Balance is a word that has been bouncing around my head quite a lot lately. It’s this overarching concept that feels ethereal and abstract yet wholly vital to achieve some level of content.
Healthy balances give life a little more flow and allow more space for growth across multiple variables. As with most things, this applies to climbing as well.
There’s really no wrong way to go about climbing. It’s all undeniably personal. The key is to leverage your methods to move towards your goals, whether those goals are to climb harder, have more fun, or build more meaningful partnerships. Which, by the way, are all equally valid goals to have.
If you are someone who wants to push your grade, you may be more tempted to engage in a sustained pursuit of the next highest number. While trying hard routes is fundamental in the pursuit of climbing hard routes, you may actually be slowing your progress if that’s all you ever do with your precious days on rock.
Photos by Jules Jimreivat – Land of the Niitsítpiis-stahkoii, Apsaalooké, and Salish Kootenai
In solely seeking out the “next hardest” route you can send, you inherently will choose routes that cater to your style and strengths. Now, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing if your goal is to just tick the box of the next grade, but if you want to be a better climber and have the ability to get on more routes at whatever crag you roll up to, you’re going to need a more solid foundation.
Building Pyramids
For those who are unfamiliar with this concept, building a pyramid involves creating a base of climbs such that the next tier (next highest grade) is built upon the previous (next lowest) grade. Traditionally, these follow a 8-4-2-1 scheme, where you’re meant to complete 8 in your base grade and work up to 1 at your limit. This scheme is outlined in Eric Horst‘s How to Climb 5.12 training manual. You can see Kris Hampton’s interpretation of Eric’s pyramid on the Power Company Climbing blog.
Building a base is vital to becoming a stronger and better climber, and anyone that tells you otherwise is doing you a disservice. Climbing is a skill sport. Not building a base is not going to help you.
It’s Really More of a Triangle Anyway
Personally, I’ve always pictured a sort of abstract triangle rather than a 3 dimensional pyramid in my head, so let’s introduce the Dynamic Triangle Method. That’s just my silly name for it, but the point is that there is some flexibility here, which I think is important for longevity and allows for some psych-following.
Triangles are stable shapes, and that’s why we use them when talking about base building. With this method, as long as you have more sends in the tier below, you have the green light to step up to the next tier. Having the same number in successive tiers would be somewhat of a yellow light situation, while having less in a lower tier is a red light. You can potentially run it with no consequences, but you may consider slowing down for a minute.
Striking a Balance
Now, it’s of course possible to use the pyramid as a sort of shield by building whole layers up before ever touching the next grade. Those that are afraid of the inherent failure that comes with pushing limits may use a classic pyramid as an excuse to not try harder. For example, “oh, I can’t try this 11c because I haven’t climbed enough 11b’s yet.” Whatever “enough” even means, and especially if “enough” means “more than two.”
At the opposite end of the spectrum, not building a pyramid at all is likely to come back to bite you. Climbing is a skill sport. The more climbs you expose yourself too, the more moves you will learn. This is called building a movement vocabulary, and it’s not unlike learning a new language. The more moves (words) you learn, the closer you are to fluency. Jumping into 5.13 when you’re not 5.12a-fluent is akin to traveling to a foreign-to-you country where the only phrases you know in the native tongue are “hello,” “thank you,” and “where’s the bathroom.” You can do it, but that method is likely to provide a bit more friction than if you had studied up before your trip. It is also likely to create more emotional stress around your climbing and leave you more exposed to injury and burn out.
The Value of Practicing Sending
Projecting is challenging in more than just the physical ways. Mental strength is often more uncomfortable and less fun to invest in while simultaneously (maybe inconveniently) being more imperative to success.
My partner, as a much more experienced climber, introduced me to the idea of practicing projecting this year, and it has been the most beneficial thing I have ever done for my climbing. I’ll provide more on my personal experience with this in a separate blog post, but here’s the thing…
If you are only ever limit projecting, you don’t get to practice the process of projecting through completion nearly as often. Odds are, if you are only working routes at your absolute limit, you are sending zero to maybe two times per year. If you’re sending more than that, congrats, and also, you are probably not on routes at your limit.
If you practice sending on routes that are just below your max (1-3 grades or so), you get to work through the mental pieces of projecting, through completion, far more frequently. You locate your performance switch and what triggers it and you learn how to flip it on demand without spending redpoint attempts working out the mental jitters.
Work on one mega proj each season or year, and you will miss out on this opportunity. Yes, you may go through it on that route, but all routes are not created equal. A hard bouldery intro to easy climbing does not feel the same – mentally or physically – as 80 feet of pumpy 11c climbing capped with a V5 deadpoint crux.
Practice sending on a variety of routes that are challenging but not limit-caliber and you will learn to navigate it all. And you know what? Sending is fun. I’m all for the growth mindset and embracing failure, but if you can clip some chains along the way, it’s going to be good for your climbing and it will help you stay more motivated. There’s nothing wrong with that. There’s actually lots that is right with it if you’re trying to improve your climbing.
Now What?
This is a cursory argument for building a base, but not all bases are built the same. If you want some guidance on your specific situation, drop us a line. We’re here to help.