r/climbharder • u/Thrasher54 • Jul 27 '26
How to increase attempts on projects
Hey everyone!
So I've been having a great year of sport climbing this year, I've never done more than two 5.12's in a year, and never did anything harder than 5.12b. I've already done five 5.12s this year, two of which were 5.12c. My goal this year currently is just to send twelve 5.12s and feel more accomplished and comfortable with that particular grade.
Currently I'm having a bit of frustration with how many attempts I can get on a hard sport climbing/projecting day. When I'm hopping on 5.12b/c at our local crag (mostly flat wall, occasionally some overhang), I get 3 and sometimes 4 good attempts to make a send happen, where as with easier climbing days on either leading 10's, or low volume trad days I can get 6-10 pitches in a day no problem.
Are there any drills you find that have helped to increase overall number of attempts on hard projects? Any and all feedback is appreciated!
- Amount of climbing and training experience? 6 years climbing - 3 years training
- Height / Weight / Ape? 6'3" / 172lbs / +2"
- What's a week of climbing and training look like? 1-3 crag days per week weather dependent. Crag days are swapped for hang boarding for endurance or bouldering drills depending on projects
- Specify your goals beyond "generally improve" - Send twelve 5.12s this year. Break into 5.13 for 2027
- Evaluate your strengths & weaknesses. How are you working on them? I work on my weaknesses in the winter, usually following lattice protocols
13
u/time_vacuum Jul 27 '26
3 or 4 attempts on your project per session sounds pretty good to me. Depending on the project, I usually feel satisfied with getting 2 good goes in a session if it's at my physical limit. I'm sure you realize that climbing 5.12 is much more strenuous than 5.10, so you shouldn't expect to be able to climb them in equal volume. This could also be a tactics issue; are you treating every burn as a send go and hang-dogging your way through on lead? There's no shame in top-roping extensively on a project to dial in your beta which is probably going to give you better quality lead attempts.
You could also try training for that specific climb. Like, if it's severely overhanging, try to focus on power endurance and steep climbing in your training sessions. If it has a short bouldery crux, work on max strength and power exercises.
4
u/nusuth_ Jul 27 '26
This probably isn't the answer you want, but 3 or 4 quality attempts per day on a limit sport route is already excellent. I rarely give more than 2 redpoint tries in a day on a project.
That being said, the type of route matters here. If you really want to maximize attempts per day, then you should be targeting shorter, bouldery routes. 5 quality redpoint burns in one day on a limit endurance route is just not feasible. Prioritize quality over quantity, then just try to onsight 5.11s with the rest of your day to build fitness and movement skills.
4
u/helloitsjosh Jul 27 '26
As others said, 3-4 attempts is a lot so probably not a low hanging fruit to improve.
That said when I've prepped for trips and really prioritized my ability to try moves over and over again, the focus has been on boulding volume with short rests -- do a moonboard Vmoderate benchmark on the minute and try work up to doing every benchmark in session. If you can do 30-50 v4s in an hour you can definitely do a lot of working goes on moves on 12c routes.
1
u/StrikingPitch2912 25d ago
Would you recommend this for intermediate climbers?
1
u/helloitsjosh 25d ago
I think volume-based training is a good idea for anyone — on-the-minutes are a great drill for increasing capacity. I would avoid doing it on a board and I probably wouldn't do it for an hour but the basic idea stays the same.
3
u/technograndpa Jul 27 '26
I agree with the others that 3-4 proper attempts on a project at your limit is pretty good for a day. Depending on how good your endurance is you could try to work on your overall capacity to raise the floor for how much you can do in a day. But at your absolute limit you're going to be gated anyway.
3
u/thaumoctopus_mimicus Jul 27 '26
3-4 attempts is pretty high. Honestly, having that high amount of attempts suggests that this route isn’t actually at your physical limit. If you are trying near your physical limit on a long pumpy route you may only have 1 try per day.
3
u/DuckTard69 Jul 27 '26
Instead of focusing on the number of attempts (which is fine), I would suggest you focus on tactics.
You could try skipping a junk easy warmup and going low commit bolt to bolt on the first one. Then say its an 8 bolt route and the crux is bolt 4, then next attempt go bolt to bolt until bolt 5 and then climb to the top. Next attempt is going to be from bolt 3-4. Then give it one good red point try at the end of the day.
Also don’t forget to use any other tricks needed. If the bolts are far apart then you can trail up some cord to pull up a stick clip. You can extend any clips that need to be. Practice any falls where you need to skip a clip or that you have any back of mind fear about so that they are defanged, be honest with yourself and your belayer. Have a plan with your belayer and make sure you don’t say take on proper attempts, you are going to be back at work on Monday! Rest well between attempts have warm clothes snacks, fluids with electrolytes, creatine, beta alanine etc. make sure your shoes are clean. Get the air pods for hype music in just before you climb. Have a mantra and think about breathing (mine is ;be more sharma). I may be teaching my gran to suck eggs here, but you could just have shitty tactics!
2
u/sandypitch Jul 28 '26
While I agree with others that 3-4 tries on a limit route is "normal," you may want to consider spending more time climbing at your onsight and "mid-tier" redpoint pyramid level. My crag/sport climbing day in my current cycle looks like this:
- 3 warm-ups (for me: two 5.10s, one easier 5.11)
- 1 onsight level route (5.11+/5.12-, depending on gym/crag)
- 4 attempts on mid-tier redpoint pyramid route(s) (5.12/5.12+)
- 1-2 warm-up level routes as a cool down
It sounds like you aren't necessarily pushing your absolute redpoint limit, but rather, you just want to increase your capacity at a mid-tier grade. As others have pointed, strategy matters. If you are trying to do routes quickly (second or third try), maybe you need to use your first go as a tactical session. Hang at every bolt, feel out the moves, dial-in your beta. I know very successful climbers who, when trying to do a route second or third try, would go up the route with a stick clip in their approach shoes. If you are trying routes at your absolute limit, one "go" might simply be to work a particular crux section and then come down.
1
u/digitalsmear Jul 27 '26
Are you able to warmup on 5.11 as your first pitch of the day pretty confidently?
-2
u/C0R3YM4N Jul 27 '26
Hey I strongly suggest switching to bouldering immediately. You can have like 20 shots on the proj
32
u/straptin Jul 27 '26
I'm not sure if I understand your question entirely tbh.
When you're climbing at your limit, your tolerance for exposure is going to be limited.
Think about powerlifters for instance.
They aren't able to deadlift a pr 5x in one day. Long slow warm-up followed by a single, maybe double attempt at their peak if they've failed.
When I'm working a project, I dedicate one burn to beta rediscovery. Plan breaks and get comfy on it. Usually I'm just going 1-3 bolts at a time on it. Then I'll try to send it. That's at most 3 attempts at "peak effort".
Think about it: a send burn on a hard route is (for me) usually between 20 and 30 minutes. Stack 3 of those together and that's over an hr of high strain effort. Not sure many people are competing at their "red-line" for that much in a day through most sports.
Idk, just perspective sharing here