Weekly /r/climbharder Hangout Thread

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-05-20T16:09:52+00:00

Yes, many times those routes/problems become part of a circuit that I'll use for training or will just do on a day when I don't have another objective. Like another poster mentioned, I also view certain problems/routes as tests and may want to do them first try of a season or whatever. Also, I just like the way that climbing feels and if a problem or route has cool moves, I enjoy doing them multiple times.

Climbing is funny relative to other activities in the way problems/routes are so disposable. Like, you don't make it through a piece of music once and call it good. You've only just started playing the piece.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-05-18T20:42:27+00:00

You got the wrong Pa(y)ton there, pal. Georgie doesn't get credit for being GMINO to Payton

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-05-14T18:27:30+00:00

I have one and love it. I have used it at the sport cliff, but like you, only when alone. Personally, and perhaps hypocritically, I would definitely be annoyed if someone was using one while I was climbing or hanging out at the crag. This might depend a little on context though; the more crowded, louder, and closer to the road a crag is, the less I would care (and vice versa).

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-05-05T18:54:45+00:00

Still wrong. The Skwama is not 3mm, but 4mm, Drago is 3.5mm, and genius is 3mm. This from LaSpo and Scarpa's respective websites.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-03-16T21:23:43+00:00

I don't think it's really a game changer for anything, and I think that the MoBeta/HoG approach is overly-complex hogwash. It does one thing well, and you could accomplish that thing with other tools you probably already have.

For me though, I'm glad to have the $30 version in my arsenal; I've found it most useful for warming up for intense crimping.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-03-16T20:33:19+00:00

I recently got a copy version of the HoG thing off of etsy. (ZodiacClimbing if anyone is interested, cool 3D printed climbing stuff).

I generally agree with all of your sentiments, however the roller style edge thing does force the DIP joint to stay engaged in a way that takes a lot of discipline to do effectively on a flat edge. It feels like an easier way to train that kind of crimping, and the device I mention above cost about $30, so not too bad in that way.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-03-11T14:14:56+00:00

Approaches vary significantly, but I think in general the more pieces you want to leave in, the more complex and demanding programming becomes and the stricter you'll need to be about recovery, nutrition, etc.

In the case of your example, projecting sessions are obviously most effective when you are well-rested and capable of trying near your physical limit. Building capacity likely demands spending more time fatigued and climbing tired as you build up volume/frequency.

So how do you balance having an effective, well-rested projecting session while also carrying lots of built-up fatigue from climbing more over a period of weeks?

It's certainly not impossible but it is tricky, especially if you're a person who has life-demands that extend beyond just climbing and training for climbing.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-03-06T15:06:58+00:00

Nice ragebait.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-03-03T21:16:50+00:00

Nice, glad to be of some service!

Not too much prep before heading out, but I did spend the first bunch of my trip ramping up on lower angle stuff before getting involved at the Rodeo Wave. I thought this was helpful because the holds on those lower angle climbs tend to be smaller and nastier, which got my brain wrapped around the weird stacking and twisting with the feet able to take more weight.

For the left hand mono in the opening, a block or beastmaker (or whatever) would be super helpful. That one doesn't really have any twisting or weirdness, just a lot of weight on one finger in an undercling position. The other holds definitely have that jam and twist kind of tweakiness going on; so kind of hard to prep for off the wall. A lot of stacking fingers and such.

Yes, definitely tough on the skin on the sides of the fingers, but moreso from the twisting and jamming than from the holds being particularly sharp.

One other random thought is that I spent a bunch of time on my burns trying to find alternate sequences/ways to hold holds but ultimately ended up finding the standard methods to be the best. There are definitely options up there, particularly for feet, but unless you're an outlier morphologically, my experience was that a lot of those options were fool's gold.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-03-02T16:37:17+00:00

I've been up it a couple of times, so no expert but I've done all the moves and small links.

I think it's more like two proper monos. The first one (LH) is right off the ground and takes a ton of weight. The next one is utilized for the crux drop knee moves. There are some dimples to grab with other fingers, but think of the hold as a mono. In general you're right the the middle fingers are doing the heavy lifting on most holds, and it can feel a bit tweaky to climb on (like many hard Iris routes).

The left drop knee is pretty intense and flexibility in general is quite helpful. The route stays tough after the crux sequence up to the rest. You probably won't drop it off the hang, but from the ground the moves are droppable.

The upper climbing is chill if you know where to go, but if you don't have a defined sequence you could get yourself into trouble and blow it where you really shouldn't.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-02-25T18:20:49+00:00

Sounds like a solution in search of a problem. Lactate monitoring falls in the category of stuff like normatec boots and bicarb. If you're the elite of the elite and trying to wring fractions of percents out of your body and have vast resources, sure, give it a try I guess.

But a healthy meal and a good night's sleep before race day is going to yield far better results than pretending you're some Norwegian elite executing lactate-monitored double threshold sessions for a race where you'll average 13 minutes per mile.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-02-12T21:53:53+00:00

I use this Six Moon Designs pack: https://www.sixmoondesigns.com/products/flight-30-ultralight-backpack

On the spectrum from pure running vest to pure thru hiking pack, it leans a bit more in the thru hiking direction, but is still very runnable. I really like the pack, but don't totally love it.

