~~Skateboarding Edition~~>Where do I start?People typically start in the gym and branch off outdoors and find their niche, be it bouldering, trad, sport or a mixture of the above. Some never leave the gym at all. Ultimately it doesn't matter - just get started and enjoy yourself.>How fit do I have to be to start? Do I have to be able to do x amount of pull-ups?Being light, strong and flexible helps at the higher levels but climbing is open to almost anyone and is fairly intuitive to most. Even if your body is feeble and weak now, you will develop strength over time by virtue of just climbing. Climbing is a holistic sport and success often hinges upon many factors, not just strength and power, but having these qualities definitely helps when you breach into the higher grades.>What shoes do I buy?If you're starting out in the gym, don't worry too much: get some snug shoes without dead space that don't cause you lasting pain. Some people (such as the famed shoe designer Heinz Mariacher) recommend wearing soft shoes when you're starting out -- this makes sense since your footwork will probably suck and the increased feedback will pay dividends over time. You really don't need fancy expensive shoes when you're starting out, but certain shoe properties help send harder problems (e.g. stiff shoes for standing on tiny granite edges or soft shoes for sandstone/gritstone smears).Here are some useful resources for sizing:>https://sizesquirrel.com/>https://rockrun.com/blogs/the-flash-rock-run-blog/rock-climbing-shoe-sizing-guideOld thread:>>207446This anon is a faggot:>>212606
>>213492Let's see here. >Faggot edition title>Bitched about making this thread in the first place>Quotes random reddit faggot because he triggered him, what a reddit thing to do.Fucking terrible start to the new thread, but maybe it's salvageable.
I went to a boulderfest last weekend. It was similar to indoor competitions where you have a certain amount of time to climb as much as you can and record everything on a score sheet. The organizers put colored tape on every boulder problem prior to the event so that you could easily identify them. It was a lot of fun. I certainly got a lot of mileage in; 40 boulder problems in 3 hours.>>213494I keep my promises >>212611
An here’s the thread for outdoor climbing specifically:>>>/out/2728649
Any of you goys tried Skwama and Mandala? How do they compare?
>>213494thanks for setting the tone
>>213492>~~Skateboarding Edition~~>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oklWQoUFVvYwant to start climbing after 2 solid years of weight lifting/strength training. am a skinny fat deyl atm, only gravel bike and skate most days. see you guys in 2027 :)
>>213530skinnyfat is not a bad place to start honestly. just go for it anon.
>>212907>>212925looking forward to more news from the tiny femanon and her boulder>>213492nice to see Daniel Woods in the OP
>>213492>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcqhMInGVKMgod, she's radiant.
>>213556Who? Is she some kind of insta thot?
>>213559>Hannah Meul is a German rock climber who specialises in competition bouldering and bouldering. She won the silver medal in bouldering at the 2022 IFSC Climbing European Championships and has placed second three times on the IFSC Climbing World Cup circuit.
Tom, you're supposed to walk ON the bridge not climb under it!
Damn so soon the old thread hasn't even archived
>>213635mossy
>>213564that's a lot of words just to say "yes"
>>213507Fit-wise they are similar, but the Mandala has less volume in the toe and forefoot in the same size. But it will stretch enough over tine. Its heel is way better though. Hoping they put the same heel on an update for the skwama in the future. Skwama is better for over hang stuff and compared to the no-edge Mandala, which wont catch on stuff as well or allow you to pull a lot with your toes. Its great on slabs and vertical edges, atleast those which you get in indoor gyms. Good shoe, but a bit niche. Mandala is a good complement to the skwama or similar shoes I think. But the no edge lacks the versatility, if you only want one shoe. Cant say much about lifespan yet but the build quality is very good and the noedge supposedly lasts a bit longer before you need to resole.
>>213652she is a professional. what competitions have you won?
>>213662Thanks anon, you're the best!
Any helmets that fit round heads?? Most brands I've tried on have a more oval fit and are either tight on the sides or have lots of room in the back.
