Climbing goals for 2026

Jason Millswrote:

Yep, that's primarily where I've developed. Who doesn't love a route that has four bolts, but needs a .3, 3, and a nut? :) 

Psychos, mixed is best. 

A couple of things come to mind

• Rebolt our 2 local test pieces here, they currently feature some potential ground falls. I talked with FA and we’d like to make them more enjoyable.
• Redpoint said routes
• Check out this potential new crag on Peter’s Hill that my friend scoped before he moved away.
• Do more anchor maintenance in Indian Creek. I paused for a bit to put up routes before the BENM plan was solidified.
• Redpoint swedin ringle - sent it on TR a few times but haven’t been able to get the lead done yet.

Cory Nwrote:

• Redpoint swedin ringle - sent it on TR a few times but haven’t been able to get the lead done yet.

One of my absolute favorites at the grade. Be sure to send someone up Three Strikes for a photo of your redpoint burn!

Or clip in to a piece, pretend to be doing a move, and have your belayer take you off to take a quick shot

Or option 3 go climb it tomorrow at 4:12pm and get the shadow photo of you on Sweden projected on three strikes. Everyone wins!

Rehab shoulder injury. Climb big routes in the mountains with good friends. Get my kids out climbing. Don't die. 

Jason Millswrote:

This thread is my accountability partner ...

I've been living in northwest "Where climbers go to die" Montana for the last 17 years ... my time here is (Finally?) coming to an end. With a projected departure date of mid-June, that leaves me four-ish months to send this thing ... not accounting for weather ...

I've developed around 60 routes in the last 10 years, this is the cherry on top: The last line I've developed here is the prettiest line I've ever scrubbed and also the hardest, somewhere in the 12+ range with sustained 11 climbing and multiple 12 sequences.

With "only" four months to do this, the deck is somewhat stacked against me: This is an hour and a half from my house, I work M-F, it's south-facing, I've only sent a handful of 12- routes ever, and, maybe the true crux, finding partners in the climbing desert that is NWMT is hard enough as at is, finding someone to belay me on a (currently) closed project not that close to the road is (understandably) even more daunting/selfish/annoying.

Throughout my climbing "career" my goals have primarily been trip-oriented (travel there, try that), this is the first real "performance" goal I've set for myself ... but, if I think too hard about it, there's probably a lot more to it than that. :)

The line: All bolts, it goes up the dihedral and stays left up the slabby face, 85 ft., name TBA. I spent a few snowy Saturdays in December scrubbing and bolting it and I've managed three TRS sessions thus far this year (apparently it doesn't snow or get that cold in the mountain west anymore); I can do all the moves, now I just need a selfless partner, a weather window, a day off work ... 

Sent it on my first lead burn ... the first week of March ... after not trying it for over a month ... and it didn't really feel that hard (Downgrade? The draws weren't even prehung ...) ... a little anti-climactic ... but mostly awesome. :)

Hold On, Cool Breeze

Moral of the story: Incredibly low expectations can yield incredibly surprising results. 

Not bad for an "old" dude.

Now what, 2026? :)

Jason Millswrote:

Sent it on my first lead burn ... the first week of March ... after not trying it for over a month ... and it didn't really feel that hard ... a little anti-climactic ... but mostly awesome. :)

Hold On, Cool Breeze

Moral of the story: Incredibly low expectations can yield incredibly surprising results. 

Not bad for an "old" dude.

Now what? :)

Since you shared the route on MP, you might appreciate the funny time i had accidentally  onsighting heartbreak on the hill with the rack for the 5.11b variation, no nuts, and no cams under my single 0.2 and doubles above that. Sportiest 11- i had done in a while before i realized i had done the 12-.

Since you shared the route on MP, you might appreciate the funny time i had accidentally  onsighting heartbreak on the hill with the rack for the 5.11b variation, no nuts, and no cams under my single 0.2 and doubles above that. Sportiest 11- i had done in a while before i realized i had done the 12-.

Bahahaha, I guess you looked at the old guide and not the MP page that I updated. You're not the first. :)

I believe you bagged the second ascent ... in pretty classy style when multiple .1s and nuts are (allegedly) required. 

And, oddly, sending that new one elevates Heartbreak to the top of my priority list. :)

Jason Millswrote:

Bahahaha, I guess you looked at the old guide and not the MP page that I updated. You're not the first. :)

I believe you bagged the second ascent ... in pretty classy style when multiple .1s and nuts are (allegedly) required. 

