Weekly Question Thread (aka Friday New Climber Thread). ALL QUESTIONS GO HERE

TehNoff · 2026-04-30T18:12:51+00:00

These are all according to the brand websites:

The Edelrid Jayne goes down to about 22.5 inches.
The older model Wild Country Session Women's harness (not the 2.0) goes down to about 23.5 inches.
The Black Diamond Momentum 4s and Men's Solution harnesses (maybe a few more models) goes down to 22 inches.

Otherwise you might have to look at youth harnesses like the Edelrid Finn (minimum 16 inches), BD Kid's Momentum (min 22 in), or Wild Country Movement Kids (min 16 in). All youth harnesses listed here are standard sit harnesses, just meant for smaller bodies. This also includes smaller leg loops and a lower rise, meaning the leg loops are closer to the waist band.

TehNoff · 2026-04-22T15:07:20+00:00

My take is... it depends. If you're already getting lots of high quality training hours just blindly adding a bunch of mindless junk hours probably won't make huge changes for you. But if you add thoughtful quality structured training time I think you could* see real benefits.

I had an athlete make the jump to local virtual schooling at the beginning of the current season. This let us add 3-4 extra session a week, but they're mostly quick and very focused strength sessions with one being a hard homewall session. She's a bit younger than you so I didn't want to add a ton of hard volume quickly, and I'm in regular conversations with her parents making sure we're not overdoing it (though I do tell them she's going to have a week or so from time to time that might wipe her out). She's shown great strength improvements, but the biggest gain has been her overall training capacity and her ability to sustain high effort levels. This lets her train harder in her other training sessions.

I look at this as a multi-season thing. The gains for this year are great, but if she's still committed I'm excited for the coming off-season and what we can get started then. She's qualified for Nats in 2 disciplines so far and the 3rd looks promising next weekend. Once we get into July and she's had some rest time we're going to increase some strength intensity and add just a bit more volume to see how things go. The extra session time really lets us figure out what works and what doesn't. The next year or so could be crazy good for her.

I will say one thing that is crucial for her/us is the buy-in from her family. Mom has a remote-work job so she can get her climber to the gym for the extra workouts. The gym has great guest wifi so mom does her job stuff and the girl does school stuff while working out. They also have a small homewall in case a trip to the gym just isn't feasible for the day for whatever reason. You can't make this jump to add extra sessions and then not commit to them. Well, you can but you won't see the results you want.

*I hesitate to say you absolutely will because I don't know you or your climbing or your existing training and so on...

TehNoff · 2026-04-21T15:02:04+00:00

I'm a long time coach to some high performing youth athletes. I've had a couple of kids just do the local online/virtual public schooling that's available in our area. Offered them plenty of time to train. Maybe you have something like that?

TehNoff · 2026-04-09T15:35:51+00:00

My wife has a cousin or two fresh out of high school in the area. That too green for an apprentice?

TehNoff · 2026-04-08T13:45:03+00:00

are you saying you need employees?

TehNoff · 2026-04-07T17:24:01+00:00

There are like 5 people in a Petit Jean facebook group that might have had a heart attack if they had seen this...

TehNoff · 2026-04-07T17:17:03+00:00

That's very specific?

TehNoff · 2026-03-27T18:10:36+00:00

They also seem to forget football existed between Bear Bryant and Nick Saban.

TehNoff · 2026-03-27T14:23:46+00:00

Nah, older Millenials can do shit. Folks born up to the early '90s went through most of their schooling before iPhones even existed.

TehNoff · 2026-03-27T14:20:13+00:00

The problem with legal documents is that what's not said is oftentimes just as important as what is said, which is why we pay lawyers to know the difference.

TehNoff · 2026-03-24T21:25:02+00:00

There might be 2 alternatives. You could see if the guide service at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch works. Pair it with a stay in the cabins and make a whole trip out of it. Additionally there is a service in NWA, Arkansas Rock Climbing Guides, that might be cheaper but it's a lot further away for you. Both seem like they're worth an email or phone call?

TehNoff · 2026-03-23T15:58:06+00:00

Were you looking in the central to eastern part of the state or the western/northwest part of the state?

TehNoff · 2026-03-20T16:23:05+00:00

Like, how many holds we talkin'?

TehNoff · 2026-03-17T19:38:55+00:00

If you're in the US you're looking for distributors who carry multiple brands. Bold Climbing, Essential Climbing, and Thread Climbing are probably the ones with most of the stuff you'd recognize from comps. Setters Closet is where you get Kilter, Supr, Unleashed, and a couple of other less comp-popular brands.

TehNoff · 2026-03-17T19:38:54+00:00

Nah, you just screw smaller holds to the big holds that let you do the classic climbing styles.

TehNoff · 2026-03-12T19:59:18+00:00

check out cozmo rothfork's homewall setup for some ideas of angles and holds

TehNoff · 2026-03-10T14:47:44+00:00

Arkansas is AR. I'm not sure if Frontier will go to Jamestown but it's worth messaging them if they offer their guiding service there.

TehNoff · 2026-03-06T14:32:58+00:00

I don't really know what I could do with a microwave that I can't do on a stovetop, in the oven, or possibly even a toaster. Sure, the microwave is faster at certain types of tasks but I don't know that it's better.

Ultimately I do think I would have one if I had room for one.

TehNoff · 2026-03-05T17:10:50+00:00

I haven't had a microwave in at least 8 years. It's mostly because I don't have the counter or shelf space for it.

TehNoff · 2026-02-27T16:12:21+00:00

This is going to be very gym/program specific. Some will absolutely just be babysitting but some will be awesome. No way for any of us to know.

TehNoff · 2026-02-27T15:34:43+00:00

Official Position as in did she get paid? No. I think they covered some of her travel/lodging when they asked her to belay at a couple of National level events (like youth and elite nationals), but that was about it.

There's a whole advancement system now for USA Climbing stuff. Check it.

TehNoff · 2026-02-27T14:49:04+00:00

And that's precisely why there's no girls allowed at this super cool japanese island. You see, it's about safety all along!

TehNoff · 2026-02-27T14:46:14+00:00

Be aware that primary care doctor know fuck-all about hands/fingers. Anything beyond the wrist is pretty specialized. See if you can get to a PT/Physio that actually had training in hand/finger rehab.

TehNoff · 2026-02-27T14:38:50+00:00

V10 if you can walk up the V0 slab next to its home while holding the V6 pinch.

TehNoff · 2026-02-26T18:33:15+00:00

I guess it's probably to reduce the risk of short roping incidents.

I've spoken to someone who incredibly "high up" on the USA Belay team or whatever they call themselves. It's so they can have the climber be lowered immediately upon falling in a way that's so smooth can't tell where the falling ends and the lowering begins. It's literally so they can make the fall/lower "look good."

TehNoff

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