>>213667How many competitinos have you even been in faggot? >>213495I'm the anon you quoted LMFAO, I can't believe you're this much of a redditor. Have you competed yet anon?>OOOOOMPHHH, IM GUNNA... SPECTATE.... I MUST.... WOOOCH OTHERS CLOIMBKill yourself.
Speaking of competitions, all the talk in the last thread convinced me to check them out and, damn, there was some cool climbing in the Seoul lead final.Especially the British chick, Erin, who started her climb about 47min into the broadcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt5AbUllQAg
>>213648no moss inside tho
>>213704I think Erin will win at least one WC next season. Shes got the dynamic new school attributes, but already very powerful for her age. Plus has a big wing span. Good slab climber too. Once she grows into her body and becomes more confident I think she can be really good.
>>213698>Have you competed yet anon?Did you even read the post that you are quoting? I competed in a (amateur) bouldering competition last weekend haha. And again, I don't watch comp climbing. You are barking up the wrong tree.I quoted you in the OP as a joke, but I should have left it alone. Let's just leave this shit in the last thread. Tell me something about you anon. Any recent happenings in your climbing world? Goals/plans?
>>213718>I quoted you in the OP as a joke, but I should have left it alone. Let's just leave this shit in the last thread. Tell me something about you anon. Any recent happenings in your climbing world? Goals/plans?Fuck. That's wholesome. Wasn't expecting you to be an adult about this. I'm planning an outdoor trip pretty soon. Been a few months since I hit the crag, was too busy this summer. Also thinking of starting to hangboard since regular climbing doesn't work my fingers anymore. My gym is setting really interesting routes lately, really bizarre shit that's fun to figure out. What's your favorite type of boulder? Overhang? Slab?
>>213788It's a good time to be outdoor climbing now that the weather is cooling off. I've got a trip to Smith Rock coming up soon that I'm pretty excited about. I'll be staying in an Airbnb for a week with 5 gym friends and playing climbing guide.Sounds like you've got a good gym setup. I don't have time to visit the gym during the week and on weekends I always want to climb outdoors. I do miss the interesting sets though, and I'm definitely losing strength... I should be hangboarding more.I find that the rock quality matters a lot more to me than the style of climbing. No matter what type of rock it is, if it's polished then it sucks and if it's sharp and featured then it's great.How far are you planning to travel for your climbing trip?
I GOT A PARTNER FOR WASHINGTON COLUMN LETS FUCKING GOOOOOI honestly have a ton of reading / research / practice to do before I'm ready, but I have time. I doubt that we'll get on it before the valley is snowed out for the winter unfortunately
>>213806God damn that looks huge. How many pitches? Grade?
Up to 140% bw 20mm max hang now Isn't much but that's a whole year of slow steady progress thatGuess I'm not talented in the grip department
>>213824Did your climbing get better at least? Higher grades or something?>inb4 climbing?
>>213836over the course of the year? Yeah, but not sure hangboarding has anything to do with, feel like it's something that will pay off later
>>213687BD Capitan is pretty wide for my head. For context, the half dome and petzl boreo helmets are both too narrow for me.
>>213507i have tried mandala in an try on event and own skwamas. The other anon explained the differences pretty spot on just wanted to add that I like the heel on skwamas way more. It's probably due to my heels being way smaller than the average but the skwamas have way better heel for me. The line strip heel that mandalas have and other la Sportiva models like mantras or solutions comp, just don't fit me and I have so much free space in the heel in them. The bulbous ball type of heel that skwamas and some other la Sportiva shoes like normal solutions, otaki, still don't fill out my heel but at least when I heel hook in them because they are reinforced and I feel more secure pulling on the hook.Most people prefer the mandala heel though because it's more sensitive and should give you more control in theory. Just like the other anon pointed out he likes it more.
