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friktion
Aug 11, 2004, 3:18 PM
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Before you flame I did search, I was just unable to get the kind of info I was looking for. Anyway, I have a good friend of mine who has expressed interest in learning to climb/ train with me. I wanted to find out if anyone could tell me if he will have a hard time climbing being that he's 6'6". I know that his reach will help him in certain areas, but I worry that he may get frustrated on harder routes when the holds shrink. He has massive hands and feet. Anyone have any feedback or experience with this? I just want to make sure he knows whats he's in for before he commits to buying all the swag.
TIA
Friktion
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granite_grrl
Aug 11, 2004, 3:24 PM
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There are advantages and disadvantages to being tall or short. My friend I boulder most with is 4"/5" shorter than me, and I have a long reach in the first place. She complains that I can do reachy stuff easy, I complain when she gets her fingers into a small pocket and when her ass doesn't scrape the ground on a low traverse.
Take him out, he'll have problems with some stuff, and find other stuff easier.
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overlord
Aug 11, 2004, 3:34 PM
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in most cases its better to be a bit higher.
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dutyje
Aug 11, 2004, 3:42 PM
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I have found that tall climbers tend to be better climbers, because good holds come into reach in fewer moves. However, with that said, I have seen moves that, for tall climbers, are much more difficult.
As far as hand size, I have seen where the size of someone's fingers would allow one less digit to fit in a pocket. But again, when they're working on bigger holds, they cover a better area.
So there you have it. Your partner's size probably won't present any problems per se, but it might be hard for you to get good beta off each other.
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michaelmay513
Aug 11, 2004, 3:50 PM
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I'm 6'6" and I climb in the upper levels and have had problems, but if I want it bad enough I will overcome the challange. Don't discourage your friend because of his height. Tell him he can do anything if he wants to bad enough.
Mike
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thun
Aug 11, 2004, 4:04 PM
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I met a couple who had been climbing together for years; he was taller than she. They made an interesting comment to me about height: that she had learned to climb on thin holds much better than he had since he was so used to skipping smaller holds to go for big ones. On easier routes, he had the advantage due to his ability to jug haul it the whole way, but when it came to harder routes (at least in terms of crimpy faces), she would do much better.
So basically, a taller person will be able to reach that jug better, but they'll have a harder time learning small holds (and using them with his larger hands). It really all depends on the route. I've seen smaller people turn my finger and a half pocket into a three finger jug, but I'll also be able to outreach them on other critical moves on the same route.
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onemistakebigpancake
Aug 11, 2004, 4:05 PM
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In the gym, it seems tall is better, there are more contrived moves that may need the reach... outside, I can use smaller holds/features that my taller partners don't see or want to use. Taller people (assuming they have bigger hands) seem to get a better grip around slopers...and shorter (assuming they have smaller hands) can use smaller holds more positively. Taller people have a "harder" time squishing into constrictions outside, shorter people have a harder time with off-widths. These are all generalizations. I think it depends more on your "style". It's a give an take.
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anykineclimb
Aug 11, 2004, 4:14 PM
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One of the best things about climbing, especially bouldering, is doing things "your way"
Its part of the challenge of working with your body to solve a problem.
Let him at it and let him decide how he likes it.
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victoriaclimber
Aug 11, 2004, 4:34 PM
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I'm a fairly tall person (6'2") and the only problem I've encountered has been sit-starts on boulder problems. I also have problems with low traverses. But as far as routes go, I think being tall has only been an advanteg, especially for stemming and reaching high start holds, etc.
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sarcat
Aug 11, 2004, 5:18 PM
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My brother in law that taught me to climb is 6'5". he is very good and the height issue always seem to make things easier for him than me (but most likely it's that I'm more horizontally challenged than he).
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crazyfingers
Aug 11, 2004, 5:22 PM
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I'm 6' 7", helps on reachy routes, hurts when hands and feet get close together/sit starts. Flexibility is going to be key for your friend. Stretch muchos...
KT
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b_fost
Aug 11, 2004, 5:22 PM
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I'm 6'1" or so, and I have an easier time on route than my shorter friends. they have an easier time than me on bouldering problems though. it evens out.
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verticallaw
Aug 11, 2004, 5:26 PM
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For me the disadvantage has been body posture / positioning , I am tall and I find that my short (vertically challanged) friends can get their body closer to the wall and at the same time are pulling way less body weight. I may be able to reach longer moves but some of the contorted body positions in the upper numbers just don't work for me. Now if I was only about 25 lbs lighter and had the flexibility of a 15 year old little girl gymnist I would not have those problems but other than a sex change, starvation diet or eating disorder as well as some drastic time reversal thing for the age I will just have to make do with what I got.
