Fall Early Season Tips & Tricks
Fall is just beginning. Like many climbers, the end of summer marks the start of outdoor climbing. Trading plastic for real rock, leaving the comfort of gym and its air conditioning. All the work you put in at the gym over the summer is about to pay off. So how do we make the most of our early season sessions, and prepare for a fall of sending?
Be patient, the conditions are going to get better and better. Use the early season to build confidence on real rock. After climbing on plastic all summer, transitioning to real rock can feel clunky. Repeat some classics or new to you climbs and have fun. As you build your volume in the early season, a good way to ramp up intensity and test your summer training is to revisit old projects.
Mini projects, while the conditions are getting better, they still might not feel the best. So, while you might be able to give 100% on your limit project, you can give 100% to something easier, but still hard for you. Mini projects are a great way to build your route pyramid and confidence, easing the mental load of a larger season or multi season project.
Maximize the conditions! Look for days and times with cooler, drier weather. Be flexible, the conditions might be better than summer, but still not optimal. A portable fan can be used to keep hands cool and dry. Liquid chalk can help keep hands dry.
Use the “not ideal” conditions, don’t wait for the best conditions. Think of it like training. Even if its just trying to hold positions or do single moves. Trying hard in “not great” conditions and putting the mileage in will build strength and confidence. Then, when the conditions are good, you should hopefully see a performance boost when the rock feels grippy.
Outside is not the gym. This one seems obvious at first glance, but a session outdoors can look drastically different than a session indoors. Indoor climbing is usually more about quantity over quality. We have dozens if not hundreds of climbs we can hop between. Outdoors the selection might be more limited, or we might have one specific goal. Which means we might be spending hours attempting just a few climbs.
Climbing is dangerous, it involves inherent and other risks and cannot be eliminated. The information presented here does not describe all of the risks associated with climbing and is not intended to replace or supersede expert instruction and training.
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