UKC

Hi All, 

My friend and I have decided that the best way to hold ouselves accountable for our training is to set ourselves goals for the end of 2021. we are aiming to boulder 6c/+ outside. 

Obviously the goal is to be able to climb "any" 6c/+, but I've found that sometimes the best way to break into a new grade is to find a climb which suits your style, to help you get used to the kind of effort/technique/mindset etc required for the new grade, so that you then have the "oh, I can do this" mindset.

I was wondering if anybody has experience they could share about how to go about finding the "right" boulder for you, to help you break into that new grade? 

Any help appreciated!

Have you tried any 6C/+s yet?  Maybe some old battles you felt close too would be good.

If not, you need to think about your strengths and weaknesses. If you just want to tick a certain grade, find a problem that plays to your strengths and is a bit soft. Word of mouth, YouTube vids, guidebook descriptions and votes/comments on here can all help.

Where are you based and what style would you want? If you specify these things you'll probably get some recommendations on this thread. 

For me, it's all about mileage on rock. Lots of lower grade problems (6a, 6a+) will help with endurance, technique, strength and help you find a style that suits you best. Then pick a problem you enjoy working on and crush. 

I haven't tried any yet, the plan is to go to burbage tomorrow and play around on any i can get my hands on! 

I'm based north of manchester, and my style is mainly crimpy, reachy kinds of climbs. 

Thank you for your reply

I've done a few 6a/+ and so on, I'll look at what I've done and find the common theme!

I’d say that you should pull on as many as possible.  Some may feel impossible right now but some may feel doable.  Put time into these.

Also, you may get a 6C+ or two but still get spanked by Font 5s, for years.

Finally, 6C+ is not a common grade.  There are far more climbs at 6C and 7A.  I suspect many 6C+ climbs are given the grade of 7A for obvious reasons.

Smash the food and alcohol for a few months and climb loads of 6a's. Then lose 2 stone by starvation about Feb and jump on something crimpy.

Then you can go back to food and alcohol.

6C+ is V5 I think there might be one or two of those around.

Most V5s will be 6c. Some are 6b+. 6c+ is usually lower end of V6.

You are better off just sticking to the better grading system.

To OP: have a search of the guides at your favourite and/or local crags for problems that get a couple of stars and then look up videos of them online? Pick a few out that you like the look of and then go and try them. With a bit of luck you'll find yourself inspired by them and keen to go back repeatedly.

If you are fairly new to climbing outside then like someone else said it's worth getting lots of mileage at mid 6s too. But don't be tempted to do this on the same day you want to try your project, it's just a recipe for losing skin you desperately need (at least on grit, which I'm assuming you'll be climbing, as there's far less decent limestone bouldering at those grades.)

There is alot going on with training etc and I'm sure you know yourself what kind of rabbit hole you can get into very quickly. Be that all as it may, one of the big impediments to consider when trying to climb hard is easy access to hard climbs. If you have to travel for hours, you just won't get the exposure to those moves that you would if the climb was 5 minutes walk away. There is good reason why big grade breakthroughs generally happen close to home turf. Ease of access, familiarity, comfort and sheer number of repetition will get you there. There is ofcourse a whole universe around training technique, strength and mental game that I've just glossed over too which I am sure you are aware of which is critical here. Making it easy and accessible for yourself though makes all of those things significantly easier to manage and are a significant enabling factor.

That’s not what any of my bouldering guides grading charts say as well as if you google bouldering grade charts say either. 
 

Thank you everyone! There are loads of great tips here! I look forward to implementing them! 

There are, certainly.  My point was that there are less of them.

Have a look on UKC at any major venue, then look at the stats, set it to bouldering and look at the distribution of grades.  I’ve just looked at Plantation, The Roaches, Almscliff and Caley and there are generally less than half as many 6C+ than the grades either side.

I put this down to an anomaly in the grading but the upshot is that if 6C or 7A were your target, then you have around twice as many problems to go at.  That would give a climber more chance of finding one that suits.

It’s also true of 6A+ and 6B+.

You need to look at the expert sources: the BMC grit, YMC grit, Lancashire bouldering and VG Peak bouldering guide all have f6C+ at the V5/6 border.

