How best to use my time in Lander

[erick]

I'll be in lander for 8 days this August and probably be climbing exclusively at wild iris. I've been there many times before and know it well, but I have never arrived "fit" and only ever spent 3 or 4 days there a time. Also it's been a few years since I've been there last. I know I'm stronger but don't know how it will translate there. I'll be arriving having just completed a long strength phase and power phases but no PE yet or base fitness this time around. In this condition would you rather...

1. Go for lots of easily onsightable routes 2-3 letters below your normal onsite grade to get in the climbing volume I have not gotten 

or

2. Go for several easy projects in the one to three try range

When I get back I'll probably do another short strength and power phase and then jump into PE for some projects i have this fall. I'm leaning towards option 1 since I still am recovering from an injury which kept my from climbing December-May. But I know projecting has alway been a weekness and short projects might be a great way for me to learn. I don't want to spend my whole trip working a mega project or pushing my onsight grade since I know I'm not at full fitness right now. What would you do?

eric

[MarkAnderson]

That's really a matter of taste, I think. Either option will get you about the same time on the rock, I'd think (in fact, you could easily do a little of both, either in the dame day or on different days). That said, if I were injured, first, I would stay far away from Wild Iris. If I HAD to climb at Wild Iris while injured, I would go the easy projects route, because in that scenario you can dog up the route first and make sure there aren't any tweaky moves before you're on the sharp end.

[erick]

My injury was a broken foot so no worries about tweaking stuff other than my left heel

[jcm]

Por que no los dos? I think that doing a mix of onsights and mini-projects is the best way to spend a weeklong trip, and that they complement each other pretty well. I definitely get more out of a trip if I do a mix than if I focus on just one or the other, since they offer different things. If I just do moderate onsighting I feel like I haven't gotten a chance to challenge myself, and if I just do mini-projects I feel like I don't get to see enough of the area. A bit of both satisifies all those requirements though. Plus you have to warm up anyway, so you can fit the onsights in there.

My preferred way to balance the two is to do a bit of each on every climbing day. I'd do the onsighting as part of an extended warmup, with 3-4 routes of building difficulty, from pretty easy to fairly challenging. Then once warmed up go have a few attempts on a mini-project.

The other option is to work a mini-project on day 1, then do moderate onsight mileage on day 2 (when you are fatigued), then rest on day 3, then repeat.

If I had to choose one option to emphasize, though, it would be the mini-projects. I feel like I get the best learning return on time investment by doing quick redpoints of routes 1-2 letter grades above my max onsight. It is difficult enough that you have to refine sequences and try hard, but you'll likely send quick enough to move on and do multiple of them in a trip.

Trying to do hard-ish routes second go is another interesting way to distill this process. On the first go you have to very quickly but thoroughly work out sequences, memorize beta, figure out rests, etc. Then on the second go you have to flip the try-hard switch and execute. This is a good way to practice redpoint skills, tactics, and try-hard mentality.