This is for an announcement and can be turned on to display and off to not display.

How to Set Climbing Goals: 3 Practical Tips for Progress

Perhaps the single most difficult thing for many of us to do is to set reasonable goals. We all have a tendency to set goals that are either way too hard or too easy. Both strategies, however, tend to be motivation killers: too hard a goal and you get frustrated by working your butt off to reach a destination that never seems to come anywhere near your reach; too easy and training quickly begins to seem trivial and boring.

Clearly the best goals are just out of reach, requiring a bit of extra effort to achieve while remaining obviously achievable. Figuring these out is as much of an art as a science, and even top-level climbers sometimes need help to do it. Here are some useful tips to get a head start on the process.

Tip #1: Choose a Long-term Goal First-And Be as Specific as You Can

What one person considers long-term is different from another, but we generally recommend that it’s not shorter than six months and not longer than a year.

The idea is that this goal is your North Star, a beacon in the distance to guide your workouts and provide direction. It can be a route or problem at some outdoor destination you’ve always wanted to go to, or a grade range at your local gym that you’ve always wanted to break into, or any number of other options.

As an example, my current long-term goal is to reliably onsight 5.12, because there are two routes in Yosemite that I really want to flash before I die! You might choose a famous hard route at a climbing area you want to visit, or a boulder project at your local climbing area, or simply “to send a V6 in my home gym by the end of the year.”

Whatever your goal, the key is that the goal has an emotional weight to it, that it’s something you are excited to accomplish, something meaningful to you. This goal should be a reminder of the reason you want to be a better climber, and a reward for all your hard work!

Tip #2: Choose Your One Month Project Second

Simply put, a One Month Project (OMP) is a climb you believe you can send in about a month of trying. 

This time frame is an ideal based on climbers who are on the wall two to three days a week. For those who can only come in one to two days a week this might be more appropriately called a Two Month Project. 

Selecting a climb that you can send in a fixed time period is more of an art than a science and doing so reliably depends on a reasonable assessment of your own abilities as well as a good training schedule. But there are a few things to keep in mind that will help make you an expert in no time.

First, One Month Projects will tend to be at or even slightly above your Hardest Redpoint grade at that time. So, if the hardest climb you’ve done recently is V5 then a good starting grade for your OMP will be somewhere between V5 and V6-.

Second, at least initially, your OMP will likely play to your strengths. For instance, if you love crimps, then a good OMP will likely feature crimpers galore.

Alternately, as you gain more experience, you may choose to focus on a weakness for your OMP. Many new climbers have difficulty using slopers, so, you may want to choose a sloper-heavy climb or one on a climb on a steeper, more overhanging wall that you don’t feel very comfortable on.

Here, again, you can use a rule of thumb to determine a likely grade range. Since working on weaknesses is more difficult (and will generally take a bit longer), such an OMP will likely be slightly easier than your Hardest Redpoint. So, using the previous example, if your hardest climb is V5 an OMP that targets a weakness would likely be V5- or V4+.

Either way your OMP serves you in several ways. As your “hard” project, it becomes an intermediate milestone that helps mark your progress to your ultimate long-term goal. Second, it becomes a good strength and power building problem, allowing you to work on short, very difficult sequences while also making direct progress toward a specific goal.

Finally, it is your test-piece, a way to both measure how well your training is going (as you make improvements) and to uncover areas that need work–in other words, skills or fitness you need to unlock the crux moves. 

Tip #3: Choose Two to Three Short-Term Projects

A Short-Term Project (STP) is one you believe you can send significantly faster than your One Month Project.

What does significantly faster mean? Like your OMP, that depends on a number of factors, including your experience, how frequently you come into the gym, and what your strengths and weaknesses happen to be. In general, though, we recommend that short-term projects be climbs that you believe you can send in one to two weeks. In fact, as you gain experience, we generally recommend that you choose such projects based on an estimate of how many attempts they will take, rather than the number of days.

For example, I tend to choose an STP by estimating which projects will take between 10 and 20 attempts to send. Based on climbing three days a week, this generally means that such a project will take me 2 to 3 climbing sessions to complete.

The key difference between an STP and an OMP, other than difficulty and time commitment, is that you want variety from your STPs. Rather than choosing a single project that caters to your strengths (or a weakness), you want a few problems that require you to work on both.

Is there a rule of thumb for choosing these grades, too? Yes, there is. In general, projects that you can complete in a few sessions or less will be slightly harder than your CRP if they cater to your strengths, and at or slightly below your CRP if they cater to your weaknesses. For example, if you are consistently sending V3, a good group of STPs would likely be in the range of V3- to V3+.

What if I send my STP faster than 10 tries? No problem! All you need to do is choose another project. The fact is all sends are useful! Other than helping build strength and technique, the benefit of STPs is to build a repertoire of problems you can later use for your workouts. Once you have sent a climb, it can now be put into your training rotation giving you a variety of climbs to choose from in your sets.

All material is reprinted with the permission of the author. Copyright 2022 David H. Rowland. All rights reserved.

Welcome to Hudson Boulders!