Grading tables are often dodgy and errors get propagated between guides or venues like walls that just copy them from each other. If you look at what grades the same problem actually gets in different guides using different systems (I'm popular areas with well established grades), that's the best way because these that it's have evolved organically. In my experience 6c is bang on v5 and like you say 6c+ is borderline v5/6, but I'm fairly sure I've done a few more that get V6 than v5, and I think most 6b+s also tend to get v5. We are splitting hairs though. Anyway the point I was making to Webbo was that climbing any v5 is certainly not the same as climbing 6c+, most V5s will be significantly easier. And secondly the point was, just use the better (Font!) system.

I'd agree with all of that. Then we have the fact what is given V5 indoors is too often about f6A outdoors.

The Rockfax grade table is part of the problem: the table redefined V3 as f6A and f6A+ (to give more lower grade gradations) but also aligned V6 with f7A (and V8 with f7B and f7B+). Aside from any arguments about if it is OK for a publisher to be messing around with a grading system like that, its a fact that this leads to a strong artificial compression of grades in what they give as V4 and V5. Prior to this the two systems were misaligned from V3 to V8 with broad alignment of V2 in the UK always being f6A (for instance V6 was the harder f6C+ and easier f7As).

I haven't read all the replies so apologies if this has already been mentioned, but if you're north of Manchester then go to Brownstones and get on Hanks Wall and Pigswill. Both are very good, fingery 7as. Granted it's not the grade your were asking about but IMO 7A feels like more of a target grade to aim for

Get on 7 Ball at Burbage South. If you can climb that you can get on many of the Peak 7As as well It is a great problem at the grade btw - not just trying to sandbag you.

1. You need to be able to get on it lots = close by, doesn't need fussy conditions.
2. Traverses work well because you can practice each move in isolation.
3. It should be a nice clean line e.g. no funny eliminates or rules.
4. It should be something fairly well known so the grade is solid.
5. It should be something that inspires you and suits your style.

My grade of choice was 7a, and I did Lost Decade (a steep roof traverse on crimps) and Nicotine Alley (slightly overhanging traverse, again with some tiny crimps). It took a few years to get strong enough, and then multiple trips for each problem. Felt amazing when I did them .

Good luck!

That's ace, thank you! i was actually there the other week but everything was wet except Nexus so i ended up making my owm little routes on the different "start holds" for all the dyno roues. 

Ideal, thank you! next time i can get out there I'll give it a good go!

Thank you, now to find some local crags that arent permaently wet! 

I don't think one 6C is a very inspiring goal, tbh, for the simple reason that bouldering grades are all over the place and there are some piece of piss f6Cs out there. There are also a lot of problems where you end up thinking: "did I do it? Should I have eliminated that hold? Is it just soft?" etc. Maybe, instead, find a particular problem you're really keen on - a great line - and work it? Or... aim for five f6Cs, rather than one!

Hi, sorry I may not have been clear, I was meaning "be able to climb the grade comfortably" so my average grade would be 6c. 

personally I think the lots easy mileage thing is a myth tbh. Nothing really compares to just getting on something at your limit and trying hard. I literally didn’t see any progression in my outdoor climbing until I just started getting on the harder stuff. It actually forces you to climb well and be tactical / use good technique. Also if you want that kinda grade to be your average you have to be outside all the time and consistently working stuff. 

if you want a first 6c that’s crimpy and actually good go do Apprentice Wall at Anston Stones. 

My preferred tactic would be to just go and have a play on as many problems at the grade as you can locally. You’ll find one that feels satisfyingly challenging and inspiring and that you feel psyched to spend some time working on.

You’ll know you’ve found the right one as it’ll be the one you can’t wait to come back to. It’s not always the one with the most stars or that everyone else raves about.

I think there’s a lot to be gained from easy mileage if you approach it right. Capitalise on the extra headspace you have when not at your limit to really consciously focus on and refine technique. Really drill in good movement patterns while your body and mind are more relaxed and thus more receptive to new learning. However, most people I see at the wall think “easy mileage” means mindless laps while chatting about their weekend, at which point it’s just junk mileage.

That said I agree that at a certain point there is no substitute for just getting on something hard that really exposes and forces you to work on your weaknesses. The easier mileage is a necessary base to do this from (especially if you want to stay injury free), but if it’s all you do then you’ll never move forwards. 

Each to their own.  I like to 1. be with friends, 2. outside, 3. climbing interesting moves, 4. that challenge me, 5. and learn new things.

I guess training fits with that (although, other than climbing I don't really), but I certainly don't want to "hold myself accountable" for it.

Probably why I still climb modest grades.  But then, there's a lifetime's supply of great routes at E2 and below.  Like I said, each to their own.