Count your sends, find the grade you skipped, and get the session plan that fills it. Free, no signup, saved in your browser.
What a bouldering pyramid actually is
A bouldering pyramid is a picture of your climbing history, sorted by grade. One row per grade, one brick per problem you've sent. Stack them up and the shape tells you something a single number never can: whether your hardest send is a foundation or a fluke.
A healthy pyramid is wide at the bottom and narrow at the top — roughly 1 send at your goal grade, 2 one grade below, 4 two grades below, 8 three grades below. If your shape is a tower instead of a pyramid, you've been projecting at your limit and skipping the mileage that makes the limit move.
How to build yours
- Pick the grade you're chasing, not the grade you've done. Usually one above your current best.
- Count your real sends at each of the four grades below it. Repeats of the same problem count once.
- Find the hollow tier. The lowest row that isn't full is your bottleneck — that's where the next block of sessions goes.
- Fill from the bottom up. Volume at the hollow grade, a few focused attempts at the goal grade to keep the movement familiar.
- Re-count monthly. A pyramid you never update is a poster, not a plan.
Pyramid targets by goal grade
| Goal grade | Goal (×1) | One below (×2) | Two below (×4) | Three below (×8) | Total sends |
|---|
| V4 (6B) | 1 × V4 | 2 × V3 | 4 × V2 | 8 × V1 | 15 |
| V5 (6C) | 1 × V5 | 2 × V4 | 4 × V3 | 8 × V2 | 15 |
| V6 (7A) | 1 × V6 | 2 × V5 | 4 × V4 | 8 × V3 | 15 |
| V7 (7A+) | 1 × V7 | 2 × V6 | 4 × V5 | 8 × V4 | 15 |
| V8 (7B) | 1 × V8 | 2 × V7 | 4 × V6 | 8 × V5 | 15 |
| V9 (7C) | 1 × V9 | 2 × V8 | 4 × V7 | 8 × V6 | 15 |
| V10 (7C+) | 1 × V10 | 2 × V9 | 4 × V8 | 8 × V7 | 15 |
The 1–2–4–8 shape is a convention, not a law. Some coaches run 1–2–3–4 for outdoor seasons where sends are scarce, others go 2–4–8–16 for gym mileage. The ratio matters more than the numbers: each tier roughly double the one above it.
Three ways people get this wrong
Counting attempts as sends
A problem you fell off twice and finally topped is one send. A problem you've touched but never finished is zero. Inflating the pyramid only hides the tier that needs work.
Building the pyramid around the gym's grades
Gym grading drifts, setters have moods, and a soft V6 in one gym is a stiff V5 in the next. Use the grades you're given, but expect the pyramid to be a rough instrument. If you climb outside too, keep a second pyramid — the two rarely match. Our grade converter handles the V-scale to Font translation.
Only ever climbing at the top
Projecting feels like progress because it's hard. But four sessions of falling off the same V7 builds less than four sessions of sending eight different V4s. The base tier is where technique gets cheap enough to actually learn.
Quick answers
What is a bouldering pyramid?
A count of your sends organised by grade, shaped so that each grade has about twice as many sends as the grade above it. It shows whether your hardest boulder sits on a real base or on a single lucky day.
How many V4s before I try V5?
A common target is four V4s and eight V3s before V5 becomes a realistic project rather than a lottery ticket. You can try V5 whenever you like — the pyramid predicts when you'll succeed, not when you're allowed.
How long does it take to fill a pyramid?
For most climbers, one full tier is a matter of weeks and a whole pyramid a matter of months. The builder above gives you a rough range from your gap and your sessions per week — treat it as an order of magnitude, not a delivery date.
Does the pyramid work for outdoor bouldering?
Yes, but slower and with smaller numbers. Outdoor sends come at a fraction of the gym rate, so many climbers use a 1–2–3–4 shape outside and keep the 1–2–4–8 shape for indoors. If you're making that jump, read our gym-to-crag guide first.