Height Shaming. It’s a Thing. Let’s Talk About It. (aka: Being tall is aid)

sandrock wrote:

Lynn Hill is 5'2"

Alex Megos is 5'7"

Sasha DiGuillen is 5'2"

Alex Pucco is 5'2"

And Chris Sharma/Adam Ondra are 6’.  Being tall confers some advantages and some weaknesses.

sandrock wrote:

Lynn Hill is 5'2"

Alex Megos is 5'7"

Sasha DiGuillen is 5'2"

Alex Pucco is 5'2"

In real life, Lynn Hill is quite a bit shorter than Alex Puccio (who has a good wingspan) and much shorter than Sasha DiGiulian (I'd say closer to 5' 5"). As for Alex Megos, Jstar (5' 5.5" when he decides to stand straight & is a hair taller than me) says Megos climbs much taller than him & is officially listed at 5' 8".

In any case, I don't understand complaining about height as an aid climber, aren't you allowed to bring up whatever gadget?

I think we can all agree that the best height to be a climber is between 5'1" (Ashima Shiraishi) and 6'3" (Dean Potter).

reboot wrote:

In any case, I don't understand complaining about height as an aid climber, aren't you allowed to bring up whatever gadget?

Depends upon your personal ethic. Obviously there's the outliers like Beyer using super long stick clips and ice climbing axe throws to bypass sections of rock, but in general, using anything that you bring specifically to lengthen your reach is off limits. Caveats as always, you can tape a hook to your hammer for extra reach because it's something you brought for a purpose other than stick clipping. My own personal ethic allows me to use a stiffened draw to reach bolts/rivets on a ladder but never for clipping fixed gear. Another caveat, I will tape gear like a nut or a cam to my hammer or a stiffened draw (or girth hitching two nuts together at their eye) to place gear it if I need to.

It's all cheating up there which is why you need to know what your personal line between "cheating" and cheating is; but when climbing a route put up by a 6' tall person, if you can't ethically cheat your way to the next placement you're SOL.

You sure wish you had eaten all your vedgies before desert when you were young. It's too late now, deal with it.

Wait though, hold on. We all agree that there are disadvantages to being tall. I've certainly been stumped by scrinchy bits; we had a joke at one point that I could climb 6c but not 6a. But on average, on natural rock, we can still admit that we tall folks have it easier, right? It seems there are more problems that arise for the smols than the tols, no?

Not shaming folks for this advantage is just being a decent human being. 

Fail Falling wrote:

Depends upon your personal ethic. 

You mean style.

Jack Kelly wrote:

I'm 6'8" and a life goal is to bolt a ledgy sport route where every clip is at the limit of my reach from a good stance.

This is very funny!  However, let me know where it is when you do it so I can avoid it (5'4")!

Jack Kelly wrote:

I'm 6'8" and a life goal is to bolt a ledgy sport route where every clip is at the limit of my reach from a good stance.

I damn-near snorted martini out my nose. Well played.

JonasMR wrote:

Wait though, hold on. We all agree that there are disadvantages to being tall. I've certainly been stumped by scrinchy bits; we had a joke at one point that I could climb 6c but not 6a. But on average, on natural rock, we can still admit that we tall folks have it easier, right? It seems there are more problems that arise for the smols than the tols, no?

Not shaming folks for this advantage is just being a decent human being. 

Depends entirely on the climb. Some sit start boulders are impossible if you are over a certain height. There also may be high foot moves that are impossible for taller people. On slabs though its probably always better to be tall.

JonasMR wrote:

Wait though, hold on. We all agree that there are disadvantages to being tall. I've certainly been stumped by scrinchy bits; we had a joke at one point that I could climb 6c but not 6a. But on average, on natural rock, we can still admit that we tall folks have it easier, right? It seems there are more problems that arise for the smols than the tols, no?

Not shaming folks for this advantage is just being a decent human being. 

Like other posters it still is a toss up. On rock with an abundance of features tall is advantageous most the time. On basalt it’s probably a toss up, especially on dihedrals formations. Granite I would say shorter is better since feet tend to be bad so short people on bad feet don’t have to throw as much mass around. Sandstone probably the same, since each hold has so many more grip positions. 

Sometimes short bouldery routes can be fun, pitches dont always have to be 200' to be 4 stars.

Oh wait are we talking about a different height. 

I would say many a Jim Holloway problem was damned by shorties, until everyone and their mom under 5'5" started to top Thrice.

I am 178cm and one of my buddies is 10cm taller than I am and another is about the same height as me. I climb the same grades as the guy who is taller and the other guy climbs harder because he has been into it longer. It's all about experience/training. 

I’m offended

Yeah, height shaming is a thing. I sometimes climb with someone whos is a few inches shorter than I am. She routinely makes fun of me - even though I can reach some shitty hold, there is nothing I can do with it. She always finds some shittier intermediate holds and just cruises through. 

Oh, I'm disadvantaged I am too short... Oh I am disadvantaged I am too tall! 

Tough luck whiners.

I thought this nonsense went down back in the '80's with Lynn Hill.

mountainhick wrote:

I thought this nonsense went down back in the '90's with Lynn Hill.

FIFY

Dustin Helmer wrote:

• Fluctuations in microgravity

for the win

curt86iroc wrote:

for the win

https://www.inverse.com/article/19997-weaker-gravity-could-have-helped-pole-vaulters-break-records-tonight