Big debate: Is climbing really harder for shorter people?

So is climbing really harder for short people? This is a classic climbing debate and as with any debate, there is always more to say!

Some climbers take being shorter as a challenge, some feel hurt about it, and some take it as it is. Every person having a different approach to this classic and very controversial matter makes me wonder: is it really possible to find the answer to this endless topic?

Let’s find out!

How tall do you have to be to be too short?

That was a good question someone asked. In my case, my height wasn’t really something I stumbled upon because somehow I knew it was simply not something I could change. While I am not on the short side of short, I am still 5.28ft tall. But I just took it as it was and climbed in a way that suited me best.

To me, a tall person is whoever is taller than me. As it turns out, this aspect can differ across populations and regions. For example, the average height in the UK is 175.9cm (5,77 feet) for men and 162.4cm (5,31 feet) for women. However, the global average height is 171.4cm (5,62 feet) for men and women 1.62cm (5,31 feet).

Life as a short climber

For short people climbing is not only a matter of finding the key to the crux. So often having to cruise other mini-cruxes to get to the real crux rather feels like a punishment for being short!

Because I felt other people might have different experiences on this subject I went along and randomly asked short climbers about it. I found their stories so interesting I wanted to share them with you!

Short climber 1 – Breanne Robert

Breanne Robert, is a 25-year-old French climber and ex-competitor. She is 152cm with a 149cm wingspan, so 10cm shorter than the global average.

Life as a short indoor climber

“As with everything I find that there are advantages and disadvantages! I found that being short was mostly much harder when I was climbing indoors, especially at a higher level. On the other hand, having been in gyms where route setters also have in mind that amongst competitors there will also be short climbers is encouraging.

However, from 10 hard boulder problems there will always be some that won’t be possible to do, and sometimes even be able to start cause you don’t have the reach. Many times, easy boulder problems become hard ones just because of our ape index. Even though it doesn’t necessarily reduce the number of blocks we want to try, many sessions become frustrating.

Bouldering competitions and even lead become more and more limiting for short climbers (especially because of the span). Routes usually are set to be climbed in a certain way so topping out can involve being maybe 10 times stronger than the rest just to have the same chances.”

Life as a short outdoor climber

“When it comes to outdoor climbing the possibilities are endless. Of course, there will be some impossible bouldering problems or routes because there are no intermediate methods but you can just move to another project. Personally, I love finding ‘my small person way’, often harder, but more adapted to me.

One disadvantage I see is that being short can make on sighting slightly harder. Or even flashing if you don’t have the suitable height beta!

And one last little detail that we don’t often hear about but which goes with height is the size of feet! Sometimes finding climbing shoes your size is mission impossible. So having no choice of brand or model, you often have to compromise and take the “least bad”. You do get used to it and your feet hurt less than with tight shoes!”

Long story short

• I was very frustrated about my height in the gym and I was very angry with the “tall” people and the route setters
• I stopped the competition because of that and it was tough to “give up” and admit that despite my climbing level I was +50% dependent on whether routes were opened considering the short or not
• My height allowed me to develop many strong points (flexibility, strength, and above all I became better at reading a route)
• I was able to discover more about climbing and its diversity. Even if it also brought its share of frustration, it got easier to manage and get around and it brought other satisfactions
• It allows you to do a lot of more stylish movements 🤪
• I don’t have climbing shoes my size!

Short climber 2 – Denitsa Mircheva

Denitsa Mircheva is a Bulgarian rock climber, moonboard and kilterboard lover. She is 150cm so 12cm shorter than the global average.

Life as a short climber

“I very often struggle because of my height of 150cm. I’m definitely not saying some moves are impossible for shorter people, but I honestly believe the grade changes.

• Almost always I need to use intermediate tiny holds in order to get to the “regular” holds
• I regularly make more moves than a climber taller than 160cm would do
• Clipping the quickdraws is almost always a struggle as well. If the quickdraws are already in place, I can pretty much clip them from a comfortable position and/or a good hold. But if I clip the quickdraws I usually cannot reach the bolt from the comfortable position so I end up doing it from a cruxy move, tiny hold, or weird position, which costs me a lot of energy. And I usually like to put the quickdraws…cause I love going first and for an onsight.

