Route Pyramids

Route pyramids are arguably the most effective all purpose training tool in climbing. In fact, there’s not a single person I know who has had anything other than great results using them. Not a bad sales pitch right?

The system is simple, fun, and provides loads of room for adaptation to circumstances. The climber ticks routes of specific grades in accordance to the suggested count in the pyramid structure. This is easier to explain using an example.

For a climber targeting their first 5.12a redpoint, a suggested route pyramid might look something like this:

5.12a: 1 route
5.11d: 3 routes
5.11c / 5.11b: 7 routes
5.11a / 5.10d: 15 routes

“Rules” are simple . The climber spends attempts to redpoint routes that add to their pyramid with the goal of filling out the entire pyramid with the number of redpoints suggested at each tier. They can do this in any order that they like. Using our example, perhaps they send an 11d one day and the next week they tick a couple 11a’s.

Of course, they are also encouraged to spend time projecting their goal route along the way. Some may find themselves clipping chains on the goal project before the rest of the pyramid is complete. In fact, many do! Great! Goal accomplished. At that point the climber can choose whether they want to finish the rest of the pyramid or work on a new one. My general recommendation is to finish the pyramid and then role the routes climbed into the next the pyramid continuing in that fashion as the grades increase.

I like the pyramid structure suggested above, but there’s no hard rules about the specific number of routes at each “tier”. The most important thing is that each tier has significantly more routes in it than the one above it. Aim for about 1.5 - 2x growth from tier to tier and you’ll hit a nice sweet spot. I also like mixing a few grades together at the lower tiers as the difficulty differences matter less as one gets into more moderate routes related to their goals.

The potency of this strategy stems from the way it incentivizes climbers to solidify their skills at moderate grades while building a positive momentum of success. The grades just below one’s goal often hold incredible opportunity. Climbing these routes successfully requires nearly as much skill, strength, and fortitude as the goal grade and the pyramid structure presents the climber with numerous quality repetition moving through the redpoint process.

Again, this same strategy could be used for any type of climbing. One can imagine swapping the YDS grades for V grades to guide bouldering goals.

Good Stone is based in Eugene, Oregon on the south end of The Willamette Valley. We love our local crags and have many friends in the region so we decided to put together some suggested sport climbing pyramids for those looking to push their grades locally.

Have a look and let us know what you think!