New Climber ! My abilities/how far can I go?/& training

Ladies and gentleman; boys and girls,

I am living in the Canadian Rocky Mountain region for the summer and I have decided to take up rock climbing for three key reasons: (1) I enjoy it (2) It is great exercise (3) I have a world class indoor rock climbing facility across the street from where I am residing, in which I can hone my skills and practise- the ultimate goal being to climb the face of a real mountain.

Perhaps my first key reason was an understatement- I don't enjoy it, I love it. In fact, after climbing for my first time using rental equipment, I immediately thereafter purchased my own harness and rock climbing shoes (chalk bag is next).

I am at this point in time training on the auto-belay routes, as I neither have a partner to climb with nor have I passed the climbing/belaying test requisite for top rope climbing at my facility.

After about a week of climbing, in which I have climbed four times, I have benefited from significant improvement with respect to my ability to climb, which I attribute mostly to improvement in the strength of my grip- certainly my climbing technique is at best novice but probably beginner.

I have climbed successfully both a 5.8 and a 5.9, each about ten times. However, I tried a 5.10c today (the most difficult of all the auto belay routes) and only made it about half way up the wall prior to falling.

I am wondering what sort of potential I have to be a great climber. In addition, how long will it take before I am able to climb the 5.10c and beyond? In terms of training, what can I do when I am not on the wall? Pull ups before bed? Finally, as a shorter climber (5 ft 9), will there always be a way to get up the wall? Or is having long limbs crucial for climbing the most advanced routes? I ask because often when I am climbing I think to myself: if only I had an additional three inch reach !! That would make things much easier!!

Thanks in advance to everyone for their feedback!

My stats: 5 ft 9, 165-170 lbs, in good shape- cardiovascular and strength, age: 24

well auto belays explain your angle of questions.......

1st- climb more. slow down your movement, breathe, become more efficient expending energy

2nd- make some friends at your gym and learn how to belay, just don't scare them off with too many of these kinds of questions

Ps- nice resume verbatim yah got there, trying to get a job on the forum?

Great that you're so stoked!

Sounds to me like job 1 is to learn how to belay, perhaps via a class at the gym. (Caveat: it's not at all uncommon for instructors in gyms (often with about 3 months more training than you yourself possess) to focus on "rules" of belaying which are either unimportant or in some case actually wrong. So stay open to subsequent feedback about that...)

Once you learn how to belay, you'll be able to start walking up to people and saying, "hey, do you want a belay?", and then you'll be in business in terms of meeting other climbers. I guess people might give you various advice about this, but mine would be that you want to broadcast very clearly that you know NOTHING and are eager and grateful for suggestions on how to improve in both your climbing and your rope skills.

Not everyone learns this way, but I would strongly suggest getting yourself some books on rope skills and climbing movement and start memorizing them. I like John Long's books because he really injects a healthy dose of paranoia about making making systems bombproof. There are other great books out there as well.

After memorizing the book, hiring a guide for a day would be an ideal next step, so you can see things done right and ask questions.

You asked about training, and as Derek said, your body knows so little that right now all you need to do is climb and you'll harvest huge gains in efficiency and strength.

You mentioned having climbed 4 days this week, so it might be time to introduce another important training concept: OVERtraining. If you keep climbing 4 days in a row (or more) like this, you're going to end up with a repetitive strain injury fairly soon, and without recovery you're muscles are going to get weaker, not stronger. Every other day is much more sustainable.

Have fun!

As Optomistic addressed many of the important topics, I'll take a stab at what remains.

You mentioned 5'9 as the height of a "short" climber. However, in the climbing community this is actually quite tall. Many professional climbers are in fact 5'7 or below. So to answer the question of, "Is having long limbs crucial to the more advanced rock climbs?" my response is absolutely not. Right now, with, as you mentioned, your beginner level of technique, it may seem you need to just keep moving your hands up to higher holds; your feet come last. However, footwork is CRUCIAL to climbing harder. Great footwork comes mainly with practice so as the others have said, just keep at it.

Second, I will reinforce the fact that you need to learn to belay! Especially if the auto-belay routes are only limited to the 5.8, 5.9 and 5.10c.

Third, as you will soon realize with more experience and knowledge, outdoor grades (especially alpine rock in the Canadian Rockies) won't necessarily translate to the 5.9 plastic you're pulling in the gym. Make sure you wait to venture outside until you have an experienced partner/guide to ensure you have a safe introduction to the world of outdoor climbing!

Lastly, just have fun with it. If you don't think of it as training with an end goal in mind, you'll have much more fun. Relax, make friends and send some climbs!

If ya wanna be a climber, get outside and away from plastic. Letter grades for indoor routes!

I'm 5'9". I climb for 2+ years. I lead 5.12. Height NOT a problem. I love climb too. I NEVER trust any single device 100% with my life - only humans.

I think if you're goal is to be the best climber you can possibly be, then right after you take that belay lesson you should join the next beginner climbing course.

Getting proper footwork and body position engrained into your training RIGHT NOW will catapult your abilities forward. The sooner you get this down, the sooner you can start getting better at it. Dialling in your footwork is so much more important than a few extra pounds of crimp strength or being able to rip out more chinups.

Learn and master things like foot swaps, smears, flags, drop knees, backsteps, rockovers, mante, toe and heal hooks (All footwork!). Find/make boulder problems which work these and do laps on them, then do them with smaller/worse holds and more overhang to force weight from your hands to your feet.

Classic trolling. Been seeing a lot of these types of threads lately. It's pretty sad.

If you can't reach it you're feet aren't high enough.

Haha, I'm also a new climber and I completely understand the enthusiasm.

You do have to take it slow. Climb often and climb hard, but understand that a lot of the improvements you'll make are things that can't be forced. Hand and finger strength, especially, depend a lot on strengthening your tendons. Tendons are notorious for being slower to train than muscles, but you don't want to deal with an injury.

I spent a lot of time reading about climbing when I first started, and I still do. This is a good way to scratch the climbing itch when you can't actually climb, and beneficial.

You could also look into getting a hangboard at home, but if you have a gym that close it might not be worth it. Just make sure you don't overdo it, either way.