Climbing equivalent of running a marathon?

Matt Lauwrote:

what sparked the question was I have a friend who had to drop out of the marathon due to an injury, and we want to work towards a climbing goal instead that would require a similar level of commitment/training. what we landed on was RA free or potentially something slightly harder but loving all of the discussion here!!!

This seems to be sort of key?

Body type likely plays heavily into the answers as well.

Two people could weigh 125, one is a climber and the other a marathon runner. Their physiology will likely be different. One could possibly climb V17 and the other run a Marathon in roughly 2 hours.

If you swap their roles, I doubt they’d be world class?

Hobbs Kessler placed 5th in the 1500 at the Olympics and climbs 14+. I know, an outlier, but still…

Frank Steinwrote:

Hobbs Kessler placed 5th in the 1500 at the Olympics and climbs 14+. I know, an outlier, but still…

1500m is more in line with climbing.

Marathon is totally different.

Li Huwrote:

1500m is more in line with climbing.

Marathon is totally different.

So you're saying if we started a thread titled "what is the climbing equivalent of a 1500m" it wouldn't be meaningless banter for 7 pages?

Nick Goldsmithwrote:

Out of the thousand or so climbers on any given weekend day at Rumny Wimea Wall is always mobbed with at least a dozen hard persons. ...... 

I'm not sure, lots of screaming and spraying not a whole lot of sending going on. Maybe Riviera.

A different angle: Marathon is an objective that non runners think of they think about what it means to have “made it” as a runner. It can be done very impressively, or be casually walked by anybody who wants to put together the logistics, grind a bit, and is semi fit.

Half dome seems similar. Everybody has heard of it. You can climb it as a relative beginner via snake dyke, or do a more “real” route like rnwf. 

Li Huwrote:

1500m is more in line with climbing.

Marathon is totally different.

How about FKT on the Nose?  Pretty equivalent to the FKT in the Marathon.  Totally different?  I guess it depends on what climbing is to you.  Many climbers aspire to do the Nose.  Many runners aspire to run a marathon.  Seems pretty equivalent to me. 

Amuses me the number of responses in this thread that focus on who can do both (climb and run) at a high level.  That isn't the question.  The question is equivalency.  If the question was "what is the chess equivalent of running  marathon?"  (probably speed blindfolded against 10 opponents pseudo simultaneously) would be have to hear all the anecdotes about people who can do both?  Its not about people - its about the act.

Alan Rubinwrote:

Nate, I, too, have been to many of the top sport areas---at least those that also offer 'moderate' options ( unlike, say Rifle and Rodellar) and my observations have been the opposite of yours. Perhaps this is because in such areas the harder routes often tend to be concentrated on different cliffs and sectors than the less difficult options, and you spend most of your time at the former, while I 'haunt' the latter!!!

This is precisely what is happening. It’s like hiking in to the Monastery or Dinosaur Rock, or the Madness Cave.  Nobody is there to climb 9’s. Everyone there is strong enough to project the routes there. The available routes are a bit of a filter for who goes, and it can get super crowded.

Now go to some more well rounded destinations, with 9-12 or 13 all mixed into the same area. Morning Glory wall, Indian Creek, or Shelf. Yes, people will be on almost every grade of climb there but the masses and the waiting will all be in the 9-low 11 range.