Sport Climbing: From Top Rope to Redpoint

I love climbing, in all it’s varieties: Sport, Trad, Ice, Bouldering, Aid. It’s all fun, and you can learn valuable things from each. I always laugh when I see people calling themselves “Trad” or “Sport” climbers, haven’t they gotten it yet? It’s all climbing, it’s all great. That being said, I learned to climb on gear, and while I enjoy sport climbing, I’ve put most of my time and energy into naturally protected routes. However, the strongest climbers I hang out with all got honed on bolted climbs, and in order to get strong for some trad goals, I’ve been wanting to get on a steady sport climbing diet. So it was with great interest that I read Andrew Bisharat’s new book, Sport Climbing: From Top Rope to Redpoint, Techniques for Climbing Success or SCFTPTPTFCS as we shall call it from here on out. Having just finished, I have to say it is well worth picking up, especially if like me you’ve never fully embraced all that sport climbing has to offer.

SCFTPTPTFCS unfolds in a logical progression, from a detailed history of sport climbing, through movement and gear, and then on to more advanced techniques. I could go on and on about the many things I liked, but instead I’ll share a few of the snippets that really stood out to me.

Technique

The chapter devoted to technique covered the basics, but also offered a few gems that I had never really thought of before, at least on a conscious level. One, “balance first, move second” talks about putting yourself in balance before reaching that next hold. Seems pretty basic, but as a tall climber, it’s usually easier to focus on just reaching the next hold instead of worrying about balance. And along those same lines, while I thought I was doing a decent job of using my feet, I’ve never really thought about “initiating any upward movement with your lower limbs.” I tested this out in the gym last week, pushing with my feet before engaging my upper body, and the difference was noticeable. Perhaps this is the missing link to sending those pesky injuries packing by placing less stress on my finger joints!

Belaying

“Aside from knowing how to safely operate the belay devices, giving a soft catch is the most important, and least understood, aspect of great belaying.” Preach on brother. I remember a day at the Minimum Crag in Maple Canyon where we watched this climber repeatedly taking bone-jarring whippers on one of the classic steep routes there. His belayer kept him so tight, what should have been casual lobs into space instead were candidates for a broken ankle each time he pitched. It was almost unbearable to watch, when all the belayer had to do was jump at the right moment and give a soft catch. Everyone who ever belays anyone should read this section and put the advice into practice.

Strategy

Many climbers want to be better at onsighting, but they simply try to just onsight harder routes. Bisharat states that in order to boost your onsight level, try to redpoint four routes that are four letter grades harder.  So if you want to comfortably onsight 11a, redpoint four 12as. After all that work in the harder grades, when you go to onsight 11a, it will feel significantly easier. And the reverse is true for redpointing, he states you should be working on routes four letter grades harder than your hardest onsight. So if you can onsight 12a, you should be working on redpointing 13a.

There’s a lot more packed in the pages of SCFTPTPTFCS, and Andrew has created an invaluable resource for the climbing community. Those new to the sport, or sport climbing in general, will undoubtedly gain much from the knowledge within, and my guess is the veteran bolt clipper will find some gems as well. (I’ll be testing this theory on my strong Italian sport climbing friend and report back.) Kudos to Andrew on a job well done!