UKC

Is my outdoor climbing progress normal?

I've been climbing for about two years now, but my progress has been slow due to a  job, life, and some injuries. I'm currently climbing around V3 in the gym and 4c outdoors. I recently took a course and was able to confidently set up two top-rope anchors on my own, checked by others.

My question comes from a recent outdoor trip. We drove 70 minutes, lugged gear, and set up, and I was only able to get in a few climbs before I felt completely exhausted. I did a warm-up 4c ( expecting it to be 4a), then seconded another 4c, and finally got on a 5a I've been projecting. I'd made it 3/4 of the way up this route on a previous trip, but this time I was gassed after only a quarter of the climb. I'm not leading yet—just top-roping and belaying.

This made me question if my fitness is just not up to par. Is it normal to get so tired after only a couple of climbs? I also felt a bit of a disconnect from my group. They were all about trying new routes, but I really just wanted to focus on my project and work it the way I would in the gym.

Is this a normal experience for someone at my level? And is it true that leading is the "proper" way to climb and top-roping is just "for beginners"? Any advice on managing energy outdoors and finding a partner with similar goals would be appreciated.

Thanks for any insights!

Could just be a simple case of UUPS.... Unexplained Under Performance Syndrome... it is a 'thing', & everyone is entitled to an off-day, even if you don't want it!!

And, of course, leading is the proper/only way to climb 😉🫣.... those superstars who toprope projects before leading them are doing it all wrong 🙄 🤫!!

Climbing is a personal hobby/pastime/activity, & there's no right/wrong/proper way to do any of it, unless you fib to yourself/others about your achievements/capabilities, & end up in a sticky situation beyond your abilities.

 I don't chase grades, or risks.... I climb for pleasure, alone or in company. Going home safe & sound means I can play out again tomorrow. Just enjoy it, & don't beat yourself up. Temper your ambitions, & time will see where you end up

Ya, thanks like flashing everything is just a silly expectation, but its a whole day out planning to head to the crag, add in weather it literally can be months before I get back so projecting is hard.

Comparing yourself to other climbers only leads to disappointment. No matter how much of a badass you are there will always be someone stronger, or with better technique, or bolder than you. One of the great joys of climbing is that it's only really a competition against yourself. It's a hobby that can be enjoyed by mixed ability people climbing together. In my particular social circle there are people scraping up VS's and people climbing at the cutting edge. As long as the other person can hold a rope and belay no one cares about the others ability.

It's just messing about on rocks 🙂

I don’t think projecting makes much sense for a novice. It’s preferable to get in a bigger variety of moves.

Leading is the norm as you can’t top-rope your way up a mountain. That said cragging is no longer just training for the mountains so not really a case against just top roping anymore. Leading is more challenging that top roping and most people come to appreciate that challenge. Sounds like you might be more of a sport climber than a trad climber. Each to there own.

Indoor V3 strength certainly shouldn’t see you struggling on 5a. I guess there must be elements of technique you are missing when climbing outdoors.

No, you're not weird. As Buxtoncoffeelover says:

 I don't chase grades, or risks.... I climb for pleasure, alone or in company. Going home safe & sound means I can play out again tomorrow. Just enjoy it, & don't beat yourself up. Temper your ambitions, & time will see where you end up

That's the way to do it.

It's impossible to tell without seeing you climb. In my experience, you can climb high grades at the indoor wall with very limited technique. Then, when you climb outdoors, you rely on bouldering strength for everything. For example, a 4b/4c layaway might become a desperate 5b/5c finger crack.

A guy I took to Stanage once could lead 6b+ indoors but fell off seconding Central Trinity (VS 4c).  And recently I was talking to some guys who could top rope 6c at the wall and wanted to lead HS outdoors. 

Indoor walls may be getting even more different from real rock, so there is no substitute for outdoor mileage. 

I found in the last 10 years of so of my climbing that I got more satisfaction from seeing how well I could climb something rather than how hard I could climb.

As others have said, indoors at the wall (gym? Pah! Tedious Americanism) and outside aren't comparable directly.  Don't fret about it.

We aren't machines.  We all have days below capacity.  It could be hayfever, or you going down with something, or some thing you'd done that was making you feel a bit off and you didn't realise, you may have not eaten enough, or drank enough, or too much of the wrong thing, or just had one of those days.  Learn what lessons you can from it and move on.

