Breakdown
Climbers: Greg Berg 6’2”/+0, Natasha Chalmers 5’4”/+0, Cassie Sciortino 4’11”/+6
Wall Angle: 5° Slab
Holds: Rock Candy Mesas, Bluepill Fiber Impressions, Kilter Winter Kaiju Roof Sloper, Teknik Slippers
RIC: Risk 2, Intensity 2, Complexity 3
This boulder was designed to give climbers an introduction to directional holds in our beginner circuit. Complexity is the main aspect of this boulder as correct body positioning is crucial to make progress. The user is required to repeatedly shift their weight to gain traction against the ascending stack of underclings. Intensity is present because of the constant bicep engagement necessary to maintain tension against the climber’s feet. Risk is also a factor because although the footholds are large, they slope away from the climber. This encourages active foot placement with heels being dropped to prevent slippage.
Influence/Aesthetic:
This boulder is an extension of last week’s idea of playing around with clustering. Visually, I wanted the boulder to look uniform, with all of the holds facing the same direction. This helps to create a “wave” effect and the holds are stacked in descending order by type/company (4, Slippers, 3 Mesas, 2 Bluepill, 1 Kaiju). Clustering can often surprise climbers because the initial thought might be to skip holds, as opposed to using all of them. I think that this helps to put climbers into a more critical mindset when the boulder feels more complex than it appears.
Hold Selection:
The most important quality of the holds chosen for this boulder is their open-handed sloping nature. Although these holds are generally positive, it is hard for the climber to close their palm around them. This creates more forearm and shoulder engagement which helps to limit more broad sweeping movements when moving off of the holds. Additionally, if the climber shifts away from the sweet spot, the hold will get significantly worse. Combining this with directionality restricts the climber’s movement to a complimentary angle of the holds.
Greg’s Beta
Greg’s height makes it slightly easier for him to gain the two fiberglass holds from the first line of foot jibs. However, this puts his body in an extended position leaning rightward. He steps his right foot high to gain more traction against the undercling. In turn, this releases weight from his left foot allowing him to bring it upward and reach for the finish.
Natasha’s Beta
Natasha starts similar to Greg, but opts to step her right foot high once she gains the first fiberglass undercling. This keeps her body positioned leftward, but makes it difficult for her to straighten her knee to stand up once she is positioned on the second fiberglass undercling. She alleviates this constriction by flipping her left hand to press. This brings her torso upward and allows her to engage the undercling more, which aids in straightening her right leg bringing her to the finish.
Cassie’s Beta
Cassie’s approach looks most similar to Natasha’s with some slight variation. She is unable to gain control of the second fiberglass undercling without getting both of her feet to the start holds. To accomplish this, she matches the first fiberglass undercling and flips her left hand to press against the start hold. This removes some weight from her feet and allows her to bring her left foot up. She continues with a similar beta to Natasha and Greg to complete the boulder.
Final Thoughts
Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. How do skills improve? Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. While this boulder may appear to be 6 holds in the same direction, it offers depth through skill reinforcement. Underclings are a grip type that is utilized early and often in a climber’s career. It can come across as bizarre that a whole climb would feature this one grip in its entirety, but exposure is important. How do underclings change when the holds are sloping? The feet are small? The body is scrunched? All aspects of climbing have nuance and will likely never feel the same way twice. Repetition can aid in touching on multiple aspects of intricacy in a single experience.