I’ve won the World Cup in speed climbing three times. And I’m going to tell you how to do the same.
Take it from me: speed climbing is a sport anyone can get into! You don’t need to be a professional athlete or have any experience with rock climbing.
In fact, all you need is a set of very basic skills and some motivation which we’ll get into later on. But first things first: let’s talk about how fast you can climb without falling off your wall or floor, and how much time and effort it takes to get there…
| Takeaways |
|---|
| Speed climbing is a time-based discipline of sport climbing. |
| Speed climbing requires athletes to climb a pre-set route on an artificial wall. |
| In competition, the athlete who completes the route in the shortest amount of time is the winner. |
| Speed climbing competitions are usually categorized by gender and age group. |
| Improving speed climbing skills requires focus on technique, strength, endurance, and regular practice. |
Beat The Clock
The next step is to set a goal and keep track of your progress. Try to do 10 pull-ups in one minute, or run 100 meters in less than 12 seconds.
Whatever you choose, make sure that it’s realistic and challenging enough for you to have fun with it but not too tough so as to discourage yourself from trying.
When you’re working on your speed climbing skills, make sure that you’re always measuring your performance. This will help keep the training exciting and motivate you throughout the process.
Keep track of things like total distance covered during a workout session (in miles per hour), average lap times (in seconds), highest heart rate reached during exercise (beats per minute) etc.
Simply keeping track of these numbers will give them meaning over time and an overall understanding of where they fall within the spectrum will also provide valuable feedback as well!
To become a speed climbing champion, you need to improve your climbing techniques and skills. Read our article on 10 tips for improving your speed climbing game to learn how to climb more efficiently and gain speed.
Get A Good Grip
Whether you’re a brand-new climber or have been on the wall for years, there’s no denying that grip strength is one of the most important factors in how fast you climb. You don’t need to be a bodybuilder to have a good grip you just need to practice it!
Use chalk—or something similar. Chalk is cheap and widely available at any climbing store (or your local hardware store). It will help keep your hands dry and give them some extra traction against the rock face.
However, remember that too much chalk can actually make it harder for you to hold onto things: use only as much as necessary.
Dry off after each climb session with a hand towel or washcloth so that your hands are dry before applying more chalk if necessary! Don’t forget this step!
Tips for Getting a Good Grip in Speed Climbing
| Technique | Description |
|---|---|
| Chalk | Use chalk, such as FrictionLabs Unicorn Dust or Black Diamond White Gold, to keep your hands dry and improve friction. |
| Finger Positioning | Use proper finger positioning, such as the open crimp grip for holds with a large edge and the closed crimp grip for holds with a small edge. |
| Muscle Engagement | Engage your upper and lower body muscles, such as your forearms, biceps, triceps, lats, quads, and glutes, to maintain a stable and balanced grip. |
| Smearing | Use smearing, such as with Evolv Shaman, to create a suction effect with the rubber soles on your climbing shoes and increase friction on the wall surface. |
| Grip Strengthening Exercises | Do grip strengthening exercises, such as hand grippers, hangboarding, and campus boarding, to increase finger strength and endurance. |
Use The Right Shoes
One of the most important things to remember when it comes to climbing shoes is that they should fit well, and you should be able to move your toes around freely.
If the shoe doesn’t fit, it will be uncomfortable and may even cause blisters or other injuries as you climb.
A good pair of climbing shoes should also have a good grip on the surface so that you can have greater control over your movements while climbing.
When looking at different brands of shoes, make sure that they are all available in wide widths if necessary!
It’s not uncommon for climbers with wider feet (or any type of foot condition) to find themselves having difficulty finding shoes that fit properly without causing discomfort or pain after wearing them for long periods of time and this can be frustrating enough as it is! You don’t want this happening during an important competition!
Wondering how to go from amateur to pro? Check out our guide on how to become a speed climbing champion to learn what it takes to succeed and achieve your goals.
Position Yourself To Succeed
To maximize your leverage, make sure that all of your body weight is on the hold and that you are positioned to grab it. Once there, don’t move until you’re ready.
It’s important to note that each piece of gear has its own unique characteristics and function in relation to other pieces of gear around it.
The most common mistake made by beginners is trying to use a smaller piece of gear when a larger one would be more suitable for the situation at hand.
In situations where this occurs, even if you can reach the smaller hold (and sometimes even if not), using it will result in either coming off or falling to another lower piece of gear and potentially taking an injury causing tumble down the wall (known as “taking a whipper”).