>>213662>>213891Thanks guys!I got a pair now, looking forward to using them. Will be interesting how the no edge and heel feel compared to the Skwama
No idea why normies go climbing but don't do 20mm max hangsIn fact I should have ended the sentence after climbing They somehow think touching up plastic is going to make their grip strength better Retarded species
>>213940>No idea why normies go climbing but don't do 20mm max hangsThey're not autistic I guess
Now that it's getting cold outside, will my gym be full of pros who normally go outdoors ?I live at the foot of swiss mountains with a shit ton of very hard routes nearby.
>>213940Ask me how I know you've never sent V5.
>>213940Board climbing > hangboarding
>>213972Which board reigns supreme? I have a moonboard with the 2024 set, and a tension board from god knows where, there's like a million of the damn things. I like how Kilterboards are the only standardized board, it seems like every gym has one, but then it adds a random ass board from the smorgasbord of other options.
>>213940Cause we like climbing better than hanging.
>>213940because it's hard and not immediately satisfying. The average climber would rather just try the gym "v6" he's stuck on for weeks on end
>>214002Ask me how I know you've never climbed V5 let alone project V6.
>>214003i do "v8" in the gym
>>213976I love board climbing. From the ones I've tried, tension board 2 > moon board 2016 > kilter board. Tension board 2 is by far the best board if you're interested in outdoor bouldering, it has very outdoor esque movement and holds, really bad feet for the most part but it's not as thuggy as the moon board, it's more about body tension and position. I'm not a huge fan of the kilter board, the holds are quite good so the harder problems basically come down to doing bigger and bigger moves on decent holds.
>>213954Now that it's getting cold outdoor climbers will be outdoors more than ever. 5-10C are the best temps for sending hard
>>213704Erin McNeice has a youtube channel. She talks about Seoul here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrl7S5gIsaU
>>214004American gym or a real one?
>>214002>Be you>Discover hang boarding>Face drips with sweat and you inexplicably feel the most ardent erection you've ever had pulse ceaselessly throughout your body>"Wow... This... this is incredible">Finger tendons miraculously adapt instantaneously, providing an unparalleled mind-body connection, and making you once with your eagle climbing spirit>Eagle-roar.mp4>Approaches friends>"Hey guys, y-y-you should t-try this s-sometime">mindless heathens laugh and ridicule the idea as they fart mindlessly, letting fecal matter stain their underwear as they take a seat onto the disgusting, plebian floor>"HAW HAW HAW" they retaliate>"You should just climb brahhh" one says as he puffs his dirty, stained, browning bong and puffs the resulting smoke in your face>You back away, horrified, as you realize the ineptitude of others>"They... will never understand the truth">"It's... just too hard for them...">A clean gentleman with a jawline with what seems to be made of iron, steel, blood, and chalk approaches you with an envelope>The elite society of hangboarders invites you to grace them with your presenceThis is how you sound like.
>>213556This boulder they were doing looks... fun? Maybe? One of the guys was saying the rock is very smooth so some of the last moves are extra difficult due to that.
>>214079He still sounds better than you, ESL.
How do you guys deal with the nerves when bouldering outside? I’m kind of terrified of topping out, especially when it’s slopey.
>>214149Its regarded as like a top five climb in Fontainebleau. Unfortunately those popular climbs there are permanently full of chalk. Wonder if soft sandstone like that "soakes" up chalk more then other rock types? Its definetly a combination of people not cleaning and the popularity of the area, but everytime I am in Font, the rock just seems so much more stained compared to other places I've been.
>>214163More trust in your abilities goes a long way as well as doing the moves with more intentionally (considering the the landing, pads, and spotters are in place). Basically, if you half ass moves at the top you usually get into more trouble than going for them with full intent. This is not to say you want to climb totally dynamic (this causes you to swing out and break you ankle if you fall), but to strike a healthy balance between going for a move with momentum/intent/confidence, but not over doing it. Knowing the exact beta for top before attempting obviously takes away second thoughts and risk. Goes without saying.
>>214163bail out, then sit and lament. works for Daniel Woods
>>214163Like the other anon said it comes down to experience. You have to be able to make a convincing argument against fear. Or trust yourself enough to just turn your brain off.
