The Question Climbers Should Ask Themselves to Avoid Plateaus

As time goes by, we need to evaluate our currency and relationship with our projects – and climbing in general – whether bouldering or sport climbing. Using one simple question, we can continue to progress and move past the common bottlenecks in grading.

---

Years ago I was working on what would turn out to be my longest-ever project, Swingline, the first 13d I’d ever tried, at a steep, pocketed crag called The Darkside in the Red River Gorge. I had spent parts of several seasons on it, never at the full expense of climbing other things, but as a weekend warrior, it had certainly taken up a lot of my time outside.

My fitness was at an all-time high. I was at the point that I could climb five times in a single session to the final hard move before falling, but I couldn’t break through. I had done all of the obvious links.

The only thing left to do was send. It just wasn’t happening.

I wasn’t being honest. I was telling myself a story. You’ve heard it. It goes like this:

I have gotten this close to doing this thing. Even though it’s been months since I last tried it, I’m actually stronger, so I’ll just pick up where I left off. More likely, I’ll just do it fast.

But that story is often false. We all know it. 

---

So I finally asked myself the question. And the answer to that question is what cut through the noise and this false story, and led me to realistically interrogate my current situation. 

I was definitely stronger than when I’d started on it. I was definitely better than when I’d started on it. I had let go of the pressure that it would be my first 13d and had already done another. But that wasn’t enough.

And I see this often. The strength numbers go up. You’ve climbed harder things. You know you’re better. But you still can’t do that thing.

But for me, getting honest with myself, I knew I was no longer current with Swingline. It had been a couple of seasons since I had lowpointed from below the first obvious rest. I was just banging my head against it, repeating the same thing over and over: warm up on a 12b, then twice on a nearby 13a, then 3-5 times up to the same big move to a funnel-shaped pocket that I’d touch and fall off. Over and over. 

What I needed to do was refresh and rebuild some parts of that relationship.

---

So I let go of the idea that I might get lucky, and over the course of a couple of sessions I moved my current lowpoint down to below the hard pocket sequence leading to the rest. When I only barely scraped through, I realized how hard the crux actually felt. It had been a long time since I explored beta there, believing I had found my way. But now, having asked myself the right question, it was a no brainer to have another look at my crux sequence.

I remembered watching a friend send the route in just a handful of tries a year or so earlier. He had used beta for the crux that I had quickly rejected, believing I was too short to replicate it. But while reevaluating, I figured it was worth another try. With the better strength and tension I had built in the gym, I was able to do the crux first try with this new method. It felt two V grades easier than the method I’d been using. 

I sent next try.

See, I’m a creature of habit. I love routine – to a fault. I suspect a lot of people who are systematically training to improve at climbing fall into the same camp. And I will run a routine all the way into the ground if I’m not careful. So something I’ve learned is that I have to constantly reevaluate in order to be sure my routine is still serving me and moving me toward whatever my goals are.

I have to regularly ask myself this important question:

Are you the same you?

Asking this question has allowed me to shift gears, commit to new things, and most important, get shit done. In business, in life, in climbing.

I often see climbers get stuck on a project or stuck believing they are supposed to go some direction that they just aren’t motivated on anymore. The seasons pass by and they are still there. Spinning their wheels. Over and over. Never asking:

Are you the same you? 

On Swingline, it was an entirely different me who had worked out the beta and done those links. The current me needed to do those things, too.

Because the fact is, we change. We grow. We atrophy. We improve and sometimes we get worse.

We are never the same person from one season to the next. And we have to be honest about all of it. 

---

My first book, The Hard Truth, is bookended by essays about my experience climbing Transworld Depravity, my first 14a. On the final cool day of a spring season, I battled through 50 feet of dripping wet 13a exit climbing only to fall at the final move to the clipping jug. For months, I wasn’t sure I would go back. If it had been dry, I would have done it. I knew it. Everyone at the crag, collectively groaning and shouting, “You were robbed!” knew it, too. 

But that wasn’t enough.

Had it just been another random route, I might have moved on. But my goal was to climb 14a by my 40th birthday – kind of a major goal for me – so I couldn’t just accept that I could have done it. I  had until October 5th  of that year, still a few months away.  After a summer of dedicated training, I decided to go back and finish the job. On the first cool days of the fall, I reacquainted myself with the route, expecting a quick send. A couple of days in, the opposite was happening. The wheels were coming off. I had yet to comfortably repeat the hardest crux move. I could do it, making the big lateral move off of a small right-hand edge out to a juggy sidepull, but my feet would cut every time, requiring energy I knew I wouldn’t have on a redpoint.

I didn’t understand. I had always been able to crush this move when coming off the dog.

As a clearly stronger climber, it should feel easier now. But it didn’t.

My 40th birthday came and went, and I just couldn’t make it through that move again. As I slumped on the rope after another unsuccessful attempt, I asked myself a question:

Are you the same you?

No, I absolutely was not. I had spent much of the summer training in our new space, The Engine Room, with that particular edge and move in mind, knowing that my ability to hold it would make all the difference. I could hang that edge one-handed now. So maybe I had overemphasized strength on that hold at the expense of good tension? No, I wasn’t seeing anything similar on any other moves. My ability to use tension was fine, if not even better than before.

Then, hanging there, I realized that I was giving the same percentage of effort to that move as I always had… but I didn’t need to now. I was essentially – after climbing the 12c intro into the first V8 crux into the short, steep 13a section – doing a one-arm pull up on this edge and pulling my feet off of the holds. I tried again, more relaxed, purposely letting my weight come down onto my feet, and they stayed put.

The following Sunday, three weeks past my deadline, I clipped the chains.

---

So next time you think you’ve hit a plateau, ask yourself… Well, actually, the first thing is to ask yourself if it’s actually a plateau. Some of you have been at one grade for three weeks and you think you’ve plateaued. Progression can take a long time, particularly as you near your upper limits, and if you’re only using grades as your gauge.

But after you’ve sorted that out, ask yourself:

Are you the same you?

Because your training, your tactics, your approach needs to be what works best for the current you – not the past you who made those decisions to begin with.

This video is adapted from my new book, Adapt: Lessons Learned Climbing 100 5.13’s.
Check it out if you’re interested in hearing the story of another big goal, the hurdles along the way, and what I learned from it.

---

EXPLORE FURTHER

You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:

Adapt: Lessons Learned Climbing 100 5.13’s

Climb Your Project Sooner | The Art of Execution

The Most Important Skill for Climbing 5.13

REMIX: FAILURE

SUPPORT + CONNECT

Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.

Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.

Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.

Find Power Company on Instagram and YouTube.

---