PHOTO: DAN LANE Smash into the next trad grade
MAKE THIS YEAR COUNT
Finding VS very tricky? Hard pushed to tick HVS? Nervously eyeing up extremes? Top trad climber James McHaffi e has ten ways you can smash out of your climbing comfort zone.
Write down routes you’d really like to climb in your life and make a plan to achieve them. Most people set their long-term goals too low: things that appear impossible at the beginning have the potential to feel doable at a later date. Goals without a plan are just wishes.
Second some harder climbs to get an idea of whether you could climb them. You’ll learn a lot through climbing with more experienced climbers: how they organise their racks, their pre-route rituals, route reading and coping strategies. If nothing else, it will make the climbs you currently do appear easier.
Try to consolidate at a grade before moving on. Some mates once set another friend a challenge called ‘The six steps to greatness’. It involved doing one climb at each grade before moving onto the next. He got to step two and broke his leg.
Leading a climb you’ve seconded is a good way to get rid of the jitters when broaching a new grade. Knowing the protection and moves is invaluable.
If you’re reasonably fi t and strong then just climb every day that you can. Trad is more confi dence and endurance based than sport climbing, so you don’t need to rest as much. Fingerboarding, campusing and core exercises aren’t great training for placing gear, fi nding rests and staying calm when facing a fall.
Some people look for gifts at the grade. Routes like Left Unconquerable, Cream, Crypt Trip and Seams the Same have good protection at the grade. If you start pushing into a grade with routes like Barbarian, Pincushion and Subterranean, well, best of luck.
Bold as brass but still getting shut down? Do some bouldering.
On big pitches, use longer extenders lower down to reduce the drag higher up. Also, if there’s the option, place a cam near a wire to reduce the drag on it and reduce the chance of it fl icking out.
Always try to place a few runners just before the crux, check the fallout zone and, if it’s clear, tell your partner you’re going for it. Concentrate on your breathing and the climbing. Belief that a good hold and bit of protection will appear is pretty handy. This is true on the majority of climbs. If the fallout zone isn’t clear it’s down to you; the more climbing you’ve been, doing the more evidence you’ll have to base a decision on.
Always reward yourself with a beer or wine at the end of a good day, but don’t expect to perform as well the next.
James has onsighted nearly 50 E7s, climbed the hardest sport route in Wales (The Big Bang, 9a) and the hardest sea cliff in Britain (Longhope Direct, Hoy). He’s a member of the new BMC Ambassador Team. www.jamesmchaffi
e.com
R Push it. Tom Livingstone pulling through the crux move on his fi rst E5 onsight: Minotaur (E5 6a), Huntsman's Leap, Pembroke.
26 | 70TH ANNIVERSARY | FOR BRITISH CLIMBING AND WALKING SINCE 1944
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