25 climbing goals for bouldering, routes and your first time outdoors

Climbing goals for beginners

Beginner goals are about time on the wall and trusting your feet.

• Climb 2 times a week for 8 weeks.
• Finish 10 different routes at the easiest grade.
• Pass a belay test.
• Practise falling off a boulder problem 10 times, the safe way.
• Climb one easy route 5 times, watching your feet on every move.

Climbing grade goals

Grade goals are the classic ones. They work better when a wide base of easier climbs sits under them.

• Climb one grade harder than your current best.
• Climb 10 different routes at your top grade.
• Climb every route of one colour in your gym.
• Climb a route first try, one grade below your best.
• Work on one project for 5 sessions.

Climbing volume goals

Volume goals count routes and metres, and they are the goals you can move every single session.

• Climb 100 routes in a month.
• Climb 1,000 routes or problems in a year.
• Climb 300 m of wall in one session.
• Climb 20 sessions in 60 days.
• Climb 8,848 m in a year, the height of Everest. On 10 m routes that is about 17 a week.

Climbing technique goals

Technique goals are about how you move, and they are free: you practise them on climbs you already do.

• Climb a whole session with silent feet.
• Repeat every problem once, smoother the second time.
• Use a heel hook, a flag and a drop knee in one session.
• Climb down every route you climb up for a month.
• Film one climb a week and fix one thing.

Strength and outdoor goals

Strength goals are trained off the wall, and most of them are plain calisthenics goals. Outdoor goals start with the walk in, which is why climbers end up with hiking goals too.

• Hang from a bar for 60 seconds.
• Do 10 pull-ups in a row.
• Lead your first route.
• Climb outdoors on 10 days this year.
• Climb a first route of more than one pitch.

What is a good climbing goal?

A good climbing goal is about what you do on the wall, not only about the grade you want. A review of 27 studies of goal setting in sport found that process goals, the ones about how you carry out a skill, had the largest effect on performance. A grade is a result. "Silent feet for a whole session" is a process.

Keep the grade as the direction, and make it specific. A review of 35 years of goal research found that specific, hard goals lead to higher performance than being told to do your best. "Climb one grade harder by September" is specific. "Get better" is not.

Then cut it into pieces. A project is a row of single moves, and each one can be a goal for a session. That is the idea behind breaking a goal into smaller ones.

How to track climbing goals

Write down what you climbed before you leave the gym. A review of 138 studies found that people who monitored their progress reached their goals more often, and that recording it beat keeping it in your head.

Routes and metres are amounts that add up. Sessions are a day count. A goal like 100 routes or 100 sessions is tracked the same way as a 100 day challenge.

Grades come in jumps, with long flat stretches between them. A picture that fills up one route at a time shows progress on the days the grade does not move.

Frequently asked questions

What are good climbing goals for beginners?

Climb twice a week for 8 weeks, finish 10 routes at the easiest grade, and pass a belay test. Grade goals can wait until your feet and your falls feel safe.

Should my climbing goal be a grade?

Keep one grade goal and put two others under it: a volume goal, like 100 routes a month, and a technique goal. In a review of 27 studies, goals about how a skill is done had the largest effect on performance.

How do I count climbing progress?

Count routes or problems finished, and sessions done. Both go up every time you climb, which a grade does not. Add metres if you like a bigger number.