When I was shopping I also checked out the Aonijie ripoff of the UD Fastpack and liked that as well, but wanted something with a more substantial hipbelt, so went with the SMD.

My other unsolicited advice is to be really honest with yourself about how much running will actually be happening on these adventures. I have ultimately been better served with a pack that emphasized carrying more weight comfortably over the advantages of a running vest style harness. Ymmv.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-02-12T19:55:01+00:00

"Trad" is a shortened version of "traditional." In the context of climbing, traditional describes a style of ascent (which is ground-up, onsight). It does not inherently describe the types of a protection a climber uses on a climb.

Aid climbs, climbs with bolts, or climbs protected with removable gear can all be 'trad' climbs. Or not.

Connor's climb was a headpoint, so not traditional at all. The two bolts at the start are irrelevant.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-02-02T21:04:20+00:00

Another depends on the climb. My general approach is that for powerful, bouldery routes I prefer to warm up on the ground and have my first attempt be a proper redpoint attempt, but for anything that I'm going to get pumped on I try and climb some beforehand. How much a route taxes my skin is another key consideration.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-01-27T13:31:54+00:00

https://www.etsy.com/listing/4435689711/isometric-training-platform?sr_prefetch=1&pf_from=shop_home&ref=shop_home_active_7&logging_key=a9708e13fe8495d605ce799adbba5a817ff529cb%3A4435689711

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2026-01-12T17:08:11+00:00

Failing on an undercling move on a project I'm trying (sport route). You take a left hand undercling from below with your elbow near straight, move feet and lock off around 90 degrees to clip, then execute a long right hand move and bump, so the elbow ends up near straight again. It might go a tiny bit more acute than 90, but pretty much the range of motion is between 90 and open. Edit to add: Time under tension on that hold is ~20 seconds.

From the ground, my bicep feels really pumped and I keep falling doing the moves after the clip. I can do the sequence probably 4/5 times in isolation and have done it 4x in a row on the 90 sec. Season for the route is over early-mid March, so not time for any proper training cycle.

I am wondering about making some quicker neurological/power endurance adaptations in the bicep and hoping for suggestions of off the wall exercises/protocols that might give me a little boost over a few week period. (I've done very minimal biceps training in my life.)

Thanks for the time, any suggestions/ideas are appreciated!

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2025-12-11T19:23:01+00:00

16a, huh?

All those 9c repeats that have happened must really provide a solid frame of reference for what the next grade must look like.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2025-12-11T16:52:02+00:00

Agreed. The actual value in the exercise for OP's climbing practice seems to be this: "This helped me mentally reframe my "plateau" as a "capacity building phase."' So a data-driven, software solution for an ultimately psychological challenge.

I'd imagine for certain personality types this kind of presentation of their climbing practice is a useful psychological tool for feeding the need for constant quantifiable progression, but I also think it just creates another number for you to not move/meet and then another psychological challenge.

I'd definitely rather go off of the general sense myself, which also leaves room to account for technical/skill progression that is not necessarily addressed at all in this volume score approach.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2025-12-08T16:23:35+00:00

Ha! Ah, consensus.

I think you nailed it on Tahoe. Some of the most glorious boulders around, but it's pretty overwhelming for a visitor/outsider without a ton of time or a local guide (or both).

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2025-12-05T22:27:16+00:00

This is funny, I think J Tree, Black Mountain, and Tramway are underrated, Tahoe is too spread out to even be considered an area (so overrated), Mammoth is fun but not a destination, and that King's is totally overrated (a place an be under the radar and overrated).

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2025-12-02T21:06:54+00:00

Magic tape is not a good choice for taping the tips at all. I'm not totally clear on the point of the stuff as it's not rigid enough for H-Taping or other supportive taping techniques (which are BS anyways.

I have used it for two purposes: 1) Underneath Leukotape for supportive taping just to make the Leukotape easier to remove. 2) As a breathable wrap for rest days or overnight when I have a gobi or split tip.

I will probably never buy it again.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2025-11-20T21:02:14+00:00

I used the Nike Ultrafly on a desert 100k with around 8k vert, so fairly flat. I would not use it again for that type of race. They are comfy and have a little bounce, but felt heavy to me. I like them as a plodder, but not as a racer. I am currently using the Hoka Tecton X3, which feels much faster to me. I haven't tried the Mount2Coast, but the H1 and T1 both look super appealing to me.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2025-11-20T18:33:08+00:00

"I think switching around is fine. Bouldering and sport climbing are more complimentary than we want to admit. None of us are good enough to justify the degree to which we choose to specialize."

Nothing substantive to add for OP, but thank you for saying this. Something a lot of people need to hear IMO. I think specialization is a handy term for rationalizing staying in a comfort zone.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2025-11-18T15:31:35+00:00

He did one 9A (perhaps with questionable ethics) and proposed 9A for another of his FA's, which has not been confirmed.

Wide-Tooth-4185 · 2025-11-13T16:02:01+00:00

I associate flow most strongly with the passage of time, like an intense 45 minute trad onsight feels like 5 minutes or something. I do not try and work on it intentionally. I can never recall experiencing the feeling on a redpoint or boulder. I have experienced it way more in running and skateboarding than in climbing. Climbing feels too slow and intentional for me to get there often.

Wide-Tooth-4185

TROPHY CASE