can't manage, so if you're leaning on subjective grading for motivation then it's easy to focus on the winning horse. It feels good in the moment but ultimately it isn't that healthy because there's no accountability.
The T4L provides a credible standard,. It doesn't rely on the hole-in-one moments / grade outliers. It relies on significant amounts of data from many routes over multiple rounds. You earn your grade.
The T4L holds you accountable and when you're playing the long game, this is important and it pays dividends - it always does.
The bottom line is that it's all subjective so perhaps we shouldn't take things too seriously here and just enjoy the very reason we all do this.
Have a great day now!
30 Apr 2023