Get 20% off your first visit and start building strength, community, and confidence—together.
First Name(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Advanced

Introduction to Lead Climbing

Wednesdays (7 pm – 9 pm)

Lead classes at East Falls offered during: February, April, June, August, October, December

Mondays (7 pm – 9 pm)

Lead classes at Fishtown offered during: January, March, May, July, September, November

Wednesdays (7 pm – 9 pm)

Lead classes at Malvern offered during: February, April, June, August, October, December

Tuesdays (7 pm – 9 pm)

Lead classes at Oaks offered during: February, April, June, August, October, December

Thursdays (7 pm – 9 pm)

Lead classes at Wyncote offered during: January, March, May, July, September, November

Welcome to Philadelphia Rock Gyms!

Welcome to Philadelphia Rock Gyms!

Get 20% off your first visit and start building strength, community, and confidence—together.

Get 20% off your first visit and start building strength, community, and confidence—together.

Philadelphia Rock Gyms membership

Terms and Conditions

Philadelphia Rock Gyms (“PRG”) provide membership plans to allow customers access to our various climbing facilities during normal operating hours.

By accepting these Terms and Conditions, which govern our membership plans, you (“Client”) agree to the following:

  1. Membership

    • For all membership plans, provided that you, the Client, are not in default and subject to these Terms and Conditions after the initial term commitment of your membership plan has expired, your membership will automatically renew monthly until terminated. You will be notified of rate increases at least 30 days before automatic rollover renewal.
    • Automatic Monthly Rollover may be canceled with a written notice delivered to your home facility’s address. Cancelation requests must be submitted by the 25th of the month to cancel for the consecutive month after the initial term is complete.
    • PRG may offer several different membership plans. Some membership plans may have differing conditions and limitations, which will be disclosed at your sign-up or in other communications made available to you.
  1. Promotional Offers

    • PRG may occasionally present special promotional offers, plans, or memberships (“Offers”). PRG determines offer eligibility at its sole discretion, and we reserve the right to revoke an Offer and put your account on hold if we determine you are not eligible. Members of households with an existing or recent PRG membership may not be eligible for certain introductory Offers. The eligibility requirements and other limitations and conditions will be disclosed when you sign-up for the Offer or in other communications.
  2. Billing and Cancellation

