How is bouldering rated?
Bouldering grades help climbers gauge the difficulty of a problem before attempting it. They also allow for comparisons between climbers and climbing locations.
Grading is subjective and based on the physical challenge of the problem. Other factors like risk or height aren't considered. Indoor grading often involves the routesetter assigning a grade after climbing the problem, while outdoor grading usually starts with the grade given by the first ascender, which might be adjusted after more climbers attempt it.
The V Scale is open-ended, starting at V0 and currently going up to V17. The Font Scale, predominant in Europe, is also open-ended and uses a combination of numbers and letters to indicate difficulty.
Here’s how the two scales compare:
Is outdoor bouldering harder than indoor?
In essence, while one might expect V grades to be consistent between indoor and outdoor bouldering, this isn't always the case. For grades up to V5/V6, outdoor challenges tend to be roughly two V grades tougher than their indoor counterparts. So, a beginner might find an outdoor V0 as challenging as an indoor V2. Interestingly, this disparity doesn't hold for higher grades like V8 to V12. These grades are often on par, whether indoors or outdoors. In some cases, the indoor versions of these higher grades might even be more demanding than their outdoor equivalents.