Plastic Ponderings: Tall Guy Beta

So Ill Brain Hold

I have been spending a lot of time climbing inside on plastic lately, hanging with the pad sniffers.  I sold my ice tools after last season and realized that I'm just not that into it.  It just seems like so many variables have to line up just right for ice climbing to be fun.  I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but I much prefer just going to the gym.  This winter my gym added a couple spin bikes and a little cafe so I can hang out even longer.  Climb.  Cardio.  Eat a taco.  It's great.

The other day I was doing laps on an auto belay while a couple was climbing nearby.  Things got a little awkward as they started to argue with each other and get into a fight while the husband was struggling up his climb.  The wife kept telling the husband it should be easy because he was so much taller than her.  He did not take well to this criticism.  I pretended not to be listening as their bickering escalated to embarrassing levels.  Since then I have been pondering height as it relates to climbing.  There seems to be this general feeling that tall people have a major advantage that makes climbing super easy for them.  When the gym is packed just walk around and listen to what people are saying, especially when they are failing on a climb.  "Maybe, if I was taller...."  I'm 6'4" with a +5 ape index.  After climbing for a few years I have come to the conclusion that being tall is, if anything, a disadvantage.  Sounds crazy, I know.

First of all, tall is sort of a relative term.  A dwarf might consider Lynn Hill, who stands at just over 5', to be tall.  Place Lynn Hill next to Dean Potter and she looks like the dwarf.  Secondly, if being tall was so advantageous wouldn't we see more 7'ers climbing?  The truth is that I am among the tallest climbers at my gym, or anywhere else for that matter.  I think there is a actually a "sweet spot" or an ideal height, illustrated by looking at the world's hardest climbers.  For men, it seems to be around 5'11".  Adam Ondra, Chris Sharma and Alex Honnold are all this height.  Tommy Caldwell is 5'10".  Daniel Woods is 5'6".  The average height of an American male is 5'10",  So in reality, it seems being average height is the ideal for climbing if you're a guy.  As for the females, both Sasha Digulian and Lynn Hill are 5'2" and have climbed ridiculously hard, up into 5.14s.  Lynn Hill is one of the most accomplished climbers of all time....first to free The Nose, etc, etc.  So being super short is really not a good excuse.  The only really tall climber I've heard of climbing hard is Dean Potter (6'5"), who I think used to climb 13s.

Since I am a tall climber, who is also a very mediocre climber, I have insight as to why being tall isn't the advantage that many people seem to think it is.  The first reason is really simple.  Tall people are also big people, and bigger means heavier.  I weigh 200 pounds, yet my coworkers often refer to me as being thin.  It is a lot of weight to drag up a steep wall.  We are also gawky, long limbs flying around everywhere are hard to control, especially when climbing becomes overhanging.  I will admit than when climbing is less than vertical having the extra reach can sometimes make things easier for the tall guy.  An example would be skipping a bad hold and going straight for a jug, or clipping a high bolt from a better stance.  However,  as soon as things get steep is where we run into problems.  High feet are key in the movement on steep climbing.  When a tall climber uses high feet their knee ends up in their face and they get really scrunched up.  This pushes the body's center of mass (butt) and weight away from the wall more than a shorter person and puts more of the strain on the arms.  From this scrunched position it is harder to extend for the next hold, and the move uses more energy.  Also, the distance is greater to lock off the arm on the current hold.  Its a lot like what tall, lanky folks experience in weight lifting.  The shorter, compact people can always lift more weight simply due to body mechanics.  Sounds like a shit load of excuses(because it kind of is!), i know, but this is what I have seen and experienced.

I think short people just came up with their "taller is better at climbing theory" because they have some weird inferiority complex programmed into them by society.  I think it is more realistic to say that every body type has its advantages and its disadvantages.  Except for being really fat, that is not going to help your climbing at all.