    • Billing Cycle. The membership fee for PRG and any other charges you may incur in connection with your use of the service, such as initiation fees, maintenance fees, or possible transaction fees and taxes, will be charged to your Payment Method on the specific payment date indicated when you purchased your membership plan. The length of your billing cycle will depend on the type of membership plan that you purchase. Membership fees are fully earned upon payment. Sometimes, your payment date may change, for example, if your Payment Method was not successfully settled when you changed your membership plan or if your paid membership began on a day not contained in a given month. We may authorize your Payment Method in anticipation of membership or service-related charges through various methods, including authorizing it up to approximately one month of service as soon as you sign up.
    • Payment Methods. To purchase a PRG membership plan, you must provide one or more accepted Payment Methods. You authorize PRG to charge any Payment Method associated with your account in case your primary Payment Method is declined or no longer available to us to pay your membership fee(s). You remain responsible for any uncollected amounts. Suppose payment is not successfully settled due to expiration or insufficient funds, and you do not cancel your account. In that case, we may suspend your access to all PRG locations until we have successfully charged a valid Payment Method. For some Payment Methods, the issuer may charge you certain fees, such as foreign transaction fees or other fees relating to processing your Payment Method. Check with your Payment Method service provider for details.
    • Default and Late Payments. Should you default on any payment obligation as called for in these Terms and Conditions, PRG will have the right to declare the entire remaining balance due and payable, and you agree to pay allowable interest and all costs of collection, including but not limited to collection agency fees, court costs, and attorney fees. A default occurs when any payment due under these Terms and Conditions is more than ten days late. You will be charged a late fee if any monthly payment becomes more than ten days past due. An additional service fee will be assessed for any check, draft, credit card, or order returned for insufficient funds or other reasons. If the Member is paying a membership fee(s) by electronic funds transfer (EFT), PRG reserves the right to draft via EFT all amounts owed by the Member, including any and all late fees and service fees. Note: Members paying monthly dues by EFT are subject to a $5.00 per month increase in monthly dues if EFT payment is stopped or changed. This will not affect any other provisions of this agreement.
    • Cancellation. After the initial term commitment of your membership plan has expired, all membership plans will automatically renew every month until terminated. Automatic Monthly Rollover may be canceled at any time upon a written notice delivered to your home facility’s address. Notice must be given by the 25th of the month.
    • Suppose you wish to cancel your membership before your membership plans’ initial term commitment. In that case, you may cancel by delivering in person or by mailing by certified mail, return receipt requested, or written notice to the Philadelphia Rock Gym (PRG) at your home PRG facility’s address. The notice must say that you do not wish to be bound to the membership Terms and Conditions and must be delivered in person or mailed before 12 midnight of the third business day after you agree to the Terms and Conditions of your membership plan.
    • In some cases, you may also cancel your membership before the initial term commitment is expired if you accepted these Terms and Conditions before the home climbing facility was completed, if the facility moves or goes out of business, if you become permanently disabled, or if you move outside of an additional forty-five-mile radius from your home PRG facility. If you cancel, PRG may be entitled to collect and/or retain a certain portion of the total membership plan price.
    • i. Client can cancel their membership without penalty within three business days of purchase and accepting the Terms and Conditions. Upon receipt of the cancellation notice under this paragraph, PRG shall refund the Client all monies, including any initiation fee paid under the membership plan.
    • ii. Client is permitted to cancel their membership if PRG closes for more than 30 consecutive days and PRG fails to provide a comparable facility within ten miles of the location designated as your home facility. Upon receipt of notice of cancellation under this paragraph, PRG shall refund to the Client all monies paid more than an amount computed by dividing the full membership plan price, including any initiation fee, by the number of weeks in the membership term and multiplying the result by the number of weeks elapsed in the membership term.
    • iii. Client or his/her legal representative may cancel their membership if the Client dies or becomes permanently disabled. A permanent disability means a condition that precludes the Client from using one-third or more of the facilities for six consecutive months or more, and the condition is verified in writing by a physician. Upon receipt of notice of cancellation under this paragraph, PRG shall refund the Client all monies paid more than an amount computed by dividing the full membership plan price, including any initiation fee, by the number of weeks in the membership term and multiplying the result by the number of weeks elapsed in the membership term, less a predetermined fee not exceeding $100.00, or if more than half of the life of the membership plan has expired, a predetermined fee not exceeding $50.00. In case of a permanent disability, PRG may require the Client to submit to a physical examination by a physician agreeable to the Client and PRG. PRG shall bear the additional cost of the examination.
    • iv. Client may cancel their membership if he/she moves more than 45 additional miles from their PRG home facility and cannot transfer the membership to a comparable facility within ten miles of his/her new residence. The client must provide proof of a new address. Upon receipt of notice of cancellation under this paragraph, PRG shall refund to the Client all monies paid more than an amount computed as of the date of relocation by dividing the full membership plan price, including any initiation fee, by the number of weeks in the membership term, less a predetermined fee not exceeding $100.00, or if more than half of the life of the membership plan has expired, a predetermined fee not exceeding $50.00.
    • v. To cancel your membership according to paragraphs (i), (ii), (iii), or (iv), the Client shall notify PRG of cancellation in writing by personal delivery or by certified mail, return receipt requested, in either case to the address of your home facility; all money to be refunded upon cancellation of the Membership plan shall be paid within 40 days of receipt of the notice of cancellation. If the Client has executed a credit, lien, or automatic funds transfer agreement with PRG to pay for PRG services, any negotiable instrument or credit of lien agreement executed by the Client shall be returned, and any automatic transfer shall be canceled within 40 days after the notice of cancellation.
    • Changes to the Price and Membership Plans. PRG reserves the right to change our membership plans or adjust pricing for our service or any components thereof in any manner and at any time as we may determine in our sole and absolute discretion after your initial or renewal term expires. Except as otherwise expressly provided for in these Terms and Conditions, any price changes or changes to your membership plan will take effect following at least 30 days’ email notice to you. You may choose not to accept any price increase by canceling your membership in writing by personal delivery or by certified mail, return receipt requested, in either case to the address of your home facility.  Such termination will become effective thirty days after PRG receives your written notice.
    • No Refunds. Payments are nonrefundable unless otherwise stated in these Terms and Conditions, and unless otherwise provided, there are no refunds or credits for partially used membership periods. Following any cancellation, however, you will continue to have access to your membership through the end of your current billing period. At any time and for any reason, we may provide a refund, discount, or other consideration to some or all of our members (“credits”). The amount and form of such credits, and the decision to provide them, are at our sole and absolute discretion. The provision of credits in one instance does not entitle you to credits in the future for similar instances, nor does it obligate us to provide credits in the future under any circumstance.
  1. Miscellaneous

    • Under these Terms and Conditions, no further payments shall be due to anyone, including any purchaser of any note associated with or contained in these Terms and Conditions, if the home facility ceases operation and fails to offer a comparable alternate location within ten miles of your home facility.
    • If PRG temporarily closes for less than 30 days, the Client shall receive an extension of the membership term equal to the period during which the facility was closed.
    • The Client is permitted to extend the term of the membership plan at no additional cost for some time equal to the duration of a disability where the Client has a disability that precludes the Client from using one-third or more of the facilities for less than six months, and the disability is verified in writing by a physician.

Notice: Any PRG member or customer is subject to all claims and defenses a debtor could assert against the seller of goods or services obtained pursuant hereto or with the proceeds. Recovery hereunder by a debtor shall not exceed amounts paid by such debtor.

By accepting these Terms and Conditions, the Client acknowledges that they have read and agreed to the Terms and Conditions in full.

change of Hudson Boulders membership

Request Form

Change of PRG Membership

Request Form

Minimum 2 weeks advance notice required for booking. All packages require a $100 deposit. All packages include rental harnesses if needed.

Large group discounts are available. Please contact us using the below form for availability and pricing.