This is a very common question, unfortunately, the usual response is that an answer is impossible because everyone is different. Although this is true to a point, there are general trends and rough timelines that can help you figure out how you compare to the general progression of other climbers.
The rate of moving up through V grades varies by person and by grade. The higher the grade, the longer it takes to get to the next one. General timelines indicate that from bouldering day one, getting to V4 can take a year, V5 two years, V6 three years, and five years to V7. Few recreational climbers will reach V8.
What Does It Mean to Be at a Certain Grade?
Being at a V grade means being successful with most problems attempted at that grade. For example, being a V6 climber means being able to successfully send most attempted V6 problems, rather than only having scrambled through one.
Having done one problem at a certain grade does not mean that we are at that grade level. Success with only one problem could just be that the holds or sequences in this particular problem suited our strengths, or perhaps it was graded soft.
General Trends of V-Grade Timelines
The actual amount of time between grades varies by person, but the overall pattern is that the higher the grade, the more time it takes to move up to the next one.
It is much quicker to move through the lower Vs than to move through the higher ones. Going from V1 to V2 is a breeze compared to going from V8 to V9. Especially after V6, progression is not linear and each grade is approximately twice as difficult as the previous.
Many people never get past V6, V7 or V8. Without a lot of natural ability, the training and effort to do V8 and higher can be more than it’s worth for purely recreational climbers.
Moving up Between Specific V Grades
The timeframes below apply to indoor bouldering. They have been collected from people’s personal experiences and observations.
For someone who is non-athletic but of normal fitness and not carrying excess weight, and who is climbing every second day or so, general consensus is that V1 to V3 progresses at about a grade per month, with V4 and upwards taking longer. For example, at 3 months, one is starting to have success with V3. However, as you will see below, there is a lot of variability in these timelines.
The Lower V Grades: VB to V3
Climbing VB and V1 in the first few sessions, and V2 by the 4th to 5th sessions, seems to be about average.
The move up from V2 to V3 starts demanding better technique and endurance. It can take 3 to 6 months to be confident at V3, although some strong and fit people can achieve V3s by the end of their first month.
The First Big Jump in Challenge: V3 to V4
Going from V3 to one’s first V4 can take up to 2 months.
However, reliably sending indoor V4 takes on average about two years, although the first successful attempt can be achieved within 6-12 months of one’s first bouldering session. Outdoors is more challenging and can take twice as long.
V4 is where good technique starts to be essential. Unless starting out fit and strong, expect V4 to feel unachievable for a while.
One commenter noted that he could climb most V4s after a year of 3 times per week bouldering. Another suggested dedicating the first year to perfecting technique on V1-V3 problems, for a good solid foundation before making a start on V4s in the second year.
The Next Big Jump in Challenge: V4 to V5
It can take up to 2 years to do V5s confidently. In other words, going from V4 to V5 can take a full year. There is a lot of variance, of course. Some people will achieve V5 within 8-9 months of their first bouldering session, others will never reach that level.
Going from V4 to V5 is challenging because it involves a significant step-up in difficulty. At V5, body tension becomes important, there are smaller and crimpier holds, and the sequences tend to require specialized techniques such as flagging, drop-knee, heel and toe hooks, foot matching, and dynamic moves.
The commentator mentioned above says that after a year of 3 times a week bouldering, he is successful with one third to half of tried V5s. The V5s he is not able to finish have a lot of crimps and involve a serious amount of core strength.
Getting to V6
It can take from one to three years to get from V1 to V6. If starting off in decent shape and at close to optimal weight, with a bouldering schedule of 3 times per week, getting from V1 to V6 can sometimes be done by end of the first year.
Again, V-grade progression is not linear. One person took only 9 months to get to V5, but then it took another year and a half to move up from V5 to V6.
V7 and up: The Higher Grades, Grade Ceilings, and Plateauing
It can take five years of training, with at least 3 bouldering sessions per week, to get to V7.
Most people never get to V8.
Those who get to V10 take a full decade of steady bouldering to get there.
Hitting Plateaus is Normal
Getting from V1 to V4-V5 can be quite fast, some even achieve this in the first few months. However, plateauing is common when approaching V5 or V6, and going higher than V5 or V6 requires a doubling down on training and technique. Plateauing is where one is stuck at a certain grade, unable to break through to the next one. Getting out of these progression plateaus requires pushing limits and giving 100% effort. See this article for more on this.
What Will Impact How Fast You Move Up Through V Grades
How long it takes to move through V grades depends on many things, from natural affinity and ape index to how hard your particular gym sets its problems.
