Competitive speed climbing is a relatively recent and controversial development in the climbing community. Although new, the speed route is already being consistently climbed in under 6 seconds! To put this in perspective, we need to talk about just how difficult speed climbing is.
The 15m (49 ft) high standardized speed climbing route has never officially been assigned a grade. The route is estimated to be 6a+ to 6b on the French/Sport scale (about 5.10c/d on the YDS). Most professional speed climbers skip holds to improve their time which makes the route harder than it is set at.
When looking at how hard the speed route really is, we need to look at more than just the route grade. The difficulty of speed climbing is really based on the increased mental and physical challenges associated with climbing it as fast as possible. This article explores everything that makes speed climbing such a difficult sport.
The Main Challenges and Difficulties of Speed Climbing
Indoor speed climbing is completely different then other disciplines of climbing which rely more on precision, control, and technique rather than pure dynamic power and speed. This is the main reason that it received so much backlash for being included in the Olympic climbing format.
Because it is so different, speed climbing presents climbers with challenges that they typically do not experience in any other type of climbing. These challenges unique to speed climbing are discussed further below.
Speed Climbing Route Difficulty
While the speed climbing route’s estimated grade of 5.10c/d may be difficult for new climbers, it presents little to no difficulty for professionals. For reference, the majority of climbers who consistently climb 1-2 times per week will be able to reach and most likely surpass this level.
The speed route has 20 pretty good holds that are set relatively wide apart on a 15 meter high overhanging wall. The overhang is relatively mild as it is set at only 5 degrees. The large distance between the holds makes the route more favorable to quick dynamic climbing rather than slower static climbing.
The true difficulty of speed climbing lies in the increased physical and mental difficulties associated with its time-based nature. Just take a look at how insanely quick scaling the speed route in under 6 seconds actually is in the video below.
As you can see, climbing this route quickly is no joke.
Increased Physical Difficulties of Speed Climbing
Speed climbing literally requires climbers to hurl themselves up the wall as quickly as possible. To do this well, climbers need to have certain attributes that are not as necessary in other climbing disciplines such as bouldering or sport climbing.
Listen to Adam Ondra discuss his thoughts on speed climbing and what it takes to be good at it in his time stamped YouTube video below.
In the video, Adam touches upon some of the physical attributes that are so important in speed climbing.
“… It is obvious that this discipline requires an incredible athleticism, a lot of dynamic power especially in your legs, and good coordination.”
Adam Ondra, Youtube – “Lead, Bouldering, Speed + The Olympic format”
The attributes he mentioned rely heavily on perfectly executing explosive movements and being able to generate a lot of power. Generating this type of power makes the speed route very taxing on climbers physically. The quicker you are able to scale the wall, the more physical exertion you will have to put forth.
Expanding upon this, to have the quickest time possible is to climb the most direct way up the route.
Limiting the side to side movement while climbing the speed route allows climbers to decrease the total amount of distance they have to travel when climbing. Saving this distance can decrease their time pretty significantly but will also increase how hard the route really is.
To see what I mean, take a look at the YouTube video below that discusses how Tomoa Narasaki broke the common speed climbing beta.
By skipping holds, climbers make the route much for physically demanding but are able to shave fractions of a second off their time. In an event that can be over in less than 6 seconds, saving even just one-tenth of a second is incredibly valuable.
I anticipate as more climbers attempt the speed route, the more the beta will change. This change in beta is likely to continue to increase just how hard the speed route is.
Increased Mental Difficulties of Speed Climbing
A good amount of the mental difficulties associated with speed climbing are related to the training and dedication needed to send the route quickly.
Although you are trying to go fast, typically the faster you go, the more you mess up. It can be incredibly frustrating to have a good run going and then mess up at the top and have your time be ruined. Doing that over and over again is incredibly mentally exhausting.
Not only that, increasing your speed forces you to be more precise with your foot and hand placements. So, you are hurling yourself up the wall as fast as you can but you need to have some control associated with it as well. This requirement for control and some precision requires intense mental focus.
In addition to the focus required, speed climbing is mentally challenging in other ways. The amount of training required to get the quickest time possible is quite significant. Putting in the work and exhausting yourself day in and day out can wear down even the most dedicated of climbers.
You can see how world class climbers Adam Ondra and Alex Honnold feel about just how tiring the speed route actually is in the timestamped YouTube video below.
In the video, Adam discussed just how tiring speed climbing actually is to train.
“It’s tiring in a very different way … You are speeding up and you are climbing faster and the faster you are climbing the more tiring it is. Like every time you are just trying to like grab the hand holds as fast as possible, you are just scratching with your fingernails the wall and then you make a split in-between the skin and the nail and it’s heinous.”
Adam Ondra, Youtube – Adam Ondra and Alex Honnold talk | Sport climbing and big walls climbing
Later in the video, Alex agrees with Adam about just how tiring speed climbing really is.
Putting forth full physical and mental effort to climb the route over and over again while hurting your fingers will wear the best climbers down mentally. It takes an incredibly motivated and dedicated climber to withstand the physical and mental abuse that comes with training the speed climbing route.
Conclusion
In summary, the speed climbing route is much harder than the estimated grade implies it is. The increased physical and mental challenges presented by the time based nature of the route make it incredibly hard to be good at.