Also, don't forget that those people who you were with may well be here reading about your 'disconnect'.  Their view may be that they wanted to try new experiences whereas you wanted to be selfish and spend all their time on something only you wanted to do and thought important.  A bit of give and take makes for a more harmonious day.

There's plenty to enjoy.  Make your next day out about that rather than chasing grades.

T.

I was burnt out for years. Do a very sedentary job and then even more so working from home since COVID (and now have chronic fatigue and other stuff anyway). Never been into PE whatsoever, but I love climbing. Unsurprisingly this means I have no stamina and want a tea break after every other climb - though that's as much mental exhaustion as anything.* And I seconded for years of my career before ever leading.

We seem to have created these insane pressures of how you should be climbing in recent years - to which beginners are particularly vulnerable because you're keen and don't know anything else. At the risk of sounding 103, while it has many other benefits, from this perspective I'm glad I started climbing before social media... 

I violently reject the notion that climbing needs to be about athleticism. Sure, it definitely helps (I assume, having never tried it), but good god, you can enjoy it for the buzz of dancing (or expletively thrutching) up rock; the smell of sweat and chalk and earth; the light across the moors in the golden hour; the views you get from a perspective you never quite get with your feet on the ground; the perverse brain-worm when you get a problem in your head and you just keep getting pulled back to try it again and again. 

Screw everyone else and do what feels right for you. 

*Top tip: you don't even have to wait until after your climb for a snack break if you pack snacks in your sports bra. Babybel and strawberry laces work well. 

Post of the day. Nice one.

Note to self: buy a sports bra.

probably just a high-gravity day

Cheers! 

Or just make your own out of a couple of babybels held together with strawberry laces

*Top tip: you don't even have to wait until after your climb for a snack break if you pack snacks in your sports bra. Babybel and strawberry laces work well. 

Post of the day. Nice one.
 

( fixed that for you ) 

What do you mean when you say you were “gassed”?

Forearm burn/pump? Fingers opening? Arms too weak to pull? General tiredness and fatigue? Out of breath?

There are many ways to be exhausted, and therefore many things you can do to help improve on it.

Possibly just interpretation on my part, but I read that your training is bouldering and you ran out of steam on routes.

Bouldering is great for strength, but Les good for building stamina and also you don't develop energy management techniques like resting, recovery & efficiency for climbing longer routes.incorporating rope climbs into your training will potentially help your outdoor route endurance (& skills)

There’s infinite variety to the style of outdoor routes compared to indoor walls; types of rock and their characteristics for climbing, kinds of moves that are hard to replicate indoors, shapes of features you can use with hands or feet, and there’s way more variety on a single climb with the rock being continuous - it takes a while to get familiar with real rock of any given type and that (for me) was much more fun to do on easier routes before pushing things.

Indoor performance doesn't translate to the outdoors, and doesn't teach you all the techniques you need on real rock.

Personally I find 5a is a bit of a step up from 4c and requires a lot more technique.  When technique is lacking we tend to fall back on brute strength, which is exhausting. It's hardly surprising that you are wearing yourself out quickly.

I think you'd do better to follow your friends and do lots of different easier routes which you can get up. This will help build up strength and stamina. It will also improve your technique, because you will have to deal with more situations than if you keep throwing yourself at one route. You will then be better equipped to try a harder route.

There's only one of you in the world - if this is how it's working out for you, then I guess that makes it normal!

I don't think there's any merit in comparing yourself to anyone else. Even to yourself, really. In hindsight, I had a really negative relationship with climbing all the way through my twenties because of the pressure of expectation and the mismatch between my physical and mental skills. It took a few years away and discovering a couple of other hobbies to reset that and find joy in the climbing whatever that is and however well or poorly I'm doing it.

Do more climbing, do it because you enjoy it, and try not to ever get so wrapped up in worrying about your progression or comparing yourself to others that you lose sight of the fun.

Also, in some years time when you're smashing 7a, there'll still be easy routes you'll fall off of, 'pump' off of or back off of. It's infuriating...but it will happen.

I run out of steam on the sofa clutching the TV remote

Not kidding

This.