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mrronoah
Nov 25, 2013, 11:10 AM
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I'm very short myself (5'3) and I was wondering if there are any short male climbers seriously competing or topping really difficult routes. There are a lot of female climbers who I know have been very successful but there's no particularly short males that come to mind. Just curious... and looking for some motivation :D.
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spacemonkey07
Nov 25, 2013, 12:03 PM
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Rustam Gelmanov is also quite short.. I would guess 5.4 - 5.5 ish?
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lena_chita
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Nov 25, 2013, 1:00 PM
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Ramon Julian Puigblanque is short, about 5 ft 2.
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camhead
Nov 25, 2013, 4:25 PM
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Go to 8a.nu and just browse around for the heights of various elite climbers. Most elite sort climbers are shorter than the average adult male. Julian is short, as Lena mentioned. Jonathan Siegrist is around 5'5".
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cracklover
Nov 25, 2013, 4:36 PM
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There was a thread a while back about male climbers' heights. IIRC, someone did a survey and found that the average for elite male climbers was significantly under the average male height. I think it was around five foot seven or eight.
For the average male physique, it seems clear that this height is optimal, and there are costs to be paid as you get far outside that norm. With that said, a friend of mine who's at least 6'4", and is only a weekend warrior, just sent his first 5.14. I'd say his height is a far worse "handicap" than yours.
Lynn Hill has said that there are boulder problems that just aren't realistic for her to do, but they are few and far between (and she's a few inches shorter than you). And I'm sure the same is true for my friend. But when it comes to climbing, dedication and the right attitude are far more important than a few inches.
At 5'7" and 135 pounds, I have roughly the exact right physique. But my friend climbs waaay harder than I do. Without belaboring the point any further, height is only one factor, y'know? (A nice way of saying I'm relatively lazy and untalented).
G
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cracklover
Nov 25, 2013, 5:40 PM
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Actually, for shits and giggles, I just did a quick survey on 8a.nu myself. Of the top 30 American male adults who lists his height, the average is the same as the US average.
So based on that small survey, it does not pay to be slightly shorter than average, as I had thought. But there is a large degree of variation, so you're certainly not screwed by being too tall/short.
GO
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lena_chita
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Nov 25, 2013, 6:03 PM
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cracklover wrote: Actually, for shits and giggles, I just did a quick survey on 8a.nu myself. Of the top 30 American male adults who lists his height, the average is the same as the US average. So based on that small survey, it does not pay to be slightly shorter than average, as I had thought. But there is a large degree of variation, so you're certainly not screwed by being too tall/short. GO
I have said it before. there is no such thing as too short or too tall for climbing. What matters is how far away you are from the median height of the first ascentionists. (or from the median height for route-setters in your gym)
The farther away you are from the median, the more likely you are to find that the given grades of the routes or problems are all over the place.
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marc801
Nov 25, 2013, 8:28 PM
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lena_chita wrote: cracklover wrote: Actually, for shits and giggles, I just did a quick survey on 8a.nu myself. Of the top 30 American male adults who lists his height, the average is the same as the US average. So based on that small survey, it does not pay to be slightly shorter than average, as I had thought. But there is a large degree of variation, so you're certainly not screwed by being too tall/short. GO I have said it before. there is no such thing as too short or too tall for climbing. What matters is how far away you are from the median height of the first ascentionists. (or from the median height for route-setters in your gym) The farther away you are from the median, the more likely you are to find that the given grades of the routes or problems are all over the place.
And as Lynn Hill once said, there are no reach problems, only power problems.
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