There are three different kinds of people you should climb with in the course of your climbing career:

Someone stronger than you

This person will push you to be a stronger climber. They will be your mentor and show you how to do new things. They’ll give you beta and show you how to do hard routes. They can show you what you need to work on and how to train.

They can hang your draws for you (as they will warm up on your project). And if you can’t finish the route, they can remove them too.

They can set up a top rope so that you can beat your project into submission.

And a good mentor will do all of this gladly, because they are paying it forward; someone probably did it for them, which is why they are so strong now.

They will get you on routes way over your head and get you to work harder than you would with your peers.

They will get you strong.

 

Someone as strong as you

It’s nice to climb with someone as strong as you, especially if they are the same height (so you can share beta).

The two of you can work the same projects at the same time, and you can help one another figure out the movement. You can trade off and take turns working on the route.

The friendly competition will motivate you to train. You want to send before your buddy, so you try a little harder.

(Beware that this friendly competition can get ugly sometimes. Don’t climb with people who tear you down—build each other up.)

 

Someone weaker than you

This is the flip side of the first relationship. Rather than only learning from the climber who is stronger than you, be willing to learn from someone who’s weaker.

When you climb with someone that doesn’t have as much power as you do, they will figure out an easier way to climb your route. This is good for strong people wanting to beat down difficult moves, because weaker people will have to find trickery to get them through the hard sections.

Strong people don’t know the difference. They do a move their first time on it and don’t really think about that move again. But a weak climber will not be able to do it and will have to find another way.

For years I was the weaker one in the partnership. My mentor would always want to get me on his projects: “I need to get you on this route and figure it out for me.” And I would. I shaved number grades off the boulder cruxes of his sport routes.

Different times in your career will call for different partners. You will need to figure out for yourself what your needs are. To be a better climber right now, do you need a mentor, a competitor, or to coach?