And, oddly, sending that new one elevates Heartbreak to the top of my priority list. :)

Woah, really!? Sweet. I would say if you don’t want to break things, 0.1s and nuts are needed. In fact, you could really sow it up. I definitely got over 30’ from pretty shit pro doing some real moves. 

Aaron Kolbwrote:

-get to 50 desert towers before summer. I'm at 39 now.

I finished this goal after climbing Sheep Rock (Virgin Wool) today, and the Infarction and the Muleshoe Canyon Tower last weekend. Probably done with all desert climbing until October.

Aaron Kolbwrote:

I finished this goal after climbing Sheep Rock (Virgin Wool) today, and the Infarction and the Muleshoe Canyon Tower last weekend. Probably done with all desert climbing until October.

Proper! Nicely done.

Hmmm, goals for 2026 spring, summer and fall season? Lets see;

I'd like to get back into good enough shape to be able to lead a .13 on gear again before my knuckles grow even larger and I literally can't anymore. 

Finish the "hard" slab route I've been working on putting up for 2 years before my feet give out. 

Find a solid weekday climbing partner in the Northern California/reno area for projects and general climbing. 

Break the sub 2 hour mark on a local 22-mile MTB ride called Ridin' High at the Ranch.

Take at least one big climbing trip. 

Visit 5 crags I haven't been too in California. 

Go check out The Wild Granites in NV.  

Today and tomorrow the weather sucks, but Tuesday looks great. Low 60s, sunny and low humidity (by Balcarce standards). So definitely get out on Tuesday. Maybe boulder alone, since my wife is working and the other climbers I know are focused on this really hard project: not my cup of tea.  I wanna try some stuff I haven't done yet this year (or for even longer), we'll see. Then Thursday looks great also, so I wanna get out on Thursday too. After that, we'll just have to wait and see. 

Tal Mwrote:

This year is likely to be a weird one for me, as I’m planning on moving halfway across the country before the year is over.

I originally had an ambitious goal of sending a board V10 before I move, but I can’t seem to reliably climb on the boards or really train without pretty significantly flaring up the arthritis in my fingers, so that’s probably the lowest priority of my goals.

So, really, I just have 2 fairly nebulous goals.

1. First, I’d like to keep adding new lines to Wonderland (getting my 200th FA there would be my stretch goal) and getting things in a good state for people to keep enjoying once I leave. This involves making sure there’s at least cairn trails to all of the main areas. I’d also like to put together a “development map” kind of detailing the potential lines I don’t get to, in order to give a head start to whoever decides to take up the torch in the future.
2. I’d like to get established in/involved in the new community. Ideally I’d like to just meet folks, get a feel for the local climbing, and try and help with route cleanup, trail work, and rebolting. Get involved in a new LCO, etc. 
3. Stretch goal 3 - cobble together a V2 of the guidebook to release, likely for free to anybody who currently has a copy of the guidebook, that includes all of the new routes (up to 250ish from 188 when the guidebook released in March). Likely will drop all of the bouldering stuff since it’s basically all on MP. Really, just want to create a new bingo board

My biggest goal for the year is just to find out how and where I want to fit in the climbing community. I’ve definitely struggled with identity in the sport a bit, and get a grasp on the person I want to be. It’s a super vague goal, but I’ve accepted I’m probably gonna be a part of this sport for the rest of my life, so I just want to approach it with some additional intention.

Boy, this is funny to read now.

Hit my 200th FA today (26th on the year), and am feeling pretty good about the state of Wonderland right now (in terms of infrastructure left behind). There's on more short trail connector to cairn/log highway out, but otherwise anything else is pretty "nice to have". I think we're up around 310 routes out there at the moment, but I'm debating on V2 of the guidebook or not. The increased traffic to the region over the last few months has popped quite a few examples of "bad behavior" (stolen hardware, messing with wildlife, trash left behind, etc.) and re-highlighting the region with another guidebook feels like maybe it's not the best idea if that's going to be the type of stewardship the area is going to have moving forwards.

My move is getting delayed due to getting denied from this round of grad-school application. Still aiming to be out there by end of year, though - but haven't started making moves that way yet.

My biggest goal though: woof. I'm feeling more lost than ever on where I fit in and honestly my just general ethics and path within climbing. I'm coming to accept there's going to be some level of permanent tension between my ideal vision of things and the reality, and I'm doing some research into some figures I respect in the world of environmental philosophy to see how they approached that. Folks like Aldo Leopold, Robin Wall Kimmerer, William Cronon, etc. If anybody has recommendations for other names to dig into, I'm all ears because this is wearing me down a lot more than I'd like to admit.