The best way for climbers to get better at route-reading is by practicing everyday for thousands upon thousands of hours over many years before ever setting foot outside their door into new environments with new challenges waiting around every corner!
Tips for Positioning Yourself to Succeed in Speed Climbing
| Technique | Description |
|---|---|
| Body Positioning | Position your body close to the wall and keep your center of gravity directly under the hold to maintain balance and stability. |
| Footwork | Place your feet accurately and precisely, such as with the Five Ten Quantum VCS, to maximize leverage, maintain control, and minimize fatigue. |
| Route Reading | Read the route before starting and plan your moves ahead of time, such as with the Black Diamond Circuit or BetaStick Evo, to minimize errors and optimize speed. |
| Climbing Speed | Find a comfortable and consistent climbing speed, such as with the La Sportiva Solution, that allows you to conserve energy and avoid unnecessary pauses or rests. |
| Breath Control | Control your breathing, such as with the Prana E.C.O. yoga mat, to regulate your heart rate and maintain focus during the climb. |
Improve Your Technique
To become a speed climber, you must first master the art of climbing. While this may seem like an obvious statement, there are some specific elements you will want to focus on as you practice your technique.
For example:
Practice climbing with a quick, efficient technique. This means that your arms should be moving quickly through each handhold and your feet should follow suit as well once they have been placed on their respective footholds.
Practice climbing with a relaxed and controlled technique. The idea here is that if you can maintain control over each hold regardless of how fast or slow it goes into your hand or foot placement then your chances at success increase exponentially when attempting more difficult routes later down the road!
Practice climbing with good grip strength (both hands and feet) so that if needed they could hold onto something securely during those crazy moves where everything else seems impossible except getting closer towards victory!
Secrets to becoming a speed climbing pro are all here. Discover what it takes to climb the wall in record time with our article on speed climbing secrets revealed.
Get Set Quickly
Before you even begin to climb, it’s important to get your body set in the right position. You’ll need to develop a strong grip on the wall and make sure that your stance is stable.
To do this:
Find a comfortable place for each hand where you can support yourself without slipping. The key here is not just finding any old grip; it’s finding one that works for you and makes sense for the route ahead—you want both hands holding on as securely as possible so that they don’t give out while climbing further up the wall.
Make sure one foot is solidly placed in front of another, with toes pointed outward at an angle of roughly 30 degrees apart (this mirrors how humans naturally walk).
This will keep you balanced and able to move quickly across difficult terrain like overhangs, which can be difficult if all of your weight is focused on only one leg at a time!
Remember: having both feet firmly planted will provide more support than trying constantly shifting around between them during ascent because there are no weak spots where you might slip off completely due to poor positioning.
Survive The Shake-Out
Now that you’re warmed up and ready to go, it’s time to begin speed climbing. Before you start your first run of the day, there are some key pieces of advice that will help keep you safe and improve your chances at success:
Focus on maintaining a smooth, controlled rhythm. Speed climbing is all about efficiency—the faster your movements are while still being safe, the better. When speed climbing, focus on each pull-down as if it were its own individual movement instead of part of a continuous sequence; this will help keep your technique consistent from one pull-down to another.
Don’t rush the shake-out! This is an area where many climbers fall short when trying to increase their speed.
As tempting as it might be for those who have perfected their technique already, rushing through this step puts both yourself and others around you at risk because it increases the likelihood that something could go wrong during this phase (and we don’t want any accidents on our hands).
Take extra care during this process so that everything goes smoothly when moving onto actual climbing routes later down in training sessions – take regular breaks throughout practice periods if necessary so they can catch up with anything else happening around them.
Proper training is crucial to breaking the speed climbing record. With our expert tips on breaking the speed climbing record, you can learn the techniques and strategies to push your limits and achieve your goals.
Climb The Route Blindfolded (Or At Least In The Dark)
Practice climbing in the dark. This is probably obvious, but you can sometimes see better in brighter light.
Practice climbing with your eyes closed. I know it’s hard to believe, but sometimes you will be able to climb faster if you close your eyes and leave them closed!
Practice climbing with your eyes closed and holding a blindfold over your face (the kind they used when they were testing if Daenerys Targaryen was descended from dragons).
Practice climbing with a blindfold over your face and covering your eyes with your hands (this way is much more fun than having just one hand on the wall).
