Pointers From The World's Top Climbers

You’ll never get to the destination happy, or at all in certain cases, if you don’t enjoy the process. —Sean McColl, CAN, 2020 Sport Climbing Olympic Athlete, 2016 Villars Lead World Cup Gold Medalist

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Watch very good climbers climb, and try to figure out little things they do differently.

—Anak Verhoeven, BEL, three-time Lead World Cup gold medalist

Bring snacks! The best-laid plans can quickly be foiled by bonking 30 minutes into a session because all you’ve eaten today was a coffee and a stale Clif Bar you found under your car seat. I love to bring bananas, fruit chews and pretzels with guacamole. If I’m doing more than a four hour session, I’ll also bring cheese and a protein, like tuna salad.

—Maureen Beck, USA, 2014 and 2016 AU-2 (Forearm Amputee) Paraclimbing World Champion

Ever consider climbing with a blindfold?