Surprising Ways To Optimize A Climbing Partnership
We - the collective we - talk a lot about climbing better. Without fail, one major component of climbing improvement is very often glossed over. Even though we all have the potential to master this skill – we just don’t discuss it’s importance.
It’s not more finger strength.
It’s not devastating power.
It’s not great technique.
It’s not intense effort.
Now don’t get me wrong. Those things are important, of course, but they aren’t glossed over. However…
There’s another thing that has the power to positively – or negatively – affect every single day of climbing for the rest of your life.
Let’s get into it.
Here’s the craziest part of it – the person who might understand the importance of this skill better than anyone else on earth isn’t even a climber. He’s a hockey player. The Great One: Wayne Gretzky.
On March 23rd, 1994, Wayne Gretzky scored his 802nd goal in the NHL to break Gordie Howe’s career goals scored record. The thing is, nearly five years earlier he had already taken the lead as the highest scoring NHL player of all time.
How does that work?
Well, the NHL gives points both for goals and for assists. And when Wayne Gretzky broke the goals record, he had already been the career assists leader for nearly eight years. The best at scoring goals and the best at helping other people score goals.
Can you imagine if climbing had a similar scoring system?
If we got points for a confidence inspiring spot or for giving up a potentially good working session on our project to belay a partner on a send of their season goal?
I think climbing would look pretty different.
The fact is, things like finger strength and power are incredibly important, but situationally can be rendered nearly useless. Partners are the same. Some are only good in certain conditions. But…
A great partner transcends style and specifics.
They — or you — are a performance asset every single time climbing together.
Now, If you have great partners, consider yourself lucky. I hear from a lot of climbers that I consult with and coach that the single biggest hurdle to meeting their goals is finding good partners. They can get finger strength and power in the gym, but that partner – someone to consistently provide the assist – is much harder to come by.
It should go without saying that if you expect to have great partners, it helps to first be a great partner yourself.
But what does that mean? How do you do it?
A good partner should be trustworthy, safe, have good communication skills, be dependable and flexible, and provide positive support. Maybe most important is that they are adaptable. We all have our checklist of things we look for.
We’re going to go over three often overlooked ways that focusing on partnership can actually improve your climbing performance, including a revelation that I find incredibly counterintuitive – a trap that many of the best partners fall into regularly, myself included.
I wanted to talk someone who’s worked with a wide ranging population of climbers and hear their thoughts as well. Enter Kyle O’Meara. Lifelong climber. High-level boulderer and sport climber who has also been a coach at The Climbing Academy - an alternative high school that spends semesters in amazing climbing areas around the world, teaching kids about life through climbing and travel.
I wanted to talk to Kyle — and students from The Climbing Academy, like Sylvie Cressman— because as part of their Core Values, TCA says:
They've “adopted a team approach” to “a sport that is perceived as an individual endeavor.” They claim that “being part of a team that is centered around a dynamic and challenging sport helps students understand the value of working together and of making sacrifices that serve the community as a whole.”
To be clear, I love this mission statement, but can it go hand in hand with better performance?
Full transparency here, when I pitched this idea to TCA, they were so confident that their mission makes better climbers as well as better partners that they decided to also support the making of this video and episode, and provided me with whatever I asked for without ever asking to know how I was painting them.
They really believe in this mission.
You can learn more about them, what they do, and how to apply at the link below.
And if you want to learn about three ways to get the most out of your climbing partnerships, check out the full video below.
EXPLORE FURTHER
You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:
Intentional Mentorship with Kyle O'Meara
Board Meetings | How to Climb and Train Effectively with Different Level Climbers
The Coach/Climber Dynamic with Taylor Reed and Bella Jariel
Being Good Climbing Partners with Scott Pagel and Tyler Algeo
Mentorship with Dru Mack and Lee Smith
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There’s one often overlooked thing that has the power to positively – or negatively – affect every single day of climbing for the rest of your life.