Keep Your Feet Low
The next technique that you need to master is keeping your feet low. When climbing, it’s important to try and keep your center of gravity low so that you are able to move as quickly as possible through each section of the route.
If your feet are too high then it will take more energy for them to lift off the wall when moving from one hold to another.
Keeping your feet close to the wall means that they can be moved more quickly, which leaves less time for other climbers who may be waiting their turn on routes near yours.
The higher up a climber gets on a route, the slower they’ll move because there are fewer good handholds left that allow them enough leverage for moving upwards quickly (this is why speed climbers tend not use traditional shoes).
Are you new to speed climbing but interested in giving it a try? Check out our ultimate guide on speed climbing for beginners to learn the fundamentals of the sport and get started on your climbing journey.
Have A Sticky Sole
When you climb, you want to make sure that your feet are sticking to the wall. For this reason, it’s best to use a climbing shoe with a sticky sole rather than one with a smooth sole.
Sticky soles are made of different materials than smooth ones, giving them more grip on the wall and allowing you to get better traction while climbing.
You’ll also find that sticky soles come in both indoor and outdoor varieties; indoor climbing shoes have slightly softer rubber than their outdoor counterparts due to the fact that they’re used primarily indoors (where there’s not much dust or debris floating around).
In addition, many companies offer different versions of their products depending on whether you’re into bouldering or sport climbing!
Train Fast, Climb Fast
Train fast, climb fast. Speed training is all about simulating the climbing experience as closely as possible.
In other words, train in a way that’s similar to actual speed climbing competitions: stop every few feet while climbing and do drills that simulate specific movements like lunging for holds or swinging around them.
Don’t overdo it; train smart (and have fun!). The key to successful speed training is not to push yourself too hard—if you’re injured or tired out from your workout before getting started on your project, it’s not going to go anywhere!
Instead of spending 12 hours a day at the gym and needing surgery after just three weeks of training, follow these steps and make sure you’re having fun all along the way:
Improving Your Speed Is Simple
The first step to becoming a faster climber is understanding that speed climbing is not an innate talent; it’s something you can learn through practice. You will need to find the right technique and then practice, practice, practice!
Some of the most important things you can do while practicing include:
Practice on different routes. The more variety you have in your training, the better prepared you’ll be for competition day when everything counts on how well you’ve practiced beforehand. If possible, try to find routes with varying difficulty levels so that you can work on getting stronger too!
Practice with a partner. Speed climbing requires teamwork between partners because each person needs their own rope system (a rope for each person), which makes it tough for one person alone but easier when working together as two sets instead of just one set alone.
Conclusion
If you’re ready to up your speed game, don’t let us be the only ones who know! Let us know in the comments how you did with our tips and tricks. And to all the speed climbing champions out there: we salute you!
Further reading
If you want to learn more about competition climbing and how it works, check out these additional resources:
Mountain Hardwear’s Guide to Competition Climbing: This article explains the basics of competition climbing, from formats and rules to scoring and equipment.
2022 IFSC Rules: This official document outlines the rules and regulations governing international competition climbing events, including bouldering, lead, and speed.
How to Qualify for Sport Climbing Speed at Paris 2024: This article discusses the process for qualifying for the speed climbing event at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.
FAQs
What is speed climbing?
Speed climbing is a discipline of sport climbing that involves climbing a pre-set route on an artificial wall as quickly as possible.
How is speed climbing scored in competition?
In competition speed climbing, the athlete who completes the route in the shortest amount of time is the winner. Timing begins when the athlete’s foot touches the starting hold and stops when their hand touches the final hold at the top.
What equipment do I need for speed climbing?
For speed climbing, you will typically need climbing shoes, a harness, a chalk bag, and a helmet for outdoor climbing. Additionally, you may need a belay device and rope for outdoor climbing, but they are not needed for indoor speed climbing.
How do I improve my speed climbing skills?
To improve your speed climbing skills, you can focus on developing your technique, building strength and endurance, and practicing regularly on a standardized route.
What are some common mistakes to avoid in speed climbing?
Common mistakes in speed climbing include hesitation, incorrect foot placement, and poor body positioning. It’s important to train your mind to stay focused and remain calm under pressure to avoid making mistakes that can cost you time.
Welcome to my blog! I’m Hellen James, and I’m incredibly passionate about rock climbing, bouldering, ice climbing, and mountaineering. Join me as I embark on thrilling adventures, conquer vertical challenges, and share my experiences and insights with fellow outdoor enthusiasts.
