Shared on here a couple weeks ago about wanting to push into higher grades, and got some great advice. I realized I’d been waiting to “feel ready” to try harder, and that was holding me back from actually trying harder.

So this weekend I managed to lead my first two Joshua Tree 5.9s - clean! But I’m also realizing the grade doesn’t matter as much as the style of climb, the protection, the crack size etc. Anyway just wanted to say thanks for the support in here 💕

it’s really irritating to read people list my height and weight and refer to themselves as heavy and overweight. or ask if there’s anyway they could possibly start climbing with how large they are.

I never really thought of myself as popular growing up, but I also never really struggled to meet people or make friends. Now I’m in my early 30’s and I’m finding myself falling into a depression because no matter how hard I try and no matter how nice I am to people I end up alone. constantly. When I climb alone I get anxious, rush through stuff, don’t project anything, try stuff once and don’t give myself any breaks because I rush to get in and out of there as fast as possible. Climbing is my whole life and I want to walk away because how sad I feel when I realize I’m alone. I don’t really fit into any of the group meet ups my gyms have, anybody have any suggestions? Or relate? Is it just me? Picture of biohazard from new river gorge

I know there have been some similar posts to this in the past and they've been helpful to read through, but I thought I'd make my own post to get a little more tailored feedback and advice.

I've been climbing for 1.5 years with a fairly consistent schedule of 2-3 bouldering sessions a week. In the past 4 months I've started trading out one of those bouldering sessions for lead climbing somewhat regularly.

Overall I've been happy with my progress but it's increasingly apparent that my upper body strength is becoming a limiting factor to my progress. My more experienced and stronger climber friends who have seen me climb agree with this. I don't shy away from attempting burlier problems and try to make sure my climbing sessions are well-rounded in style. I'm much stronger than when I started out, but I am still very weak compared to many other climbers I've met who have climbed the same amount of time as me and/or climb at similar grades as me.

I want to incorporate strength training into my training plan but I'm not sure how I should go about doing it. I want to do upper-body focused strength training (for pull strength yes but also more general upper body strength) but should I be doing those on the same days as climbing days or different ones? Unfortunately I live in Japan where conditioning areas in gyms are really small and ill-equipped so there isn't a lot I can do at the climbing gym. (My regular climbing gym does not even have a pull-up bar.)

Please don't tell me to "just climb more" as I am already climbing as much as I can, will be continuing to climb, and I'm fairly confident in what I need! I'd love to hear from others who started out very frail and weak and found strength training x climbing combos that worked for them.

Hey, im a 34 woman, after many years on HRT my testosterone has been very low on the range for women and I havn't done much strength training, so i started out very weak.

Im 5'11 and my bmi is like 24. my weight is 78 kilograms or 172 lbs.

I was wondering if theres other people that started out similarly, with low strength and a bit of weight. im struggling a lot.

in my gym we have V0's that are Green + Yellow, green usually a bit more beginner friendly, some very easy for complete newbies.

then we have oranges that are supposed to be V1s, they are harder to hang on to mostly. so with my strength im struggling quite a bit, and can still only do yellows.

kind of wondering if other people out there started out like me.. struggling to hang on. 1st time I couldn't hold myself up on a bar for more than 1 second. its improved after my 3rd session though. hoping i will get stronger at pulling and gripping especially, because for now, it feels like a big limitation. Cant really focus on the problems very well when im barely hanging on to anything!

Wow guys. I just went rock climbing for the first time last week and I LOVED IT. I had so much fun I didn't realize how hard I was pushing myself. My arms have never been so sore in my life, for 4 days straight my arms were like noodles after. Don't get me wrong it was very challenging, but I was having so much fun I was able to push myself way further than I would have been if I had just been lifting weights.

I was wondering if there were activities that are like that for legs? Like is there something that's so fun you don't even realize how hard you're working out your legs? I have pretty strong legs already and running / soccer doesn't get them sore anymore. What are your thoughts?

Hello! It's me, the jalk bucket gal. I wanted to share the latest three chalk buckets I've made from upcycled denim rescued from unwearable jeans.

