How to use route pyramids effectively in rock climbing
When I moved to Spain last fall, I faced an interesting new situation. After two years of avoiding the pandemic and living under my Moonboard in New Mexico, I was surrounded by a lifetime of high-quality sport climbing at every grade. I was stronger than ever, had time to climb several days a week outside, and everything was new. Between Siurana, Margalef, Montsant, and a dozen other local crags you’ve never heard of, I could spend every day of the next year onsighting 5.12b and never run out of new climbs.
But of course, I didn’t want to climb at my onsight grade all year. I also wanted to project and send new grades, in this case, my first 5.14b. But was I ready? I wondered: How much time should I spend onsighting vs. projecting? And when I did decide to project, what grades should I aim for?
We all have our version of these questions, and I think route pyramids can help.
Remy Franklin introduces route pyramids at the ClimbWell Retreat in Veyo, UT (Photo: Nick Andrew, Bekah Andrew)
What is a route pyramid in rock climbing?
A route pyramid is a visual representation of climbing grades at and below your maximum difficulty. In this article, I’m focused on sport climbing rather than bouldering, but you could also use the concept in bouldering. Pyramids are especially useful for sport climbing, which has many more grades than bouldering and focuses much more on onsighting.
The simplest way to visualize a route pyramid is to make one:
Grab a blank piece of paper and something to write with
Write the grade of the hardest rock climb you’ve redpointed
On the following line, write the next hardest grade (if 12a is your hardest grade, the following line will say “11d”)
Keep adding descending grades for five rows in total
Next to each grade, mark an “X” for every climb you’ve redpointed at that grade
Here’s an example:
12a x
11d xx
11c xxxxx
11b xxxxxxxxxx
11a xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The route pyramid above would be relatively “balanced,” which I’ll discuss below. Yours may have many more routes at the highest grade. Or maybe you’ve done so many climbs in the third row that you’ve lost count. Or it could be that you’ve skipped a grade entirely so that your hardest climb is levitating up there at the top.
It doesn’t matter what your route pyramid looks like, but take a moment to jot down a quick version, so you have a sense for its shape. For this pyramid, include every (outside) climbing redpoint you can remember for your hardest five grades.
As you probably know, some websites use your climbing log to create route pyramids for you. The most popular are 8a.nu and Mountain Project.
Three tips for using route pyramids effectively
Tip 1: Use route pyramids as a check-in
There are no hard and fast rules with route pyramids. Sure, I like the idea that my onsight grade is typically a number (four grades) below my redpoint grade, but I recommend you don’t hold too fast to these metrics.
Many climbers and coaches offer helpful guiding principles like building a seasonal route pyramid that descends in multiples of two: 1, 2, 4, 8 (number of ascents for your hardest four grades in the last year). Use these guidelines if they work for you, but don’t be overly prescriptive.
Instead, I like to use route pyramids as a tool for self-observation in sport climbing. At the ClimbWell retreat, we ask participants to draw their all-time route pyramid at the beginning of our Performance Climbing clinic. Then we simply ask: “What do you notice?”
Their insights are telling and usually lead to obvious actions: “I haven’t climbed that many 5.12s yet; it’s still a limit grade for me.” “My onsight and redpoint grade are the same!” “I’m trying to skip a grade, and it’s not working.”
The best way to use route pyramids is to make one and see what jumps out to you about it. In a sense, pyramids are like your climbing resume. Sends and ticks are just a tiny piece of the climbing experience, but for recreational climbers, they’re the most objective measure of performance that we’ve got.
So take a moment to write out your pyramid, notice what’s there, and ask yourself: “If I were a coach looking at my experience, what advice would I give myself?”
Tip 2: Build a solid “second tier”
When I was trying to decide how to use my climbing time near Siurana, Spain, one idea I had was to pick a 14b project. I had done three 14as when I arrived, and I had more strength and power than ever. I thought it was time to push into a new grade, so I set the goal of doing my first 14b (8c) before the summer heat arrived.
But as I got outside climbing in Spain, I started to have some doubts: Do I want to spend so much time on one climb when I’m in a place with so much high-quality new climbing? Am I actually ready for 14b, or should I build more of a base?
To answer my question, I sketched up my all-time route pyramid. It looked something like this:
14a xxx
13d xxx
13c xx
13b xxxxxxxxxxxxx
13a xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx… (30+)
What do you notice about my route pyramid? If you were my coach, what advice would you give me?
I noticed that my pyramid was a little toppley. Sure, I’m solid at 13b, and I’ve done a handful of harder routes. But I don’t have the base in the 13+ range that I’d like to have. Furthermore, if I look at those three 14a ticks, none are classics with well-established grades. Before trying for a new level, I decided it would be nice to build confidence by climbing a 14a at Siurana that has been around for years and is considered a benchmark.
Fortunately, I have a coach I ran my observations by to check my logic. We agreed that my time was best spent building my base this winter before trying a 14b project in the fall. I decided to focus on faster redpoints in the 13b-14a range to improve my climbing technique, build fitness, and get used to the style.
Shifting my focus to slightly more accessible routes reminded me of something I learned years ago from Steve Bechtel.
Steve believes most climbers spend too little time climbing at the “second tier,” meaning routes one or two letter grades below their maximum ability. I think he’s right.
It’s easy to chase limit grades and end up projecting the same route all season, and also easy to do climbs you can send first or second try. The second tier is that uncomfortable place where you know you’re strong enough to send but you still have to put in the time and effort. It’s often ignored by amateur and experienced climbers and the best place to focus if you want to break through a plateau.
The author on King’s Arete, Mt Lemmon, Tucson, AZ (Photo: Todd Bukowski)
Tip 3: Make all kinds of pyramids
The route pyramid is a versatile tool, so don’t confine yourself to listing all-time hard redpoints. If you think of route pyramids as a quick reference - a tool for self-observation, for checking in - why not use them more often? I don’t hear many climbers talk about using pyramids in other ways, but the potential varieties seem endless.
Here are a few route pyramid ideas to illustrate the possibilities:
Seasonal route pyramid
Gym bouldering session route pyramid
Route pyramid for a specific crag
Route pyramid for a particular style of climbing (e.g. crack climbing)
Onsights-only route pyramid
Moonboard route pyramid
You get the idea. Pyramids are a tool to get a quick, objective look at our performance and experience with a particular style of climbing. You could put any criteria or constraint around your pyramid, and each will offer new insights.
A note about grades & route pyramids
If there’s a downside to using route pyramids in climbing, it’s that they reinforce our obsession with grades.
When I see myself chasing the grade over the climb, or the send over the experience, I pause, take a breath, and ask myself, “Why do I rock climb?” The answer typically has little to do with climbing grades or a tick-list and everything to do with the adventure, the opportunity to push my limits, the community, and the experience of learning from the rock.
Still, if you’re a human with a normal brain, your route pyramid might bring up thoughts like “I wish I could climb 5.XX grade,” or “Why is my climbing partner so much better than me?” or “I should train harder.”
These thoughts are just another way the route pyramid is an excellent self-observation tool. Don’t let your self-worth get entangled with climbing grades, and don’t lose sight of what matters.
Written by Remy Franklin | www.remyfranklin.com | @remyfranklin
