Monthly Archives: August 2011

Rock Climbing Techniques – Building a Grade Pyramid

In rock climbing, going from one level of difficulty to another can be daunting. It can be equally daunting going from one type of climbing feature or climbing area to another. As an example, many experienced traditional climbers find bolt protected sport routes alarmingly physical, while many sport climbers find trad climbing scary. If you’ve just climbed indoors, just going outside may seem really scary. Transitions from inside to outside, from bolted to trad, or from trad to bolted, need to be sensitively managed. Usually that means dropping your grade. If you’ve only climbed inside and F6a+ (5.10c) is your limit, then don’t try F6a+s outside. Start with F4s and F5s (5.7 to 5.9) and work up.

If you’re going from one level of difficulty to another, in the same climbing medium, probably the best way is to use grade pyramids. For instance, if you’ve climbed E1 (5.9/5.10) but want to move into E2 (solid 5.10), then ask yourself, “How many E1s have I climbed in the last six months?” If it’s only one or two, then you haven’t really consolidated at the grade.

Sure, you might get up an E2 and maybe an E3 but, unless you consolidate, i.e. climb more at each grade, you’re likely to get caught out. Conversely, if you’ve climbed dozens of E1s and never tried an E2, you’re likely to stagnate.

There’s no rock climbing law about this, but I’d take as a rule of thumb doing at least six routes at a given grade for ‘mild consolidation’. So, if you’ve climbed 6 E1s recently, all onsight (without falls) and you’re feeling confident, why not try an E2? If you’re not confident, maybe do 10 E1s. But then ask yourself, “What’s stopping me? Is it fear of the unknown? Is it my confidence? Is it my technique? Is it power, power-endurance, endurance?”

You could throw a rope down an E2 and top-rope it. You could abseil down one and have a look. You could just try a well protected one and see what happens. If you get up it OK, then why not try another? Why not aim to consolidate at E2 now, rather than E1, by climbing six or eight or 10 routes at the new grade. Then you may feel ready for E3.

So let’s imagine you’ve built up a ‘grade pyramid’ of 15 E1s, 10 E2s and 6 E3s. Do you feel ready for E4? Maybe – maybe not. Only you can decide. But you’ve built up consistency and you will have built up confidence. You will be in a much better position than a climber contemplating his first E4, when he’s only done two E1s, one E2 and one E3. Your solidity of experience will protect you from those ‘rogue’ routes that lurk at all grades for the unwary.

With sport climbing, grade pyramids are usually easier to arrange. You may have done 20 F6bs (5.10d), 15 F6b+s (5.11a), 10 F6cs (5.11b) and five F6c+s (5.11c). Are you ready for your first F7a (5.11d)? Maybe, maybe not. But again, your grade pyramid puts you in a far better position than the guy who’s just done two F6bs and one F6c.

In climbing, sometimes we made big advances and sometimes we progress by incremental gains. Grade pyramids are a fantastic way of proceeding by incremental gains and getting us through those grade ceilings that appear so daunting in advance and so harmless in retrospect.

Rock Climbing Techniques – Rectifying Your Relevant Weaknesses

If you want to be a more rounded rock climber, you’re going to have to expand your repertoire of climbing techniques. This means becoming an accomplished rock climber on a variety of climbing features and climbing areas. Limestone crimping (small holds) skill will not get you very far on soaring granite cracks in the rock climber’s paradise of Yosemite – or vice versa. If you’re used to bolts every two metres then you may be in for a shock on routes in France’s world-class Verdon Gorge where they may be six metres apart. If you’re used to 30 metre routes, then you may find 300 metre routes hard going.

Conversely you may want to simply improve your rock climbing grade. If that’s the case, then stick to what you’re good at. If it’s 30 metre limestone crimping, then stick to 30 metre limestone crimping. For the time being, forget about 300 feet climbs in the Verdon, soaring granite cracks in Yosemite.

Indeed forget about everything but your next goal – a slightly harder climb of 30 metre limestone crimping.

Either rock climbing journey leads to the same impasse. If you want to be a ‘better’, i.e. more rounded climber, you’re going to have to acquire a new skill-set, which compensates for your present weaknesses. For instance, if you’re rubbish at climbing cracks, then you’re going to have to learn crack climbing. If we take crack climbing as a niche, then within that, there are sub-niches. The cracks may be tips (usually the hardest), or fingerlocks (up to second joint) or hand cracks (jamming) or big hand cracks (fist jamming) or offwidths (elbows, knee-bars) or chimneys (whole body). Each sub-niche requires a different variety of techniques. When you change the rock type, e.g. from rough gabbro to well-nigh frictionless glacier polished granite, you find that there are techniques within techniques. All the time, you’re probing your weakness, addressing them rectifying them.

If you just want to climb at a higher grade, then it’s simpler. Let’s say you’re fine at 30 metre limestone crimping on routes of F6c (5.11b) but you want to improve to F7a (5.11d). Clearly you’re going to have to do something different – but what? If you’re used to on sighting F6c, I’d throw a rope down a few F7as and play around on them. What seems harder – the individual moves or the amount of them? Could you actually climb F7a right now, either as a worked grade or an on sight grade? Is it just your head that’s holding you back?

But let’s say it’s not your head that’s holding you back. Let’s say you find F6c OK but F7as desperate. Why is this? What are your weaknesses? Do you need better technique? Do you need more power? Do you need more power-endurance? Or do you need more endurance? Which is it?

Once you identify your weaknesses, you’ve identified training needs. If you need more power, then train power. The best way will be bouldering steep stuff of up to six moves (about two metres). Sustained traverses will give you more power-endurance and more sustained traverses (with slightly easier moves) will give you more power endurance.

So whether you want to be a more rounded climber or whether you want to increase your grade, identify your relevant weaknesses. These become your training needs. Devise and implement training programmes to meet those training needs. Then integrate new/more finely honed skills into your climbing. Voila!