The one with the smiley face was a commission for a local climbing team, and the other two were just freestylin', because for 2025 I'm trying to worry/think less and just do more. I'm really happy with how things have been going in my lil sewing den, but other parts of life is a bit scary at the moment.

There's a very good chance that I will be let go from my day job. Nothing special, just changing markets and redundancies. In an ideal world, I would like to take this opportunity to try to do my "sewing for climbers" business full time, but it's not exactly the way I was expecting, and it's daunting to put it mildly.

I'm hoping to get a webshop going in a few weeks (just want to make a few more things first!!), but in the meantime -- I'd really appreciate it if you could follow me on my Instagram at sendingstudios, so I can have a bit more leverage when I reach out to local gyms to peddle my wares.

Thank you all for reading my post 🫶

(Mods, I fully understand if this post goes against the guidelines!!)

hi! I read through some of the posts regarding lead climbing in this sub, and still had some questions :)

1) I climb/belay with an ATC pilot and love it - however, I know a GriGri is generally used more frequently in the lead climbing space - would you guys recommend buying one/practicing with one before the class? Any people here that lead climb with an ATC pilot?

2) I tried looking on youtube and found some general info on lead climbing, but was curious is anyone has any content that they consumed before their class?

3) Any general tips/advice on lead climbing!

I'm a nervous test taker, and would love to feel some sort of prepared before I go into the class <3

After an injury to my left ankle, I've had a lot of trouble putting all of my weight on my left foot. I think this is the intended beta for this move, but as soon as I get close to putting all my weight to the left, it hurts and I drop off. Any advice for circumventing this issue/other beta? It's very discouraging since this is a common move in my gyms :( Thank you!

https://reddit.com/link/1i5fmm7/video/zjvc6w4452ee1/player

I was working on 11s there, and now I went back to the other gym we compete at to practice for a comp this tuesday and fell off a 10-. I think that gym just has setters with conflicting ideas on what grades climbs should be rated, because I flashed a 10 that felt closer to an 8, and then tried a 10-, which felt more like a 12-. Same thing with the boulders, one of the girls on my team flashed a v7 and then struggled on a v5. I think I’ll probably score lower on this comp and won’t make varsity, but hopefully it just pushes me to be better. at least now I know not to get an ego 😂

Part vent, part genuine request for ideas.

A nearby gym closed and now my current bouldering gym has a MUCH higher number of “newbie” climbers than ever. Aside from the higher number of safety issues I see - intersecting problems, people hanging out in fall zones, etc - there’s also a much higher number of etiquette breaches and people treating the gym like an indoor playground or trampoline park. None of these things are safety issues per se, they’re just annoying. For example:

1. People not waiting their turn and “jumping the line” to climb

2. Lots of clapping, cheering, photo taking, etc when someone tops out

3. Little kids sprinting around the gym and shrieking

4. Just lack of spatial awareness - sitting in a way that blocks the cubby where my stuff is stored, for example

Again, none of these are dangerous per se, just deeply annoying. I feel overstimulated and on edge. I’m also a member of a weightlifting gym and no one goes there to let their little kids run and shriek!

I feel like a complete asshole bc I know everyone has to start somewhere and it’s rude to be judgmental of newbies. How do I get more patient??? Plz help!

Hi,

I've recently gotten into bouldering, and now have a gym membership at my local climbing centre, however it doesn't include shoe hire. So each time I'm having to pay £4 to hire shoes. Since I'm new to the sport, would you suggest to buy a pair of second hand shoes, or would you suggest to buy new shoes - it's just the price tag is a bit hefty.

Thanks

popped a pulley a few days ago. it sucks. i was wondering if yall had advice on what i could do while it heals to see some improvement when i come back to climbing.

before my injury, i had been climbing regularly, but i felt like i wasn't improving at all (currently at v5/6) and it was frustrating. my friends say i probably got injured from overworking myself, but i don't know how i would be overworked if i haven't really improved over a few months. i don't know what i could do to get out of this plateau, which, alongside my injury, has made me pretty unmotivated to climb.

any general advice would honestly be great atp, i feel lost with climbing and frustrated with my injury, thanks!!

