Send day is upon us!
You did it. You have cleared your schedule for the weekend. The weather is perfect and your climbing partner is stoked. You have imagined these for days or even weeks. You have trained for this occasion. Day, or even weekend trip to your favorite crag. Emotions ride high because there are so many climbs at your disposal. Let’s make it count. For most of us, there are only so many opportunities in a calendar year to get quality climbing days outside. It is important to make every single one count. Not only for climbing performance sake but also for our enjoyment. We do it for fun, remember? We have prepared these tips and hacks for improving climbing performance at the crag.
Difference Between Climbing at the Crag vs. Climbing at the Gym
For those of us who do not dabble in climbing competitions or adopt the dirtbag lifestyle, climbing at the crag is our performance. This is our competition with ourselves. So we want to treat it like one. You want to come there with the game plan and the tools to execute it. For many of us, crag days are few and far between and we want to make the most of them. So take a good look at our tips and employ them for your next outdoor climbing day and see how it goes. After all, you can go to your local climbing gym almost every day. Even if one of those is not very successful or even if you call it a disaster – you can be back there tomorrow. I wish I could say the same for the day at the crag.
Nutrition Strategies at the Crag
Pre-Climb Fueling
Food is our fuel. You would not put the inappropriate type of gasoline in your vehicle that is supposed to take you to your climbing destination, would you? Imagine a disaster if you would put diesel in a gas engine or vice versa. So no alcohol and an all-you-can-eat Mexican buffet the night before. And no experimenting with breakfast either. Find what works for you and stick to it. Remember the goal for the day.
I usually stick with my old faithful breakfast: coffee, 3 eggs, dark bread, and pickles. Keeps me energized through my approach and warm-ups. Bonus: you can make it almost anywhere even if you are sleeping in an Airbnb, car camping, or at a hotel.
On-the-Crag Snacks
Climbing is a very energy-expandable sport. Not only physically demanding of our bodies but also mentally. We tend to burn a lot of calories with our big brains when we have to make many small decisions during each pitch. Even more so when we are terrified for our lives one foot above the last bolt. In general, we will also burn calories by being outside and trying to keep our body warm/cold.
Do not let your perfect climbing day outside be ruined by stomach aches or a severe lack of energy. Running out of gas by the time that you were supposed to give your best try to your dream route for the day can be demoralizing. It can happen so fast. So keep quite a lot of snacks in your pack or even better bring a plastic bowl with a pre-made meal with you.
Some of my go-to snack options are:
- fruit (bananas, apples,…)
- chocolate bars
- hard biscuits
- sour candy
- pastry
- pre-made meals (stir fries, leftover pasta, rice with vegetables)
- nuts and dried fruit
As a general rule of thumb I like to eat small amount during the whole climbing day and have my bigger meal at the end as soon as I am done climbing. A small snack after every pitch should keep you fueled for a whole day of good climbing. On colder days eat slightly more food.
Fluids
The human body can go quite long (if necessary) without food.
But without hydration, it shuts down quite fast. And we do not want to be hampered by situations that are so easily avoidable.
Bring enough fluids. Water works OK, but water with electrolytes works better. You do not have to buy specialized sports drinks if you do not like the taste. Take 2 water bottles and in one of them squeeze the juice of one lemon, add a spoon of honey and a few grams of salt.
On cold winter climbing days, I like to switch one water bottle with a thermos of herbal tea. I keeps me warm and hydrated.
The same general rule that I use for food applies to fluids. I like to take a few generous sips after every pitch. Pay special attention to fluid intake on colder days. We tend to not feel thirst at the same level as on hot days.
Coffee? Yes, please. If you drink it every day do not deprive your body of its high. But be careful caffeine can cause sweaty hands and can elevate your heart rate if you go overboard. Test it and find out what works for you.
Effective Warm-Up Routine
We want to treat our outside climbing days as performance days. So act accordingly. A good, thorough warm-up is necessary to get the best climbing out of oneself. It should roughly have three stages:
General Cardiovascular Warm-up:
- If the approach was longer than 5 minutes and even slightly uphill you have this covered. You brought in the weight of your backpack and rope so you should feel nice and warm.
- In the case of climbing at the “drive-in crag” with a short or even downhill approach be active. Do some light jogging, jump rope and get your heart rate up and blood flowing.
Dynamic Stretching and Joint Mobility
- I like to dedicate 5 minutes to arm circles, shoulder shrugs, hip circles, and general dynamic stretches for all major muscle groups.
Climbing-Specific Warm-up
- Start your climbing activity with easy pitches. A route well below your OS limit and then 2 more that are progresively harder will do the trick.
- Do some specific finger warm-up if your project has bad holds. You can do this by traversing on some bad crimps or some hangs on portable hangboard.
Projecting and Sending Tips
Route Analysis before climbing
The first part of route analysis can and should be done at home. After you have established with your climbing partners where you will be climbing on the weekend it is time to do some research. Form many popular areas there can be found an abundance of information about the routes. If you have a general grade for your future project in mind, start “project shopping” in advance.
On sites like 8a.nu, theCrag or mountainpoject.com can one find comments about route quality, length, hold types, and even some beta. If you are lucky you can find your future project video on YouTube. But do not log it as an onsight after you watched 15 videos of different people climbing it). Make a list of routes that you think are suitable for you to try at flash level and even a few grades harder. There might just be a perfect route for you to try at the crag on the weekend.
After and in between your warm up routes locate the routes from your list at the sector where you are. Look at them from different angles and try to find the one you want to try. After you have decided look at the route some more. Identify potential crux locations, different clipping positions, and rest stances…. Try to draw a good mental map of the route and then prepare yourself to change it after the first try.
Route Analysis after an unsuccessful attempt
When you get to the ground and catch your breath asses the attempt. Did you give it your best try? Were you afraid at certain sections? What caused you to fall or take. How was your beta? Ask your belayer or bystanders what they think happened. Try to learn from each of your tries. Even the information about what did not work can be crucial for next attempt.
End of the climbing day
You had a great day at the crag.
If you climbed your intended routes no one can convince you otherwise. But even if you didn’t, you have learned a lot about the routes, yourself and your climbing.
Maybe you cheered your climbing partner to their success and got some cool pictures for your social media.
But the day is not finished. Now is the time for you to take a stroll around the crag and check some more routes.
Look at routes at your current project or onsight grade and even a few grades harder.
Stop and look at other climbers climbing on them and try to learn from them.
You will be back at this climbing area and you want to take home as much quality information for future climbing days as you can.
Additional Small hacks and tips for improving climbing performance
Here are some small tips and tricks for those marginal improvements for every try that might make all the difference:
- Keep your climbing shoes clean. Try not to step in mud and sand or at least clean them before stepping on footholds (a small towel does the trick).
- Talk with your belayer before and after every try. Ask him to encourage you on hard sections or to shout you some beta, when you are pumped out of your mind. If you like to climb in complete silence ask not to talk to you.
- Mark hand and foothold on your project with chalk. Do not forget to brush the holds after every attempt to maximize the friction. After you have climbed the route or you are done for the day clean all the tickmarks and brush the holds for the next climber.
Conclusion:
We treat our outdoor climbing days as special days that they are. Make them count. Do your do diligence before and after arrival.
Remember our tips for improving climbing performance :
- Plan ahead: route selection, weather forecast, video analysis.
- Do a proper warmup.
- Eat and drink like an adult.
- Make all the small steps necessary to maximize your chances of success.
- And yes, do enjoy every single one of those pitches no matter the success.
Share your tips with us!
I would very much like to read your crag tips and tricks if you would be kind enough to share them with me in the comments. Let us learn together.