I'm 6'2" as well, and wouldn't shave off an inch. Use it to your advantage, reach past the bumf if there's a better hold above. You're actually the first person I've heard call height a disadvantage, could it be possible that your limiting factor is training and technique, not stature?

Don't reach too far, and keep your arms/hands and feet in tight. Small movements, never stretching for a hold.

Tall persons will often have trouble with a bouldering gym "sit start", as they will often find their knees in there teeth when they are on the starting hand and footholds. Fortunately, you don't run into this outside where one should be climbing anyway.

So not true. If I only had a dollar everytime I've been stumped on a low start outside I'd have plenty for a few nights at the stripclub.

I'm 6'1" with a +3 ape and my partner is 5'6". We both try to challenge each other based on our own strengths, but it seems like every route/problem that I've ever done that he hasn't was just "because you're (meaning me) tall." Man, that irks me.

just remember, reno, as far as sequence being "f'ed up".... the sequence is all in your head.

learn to climb like a shorty- erase preconceptions and find what works for you.

How does a 6ft, 4.5 ape index overcome the long arm lever problem, other than climbing with my elbows tucked in which is really awkward.

there are a lot more things that are prohibitive for short climbers than for long climbers.

Spoken like a true short climber.

I think I'd be ok with this if it wasn't for the fact that I think you guys are making excuses for yourself at the expense of devaluing our sends.

pssht, no. only making excuses for why i will never try certain routes again. (ever.)

that's the spirit!

if normal routes turned into R routes because you couldnt clip the bolt till *after* you'd done the crux, you wouldnt do them more than once either.

hmm if it's a safety issue that's one thing, I'll give you that one. But at least for the short people I've climbed with, that's not a factor.

do you sport climb? cause, honestly, clipping a bolt mid-crux is more often a shortie problem for me than the actual moves. flexibility will make up for much to all of height deficiency, but theres not a whole lot you can do about bolt placement on an onsight.

do you sport climb? cause, honestly, clipping a bolt mid-crux is more often a shortie problem for me than the actual moves. flexibility will make up for much to all of height deficiency, but theres not a whole lot you can do about bolt placement on an onsight.

The Tall Persons Anthology

Well I'm 6'3" and I think all 6'+ people should get to have there own category for everything!

Most sports have an advantageous body type. In basketball it's an advantage to be tall. But don't tell that to Spud Webb. He's 5'6" and didn't get the memo on that, and he kicked butt in the NBA. So as with all generalizations, it's good to understand their effect, but foolish for them to become an excuse, for it to define you or limit you.

With height comes additional reach, but usually at the expense of increased weight. So height can be more of an advantage on slabby climbs where you can reach farther than someone who is shorter. That is because all of that additional weight that you have over the short person can be kept over your feet. But as the wall gets steeper, and goes to overhanging, most of that additional weight becomes a disadvantage over a smaller/lighter person as the weight applied much more by the arms.

I find that many slabby climbs feel about one grade easier to me than others. So certain types of climbs can favor one body type over another, but I don't think it really handicaps anyone more than one grade, in general.

Beyond slabs, strength to weight ratio is the biggest physical factor. It's much easier to climb an overhang if you are 110 pounds vs. 190 pounds. Your arms need to be that much stronger without other types of compensation. Short people (and even tall people) can often be heard saying, "Oh, I wish I could reach one more inch to that hold".

But if given the offer, "I will give you one more inch, but you have to carry a 5 pound weight to carry on the rest of the climb," you usually realize that it's not worth the tradeoff. Wouldn't you like to see that 5'0" climber try to carry an 80 pound backpack up an overhang? Yes, their grade level would drop.

If you remember the DaVinci drawing of Man



Within the box, his wingspan equals his height (thus it's a square). This is the average proportion for adults. Some are lucky to have a wing span that is 1 or 2 inches longer than their height. They are jokingly referred to as having a +1 or +2 Ape Index.

The reality is that long arms and short legs (like a chimp) is an advantageous morphology to have for most aspects of climbing. But by the time you get to the size of a Gorilla, even with long arms, that extra weight is too much of a hindrance for climbing.

As and aside, the tennis player Pete Sampras looks like he has the longest arms. He looks like he could touch his kneecaps while standing up straight. He would probably do well in climbing.

So short person beta will rarely work for a tall person. Tall persons will often have trouble with a bouldering gym "sit start", as they will often find their knees in there teeth when they are on the starting hand and footholds. Fortunately, you don't run into this outside where one should be climbing anyway.

But pulling roofs always pose the most dramatic differences for people of different heights. Especially when "set" in the gym, a tall person will often find that the first handhold over a roof is too close to the lip of the roof, and that they can't get their foot onto the lip of the roof without having their knees in their teeth at the same time. And if it's bunched up for a short person, then it can often be physically impossible for you to do the same. The solution is to simply reach for a higher handhold before pulling the feet around to the lip of the roof. The other option is to use a foothold (if it exists) that is just under the lip.

If a short guy set the route, the first handhold over the roof will be too low for you, and the next highest handhold will be well out of reach because they anticipated the next move as the climber standing high after the lip. A good setter would also provide a foothold just under the lip for the tall guy, but it rarely happens.

Fortunately, outside, mother nature doesn't discriminate the same way, so there is almost always alternatives to use. But occasionally they’re roofs or moves that leave no other options for different body types. But it's so much less common.

I've also found that outdoor routes that short people tend to like, don't bode as well for me. And vice-versa. When certain moves just seem to line up for your body type, you will tend to like the route. Beware short people routes! When frustrated I have said that routes should be given a tall and short person rating.

Of course it is a joke, because even grades alone should not be a limit on what you believe you can do. They can protect you when you need to know a difficulty range where a fall could be dangerous, but on sport routes, it just gives you unnecessary pre-conceptions.

But the bottom line is that all these things can be compensated with technique and strength training and proper head space. Will it limit you if you climb Trad? Probably not at all. Will it limit you if you climb sport? There is a chance you may never be able to climb 5.14. (I wonder what the tallest/heaviest person to climb 5.14 is?) So you may have to live with 5.13s. Though I’m not sure I would limit myself to that either.