2025 Climbing

I first stepped into a climbing gym in August of 2022.

I climbed my first outdoor boulder in December of 2023 and sent a V1+.

I finished up the 2024 year by continuing my outdoor bouldering journey and sent 77 total boulders (one V7, three V6's, six V5's, fifteen V4's, and the rest V3 and down).

With that being said, I've wrapped up my 1st year of outdoor bouldering. I've made unforgettable memories, felt some of the most extreme emotions ranging from sheer happiness to sadness to anger, and most importantly, improved my overall climbing ability and gained lots of experience.

I didn't have specific outdoor climbing goals in 2024; instead, my focus was geared towards improving in the gym.

This year I'm going all in on outdoor bouldering.

My goals (total # of sent boulders so I'm including previously sent boulders):

1. 10 V7's - currently at 2
2. 15 V6's - currently at 3
3. 25 V5's - currently at 6

The reason I'm not focusing on just the highest grade is because I don't want to tunnel vision on just climbing and projecting at my limit. Currently, V7 is very close to my limit and working towards a send takes multiple sessions. If I'm only focused on this, I think it'd seriously put a dent in my excitement and mental health. The other goals will allow me to have something to work towards other than limit projects and help me become a more well rounded climber.

Currently, the goals seem a bit lofty since my first V6 and V7 sends happened less than a month ago, but I think with a bit more strength and technique it'll be doable.

This brings me to how I will achieve my goals. First off, I'm adding another climbing day into the week. This one will be completely focused on technique and power endurance - I'm planning on repeating indoor climbs that I've done with minimal amount of rest. I'll be climbing around 20 V4's with 1 minute of rest and if I fail, I'll go down to V3's. I'll be forced to be more thoughtful and efficient with my technique otherwise I won't be able to complete the circuit.

Secondly, I'm going to train specifically for climbing. Most of 2024, I continued powerlifting, and this was more detrimental than helpful in climbing. I don't need to be able to squat, bench, deadlift the weights that I can (I think a base line strength is good for bouldering, but specifically training to increase these numbers isn't going to help all too much). The fatigue and muscle soreness in large muscle groups prevented me from climbing harder in the gym. I'm shifting this to be very climbing specific - finger, forearm, back related movements with moderate push and leg movements to round out the week. All of the movements I've prescribed myself can be directly translated onto the wall meaning I can visualize how my exercise can and will be used to help me climb. I hope to bring in some of my knowledge of powerlifting programming into my climbing training, and within a couple of months, I will see if the workload is too much or too little and make adjustments as needed.