Training for the Vertically Challenged

As a vertically challenged climber, I get frustrated watching climbers with similar experience and passion for climbing climb grades higher because they are simply taller, often as little as 2 inches taller. I hate using my height as an excuse, but I want to climber higher grades and have plateaued in the V4-V5 range bouldering and 5.10d-5.11a range on ropes.

I should point out that I am 5' 4".

I have developed a passion for climbing and it has been changing my life for the better. I haven't had this type of passion for anything else until now.

Some more details about my climbing ability:
-Consistently flash 5.10d and the occasional 5.11a in the gym
-Have redpointed some routes in the 5.11b-d range, but not many
-Current lead climbing level is about 5.10c-d
-Bouldering level is stuck at V3-4, with the occasional sending of V5 problems

I'm looking for inspiration, success stories, and any tips/techniques/advice for the shorter than average climber.

If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask.

I've been reading Eric Horsts Conditioning for Climbers and will have his other book Training for Climbing soon. I hope to put together some type of training routine as a result of those, but I'm not sure where to focus my efforts.

Climb On!

-Brenton

Look up Lynn Hill and Ashima Shiraishi.

No excuses. I feel like I'm dying on 5.12. I've been climbing sport and trad for 5 years. I may never send 5.13. It's not other people's fault that I'm low on the totem pole. People that are terrified of leading sport, and can't pull up 5.11 watch me climb 11b and think I'm a God. I'm happy climbing a 10d overhang or roof with a jug ladder, just for the aesthetics and the movement. I've been suffering from swollen knuckles for awhile now, all because of hard 5.12 moves.

One of my climbing partners is about your same height I'd guess, about half a foot shorter than me. We climb about the same grades both in terms of bouldering & sport, and there's no doubt that he has to climb much more dynamically and powerfully than I do for a lot of climbs in order to make up for the height difference. I also think he has to do a lot more high feet and hand-foot matches in order to generate enough power to dyno to far-away holds.

My takeaway (with a grain of salt since this is just speculation based on watching someone else) is that you'll benefit from focusing on finger strength, power & dynamic movement, and that this will pay dividends both for your bouldering as well as sport climbing. Depending on what type of training you're interested in, I'd recommend focusing on hard/limit bouldering, and consider looking into hangboarding programs. The campus board is also a great tool for training power, though I'd be extremely cautious about using the campus board as a novice trainer.

My climbing partner is 6 inches taller than me (I'm 5'8", he's 6'2"), and I think he has a bigger ape index as well. We climb at about the same level. His height is a big advantage on some climbs, so I'll sometimes joke about "tall guy climbs" as an excuse when I can't climb something, but in the end it's no big deal. There's always a way for me to get up the climb if I work hard enough. As pointed above, if Ashima Shiraishi and Lynn Hill can climb 5.14+, then clearly height is not a requirement.

I'm 5'6" and have mostly embraced being shorter. Every once in a while there will be a route where a move is significantly harder because I can't reach a good hold from a stance, but there's also a lot of things that are easier because I can get into cramped positions and don't weigh very much. Things I've found helpful are getting really strong fingers from hangboarding and more lock off strength from lat pull downs and weighted pull ups to reach farther holds. Overall I tend to do better on crimpy techy things rather than thugy slopers and the like and I think this is pretty common among smaller climbers. I also find that climbing outside there are so many more options that height tends to be less of an issue, but ultimately I found that if I can't do a move the beta is almost always get stronger and not because of my height.

I am 5'0" and Lyn Hill personally told me - just climb!

Tall people reach, short people climb..

Watch your local gym's youth team practice.

• Many of them will be shorter than you
• Most of them will not be V15 (or even V10) climbers... many of them will be working the same V5 problems that you are.

I frequently project routes with the kids, it is fun! It is especially fun to show them up with "old man beta", since they tend to be pretty thuggish. And when they are eventually far stronger than you, they still say hello.

Brenton wrote:-Consistently flash 5.10d and the occasional 5.11a in the gym

Route setters usually set a route with specific moves in mind. Sometimes you can find other sequences around it, but usually a reachy move set by a tall setter in the gym will be very very difficult for a shorter climber. Luckily, this is less of a problem outside. Sometimes you will find reachy moves on a natural climb, but generally speaking you have a lot more options on real rock, and it becomes much easier to find alternative sequences. Don’t get too hang up on the grade you climb in the gym, unless your goal is to never climb outside.

I’m certainly not a tall climber, and sometimes I do complain about it. But I have never found a route or a problem outside that shut me down because I couldn’t reach a hold. But I’ve been shut down plenty of times because I’m weak, or because my endurance sucks.

As a short climber, you may need to climb more dynamically, you may need to utilize smaller holds (both for your hands and for your feet), and you may need to be creative with your sequence. So work on getting strong, work on expanding your repertoire of technique, work on dynamic movement, and work on utilizing little features that the taller climbers ignore (standing on a tiny edge 5 inches higher than a big ledge will effectively make you 5 inches taller). More than once I’ve discovered totally untouched holds on an otherwise chalked up classic route.

I would like to note that I also think that is a common place to plateau. I climb about the same level, though mostly outdoors. I can often cruise V3/V4 first go, but find a lot of V5s desperately hard.