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boadman
Aug 11, 2004, 5:46 PM
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Lyn Hill is 5'1"
Dean Potter is 6'3 or 6'4"?
Neither of them suck.
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climbingpride
Aug 11, 2004, 5:49 PM
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OK, first off. I'm 6'6" :D and loving it. But what makes it better is that I also don't have very large hands, with a really low bodyweight. I've learned to love the vertical thin stuff. I find my self makeing lots of climbs reachy for me, but when my shorter friends try it they say it's not reachy but a few bad holds. In the long run being taller will help expecialy once you learn how to maximize you reach being stable all the while. I know it ticks my friends off when i just slip into a hold and they are lunging and pulling on anything to get get a few more inches up to reach it.
Downfalls: Sit starts. They suck for most of us tall people. I was strugling on this SS because everything was to jamed up in my face, knees elbows, everything. Then i watched this 8 year old do it like it was nothing. I guessed it helped to hear that this kid had been to nationals for a few years. The other is overhangs. I think being tall puts move leverage on ones body. I'm starting to work past that but due to my lack of strengh due to weight i can't pull hard of overhanging routes. Boulder problems are a little different, I'm much better at hard moves close to the ground. I can lead 5.11 vertical, but overhanging is a differnt story. And i think i'll nock down a vertical 5.12a this week.
Oops, i'll shut up now. But that's my $0.02.
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reno
Aug 11, 2004, 5:56 PM
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I'm 6'4" in bare feet on a bad day... sometimes, I measure 6'5".
I've had mixed sucess in climbing. Part of it is due to the fact that I suck. Another part, I think, is related to my height.
While it is true that being tall allows one to reach certain holds that other, more vertically challenged people, have to make two or more moves to attain, I also find that on certain routes -- specifically sport routes that require a specific sequence of moves -- I end up in trouble, cause I skip holds, steps, etc.
That being said, I like being tall. Now if I could only find a car that I can stretch my legs in, I'd be happier than the thinnest pig at the slaughter house.
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hacksaw
Aug 11, 2004, 6:03 PM
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I'm 6'5" tall. I have found that sometimes overhangs can be a little difficult, since my center of gravaty is higher. And sometimes off-withs and really thin cracks can be harder then what other folks find them rated at.
Cheers,
Halsted
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ninjaslut
Aug 11, 2004, 6:31 PM
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I'm 6'2" and sit starts are a pain in the @ss because it's difficult to get my body weight low enough to make sloper holds positive, but that really doesn't bother me, because sit starts are an egotistical contrivance developed to add pride to the act of climbing a relatively small rock the hard way. Also, I'm not bitter.
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greenspace
Aug 11, 2004, 6:47 PM
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i'm 6'3" and I have large feet and hands which do tend to not work as well on crimpy moves or smearing on little foot holds......maybe i just need to work on my finger joint strength and cut my toes off..... :D
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friktion
Aug 11, 2004, 6:57 PM
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Thanks for all the insight. I kinda figured it would be a double edge sword, but if he wants it he'll overcome. I would never dissuade him to not climb, just cautioned him to start slow by doing some bouldering with me to see if he really wants to commit. I figure shoes and a chalk bag won't kill his wallet, plus he would have them if he decided he was really into it.
The height difference is about 6" and 40 lbs between us. We have similiar height/weight distribution so it's not that massive that we can't exchange some practical beta. Thanks again.
Friktion
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bambino
Aug 11, 2004, 7:07 PM
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Length/reach is linear with height, but weight/volume is cubed by height. Thus a smaller animal will always have a better strength/weight ratio than a larger animal. For a fact, shorter climbers can have better strength to weight ratios, a key factor in climbing.
Most of the top world cup climbers are 5'7"-5'8" (for men). I asked a former world cup climber (Jean Paul Finne) what he thought the optimal height for a climber was and he said about 5'8". (He did Just Do It, he's 5'6").
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litedawg
Aug 11, 2004, 8:27 PM
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I am 6' 4" and north of 250 pounds. It has been my experience that It all depends.
I have been on routes where my height/reach was a big advantage.
I have been on routes where my high center of gravity has been a great disadvantage.
I also do a great deal of mountain biking, a sport where my physique is a huge disadvantage while I am going uphill. However, gravity and I are best friends coming back down the other side.
I know that I will never be negociating an endorsement deal with Black Diamond, I don't care.
I love rock climbing and I love to mountian bike. I use what I have been given to my advantage when I can, and I worker to compensate the rest of the time.
Don't discourage someone from taking up the sport jsut becasue they fall somewhere outside the "Ideal". How ideal is it to climb missing an index finger? sounds pretty hard to me.
How ideal is it to climb blind? Seems taht would put someone at a huge disadvantage.
***edited for spelling***
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