Kilter Climbs for Shorties

Hello! A friend of mine is 5’2” and, though hellaciously strong, is sick of being shut down by big spans on the V6+ routes that me and her other tall friends are projecting. Obviously grades are subjective, but I’m wondering if anyone has recommendations for woman kilter setters to follow, a route list for shorter climbers, etc. to help her feel included in group board sessions. Thanks!

I’m only 5’3” so I also have a hard time on the Kilter.  I don’t have any specific climb recommendations but I’ve found that if I can set the wall to 50 deg or more the reach is less of a problem.  

I’m not a female Kilter setter but I do keep equitable reach in mind, you can find me at Brendan_N on the app

project harder? around v6 is the last time tall people have the advantage. around v7..9 it's kind of a wash - the big moves and bad angles will punish people with long legs more, but will be closer. and of course v10+ is all short people all the time. this is (un)fortunately true for her. it's not just kilter either, around v10 almost everyone is a midget. you can look at ifsc competitors or pro climber heights. she's already incredibly tall for the average ifsc female. at v10, everyone will cut feet and dyno to 20mm edges. the tall people will be lifting tons of extra dead weight and be swinging meters of extra levers (legs). don't be too focused on the short term.

Dite Tebe wrote:

you can look at ifsc competitors or pro climber heights. she's already incredibly tall for the average ifsc female.

Nope. 5'2" isn't super short for a good IFSC female boulderer; we have Brooke. But then Janja, Natalia, Shauna, Jessica Pilz, Akio, Miho, etc are all taller. Sure we have Ai & Jain < 5'2", but they are both lead specialists. This is besides the point though: IFSC setting accounts for height range of the competitors (after all, the male boulderers are taller), not so much the other way around.

You can look at the beta videos for a particular climb in the Kilter app and find short climber IG board accounts to follow. @ssuk_kilter and @viv_on_kilter are both short and post a lot of videos. But just go to any popular KIlter climb and you'll find tons of short people beta. Also Natalia Grossman is 5'4" so maybe a tad taller than your friend (and a lot stronger), but she also has a board account @natalia_boardclimbs.

I’m in the same boat. A smidge under 5’2”. Have done a handful of V6s on Kilter, but most of them feel like a long-move shutdown.

@kilterjackie would be worth following. She’s a prolific setter on kilter, and generally shortie-friendly. 

Brendan N wrote:

I’m not a female Kilter setter but I do keep equitable reach in mind, you can find me at Brendan_N on the app

Will give them a try. I only saw two problems set by you, and they are at 30 degrees, both are still projects at 40, which is what I have access to.

Though looking at your 4x4 list, both V6s on that list that I had tried are still, frustratingly, my limit problems, and on both of them I’m shut down by a long move. (Hustle&motivate and Bad Girls Climb Top) It’s just one move on both of them, the rest feels easy… but that’s common.