Baseline physical fitness has a significant impact. Coming to bouldering with good general fitness, especially from doing a variety of sports, leads to faster progression. Sports that promote good balance, like gymnastics, are particularly helpful because good balance is more important than brute strength in bouldering.
People who have a history of athletic activity will progress much faster than those coming from a non-athletic baseline because they bring a variety of skills that benefit bouldering, such as hand-eye coordination, quick reflexes, and the ever-important core strength, crucial at higher grades.
A high muscle-to-body-fat ratio is also a bonus. Carrying excess weight, or coming from a sedentary lifestyle, can add months to one’s progression timeline. Every 10 pounds of excess weight lost will boost progress.
Things you can control that will impact how fast you progress:
- How often you go bouldering, and how long the sessions are
- Whether or not you take lessons, and how effective the coach is
- Bouldering with experienced people
- Dedicated practice of your weak performance areas
- Perseverance through setbacks and failures
Bouldering at least 3 times a week allows for muscle memory to develop. Climbing with V7-V10 climbers is excellent for picking up good habits and techniques. Lessons from an experienced coach are extremely helpful for getting techniques down pat.
What Is Your Ape Index?
How’s your ape index? Having extra-long arms is generally considered to be a benefit in bouldering.
If your ape index is a positive number, your wingspan is wider than your height. Having a positive ape index means that your arms are longer than those of an average person of your height.
There are two ways to calculate ape index:
- The ape index as a number, expressed in either inches or centimeters: measure your arm reach (“wingspan”), and subtract your height. The norm is an ape index of zero. My wingspan (measured fingertip to fingertip, with both arms held out like a cross) is 57 inches (144.8 cm), and my height is 62 inches (157.5 cm). My ape index in inches is (57-62) = -5, and in centimeters (144.8-157.5) = -12.7. My ape index is negative, which means that my wingspan is less than that of the average person of my height. An ape index greater than zero is considered an advantage in bouldering.
- The ape index as a ratio: as above, measure your wingspan. Divide by your height, to get a ratio. The average ratio is 1. If your ratio is greater than 1, you have longer arms for your height than the average person and this is considered advantageous. My personal ape index ratio is (57/62) = 0.9, which is less than one, so my arms are shorter than an average person of my height.
The first example above, the ape index as a number, is the one most commonly used by climbers when reporting their ape index. Whether it is reported in inches or centimeters depends on location: countries using the metric system will use centimeters.
How to Test a Grade
In one gym, you find that you struggle to do V3s, but in another gym you can sail through V4s and V5s. With this sort of inconsistency, how can you figure out your actual V grade level?
Indoor grades are very subjective, and a V grade’s level of difficulty varies between different bouldering gyms. It can even vary between route setters at the same gym, depending on each setter’s level of experience.
The best way to gauge your true level is to test yourself on an outdoors boulder that is confirmed for its grade. If this is not possible, try several bouldering gyms to see how a certain grade feels in different locations, to develop an instinct for detecting soft and hard grading.
Soft grading is where the assigned V grade is higher than the problem’s actual difficulty. For example, a V1 problem may be labelled as being V2. Gyms will do this to encourage new clients to feel capable and successful, which makes it more likely that they will return. Higher grades, perhaps V4 and up, tend to be more accurate because the people climbing at higher levels often have outdoor experience and a better idea of true grading.
Related Questions
What is a hard problem, an easy problem?
- A hard problem takes more than a few tries to solve; it can take 10-50 attempts, or 2 or more sessions. Hard problems are often where improvement gains are made. Easy is anything solved in 1-5 attempts.
- Any specific problem at a certain grade will have its own style, which affects its difficulty level. For example, one V4 problem can be all static, another can have a few dynamic moves. One V5 can have the holds quite far apart while another has trickier sequences. This is why doing just one V4 or V5 does not necessarily indicate competence at that grade: some problems will cater to your strengths due their composition.
How do outdoor V grades compare to indoor grades?
- Outdoor grades are generally perceived to be harder than the same grade in a gym. For example, an outdoor V2 corresponds to a gym V3. An outdoor V0 corresponds to an indoor V2. From V5 upwards, indoor and outdoor grading is more in sync (1).
- Part of this is because outdoor problems are more difficult to read than the routes set in a gym. An outdoor problem whose holds are more obvious (it has very visible holds, or chalk residue shows where the holds are) will feel closer to its indoor counterpart.
- Progression through outdoor V grades is usually slower than moving through the same grades at a bouldering gym.