How to use it
- Choose the Rope grade system your grade is written in, and type the grade, for example 5.11a.
- Choose the Bouldering system and type a boulder grade, for example V5, or leave it empty.
- Read Rope grades in this line and Bouldering grades in this line, then open the full tables to see every line.
How the tables are built
The rope table is the free-climbing comparison in the Wikipedia article on climbing grades. It sets the American YDS grade beside the British technical and adjectival (E) grades, the French sport grade, the UIAA scale and the Ewbank grades of Australia and New Zealand and of South Africa. The article builds it from RockFax (2021) and theCrag (2023).
The bouldering table sets the American V-scale beside the Fontainebleau (Font) grade on the same line. The article takes it from a report of the Club Alpino Italiano for the UIAA (2016) and calls it indicative.
- A grade that the table lists on more than one line, such as the French 6c for the YDS lines 5.11a to 5.11c, shows every one of those lines.
- A range such as 3–4 is kept as the table gives it, because the systems do not share one exact value there.
- A YDS number without its letter, such as 5.10, shows each letter grade of that number.
What the converter does not cover
- The Saxon, Scandinavian, Brazilian technical, Polish Kurtyka and Dankyū scales, and the aid, ice and mountaineering grades.
- A grade that is not in the table. A grade is shown only when the table writes it in that system.
- The grade of a particular route or crag. Guidebooks set their own grades, which can differ from these tables.
Worked example: 5.11a and V5
In the rope table the line 5.11a has the British adjectival grade E3, the French sport grade 6c / 6c+ and the Ewbank grade 21 of Australia and New Zealand. The table gives no UIAA grade and no British technical grade for that line.
In the bouldering table V5 is the Fontainebleau grade 6C. The article calls that comparison indicative.
| System | Grade |
|---|---|
| YDS | 5.11a |
| British adjectival (E) | E3 |
| French sport | 6c / 6c+ |
| UIAA | — |
| Ewbank (Australia and New Zealand) | 21 |
| Fontainebleau (Font), for V5 | 6C |
Frequently asked questions
Why does one French grade match several YDS grades?
The table puts the French sport grade 6c / 6c+ on three lines, 5.11a, 5.11b and 5.11c, as one shared cell. A French grade therefore points to a range of YDS grades, not to one exact grade.
What does a dash in the table mean?
A dash means the table leaves that cell blank for the line. The table has no grade in that system there, so the converter does not give one.
Are the V-scale and Font grades exactly the same?
No. The article says the bouldering conversions are only indicative and can vary by several levels between versions. It says the two systems exactly align after V9 / 7C, and the converter adds a note for the lines before that.
Can I convert a British E grade?
Yes. The adjectival grades E1 to E11 are in the table in their own column, and the technical grades 1 to 7b are in the British technical column. The two British columns are separate systems.
Why are some Ewbank grades shown as ranges?
The table gives some Ewbank grades as ranges for a line, for example 3–4 for 5.0 in Australia and New Zealand. The converter keeps the range, because the table does not give one value there.
Does the converter say how hard a route is?
No. It only converts a grade between the systems of the comparison table. How hard a route feels depends on its holds, its length and the climber.
Sources
Figures and text last checked on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.