On wall climbs, in the US, we use the Yosemite Decimal System to rate climbs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System
Don't worry, I will get to my goal eventually. Most new climbers can start climbing at 5.6-5.8 range. At this time, getting your forearms and your grip strong enough to hold you on the wall is the biggest challenge. Once you get the basic muscles to learn to climb, you can easily cross into the 5.9 range. Now you hit the first big wall (a bit of pun intended). Climbing a 5.10 takes much more than just the strength to hold unto the wall. At this phase, you must learn to keep a lot of weight on your feet to save your arms. To do this you must line up your body to place the weight very intentionally. This will at times place your body into new positions that require a great deal of flexibility and thought. You will also need to learn to remember what you have passed and where you are going so you can find hand and footholds with ease. Moving your body into the correct position to make long reaches is also very important. Your grip will need to evolve from being able to hold you on the wall to being able to lock into one shape and not break under a great deal of force. Climbing your first 5.10 is a big step in any climbers life.
Now that you have cleared that level, most people would consider you a pretty serious climber and this is more than just a hobby. The area from 5.10a-5.11d is a long grueling journey. You have to be able to grip onto smaller and smaller holds. The walls start to become more and more overhung. You have to be able to pull yourself up with your upper body a lot more. Moving slightly out of balance will easily pop you off the wall. Now I bring you to my goal. If you start to ignore one skill you will get stuck very quickly at a given level.
"In the sport of rock climbing, 5.12 is a magical grade. Looked upon as the “door” to the elite levels of difficulty, 5.12 is believed by many intermediate climbers to be out of their reach." Eric Hurst from How to Climb a 5.12
I want to climb a 5.12 outside on a well recognized climb. Sometimes new climbs are not ranked very well and indoor climbing rankings can never be completely trusted. 5.12 is normally the line in the sand, at least for male climber, between those who really like climbing and want to be good, and those who train for climbing and really care about being good. The truth is I don't train for climbing. I don't practice my 2-finger pull ups, I don't lift weights, don't do yoga, or hang out in the bouldering cave burning my forearms into ashes. I hope to take my light weight, flexibility, and focus up a 5.12. The tricks to climbing a 5.12 as best I can tell include, being able to hold on to smaller holds with only a couple of your fingers, being able to push your hand into the rock to create friction, using your feet to push and pull your entire body, not letting your forearms get pumped, having the upper body strength to pull yourself through big overhangs, and maybe being really tall might help some people. More than anything it comes down to focus and understanding. You have to know the result of each move of your body in order to stay in balance and you need to anticipate the upcoming moves.
Currently, I am hovering around a 5.11b-c indoors. I did all of the parts of a 5.12b outside, but took breaks between many moves. I know Jenny and I will be spending a lot of time climbing over the winter, and I just need to keep pushing myself to improve not only physically but mentally. I also hope to watch Jenny clear the 5.11 barrier. She took awhile on the 5.10 goal and has been doing awesome ever since breaking that goal.
For those of you who are interested, I am not sure where the next big break is, but I would just guess around 5.14. This is about the ranking where you are climbing for a living and the 5.15b is just sitting there taunting you as the hardest climb in the world.
3 comments:
I can see it now...in the next3 years there will be a long awaited sequel to Cliffhanger called, Devils Peak! It will star Jimmy Budnick from the ultimate team and his uncanny ability to climb walls in a single bound.
Jimmy we know you will reach this goal as you are constantly looking for the next thing to conquer, but i think the goal should be adapted so that it reads something like this:
"i hope to climb a 5.12 so that i will be more bad ass than Slyvester Stallone in Cliffhanger and be part of a climbing movie where it will eventually lead to a backwards mirror of Stallone's career."
I mean think about, i would watch a movie where Jimmy is like Little Mac and he takes on Giants of boxers and takes them down. A movie where Jimmy is a truck driver and he must arm wrestle his way across the country. Or what about Jimbo-2nd blood!
I will start writing the scripts!
My goal is to fly.
My goal is to jump 4 pizza boxes. Stacked!
A cool climbers story
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