When I began climbing, hitting the grade of 5.11 was a big deal for me! I wrote the following article so that you know how to benchmark this achievement.
So, is climbing a 5.11 good? Yes, climbing a 5.11 is something you should be proud of. If you can climb 5.11, you’ll normally be in the top 40% of climbers in your gym. It usually takes about a year of climbing to be strong enough to send a 5.11.
While climbing 5.11 is no earth-breaking achievement, it’s still a good milestone for everyday climbers to work towards. Personally, I was proud when I made the leap from climbed 10’s to climbing 11’s. While you won’t raise many eyebrows by being able to climb a 5.11, it will firmly entrench you as one of the ‘better’ climbers in the gym — not a standout athlete by any stretch, but definitely someone who goes their regularly and knows what they’re doing.
How Hard is it to Climb 5.11?
First, I figured I would give a more detailed breakdown of what it’s like to climb a 5.11. From what I can gather, a good analogy would be like comparing it to running a half marathon.
For most average people, if they rolled off the couch and started jogging, they wouldn’t be able to do a half marathon. In fact, it would probably feel almost impossible to them. However, most people on earth could run a half marathon if they really put their minds to it and trained hard.
It’s the same thing with a 5.11. If you took someone who had never climbed and put them on a 5.11, I’m sure that it would feel almost impossible: the holds are small, the moves are big, and the feet suck. If that person trained for a while, though, it would be a completely different story.
So, without really using any numbers, that’s how hard I think a 5.11 is: it’s too hard for anyone to do the first time they ever go climbing, but it’s an achievable goal for anyone to work towards.
Now, with that said, does that mean that you shouldn’t be proud of your 5.11 climb? Absolutely not. You should be very proud of climbing 5.11.
Like I said, at any given time in a climbing gym, probably 50-70% of the people there aren’t strong enough or technical enough to climb a 5.11. Being able to do so definitely marks you as one of the better climbers, and it shows that you’re dedicated to your sport.
Lead vs Top Rope
Before I go any farther in the article, I want to discuss the difference between lead climbing (where you clip into protection on the way up) and top rope climbing (where the rope is secured to the top of the route).
It’s generally accepted that top roping is easier. You don’t get as scared, and you don’t have to worry about finding positions on the route where you can clip from (which tires you out).
In general, though, I would say that if you can climb a route on top rope, you can climb it on lead. It might take a few more tries to get all the moves down, but it won’t make a huge difference.
How Long Will It Take to Climb?
So, say you want to be one of those people. How long will it take to climb 5.11? It will take about a year to go from never climbing in your life to climbing a 5.11. Your strength, weight, and training frequency will vary this timeline.
If you’ve never touched a rock in your life, I would say that you can expect to climb 5.11 within a year. However, you need to be willing to work for it! That answer only applies if you’re going climbing 2-4 times a week and taking your training seriously.
Also, it’s important to note that just because you can climb one 5.11 doesn’t mean you can climb them all. Some routes just won’t be your style, and it’s common to get stumped on them.
If you’re already someone who climbs, you obviously have to put in less work to get to a 5.11. Some general guidelines would be:
- If you’re climbing below 5.8, it will take you about 9 months to get to a 5.11
- If you’re climbing 5.8’s and 5.9’s, you’re about seven months away from a 5.11
- If you can consistently climb 5.10’s, congrats! 3-5 months of work should get you onto the 5.11’s.
Now, of course, all of this is contingent on how often you go climbing, how hard you train, and how willing you are to push yourself. Some people go to the gym more to just have fun, and that’s okay! You don’t need to worry about grade-chasing if you don’t want.
Just know that, unless you’re climbing at least twice a week, the timelines listed above won’t hold up.
Training to Climb 5.11
Next, let’s talk about how to train for a 5.11. Now, I’m by no means an expert on the subject (I would recommend checking out TrainingBeta or Climbing.com for more comprehensive training guides), but I do have a few drills that I personally used to send 5.11:
- 4×4’s: For building power endurance. Hop on a V2 boulder and climb it up and down. Once you reach the starting hold, climb it again without letting your feet touch the ground. Do that four times. Repeat with three other boulder problems.
- ARC laps: 5.11’s take endurance, and ARC laps are the best way to get endurance. Using an autobelay, set a timer for 10 minutes and climb up and down an easy route (think 5.6 or lower) without coming off the wall until the timer goes off.
- Hangboarding: Hangboarding it something that I would only recommend if you’re consistently climbing 5.10s.
Dangers of Pushing too Quickly
While we’re on the subject of training, it’s a good idea to discuss the dangers of progressing your grade too quickly.
When speaking about this subject, there are two words that strike fear into the heart of every climber: pulley injuries.
To put it simply, your forearms gain strength a lot faster than your fingers do. This means that, when you start pushing grades and climbing harder, you may overextend the tendons in your fingers, causing them to separate from the bone. This injury can take more than half a year to fully heal.
As someone who’s currently dealing with an A4 pulley injury, I cannot stress enough how much you want to avoid these. Again, I’m no expert, but a quick google search will show you everything you need to know about pulley injuries and avoiding them.
I Climbed a 5.11 Indoors. Does That Still Count?
As climbing has gotten more popular and climbing gyms have become widespread, a bit of a rift has formed. There’s a selection of people within the climbing community who will tell you that you haven’t ‘really’ climbed a grade until you’ve climbed an outdoor route on lead. Anything else is made up.
Allow me to stand on my soapbox for a second.
The climbing world has, for lack of a better word, a lot of assholes in it. There are lots of different types of assholes (I’m looking at you, people-who-leave-litter-at-the-crag), but one in particular is relevant here: gatekeepers.
Gatekeepers are the people who will tell you that you don’t ‘actually’ climb 5.11 until you’ve climbed it outdoors on lead. They have a myriad of arguments to back up this claim, including (but not limited to):
- Routes are harder outdoors, so an indoors 5.11 doesn’t count
- Climbing was invented outdoors first, so to truly be a climber, you need to climb outdoors
- Indoor gym grades very greatly, so there’s no way to know if you ‘really’ climbed 5.11
- Professional climbers only count a climb when they’ve done it outdoors and on lead, so we should all follow their example.
In reality, though, there’s only one reason that these assholes are trying to tell you that you haven’t climbed 5.11. That reason? They’re insecure and they need to feel better than other people.
Now, I could write an entire other article about why their arguments are wrong, but I really don’t think it’s worth the time. All I will say is this: you’re not a professional climber, and you have no need to be. Climbing is an individual sport. You should be free to say you’ve climbed whatever grade you want and free to fee as proud of yourself as that grade makes you feel.
Is it Wrong to Focus on Grades While Climbing?
Now, on the other side of the Spectrum of Assholes, we have what I like to call the Spirituals: people who scoff at you for caring about grades at all.
A Spiritual might say something like “climbing is about discovering yourself. If you stop chasing grades and start focusing on the beauty of the moves, you’ll have a more pure experience”.
As an avid climber, I’m here to tell you: climbing is about whatever you want it to be. You want to climb for fun and not care about grades? Amazing! That’s your prerogative. You want to push yourself as hard as possible to see what your body’s limit is? Awesome! Get after it and go send.
So, in summary: no, there is nothing wrong with measuring yourself against grades and wanting to climb harder. If you decide that you want to climb 5.11, go do it!