>>214165>>214180Thanks. I reckon I should also just climb a bunch of really easy problems just to get used to making moves high up.>>214166Self-flagellation’s what I do too. I’m almost Daniel Woods, except I can’t climb hard.
Getting hammer toes from my climbing shoes.Better to get future shoes in larger size, do some exercises to reverse the hammer toes or just live with them? Don't have any problems (yet)
>>214265some guy in Fontainebleau climbs barefoot.I started off bouldering barefoot when I lived in Austria, 15min drive to a great spot with soft stone. It's really ideal. Now I live in the city far from the mountains :(I figure if you kept at it you would get callusses and really strong toes.
>>214266
>>214268Damn, I'd rather have a hammer toe than minced callus
>>214298Bloke in pic apparently tried barefoot climbing on rough granite.
Enough talking about grade differences, I want to know what actually is the key deciding factor in progressing between higher grades. Why is it that climbers who spend more time outdoors progress faster? When does finger-strength become a deciding factor? What makes two different climbers have different styles? Is it better to project hard as fuck at your limit, or is it better to do mild stuff that takes 1-2 tries?As for me, I'm someone who loves projecting HARD ass shit. The type of shit that takes me like 50 tries over 4 weeks of projecting. The shit that makes my abs hurt like hell. And I made some awesome progress this year, but I feel like I might be missing out on progress. Would I have been able to achieve the same feat in less tries had I just worked on lesser projects? Technically speaking I have less time on the wall when all I do is focus on doing 1-2 really hard moves. But in the end, it helps MASSIVELY with my technique, because the moves force me to do it. So all in all I think there is some merit. What do you guys think?
>>214453There isn't one easy answer regarding how to get really really good at climbing, but we know for sure that the best correlates to performance on real rock are finger strength to bodyweight ratio and time spent climbing outside. Everything else might as well be mumbo jumbo mystical woo woo bullshit. As far as programming goes, I think it makes sense to vary stimulus over time. Projecting makes you strong in ways specific to your projects, you achieve specific technique breakthroughs, but your overall fitness starts to lag behind in areas where you are not getting stimulus. On the other hand, getting lots of volume around your flash level is a great way to get in a variety of stimulus and get stronger/better overall, but you will lack the try hard and specific application of technique needed to send at your absolute limit.When I was projecting an outdoor v10 earlier this year, I would go outside twice a week and work moves and sequences on the project, and then once or twice a week I would be in the gym doing all the problems that I could get under 3 or so tries. I would also add in some extra finger stimulus after my gym sessions because my project wasn't super crimpy and I didn't want to lose finger strength in the meantime. This combination worked great, I didn't feel overly fatigued for my project and still felt good on a variety of problems that weren't related to my project. Lately I've been doing more single session problems outdoors in the v6-v9 range and I'm itching to get on something really hard soon.
>>214457Yeah that's a really good point... Maybe I will keep super hard, hard projecting to maybe 1-2 sessions a week, and try and maintain decent volume on the wall. I still feel happy when I send a project in 2-3 tries but it required everything I had to make sure I didn't fall off. Does climbing indoors too much lead to stalling? I feel like indoor progress is so... fucking wonky..
>>214462There's definitely a place for indoor climbing, you can still get stronger and better as a climber, it's just not specific enough to be the perfect stimulus if your goal is to be a good outdoor climber. Still good though. Great way to work on purely physical attributes. I enjoy board climbing quite a lot and I've had a lot of success setting cruxes/sequences that resemble my outdoor projs on the spray wall.
Here's a little tip for anons working on their finger strength: when you're hang boarding or doing no hangs, learn how to actively squeeze the holds. There is a huge difference between passively hanging on a hold, where friction is doing a lot of the heavy lifting for you, and actively squeezing the hold by contracting your forearm muscles on purpose. You will notice a few things, namely that you can't really chisel grip and will be forced to strict half crimp, the amount of weight you can add will decrease at first but will catch up later, and most importantly you will notice that when you climb, initiating any movement off a crimp type hold requires you to actively pull and squeeze the holds, which is what you should be doing while training your fingers. A really strong climber taught me this and it transformed my finger strength. Next time you go climbing try to notice what happens during the moment you initiate movement off a crimp in regards to how you're pulling on the hold and the difference in your forearm activation between just hanging on a hold and moving from it. Huge difference.
