Good things come in threes, and this article series is no exception – even if this instalment does clock in some way beyond the imaginary deadline.  The celebrated writer Douglas Adams knew a thing or two about deadlines, famously noting “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”

Anyone devoted to the sport of rock climbing that has been climbing for sometime and who strives to improve their performance will have, at sometime or other, had a ‘project’... I thought I’d scribe a few simple tactics, in rough chronological order, which may help improve your chances.

Here we are again; trying everything we can to improve at climbing without having to get stronger. This time, we’re going to look at the flip side and check out the crafty tactics you can employ to master the geometric converse of an overhang: the mighty slab. 

This series of short articles focuses on technique and is aimed at helping beginner and intermediate climbers unlock some of the fundamentals of movement for three of the most common styles of climb – overhangs, slabs and arêtes. This first article concentrates on tips for climbing overhangs.

This guide is designed for those of you who like the idea of structured fingerboard training but have no idea where to start. I aim to provide a basic plan which is easy to understand, follow and add to as you progress. Detailed description of the exercises followed by a slimmed down “session sheet”...

This guide is designed for those of you who like the idea of structured fingerboard training but have no idea where to start. I aim to provide a basic plan which is easy to understand, follow and add to as you progress. Detailed description of the exercises followed by a slimmed down “session sheet” which gives an outline of the plan without any extra information.

The fingerboard from Moon has managed to achieve a superb compromise between using its space efficiently whilst fitting in plenty of good holds; this comes from Moon's ethos that less is more.

Body tension is a crucial and much underestimated form of climbing strength that sorts the good climbers from the rest. Many are quick to blame their arms or fingers for poor performances, but there is no point having strong limbs unless they are attached to a stable core.

The ability to work out the sequence of a route from the ground is an essential sport climbing skill, which makes a huge difference to performance. Time invested on the floor is time and energy saved on the route, and yet so many climbers are prone to just leaping on and seeing what happens. How many times have you fallen off an indoor lead because you’ve failed to spot your colour, or pumped out on a sport route at the crag because you’ve missed a hidden hold?

Trad climbing is all about coping with the stresses of running it out into unknown territory. A skilled trad climber must be capable of making an accurate risk assessment as they make progress up the route and be able to distinguish between the point to go for it and the point to back off.