Run your discipline · Boulder

Boulder, from setup to final results

Boulder has the most moving parts of any discipline, so this page walks the whole flow in order: set up categories and routes, import athletes, put judges on the right station, watch progress from the chief view, then run semifinals and finals. Do the setup carefully and comp day mostly runs itself.

The flow at a glance

Setup → Import → Judge → Chief → Semifinal → Finals → Results. You'll spend most of your prep time in Setup and Import. On the day, judges live on the Judge page and you live on the Chief page.

How boulder scoring works

GripRank scores the IFSC-style Top / Zone system automatically. You never add points by hand — you just record what each athlete achieved.

Attempt (1)

Each try that isn't a zone or top. Every attempt after the first slightly lowers the eventual zone or top score.

Zone (Z)

Reaching the zone hold. Worth 10 points, minus 0.1 for each extra attempt after the first — so a first-attempt zone is the full 10.

Top (T)

Controlling the final hold. Worth 25 points, minus 0.1 for each extra attempt after the first — so a first-attempt top is the full 25. A top also counts the zone.

Note

Athletes are ranked by points, then tops, then zones, then name. The leaderboard recalculates live as judges save — you don't maintain a scoring table.

Step 1 — Set up the competition

Boulder Setup is where you define the shape of the event: categories, how many routes each round has, and the judge passcode.

1Open Boulder Setup and confirm you are on the correct competition (check the name at the top before editing anything).
2Create your categories — for example Youth D Boys, Open Women. Category names are what judges and athletes see, so name them the way you'll brief them.
3Set the number of qualifier routes, and (if you run them) semifinal and final route counts. GripRank creates the route slots for each category from these counts.
4Set a judge passcode. This one code lets any judge device into this competition's judging pages — treat it like a door key.

Screenshot

Boulder Setup — categories, route counts per round, and the judge passcode field.

Boulder setup

Route labels and groups

Within a category you can label routes (Boulder 1, Boulder 2…) and, for qualifiers, split athletes into groups/heats (called details in the app) so two judges can run the same boulder for different waves without clashing.

Step 2 — Import athletes

Load your athlete list once, cleanly, before the round opens. Bad athlete data is the single biggest cause of comp-day headaches.

1Open Boulder Import and upload or paste your athlete list.
2Preview the rows before committing. Check bib numbers, names, teams, and — most importantly — that every athlete is in the right category.
3Fix duplicates, missing names, and missing bibs now. It is far easier here than mid-round.
4Commit the import, then spot-check a couple of categories to confirm counts look right.

Boulder import Startlist

Note

If you're taking online sign-ups instead of importing a list, see Athletes & registration for the registration and check-in flow.

Step 3 — Judging

Judges use the Judge page. Their whole job is: pick the right station, pick the athlete, record the symbol, save. GripRank is built to make mis-taps hard.

1On each judge device, open the Judge page, enter the passcode, and set the station: competition, category, round, boulder, and (for qualifiers) the group/detail.
2Judge selects the athlete, taps the symbol for what happened — attempt, zone, or top — and saves.
3After each save the athlete is automatically unselected, so the judge must deliberately pick the next climber. This prevents accidental double entries.
4Changing any station setting mid-round pops a confirmation ("Switch to Final?") so a stray tap can't quietly move the judge to the wrong boulder.

Screenshot

Judge page — station selectors at the top, athlete list, and the large attempt/zone/top buttons.

Built-in timer

The judge page has a climb timer with vibration feedback at 10 seconds and at time, so judges can watch the climber instead of the clock.

Works offline

If the gym Wi-Fi drops, judges keep scoring. Scores go through on their own once the connection returns — nothing is lost.

One row per athlete

The judge list aggregates a climber's attempts into a sequence like 1Z1T, so judges can see at a glance what's been recorded.

Boulder judge

Important

Brief judges to save each result promptly and to only refresh if the page is clearly stuck. Full judge-device setup and passcodes are in Judges & devices.

Step 4 — Watch progress from the Chief page

The chief judge or scorer keeps one screen on the whole round. This is where you catch problems early and correct scores without sending judges into admin pages.

1Open the Chief page and keep it on the live round.
2Watch for blanks (athletes with no entries), impossible or duplicated results, and any station that's clearly on the wrong round.
3When a score needs changing, correct it here rather than asking a judge to guess a fix on the floor.
4For semifinals and finals, confirm the correct round is selected before scoring or publishing.

Boulder chief Live leaderboard

Tip

The public leaderboard and the chief view read the same live data. If a spectator says a score looks wrong, the chief can usually see and fix it in seconds. Correcting scores safely is covered in Fixing mistakes.

Step 5 — Semifinals and finals

Later rounds use a smaller field on their own routes. The mechanics are the same as qualifiers; the key is selecting the right round everywhere.

1When qualifiers are complete and verified, generate or confirm the field that advances to the next round.
2Confirm semifinal / final routes exist for each category (set during Setup) and that judges' devices are switched to that round.
3Score exactly as in qualifiers — the round selector is what keeps final attempts separate from qualifier attempts.
4Review the round's results in the chief or finals view before you announce or publish.

Semifinal Finals

Step 6 — Scorecards, results, and exports

When a round is done, produce the outputs you need: printable scorecards, published results, and data exports for records or federation reporting.

Scorecards

Printable per-athlete or per-route cards for backup, verification, or podium checks.

Export

Download results as data for your own records, athlete comms, or reporting.

Reports

Post-competition summaries, including setter reports on how routes performed.

Publish the hub

Push results to the public hub only after your chief judge has signed off. See Publishing.

Scorecards Export Report Setter report

Note

Publishing to the public hub, auto-publish, and freezing final standings are covered in Publishing & freezing. Running a casual, high-volume format? See Boulder carnival.

Boulder, from setup to final results