My boyfriend is 190cm tall and he usually says: oooh but you can fit in tiny spaces, you can step really high. But this is mostly because I’m flexible, it’s not really a perk of being short. And even if it was, it would probably be the only one. 🤣

I’m not complaining but I really believe that most often we, short climbers, need to put a bit more effort into a route than taller climbers. What I really enjoy though is the fact that other people’s beta rarely works for me. Which means I have to find my own way. And I absolutely love this.”

Want to know your superpowers as a short climber?

Like Coldplay said, “Nobody said it was easy…”

Find out what you can work on and use those abilities to compensate for being short. For example, one thing you could focus on is developing good footwork. Becoming a dynamic climber and mastering footwork can help you loads in reaching that far-away hold.

Play the flexibility and mobility card

Not tall enough? That is no problem. You can almost always place your feet higher. And for that, you can work on your climbing flexibility. Check out our guide here on how to become more flexible.

Develop a strategy – that’s exciting!

If your route or boulder problem involves a dyno, experiment with foot placements and plan the timing of when to initiate the push-pull motion. Basically, visualise yourself not only catching the hold but also controlling it.

Find out what keeps you in the game

Getting the right mindset by focusing on what you can do is a game changer. For example, if I like a line I look for the best ways to approach it instead of thinking I am too short for it. My height is out of my hands but my creativity and approach to a boulder problem or route isn’t.

As a bonus piece of advice, try not to compare yourself with others but rather cultivate admiration. And definitely don’t let anyone tell you that route is too ‘morpho’ for you! If you like it, go get it!

Enjoy the ride

Sending a challenging route is often not just about the destination but about putting pieces of the puzzle together and learning from the process.

You get to be more creative

Apart from literally climbing more, you are also forced to find your way out of it. Placing high feet, working on your mobility, using wild intermediates everybody is surprised about, and so on. In the end, it’s just about different operating modes.

Can short people succeed in climbing?

International climbing shows that yes. Take as an example climbers such as Lynn Hill 5’1”, Hazel Findlay 5’2′, Brooke Raboutou 5’1”, Sean Bailey 5.35 feet, Michaela Kiersch 5’1”, and the list goes on.

To go more into detail, no matter which discipline of climbing you love the most, it’s impossible to be a climber and not have heard of Lynn Hill. This living legend, I quote “is probably the greatest athlete the general public has never heard of.” —Boulder Daily Camera, Judith Lovdokken

She measures only 5’1 and a half inches (157 cm). Amongst her challenges throughout her climbing career such as being part of a climbing community dominated by males, Lynn held the world record for her all-free one-day ascent in only 23 hours (1993) until Tommy Caldwell free climbed the route in less than 12 hours (2005). So I’d say Lynn proved “it goes” not only for freeing The Nose in one day but also in terms of height.

On that note, this short climber also graciously sent Chouca (5.13c), a famous sports route in Buoux, France.

Who says climbing is more fun for tall people?

Feeling frustrated about being short and having to do 3 extra moves on the same route or boulder problem? Let me tell you a story about my latest climbing insight.

As I said, I don’t usually feel frustrated about my height. Sometimes though it does happen to me to feel this sort of short-term jealousy when I watch my taller partner sending a route by skipping some holds simply because they have a better reach. However, a surprising thought came to me not a long time ago.

It was a ‘climbing in 3’ day. While watching my taller boyfriend climbing from far I noticed he took up a lot of space on the wall, literally. He was trying the same route as me – a beautiful one.

And it hit me: do I actually get to enjoy more moves in climbing because I am short?

In that moment I understood how much I enjoyed doing those particular moves on the same route where he obviously skipped some. So I started feeling sorry for him instead.

How come we don’t see any tall climbers complaining?

No idea. For some reason, on my Instagram post, I got many replies from short climbers and just one reply from a tall climber, and apart from that just jokes. Is there maybe a psychological aspect in all of this?

