Route Reading: First Look

Learn it

The whole group together, before anybody splits off.

• What route reading is: making the plan before you leave the ground.
• How we are going to practice it today.
• What it costs. Reading takes time and standing still makes you cold, so it is a trade rather than a free win.

Apply it

Split in two, a coach with each half. Every athlete makes a plan out loud before they climb, and the coach prompts with questions rather than answers: what is the first move, which hand goes to that hold, where do the feet go while you reach.

Five is small enough that the plan gets said out loud every time and nobody hides at the back of it.

Two variations worth having in your pocket:

• Hover hands. They trace the route in the air from the ground.
• Flash or pass. Read it, then one attempt. Getting it wrong is a result, not a failure.

Demonstrate understanding

• They make a plan without being asked to.
• They can say the first three moves before stepping on.
• They notice when the climb stopped matching the plan.

If the concept isn't sticking

They read one move and go. Ask for three before they are allowed to start.

The group talks over each other. One reader at a time, everybody else silent until they have climbed it.