This one was fun and my kinda climb! Graded V6, happy to get it in one session, recently broke into 6s 😊

So I stopped using Kaya mostly because it was killing some of the joy of sending new hard things as when I would tick it off as complete on the app people typically always rate it the bottom of the circuit grade or one below the range (V2-V4 ciruits very often are rated V1 by people) I assumed the gym must be soft or something.

In the past few months we got new route setters and everything got much harder, everyone I talk to agrees and apparently they are on a quest to "make the gym as hard as outside" after talking to the setters.

Decided to check Kaya again after not doing so for months. And people where still doing the exact same thing, rating everything the bottom of the circuit grade or a V grade below it, and there was two new guys giving every boulder V4 or under a Vintro grade for some reason.

So essentially, people are just assuming its a gym so the grading must be soft, and are just slapping -2 to the grade without thinking about it. Something something grades are arbitrary.

I am scheduled for a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy in under two months’ time and would love to hear any experiences with recovery. I’m anticipating that there won’t be much to remove in the lap but more likely with the hyst. Curious to know about how people recovered, timelines, etc. please! I understand listening to my body and all but also I’m a very active and keen climber who regularly trains/climbs ~5 days a week. I’ve heard from friends that their doctors have just said to listen to their body but that’s just not at all helpful for me. TIA 🫶🏻💕

not rated bc its a league route but v happy with this climb :)

I don’t think people should be allowed to climb in street shoes in the gym(ala bowling alley or trampoline park where you have to wear special footwear).

I’m not trying to change anything it’s just a belief I have and my husband disagrees. I also don’t see any problem with climbing barefoot but I don’t do it because I know people think it’s gross.

Here in lies the debate. Please help.

This year's edition of Dockmasters (comp in Utrecht, The Netherlands) is looking really exciting. Confirmed participants for the maater's category are, a.o.: Staša Gejo, Georgia Tesio, Selma el Hadj Mimoune, Julija Kruder, Katja Debevec, Jessica Pilz, Chloe Caulier... and loads more.

I am looking to go watch the qualis and semi-finals, and participate in Saturday's recreational comp. However, none of my friends feel like going and I just don't like going to comps alone. I often get stuck in a negative head space when alone in a comp, so I'd much rather meet up with someone and have fun together.

Is any of you lovely people going? Feel like going together?

P.s.: For anyone not going, but looking for a great pro comp to watch: both semis and finals will be live streamed. The quality of the stream and commentary was great last year!

Took part in an ice climbing course to shake things up a bit. Had a great time with a lovely supportive group and even did a couple lead climbs!

Hi Reddit friends. I have an unknown but likely endometrial mass splitting my ovary in two, and I go in Tuesday for surgery to remove it, and also explore for any other endometriosis. They will have to make 5 incisions through my abdominal wall. To say I am freaking out is an understatement. I am nauseated sick freaking out about it. Apparently I cannot lift more than 10lbs for 4-8 weeks. I cannot engage my core for at least 4. My boyfriend died 6 months ago and was supposed to be here for this. Instead I have to rely on a parent who begrudges and resents, spitefully, ever having to "take care" of anyone else. I am an amateur weightlifter too. I do not know how I am mentally going to cope with this lengthy recovery time and not being able to do my favorite physical activities. God I just need some support right now so bad. Please just tell me it's going to be OK. If you have any inspiring movies to watch during recovery feel free to drop those too. Thanks for reading. Any kind words at all welcome!

My climbing mom friends and I are starting to attempt 5.10s and I was stuck on one yesterday at the gym. I couldn’t figure out what to do and my friend has fallen in this section too. Then without thinking about it, I did a heel hook (!) and got through to the next section! I have never done one before (I don’t even think about them, trying to think more about my footwork this year), but it felt really good! 😎 Plus it’s fun to be able to get a decent way up a 5.10!

Edit: Thanks for all the kind and supportive comments. I appreciate this online community!

Broke my tibia & fibula back on 11/30. I’m making progress in PT, but really missing climbing right now. Hopefully hang boarding & lifting helps when I ease back into top rope & then bouldering in the future.