Circuit colors and V-grades: why Shift sets by color instead of number

If you've climbed at another gym, one thing you'll notice on our walls is what's missing: there are no grades on them. No V4 tag, no number under the start hold. Our climbs are organized into circuits by hold color, a system inspired by the legendary bouldering circuits of Fontainebleau, France. We often get asked, "Okay, but what V-grade is the purple?" This is our answer.

V-grades, briefly

The V-scale (named for John "Vermin" Sherman, who developed it at Hueco Tanks in Texas) is the grading system most American bouldering gyms use. It runs from VB (the "B" is for beginner) through V0, V1, V2, and on up into the teens. A V2 is harder than a V1, and a V5 is a real step up from a V3. Here's the thing about V-grades that every climber learns eventually: they are famously inconsistent. Grades are useful for tracking your own progress on the same wall over time, and a lot less useful for comparing gyms, climbers, or anything else. That inconsistency is part of why we don't put them on the wall.

Colors instead of grades

A circuit is a collection of climbs in the same difficulty range, identified by the color of the holds. Instead of hunting for the one V3 in the corner, you find your color and climb everything in it, all over the gym: slab, vertical, the dihedrals and arêtes (inside and outside corners), the tilting boulder, the steep wall.

Colors do a few things a number can't. They push you onto styles you'd otherwise skip, because "finish every purple" includes the slabby purple and the steep purple. They make progress a task of completion ("I've done six of the eight pinks") instead of a single number that goes up or doesn't. And they take the comparison out of the mats; nobody is announcing what grade they climb, so the person next to you is just a person working on the same circuit. Our routesetting team strips, washes, and resets circuits every week, so each circuit is a fresh set of challenges month to month. Here's how they work if you're curious.

Circuit color to V-grade at Shift

We choose intentionally not to use V-grades, and we encourage all climbers, whether visiting for the first time or climbing regularly, to explore the gym from a place separate from V-grades. Think of your climbing as a journey of trial and discovery. You will find boulders in most circuits that will challenge you, and there's always room to grow!

White: the rotating theme circuit

White is the odd one out, and it's our favorite to set. It isn't a fixed difficulty. It's a rotating circuit, and the theme changes with each set. Some months white is all dynamic movement (jumping, swinging, catching holds on the move). Some months it's footwork only, with climbs built to punish anyone who tries to pull their way up. Sometimes it's a set of six or seven climbs each built around a different climbing competency (balance, compression, tension, precision, and so on). When we host a guest setter, white is often where their signature style shows up.

So the difficulty of white depends entirely on the theme in rotation: one cycle it might sit around the orange and purple range, the next it might have climbs that trouble our most experienced climbers. Ask at the desk what the current white theme is, or just try one and find out. It's the circuit most likely to teach you something you didn't know you were missing.

V-grades on the Tension Board 2

One place in the building does use numbers: the Tension Board 2. The TB2 is a standardized training board with an app full of problems, and those problems carry grades set by the board's community rather than by us. If you want a number to track month to month, the board is where to get it, and our TB2 explainer covers how it works. On the walls, though, it's colors, and we like it that way.

Questions we get about circuits and grades

What V-grade is each circuit color at Shift?

We choose intentionally not to use V-grades, and we encourage all climbers, whether visiting for the first time or climbing regularly, to explore the gym from a place separate from V-grades. Think of your climbing as a journey of exploration and discovery. Try something new, find a boulder that challenges you, have fun!

Does Shift use V-grades?

Not on the walls. Climbs are organized by hold color into circuits, each covering a range of difficulty. The Tension Board 2 in our training area uses the grades from its app.

Why do the color ranges overlap?

Colors overlap for a seamless transition between circuits. We want climbers to work on their strengths and weaknesses, and overlapping circuits give everyone ample opportunity to try new things, be challenged, and find success!

What is the White circuit?

A rotating theme circuit. Each set is built around a theme (dynamic movement, footwork only, a tour of six or seven climbing competencies, or a guest setter's style), and the difficulty changes with the theme. Ask at the desk what's in rotation.

Which color should I start on?

We always encourage climbers to start on yellow. It not only gets you into the circuiting flow, it takes you on a tour of our space. After that it's up to you! You can go in order after yellow or start another color. The choice is always yours, and we hope you enjoy circuiting as much as we do!