8.9 V7 (Font 7A+)
What problems look like
The terrain is the same as V6 with less margin. Holds are a size smaller and feet are worse. Moves are longer or more powerful. Many climbers at this level measure themselves on training boards such as the MoonBoard, Kilter and Tension: standard steep walls with a fixed grid of holds. Gym setting borrows their style.
Techniques that start to matter
This book’s catalogue has nothing new for this band. What changes is how exactly you do the ones you know. Compression must hold for longer. Toe and heel hooks must grip poor features. You must latch holds fast and accurately at the end of a dynamic move. Lattice calls this contact strength: catching a hold quickly as you arrive [262]. Save the fastest catches on small holds for moves that need them, because a very fast grab can rupture a pulley (a band that holds a finger tendon against the bone) [161].
None listed.
Focus
Reading problems at this grade
- Work out fine beta. Decide which way to turn a hand on a hold and exactly where a toe goes.
- Try two or three foot options for each hard hand move before you commit to one.
Physical side
Men at V7–V8 average about 145% of bodyweight on Lattice’s two-rep weighted pull-up test [267].
Why people stall here
Some climbers test strong on a hangboard (a board of edges to hang from) but climb below that level. Lattice says they may lack contact strength, or the power for several hard moves in a row [262].