mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 7, 2012 - 11:04am PT
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Are taller climbers always at an advantage in climbing? I can think of lots ways this would be helpful such as reaching a high hold, clipping a bolt that is out of reach for most, or doing a route like el matador. Are there advantages to being short? Seems as though a lot of top climbers these days are not exactly tall.
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brotherbbock
Trad climber
Alta Loma, CA
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Fuk yes!!!!
My buddy who is 6'8" does like every third move that I have to do. He can skip right through crux sections to the jugs.
Fuk tall people!!!!
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Overall, I'd say it's an advantage for most of the reasons you mentioned, and then some (I'm 6' 4"). There are certain times when it's less helpful, though- in relatively cramped spaces, and the fact that having that kind of range means that my efforts to refine my technique are less than they might be for a shorter climber.
I get a lot of shite from partners and clients about the advantages of being tall...I like to tell them, though, that just because I can reach it, doesn't mean I can do anything with it. Even during the times of my strongest fitness, I still wasn't able to pull down anywhere near as hard as many of my partners. There's definitely a genetic component related to mass/muscle that goes along with height that I just don't think I'll ever have.
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scuffy b
climber
heading slowly NNW
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Being tall is not the advantage it may seem at first glance.
It probably helps only around 98% of the time.
Of course, it is problematic in cramped quarters, but many tall climbers
exaggerate this challenge pretty well.
To hear some of them, you'd think they were too tall to touch their toes!
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Forgive me for giving the standard ST answer, but it depends (I'm 5' 5"). When I was in my avid bouldering days at Berkeley, there were very few routes that I couldn't do because of my height, and a great many that I could do more easily than a taller climber. It was a different story at Stoney Point; there seemed to be many routes that were really beyond my reach.
It's clearly an advantage on aid -- or at least would be if mass doesn't determine whether any placements stick or fail.
John
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Loose Rocks
Trad climber
Santa Rosa, CA
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No advantages on the short thing. Unless you think having to do more moves = having more fun. For me, that good hold that is so tantalizing close, my partner reaches through past it and to the next good hold.
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Norton
Social climber
the Wastelands
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Being short did not seem to hurt Warren Harding or Chuck Pratt.
Harding did say later in life that if he had it all to do over again he wished he would
have been taller, and also "less nasty" to some people.
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labrat
Trad climber
Nevada City, CA
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Yes, it is on many climbs. Moves that are 5.10b can be 11's just based on height. Labor of Love at the Leap is a good example.
Shorter climbers that I know develop great footwork!
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David D.
Trad climber
Monterey
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It is until those powerful short little guys come up with sick sit starts that my tall lanky frame takes forever to figure out. I guess it's a good motivation to keep that core strong...
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Dingus Milktoast
Gym climber
And every fool knows, a dog needs a home, and...
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IMO slab favors the taller person. But when it goes past vert the extra height becomes a disadvantage.
YMMV.
DMT
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kaholatingtong
Trad climber
the green triangle, cali
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98% may be exaggerating but i do consider it an advantage most of the time. while the above is true i would argue its more along the lines of, tall people will find it easier to do the reachy stuff and in comparison someone shorter would find it easiER to do the techy/tight sequences.
being 6'1 with a 6'3" span i do find it advantageous a lot. but damn if those tight sit start boulder problems where its harder to get my weight on my feet really humble me. shrug. pros and cons, as anything in life, you just gotta learn to work with what you got, no?
then again, i think the same argument could be made for hand size, and not just for crack climbing. pros and cons, pros and cons.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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"Being short did not seem to hurt Warren Harding or Chuck Pratt."
Or Lynn Hill...and she can kick all of our arses....
I had always heard that Lynn believed her height (or lack thereof) forced her to focus on developing her technique to find ways around those reachy problems. Again...that kind of stature seems to lend itself far better in terms of mass:muscle.
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Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
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Height AND flexibility = much easier. Being short and inflexible, I am constantly challenged. I can count on my fingers the number of times my size gave me an advantage over my taller hubby.
Finger size - that's another variable. I think that is more fair with small fingers very helpful on many climbs, and meathooks helpful on others. Give me those tiny finger cracks and seams!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Seems like the short people just try harder.
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Splater
climber
Grey Matter
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Many moves that are not reach problems should be easier for a shorter person, but it's a very subtle difference, whereas reach moves are more obvious.
Assuming similar build, the shorter person will have higher strength to weight ratio.
Strength increases with area (cross sectional area of a muscle or tendon) Area is dimension squared.
Weight increases with volume, which is dimension cubed.
So as you get taller, weight increases faster than strength.
Smaller people should also have less problems with tendon and ligament failure.
It also depends on the type and angle of rock. Typical slabby rock has lots of reach moves, and less moves that favor a short person. Overhanging routes have more moves that favor a high strength to weight ratio.
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The Warbler
climber
the edge of America
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Taller = heavier
Bigger hands and feet = smaller holds proportionately
A short person with small hands and feet who weighs, say 1/2 the amount of a big climber is climbing a different route.
Reach helps on some moves, but height and the weight which nearly always comes with it are handicaps on more moves than those helped by the reach taller people have.
As many mentioned, tall is generally good on low angle routes, but often those routes have small holds which are effectively bigger and easier to stand on or crimp on for smaller people, sometimes making it a wash, but still favoring the lighter climber, IMO.
Steep stuff, especially roofs are harder for a longer frame because it requires more core strength to lever long legs up to footholds. Look at gymnasts who specialize in the rings, doing levers and L-seats - they're all compact and short.
Check the height stats of male competition climbers and I think you'll find few over 6 ft and lots in the mid 5 ft range, with the girls even smaller.
Even reaching is rarely a pure tiptoe to maximum body stretch, which obviously favors a tall person. Usually a reach is made with one arm locked off and feet fairly high, a factor which makes body height all but irrelevant. Short climbers can take advantage of higher footholds in this case, footholds which put the tall guy's butt waving around in the breeze, and knees stuffed in his armpits - such body position takes the weight off the feet, and makes the move harder or nearly impossible.
Reaching, especially sideways, more often is easier with a large arm span or positive ape index than it is with just pure height.
It's probably an advantage for aid, but for steep hard freeclimbing ...
Don't think so
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 7, 2012 - 12:47pm PT
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I think of mantles and possbly when crack climbing with no face holds where both and both feet are jammed in the crack as areas where shorter people may have an advantage. Also sit starts. Are there instants of really tall climbers being at the top of the game, lets say 6'6" and up? Most of the really top climbers I can think of in the last twenty years don't seem to be particularly tall.
How do you think someone like Kevin Garnet or Kevin Durrant would do. It seems like many of the NBA players can hang on the with their chin above it with one arm and may of thme are over 6'6" and thereforen would seem to have a great strength to weight ratio.
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Shorter, lighter, thinner climbers frequently have an advantage. Being tall and heavier makes it harder to pull the body into the rock.
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Silver
Big Wall climber
Nor Nev
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Only on the Kor, and Ovlesky pitches.
They are both 6 foot 9 and able to top step like you and I bottom step.
;)
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