Learn the Lingo: Grades

This Learn the Lingo post is mainly so you know what I'm on about when I commiserate on not sending a 4a, or congratulate myself on a V2. I still don't know all that much about the whole grading system so I have linked some more informative and technical posts at the end.

Rope climbing

At the moment I only climb lead and top rope, so will only be writing about top rope and lead climbing, for now.

Top roping is where the climber is attached to a rope which passes up through an anchor at the top of the climb and down to a belayer at the foot of the climb. The belayer keeps tightening the rope as the climber climbs, keeping them secure.

Lead climbing is where the climber is attached to the rope, which is also attached the the belayer and they clip the rope into bolts along the route, then lower off at the finish in order to collect all of the gear on the abseil down.

The grades in the indoor roped climbing start at 3a, and go up to.... 3a, 3b, 3c, and as far as I know, they go up to 9a. 

Bouldering

The indoor centres that I usually boulder in use the V Scale, so that is how I will be referring to bouldering grades. 

The V stands The “V” is short for “Verm” or “Vermin”, after boulderer John Sherman who is the creator of the V Scale. 

Bouldering grades start at VB, then V0, V1, V2, V3 etc. (I believe it goes up to V17)

Indoor, the grades are decided by the people who set the routes (decide where the holds go), so this can vary between centres. Don't be disheartened if you're flashing V2s in one centre and you go somewhere else and find them a lot more difficult! Also you're likely to find some V2s easier than others due to the types of holds used for them. I've done a post here on two very different V2s. (I'm using V2s as a point of reference purely because that's where I'm at at the moment)

Outdoor grades are decided by the first person to send the route. These routes are also named by the people to first send the route, as can be seen on the UK Climbing website, with such delights as 'The Burning Spinster' and 'Scared Shipless'. 

Read these if you want some extra info from people more in the know then me:
https://www.thebmc.co.uk/a-brief-explanation-of-uk-traditional-climbing-grades
http://www.dartrock.co.uk/climbing-grades-explained/
https://www.99boulders.com/bouldering-grades
https://www.thecrag.com/en/article/grades