As bouldering has grown in popularity over the past couple decades, bouldering grades have increasingly become a topic of confusion and, sometimes, contention. The inherent subjectivity of grades makes it difficult to come to any sort of consensus about the difficulty of a particular problem. This can affect the sport, or someone’s experience of it, in various ways. For example, some in the bouldering community might argue that the obscurity and subjectivity surrounding grades is one of the main reasons there is no unequivocal V16 boulder problem yet.

In the midst of this confusion, 99Boulders.com has published a guide to bouldering grades that covers many parts of this multifaceted topic. For any climbers who don’t understand a particular aspect of bouldering grades (sometimes also called bouldering ratings), this guide is a good starting point. It covers the basics, the two most commonly used rating scales, how boulder problems are graded, and common criticisms of bouldering grades.

Check it out at this link: Bouldering Grades