UKC

I started climbing because i wanted to get fit. I knew it was an intense sport, but i never knew how intense it was until i actually did it. Now as i keep climbing I'm only going to get better and move up the grades, and occasionally i have a crack at a V7 bouldering or 7a indoor climbing problem. I never get to the top - but its fun to try. But that's the point - I dont actually train to get onto these routes. Its past 7a where you're climbing beyond what the human body is naturally designed to do.
Ive met people already who've snapped tendons in both their hands, damaged their back, etc from climbing. Admittedly these risks ca be reduced, but still...

So that's my question - how far would you go? Would you just keep pushing yourself until you're climbing at grade 8 and above, despite the inherent danger to your body? Although Im happy to try, its not really a level i would want to maintain i dont think.

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:

I climb (indoor) up to about 6a and not even all 6as. This doesn't bother me all that much provided there is a good selection of easier routes to climb.

In reply to Neil Williams:

Agreed.
To the OP, enjoy each different route for its alternative style. Better still go and climb outside and find part of the fun is the view in the outdoors, and the feeling of getting above the usual structures. The feeling of airiness is a brilliant feeling. Certain moves give you a buzz, and they don't have to be hard. Using a different technique for the same move compared to friends. All these things add up.

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:

The chance of injury has no influence on how far I push myself. Motivation is the limiting factor for me, I think I've got some and then it disappears.

I don't know why you think 7a is some kind of threshold for safety or "what the body is designed to do". Naturally (i.e without training) we can hardly climb 6a, and with different degrees of training we can climb 6b, 7a, 8a, or 9a (although lots of limits come in of course).

In fact, I don't see why risk of injury would be a factor in how hard to push yourself at all. If you go to a climbing gym, you see plenty of people climbing hard - which wouldn't be the case if once you started climbing in the 7s suddenly all your tendons started snapping. Yes, if you do anything that requires physical training - or even physical activity - there's some chance of injury. But climbing's a hell of a lot lower risk than mountain biking, skiing, rugby, etc. It doesn't seem to me to be a valid reason not to aspire to the higher grades. 'Can't be arsed' is my reason, certainly nothing to do with risk.

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:

Like Jon said, it is more about motivation. Climbing harder isn't inherently more likely to cause injury if you have trained well and built up your strength over time. A 6b climber on a 6b is probably just as likely to tweak something as an 8b climber on an 8b, if they are having to try equally hard. Injury potential is more about the specif routes/problems you try, whether you train well or badly, how well you warm up, etc.

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:

It's not unique to climbing either. In any sport, once you start to train you increase the likelihood of injury but as Si dH says not getting injured is down to how you train.

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:

Designed to do? Really?

Ps. Push yourself until it stops being fun.

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:

I knew it! I'm not designed to climb 8a and presumably that's why I keep falling off them all. I just thought it was because I can't be arsed training and love drinking beer. Good to know its not my fault tho.

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:

Climbed both 7A and 7a+ indoors and out, both quite recently. Never snapped anything as I do the relevant stabilisation & prehab exercises + listen to feedback from my body. It's all about being sensible at these levels - can't speak for above and beyond!

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:

I think risk of injury doesn't have a very strong correlation with how high the grade is (this is a very scientific observation of course).

I do believe that there are several things which bring injuries across the board:

Not resting nearly enough and climbing often on consecutive days.
Not mixing up your climbing.
Poor technique with not enough weight on the feet and slips which overload fingers, shoulders etc.
Very static style with deep long lock offs leading to tendinitus.

I've seen climbers getting injured because of the above at both 6a and 7a and above.

In fact many top climbers claim they have never been injured - Magnus Mitbo, Alex Megos not until very recently, Adam Ondra nothing serious ever. However those folks have had good routines and habits inbuilt into their climbing from a very early age.

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:

And to answer the original question- I don't think there is a grade at which I'll stop pushing really. I just personally love the feeling of not knowing whether you can do something and the inspiration you get when you know you have to improve at something.

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:


So why did you pull this particular random number out of the air?

The human body is "naturally designed" to jog around the savannah hunting some things & running away from others. How much of your time do you spend doing that?

In reply to AlanLittle:

Come on folks, he is a keen 17 year old, give him a break (no pun intended).

In reply to Offwidth:

I noticed. And it'll do him no harm to learn to justify & defend his position in discussions.

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:

Hi Ben,

I guess, in your question you state the motivation for you climbing is to get fit, I would guess that to climb the harder grades you need a different motivation, and maybe to get fit the training rather than the climbing is more helpful? Or has it changed and now you want to get fit to improve your climbing?

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:

With any sports there is a risk of injury. The human body isn't 'designed' to cycle 200 miles, or leap 2 m into the air, or bash balls over a tennis court with repetitive movements of one arm either. The only thing we're really evolutionary 'designed' to excel at is long distance running.

Sure, if you climb in the very, very high grades, there's a decent risk of injury, but I very much doubt that 7a is the limit there. I watched an interview with one of the big names in climbing recently (and I cannot for the life of me remember whether it was Alex Megos, or Adam Ondra, or whoever), and he said that on account of having climbed for a long time, slowly progressed through the grades, and listened to his body, he never had any significant injury that put him out for more than a couple of days. And that's someone who climbs 9s.

So your claim that anything beyond 7a is bad for your body certainly sounds a bit random

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:
It's good that you're thinking about your body. Leo Houlding can apparently climb a 7a or above without a lot of effort after a break from climbing, while other very good climbers can need to take a more careful approach to avoid injury. I think the key thing is to take a gradual approach to listen to your body.

Rab Carrington who is in his 60's climbed an 8a fairly recently (in a yearly sense) after selling Rab and getting the time to climb all the time. It happened a few years after he sold the company.

Stevie Haston has some helpful things to say about training and staying injury free if you can take the time to browse through his blog, there's a lot of politics and life opinion on it too.

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:

>"So that's my question - how far would you go?"

Basically, if you do injure yourself you've made a mistake with your training.
I accept I make mistakes with my training and injury is a persistently present danger but the desire to climb as hard as I can means sometimes I push harder than my body can deal with.

I'm old, I only have a very limited time to improve, I need gamble.
You are young, you play it safe and still become strong with slow steady injury free progress.

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:


My body's designed to chicken out of anything above 5c and E2; or when the weather's a bit off; or when anything larger than a pebble falls within 2 miles of me; or when the vibes are bad.

In reply to Stuck On a Wall:

I Think if you throw away the grade and just climb at your absolute limit then it is a Fun,Exciting,Frustrating,Rage inducing Roller-coaster especially if its a climb that has never been done before.
Climbing is inherently dangerous even before you consider getting into training.
As for injuries, Genetics and age play a huge part BUT i would strongly encourage anyone who wishes a pain free climbing career to research and implement a simple training plan to try and avoid the usual stresses and strains, pulls and snaps.

Check out Dave Macleod's blog for input into Injuries and injury prevention-
http://davemacleod.blogspot.co.uk/