I think for a lot of people this may be where specific training comes in, rather than just going climbing. Especially for those of us who started at adults, rather than kids or teenagers.

I highly recommend the Anderson Bros book.

Try hard and work on your feet. You'll have to use different feet than taller climbers.

My wife is 4'9" and climbs harder than me.

You're not actually short by climbing standards.

Tall climbers weigh more and rarely end up reaching the levels of the smaller ones.

Are these gym grades? It's hard to learn good footwork in a gym. Get outside and climb with good climbers.

This won't directly answer your question (other posts have good info), but be thankful climbing is your thing instead of most other sports, where being very short is much more of a disadvantage than in climbing (where being short is likely an overall benefit or at least neutral, although not for every move/route/problem).

To throw in my two cents as a shorter-than-average climber (at least as a guy, I suppose I'm close to exactly average if you add women):
I've always enjoyed trying long moves (long for me, not for a taller climber) by things like dynamic movement, lock offs, and high feet. Even things like standing on tip-toe and really working your ability to stretch can help you get the most of whatever height you have. Unless you're a victim of route setting that is almost intentionally set to be height-dependent, remember that being short should be the rare excuse for not being able to do something and not the default.

Get good at deadpointing and sticking your dynos.. But there can be a short person's advantage on mantles and stemmy routes in corners..

My experience, as a 5'6" climber is that in gyms I find many routes and boulder problems reachy, but outside I have almost never come across the same issue. There are almost always an intermediate hand or foot to make up the difference. If your issue is with gym climbs, just add a foot or something every now and then.

I'm about average height but run into situations where a partner can easily reach a hold that I can't. If I think the out of reach hold is big I'll throw to it but usually I just use crappy intermediate holds to get there. It cracks me up when partners complain that they are too tall for a move - 'I'm too bunched up!!' I do get aggravated when a bolt is out of reach from a great stance that was obviously intended to clip from.

pfwein wrote:To throw in my two cents as a shorter-than-average climber (at least as a guy, I suppose I'm close to exactly average if you add women): I've always enjoyed trying long moves (long for me, not for a taller climber) by things like dynamic movement, lock offs, and high feet. Even things like standing on tip-toe and really working your ability to stretch can help you get the most of whatever height you have. Unless you're a victim of route setting that is almost intentionally set to be height-dependent, remember that being short should be the rare excuse for not being able to do something and not the default.

As a short climber (5'4, negative ape index) I agree with a lot of what you wrote. Usually there are ways to get around a reachy move, but if you climb for long enough eventually you will find moves that aren't possible without the reach. There's a local climb that ascends a face that was quarried. This face has sections where the only features are little air bubbles in the rock that form tiny edges and pockets. If you can't reach the hold on an otherwise featureless face then you're screwed. That being said, 90+% of the time the move is still doable for short climbers, they just have to work harder for it.

The point is, you can still do it, you just have to get creative and work harder. Also, bring a stiffy long draw on sport routes as you may not always be able to reach the bolt to clip from a stance.

Also see Jonathan Siegrist...5'4" or 5'5" I believe, sending 5.15.

Early on, yes, being shorter sucks. I'm not short (5'10"), but I have a shit ape index (-4), so I often feel your pain. Sometimes you are just going to have to give more effort than some taller folks, and yes, that V5 may really be closer to V6 or something for you. Get dynamic, and get flexible! That's my issue, my mobility is shit and I'm really keying in on that.

But...in the end I think it's an advantage. At about mid 5.12 or so, the taller folks who are accustomed to reaching might start falling behind. As I've said elsewhere, all hard climbing eventually becomes dynamic and powerful. The sooner you learn those skills, the better off you are. Take a look at some of the world's best climbers: Not too many giants out there (for reasons already discussed).

aikibujin wrote: But I have never found a route or a problem outside that shut me down because I couldn’t reach a hold.

Have you done Film Noir?

@ OP- check out Carlo Traversi in addition to Lynn Hill, Robyn Rabatou, etc. Great strong climber on the short side.

Wow, I really hadn't expected such an awesome response in such a short period of time.

I totally agree on no excuses. I was going to mention that in my post, but I was doing that at work and kind of rushed through it. I don't want my height to be an excuse for not climbing higher grades and getting better.

Regrettably, I didn't get into climbing until my late 20's. Can't change that now so I want to make the best of my time climbing.

Most of my climbing has been in the gym so far. I've done a decent amount of outdoor bouldering, but get shut down often by problems at an area near me that is said to be sandbagged. However, I'm determined to send them.

I'd have to agree with most here that being short has just forced me to have to climb harder to do some of the same moves as others and I do tend to have to make those moves dynamically. Fortunately, I never had an interest in basketball or another truly tall person sport. I was a wrestler most of my pre-adult life.

Thank you everyone for the advice and inspiration to just go out and climb. Can't wait for spring to be here, although it will be awhile since Minnesota winters are so damn long.

Climb on!

Mark E Dixon wrote:Have you done Film Noir?

Oh I'm not saying there aren't reachy moves outside, reading your comment on that route I'm pretty sure I'll get shut down as well (I'm 5'7 with 0 ape index). All I'm saying is, more often than not I get shut down because I'm weak, and not because of my height.

Come to think of it, recently there was one route I couldn't climb because I couldn't reach a clip. so I guess I have been shut down by reach before.