I was top-roping indoors last night and my friend encouraged me to try a 5.12. I'd never done anything above 5.11+, and I had just needed to take on a 5.11-, but I figured aw what the heck. Was definitely super hard, I cheated on multiple segments, but I realized that at this level, it's not really about strength as much as really good footwork. There were times when I was like, "hold up, okay so the handholds are shit, but there's a really good sloper I could use for my feet" and it really felt like I had to problem solve. I was lowered down to the first point where I cheated, and actually did the move properly. Felt amazing. I think that with enough technique work, and a liiiitle bit of sloper training, I could find myself doing a 5.12 within the next few months. I'm really proud I could do some of the movements on it regardless, especially since I just boulder n shit. Btw, I'm around a V5 cloimber, and I don't really boardclimb that much. Any tips for me, or something I could be missing?
flashed a v5 yesterday, climbed a v6 today it's quite a modern gym and the grading is soft but I know I'm getting better still up to 140% bw 20mm hax hang too, in another year it's hopefully 160% at least, it will pay off in the end need to go outdoors soon, I love climbing so much I know it's the one
>>214079imagine typing all this because you cant get off the ground on a 20mm edge>>214062American. That's why i put 'v8' in quotes. It's closer to v5-v6 outdoor
>>214518>acts like a bodyweight hang on a huge edge is sone profound achievement>Literally only climbs V5 outdoorsThis has to be bait lol
>>214519Wait until someone tells him about 10mm edges.
>>213972kys you retardbouldering broyou aren't going to make it
I would go as far as to say It should be illegal for a citizen of a peoples republic to not do 20mm max hangs at least 1.5 times a week
Before the thread gets any shittier, let's change the subject - Lockout strength - can make or break some climbs for me, but I finally got the hang of it. Helped me on this one overhang once.
>>214518Typically boulder grades are easier outdoor than indoor and lead grades are easier indoor than outdoor.
>>214528There can't be any truth to this.
I can hang on a 6mm edge
20mm max hangs
>>214527Recently I’ve been trying to avoid locking off and have focused on doing reachy moves more dynamically. I think I’ve been wasting a lot of energy doing everything statically.
>>214521hangboarding won't make you a better climber bro
>>214558I might start hangboarding for the purpose of rehabbing my pulley. It keeps hurting randomly, and I've been told to do a max-hang protocol for 3-4 weeks to strengthen it. Thoughts?
>>214569I've had something like 4-5 pulley injuries. Rehabbing by hangboarding is the method that worked best for me. You can load statically, you can measure the load accurately and you can easily modulate the time. Way better than trying to climb through it, where loads are dynamic and hard to measure properly.
>>214584What did you do specifically to help with yours? I'm thinking of doing a simple max hang protocol where it's 4-5 sets of 10 second hangs, 3 min rest between sets. Only training the half crimp position, going to do it Mondays and Fridays, but climb regularly on Wednesdays. Increase by 2.5lbs between hanging sessions.
>>214585I found the max I could hang while keeping the pain at a dull not sharp threshold, like 3/10 pain max. Then I backed off from that max by 20% or so for my starting weight, increasing the weight hung by a small amount, usually 1-2 pounds using micro plates every session. I would do 2-3 of these sessions a week along with light climbing until my injured pulley felt close to normal. I think the slow overload of the injured pulley is the key.When not injured, I typically hangboard in 3 month blocks, one block in the winter and one in the summer, along with climbing on boards and gym sets. Mostly outdoor climbing in the spring/fall.
