Stellar arete climbing above Lake Louise, Banff. Photo: T. Scales

Climbing is climbing, right?  Well, yes and no.  Technique-wise, whether you’re bouldering or lead climbing, you’ll find yourself pulling from the same bag of tricks.  That said, there are some important differences.  Boulder problems tend to be shorter and more power-oriented, whereas routes tend to be longer, endurance-oriented affairs.  I like to think of bouldering as “crux training” for routes.  If you find yourself regularly stymied by stopper-moves on hard routes, a healthy does of bouldering might be just what the doctor ordered.

However, more often than not, failure on hard routes is a function of endurance, not power.  You can do the individual moves; the challenge is linking them together!  The simple solution is to get more fitness.  Problem is, harvesting fitness takes time, and you’re looking to climb harder now, not later.  The good news is there are a few tricks that will help you make the most of what you’ve already got.

When faced with an endurance problem, the basic goal is to conserve energy.  This can be achieved in several ways.  First off, relax.  Save the “death grip” for those steep, four-move boulder problems.  On routes, you should be undergripping whenever possible, using an open-handed, cling grip.  Crimping not only fatigues the hands and forearms, it creates tension throughout the entire upper body.  Second, don’t forget to breathe.  This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how quickly controlled breathing goes out the window when the climbing gets pumpy.  Conscious breathing will lower your heart rate and more oxygen will make your muscles happy.  Third, find good rest stances.  A common mistake is to hit the brakes when things get cruxy, and then blow past the good rests.  Moving quickly from one rest stance to the next will ensure that you spend minimal time on bad holds, and provide you with valuable opportunities to regroup and devise a plan for the tricky moves above.  Finally, think outside the “static” box!  Contrary to conventional wisdom, static climbing is not necessarily better climbing.  In fact, static movement often requires more energy than quick, dynamic movement.  How many times have you strained endlessly to reach a hold when a simple “pop” would have sufficed?

These are just a few suggestions for saving energy on the sharp end.  Good luck out there!

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