“It’s all climbing and it’s all good” +1

Indoor climbing is neither incompatible with outdoor climbing, nor does it threaten it. It is its own experience. I’m actually an old-school climber –as in, I started a lonnnggg time ago, in the pre-plastic era. Nevertheless, today, gyms play an integral role in my climbing. The gym is a highly effective way to maximize available time — I work 5 minutes’ jog from a university climbing gym, and I can cram in an effective training session during a long lunch hour several days a week. This has allowed me to progress and reach goals outside even though I’m lucky to get to actual rock more than a day a week.

But regardless of your use of a gym –whether for training, socializing or as end in itself– it’s all climbing and it’s all good.

1. If you were to ask each one of the top climbers in the world which discipline (inside or outside) they prefer, my assumption is that at least 80 to 90% of them would say outside climbing. The human race tends to progress and develop mostly in the direction in which they are most motivated to pursue. If the majority of the motivation lies in climbing outside, then this facet will continue to be the future.

2. Bouldering is slowing down in its ability to continue to produce achievable, yet markedly more difficult problems. This is the issue that we are confronting today. The upper echelon of bouldering is not getting any more difficult per say, it is just getting more style/body dependent. Just because someone establishes a boulder in their style that is unrepeatable by anyone else due to its difficulty, does not mean that said boulder marks a progression in bouldering. It could certainly mean a progression in that particular style. But with so many different strengths and body types in the climbing world today, trying to categorize each of these individual progressions would be meaningless and a waste of time. This applies to both outdoor and indoor climbing. The holds can only get so small and so far apart. Humans have their limits.

3. However, the human limits have been far from reached when it comes to stringing together doable double-digit boulder problems into longer experiences. This is the world of Sport Climbing. 5.14 rock climbs rarely require the climber to achieve moves harder than V8 or V9. This is especially true when it comes to 100+ Ft. resistance style routes. In this case, 5.14 can be 60 moves of V4 without a rest. So, maybe 5.15 is 100 moves of V8 without a rest. I don’t know. I don’t climb that hard. The future of climbing lies in the fact that without surpassing human limits on individual moves, sport climbing can continue to progress for A LONG time. At least it’s much, much easier to see its progression into the future than bouldering.

4. Now that we see the future, let’s revisit the plastic argument. Gyms can only get so tall. Height is required for progression because you can’t stack enough V13’s on top of each other in a gym to create a 5.17a or whatever the fuck it will be called. It was stated in the post above that “Sport climbing has developed around the world etc…” and my answer is, yes it has and it will continue to develop and at a faster rate than anything else. From what I’ve heard, the amount of cliffs in Europe is astounding and only a small percentage of them have ever been touched.

5. The majority of climbers are likely to follow in the direction that receives the most attention. Bouldering is leveling out in its ability to progress in difficulty, thus the talent of the sport will move on to short, bouldery routes and onward. The general population is swayed by the upper tier of talent and so on.

6. However the potential outcome previously described will not apply to climbing comps. Bouldering will always be the best way to showcase the sport, at least in the nearest future. It is currently the most fast paced, fun form of climbing. But the boulders in comps will continue to not be very hard (as we’re seeing already), and will be a display of the “showier” moves.

7. Once again, this is purely from a “progression” point of view.

The video you linked to is just a demo, not a regular scene at a skatepark (skating equivalent to a gym). Just as pro climbers are hiding in the forests, pro skaters are lurking in the streets as much as possible.

I’m all for climbing in a gym when there’s no rock nearby (I live in the prairies), just as I’m fine skating in a park when there are no spots, or I just want a chill session (I’ve been skating for 14 years).

But, skateparks aren’t considered “legit” spots to skate, aside from big bowls and ramps, witch do not occur in the streets. If you want footage in a legit video, or photos in a big mag, you almost always have to go to the street spots.

Just as climbing holds are made for climbing, skateparks are made for skating. Rocks and real handrails? Not made for climbing or skating. There’s a difference.

I have no problem with people flocking to the indoor gyms. But, if in the future there are interviews with people who only pull on plastic in a big mag, I will gladly never support that publication again.