Observations

1) Something I have observed, which has held true almost all of the time, is that if one is introduced to climbing outdoors on gear they automatically see top roping as reserved for only routes which they are scared to lead and a as of copping out. This just seems to get inexplicably ingrained as you struggled to get better. But this also leaves those climbers with sense of striving and appreciation of the limited resource of naturally protected climbs.

Those who find climbing through a gym seem to think there needs to be some sort of progression from top roping for a period of time, to sport leading then maybe to trad later. Which, although is arguably a good idea safety wise, I always find they never can make a smooth transition from sport to trad. Most are unwilling to scale back route difficulty in transition to get comfortable on gear and consequently don't ever really make the transition. These climbers are almost always scared to fall on gear and usually are mistrusting of the whole climbing system.


2) All trad climbers should spend some more time clean aiding to learn how well gear really works and in which situations.

3) Most trad climbers plateau at 10+. This is because thats the grade where you typically can't just stand on your feet to place gear, you actually need to be able to hang on place quickly and keep moving. Most trad climbers are not confident enough to place a piece quickly and trust it and move above it or are not strong enough to hang on steeper routes to place the gear at all because...

4) Most trad climbers should boulder more often to get some more max power. This allows them to be father from there max threshold placing gear and hence pump out less quickly.

5) When training routes in gym trad climbers can benefit from exaggerating the duration they hold onto each hold especially while clipping. Any monkey can quickly clip a pre-hung quickdraw, most can't (on a steep route) access a placement find the correct size cam, place it, check it, reach back down for a runner or quickdraw, clip the draw to the pro then clip the rope to the draw without pumping out. This is because on a steep route they are forced to hang onto one hold for a longer duration therefore cut the flow of blood and oxygen to their muscles for a longer period then they are used to. The pump causes panic, apprehension and "fallure", fear of falling and therefore premature failure to send.

6) All climbers can benefit from specific training.

7) The best climbers enjoy the process of climbing, getting to the top is secondary, the process of movement when executed properly just happens to lead you there.

8) Most climbers fail in the head far before in their body.

9) Goats know what they want and take it.