• Studies show there is a bias from a lot of people thinking taller people are more successful, therefore taller people have more chances of getting the job over a shorter person
• Short people usually find tall people more intimidating
• Society discriminates more very short people or very tall people. Those are usually bullied and getting laughed at. Take as an official example the Randy Newman’s on ‘Short People.

‘I can’t reach that hold’ – said no tall climber ever!

Tall people don’t really experience being frustrated about not reaching a hold. Therefore it might come as a surprise when I say they also have their struggles.

However, tall climbers do often struggle with the following things:

• Keeping tension in a roof or fitting into a rest position
• When taller it’s harder to gain strength and core
• When taller it can also be more difficult to find more foot placements

If two people start climbing at the same time, one tall and the other short, the shorter one has more chances to struggle in the beginning – because of the reach. However, given both are climbing with the same consistency, the shorter one will start working more on his footwork, and core, and on climbing more dynamically.

The tall one, however, will probably reach holds easier in the beginning but by the time their level goes up he will generally find it more difficult to engage in moves without having worked any of the abilities the shorter climber worked.

Tall climber – Hannah Banana

Hannah Banana is a climber from Switzerland. She is 179cm tall (so 17cm taller than the global average) and has a +7 ape index.

”I can tell you exactly what my struggles are – I’m experiencing it right now here in Frankenjura quite often and getting punched in the face all the time. For me, as a tall climber, it’s always a real struggle when it comes to bulges! Bringing my feet up on the edge of a bulge with super long legs is horrible. I find my knees in my face and even tho I’m quite flexible I can not move anymore.

Another thing is sit starts when it comes to bouldering. What the hell?! I don’t know the correct English term for that but whenever it comes to “leverage” I am really having a hard time 😅

Also fitting in “Boxes” – I am struggling so much with that. Since I would call myself a flexible climber I can not imagine how more rigid ones feel in those “boxes”.”

What is your climbing motivation?

I seriously got into climbing because I fell in love with what I felt (peace) and how I was (happy) while being in that environment. So to me, learning how to climb meant I got to do more of that and as a bonus, access the ‘inaccessible’.

I started questioning my climbing motivation when I noticed myself getting mad while doing something I genuinely knew I loved. Somehow the two were conflicting so I began the reasoning process.

I discovered that my frustrations had nothing to do with the climb itself. I concluded I appreciated the positivity around climbing and all the good it brings into my life. Therefore I decided I would make an effort to preserve it.

As a result, whenever my climbing motivation would switch to something negative I would just try to remember why I am doing it. When that didn’t work I simply stopped climbing and did something that felt more relaxing in that moment instead.

Stay curious instead of furious

To me, climbing is my happy place. That’s why I avoid associating an activity I usually enjoy with negativity. Therefore if for some reason I find myself frustrated while climbing I prefer to switch my focus on what I can learn from that situation. I find this allows me to validate my emotions and make something positive out of it at the same time.

It’s important to realise you are never forced to continue doing something that feels uncomfortable.

Does climbing need to be easy?

I never met any climber who had zero challenges. One thing I always loved about climbing is that there was never a right way to do it. Almost anyone (paraclimbing) can do it: short, tall, blind, one-legged, you name it!

Most of the time the sky is the limit when it comes to strategy for a climb because there are always so many skills you can improve such as endurance, power, explosion, flexibility, mental aspects, and so on.

So is climbing really harder for shorter people?

It may well be and for sure it is frustrating in some situations! And you’re right to feel this way. Is it impossible to climb well being a shorter climber? Hell no!

It turns out there are plenty of strong short and tall climbers, both men and women. Not to mention the classic scenario with the kids’ team who comes out of nowhere just to crush everything at the crag or gym where you’re at!

Life is meant to be challenging – it pushes us to be creative and more resilient. Challenges contribute to making us who we become.

Does this make you feel frustrated? Ok, you are entitled to it. It’s valid and it doesn’t need fixing. It is what it is. You just bounce back and grow from it.

The bottom line is that tall people will never understand short people, and short people will never understand tall people. In the meantime, let’s all enjoy the reason we’re all here: climbing!

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