Eric Hörst's Training For Climbing Podcast

Imagine going from having no project climb...to sending perhaps your hardest-ever route in just a few short weeks. That's the unusual story I will share with you in this episode. The route is Kaleidoscope, the Red River Gorge king line, which checks in at 5.13c. The climber is....yours truly, 50-something coach Hörst. Despite beginning the Spring 2023 season with a bum knuckle, lack of high-end strength, and no plans to project anything hard...fate put me in the right place at the right time. I was struck with the impulse to jump on the intimidating, overhanging pumpfest known as Kaleidoscope, a route I've gawked at many times but never seriously considered working on. I'll share with you my process of working this route and how the redpoint "just happened" one day. You'll learn many mental, technical, and tactical tips that you can adopt or modify to improve your climbing performance! RUNDOWN 0:15 - Greetings 0:50 - Intro to "surprise send" episode -- a sport climbing performance case study. 2:40 - The backs