>>214587Noted. Right now, my pulley is already mostly "healed". Tbh, it basically feels normal, there's no climbing I do that bothers it, but sometimes when I moonboard and stuff, it just feels a bit achy the day after. I'm trying to do a max hang protocol to strengthen it and stop that residual achyness.Thanks for the idea.
>>214588Update - Did a bw max hang for 10 seconds, then added 10lbs. I'm 180lbs at 6'0, so I did a 190lb max hang. Did 3 sets of 10 seconds, basically to failure. Are my fingers actually that weak? I hear the 9C test wouldn't even give me 2/10 pts for this feat. Gonna go up in weight by like 2.5lbs, maybe on like Thursday.
>>214609On average, v8 outdoor climbers have approx. 150-160% bw 20mm edge half crimp hang for 7s. It's a range, obviously there are outliers on either end. Finger strength correlates pretty strongly with grade climbed, it is definitely worth working on.
>>214636There's so much conflicting advice on how to actually do max hangs, and most of that "information" is on reddit, performed by retards. How often do you increase the weight? I heard that it's a good idea to increase sets up to 6 THEN increase the weight. Thoughts on this? Yesterday I could only do 3 sets because I felt like I was at or very close to failure. Took everything I had to stay on for the full 10 seconds. So next time, I'm going to try and go for 4 sets of 10 seconds. I think a part of this is that I've been out of climbing for a couple of weeks, so neurologically, I'm fatigued, but I've done 185lb repeaters, idk why a 10-second hang felt so damn hard.
>>214664All you really need is progressive overload and consistency. Pick a grip type (usually half crimp and maybe 3 finger drag) find your max, back off 10-20% for your starting weight, then add weight progressively until you stall out, hopefully above your previous max. Deload from the stall out point, repeat. Personally, I have had great success with microloading the entire way. A few years ago I could hang bw +20 lbs, I then did max hangs with microloading progression, adding 1-2 lbs per session, every session. A few months later I was hanging bw +90 lbs and my climbing improved drastically. Rep timing and number of sets isn't as important. 7s reps work, 10s reps work, longer is probably worse. Anywhere between 4-12 sets per grip type would work, depending on how advanced you are.
>>214680How do you find your max? I used to be 185lbs and I was doing 7s on, 3 seconds off repeaters, so I figured doing 190lbs should be fine. 3 sets of 10 seconds felt fucking hard, but idk if that's just because I haven't hung in awhile. When finding your max, do you do a 5s? A 10s? There's no god damn way that 190lbs is my max if I did 3 sets of it. Here's my current strategy- If my next set I can do 5 sets without failing, then it just means this intro session was just priming my brain. I'll microload 1-2lbs per session. Since I'm newer to hangboarding, I probably don't need much volume to stimulate growth. I'll hang twice a week, and have a light climbing session between them.Tbh, my pulley already feels fucking normal, but I'll keep hanging just to ensure it doesn't ever fucking come back, because it's really fucking annoying to do that. If I stall (can't progress, or I fail at the same time), then I'll just "deload" boulder regularly for awhile, then come back". Thing is, if 190lbs is my max, 180lbs is just bw. It's retarded to have to do a fucking "20% backoff" that means I'd have to take weight off myself, and if that happens then I'll just do repeaters until it works.
>>214733Just add weight until you can't hold a strict half crimp for 7-10s for one rep. The point of the back off is so you can actually complete your sets. If you can do 190 lbs for 3 sets of 10 it's not your max.
>>214794Oh yeah and I should mention, you only find your max once, you don't have to do it again/every session
>>214795Gotchu. I heard people only find their max like once every two months. My fingers feel fine, so I;m gonna toprope tomorrow, then maxhang again on Sat. Thanks for the advice.
best type of climbing, depending on the number of participants:>soloboulder>party of 2single pitch sport/trad>party of 3multipitch>party of 4+boulder
>>214972for me personally it's>soloboulder>party of 2boulder>party of 3boulder>party of 4+boulderI really like bouldering, probably because I'm ""strong"" and ""heavy"" and absolutely suck at lead climbing