Matthew Hoffwrote:

2025 went really well, so I'm aiming a little higher this time.

- T Trip in the spring

- The Shield in the summer (DREAM ROUTE)

- maybe my first 12a? not quite sure if I'm psyched, but ill give er a rip

- ideally some A3+ by the end of the year

- hopefully a wall FA, I have a couple places in mind. 

Good luck yall!!!!!!!

Things seem to have been going well for me! I soloed my first wall (Swoop Gimp) and then decided on soloing Lost in America for my second El Cap route. Now that both of those are done I don't think I'm psyched on the shield anymore, and I'm definitely not super stoked on T trip. In terms of a wall FA, I think the closest I'm going to get is re-establishing something, so I think I'm gonna try the Swiss-American this fall. In the mean time, I'm gonna focus on free climbing, and hopefully climb my first 12!

YARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!

Tal Mwrote:

Boy, this is funny to read now.

Hit my 200th FA today (26th on the year), and am feeling pretty good about the state of Wonderland right now (in terms of infrastructure left behind). There's on more short trail connector to cairn/log highway out, but otherwise anything else is pretty "nice to have". I think we're up around 310 routes out there at the moment, but I'm debating on V2 of the guidebook or not. The increased traffic to the region over the last few months has popped quite a few examples of "bad behavior" (stolen hardware, messing with wildlife, trash left behind, etc.) and re-highlighting the region with another guidebook feels like maybe it's not the best idea if that's going to be the type of stewardship the area is going to have moving forwards.

My move is getting delayed due to getting denied from this round of grad-school application. Still aiming to be out there by end of year, though - but haven't started making moves that way yet.

My biggest goal though: woof. I'm feeling more lost than ever on where I fit in and honestly my just general ethics and path within climbing. I'm coming to accept there's going to be some level of permanent tension between my ideal vision of things and the reality, and I'm doing some research into some figures I respect in the world of environmental philosophy to see how they approached that. Folks like Aldo Leopold, Robin Wall Kimmerer, William Cronon, etc. If anybody has recommendations for other names to dig into, I'm all ears because this is wearing me down a lot more than I'd like to admit.

First, thanks for putting work in, and with thought to how others will use areas. There's more than just bolts (or cleaning, or whatever). Trails, where people will poop, trash, parking....all that glamorous stuff. So thanks, for caring about generally thankless stuff.

As to the how do I fit in, part?

That, simply, just....is. And it will change, sometimes seemingly arbitrarily, and changes happen with or without you.

That's what our lifetimes are made up of. Make plans, sure, but also enjoy whatever just plunks itself down in front of you, that day, that moment.

Environmental authors, Edward Abby would be on most lists. I'd add Terry Tempest Williams. Her book Refuge is sorta environmental stuff, but also going through personal shit, too. Oddly? Non environmental books, too. Steinbeck, maybe? It's been lots of years since I've read what it sounds like you are asking for, but hopefully these help.

Last?

Give yourself credit, and grace. 

You're asking, and trying. That, matters heaps, even if it isn't visible, obvious, or measurable. You will likely never know what you have meant to other people. Keep that in mind, too!

Best wishes, Helen

Climbing goals?

Climb. 

Didn't get to do hardly anything last season (rotator cuff). 

Just back from first climbing trip, City of Rocks, and pleased, no, very very pleased, that belaying is still there. Climbing....still there, but crap, sooooo out of shape.

Hoping the next trip to COR (2 weeks from tomorrow, yay!) goes better. Usually the acclimation is better, if nothing else. 4,000 feet has always been noticeable.

Current "project", is losing weight, getting A1c back down, and hoping I can hang on to some muscle mass. The deck is stacked against that, but ya just take what you get.

I do expect to at least keep trying, and, keep having fun!

Just did this, a few days ago:

So yeah, she got plans to keep climbing!

Helen

F r i t zwrote:

- One-arm 20mm (currently at -25lbs for 10sec)

Got this today, three seconds with right and four seconds with left.

In the past five months, I did some pulley-assisted one-arm work, but mostly just traditional weighted max hangs. After hitting 7x(7on53off) at +83lbs on a 10mm edge, I tried bodyweight on the 20mm again and was pleasantly surprised that I could hold it.

Old lady Hwrote:

I do expect to at least keep trying, and, keep having fun!

Just did this, a few days ago:

The Fairy Gotemother never ceases to amaze! That's badass. Glad you're having a good year. <3