Spend enough Saturdays at a crag and you start recognizing people before you know their names. There's the one who has been under the same boulder since nine. There's the one who has already climbed eleven problems and is eyeing a twelfth. There's the one who showed up from three hours away, sent the classic second go, and left before lunch.
None of that has much to do with how hard anyone climbs. It's about where, when and how they like to do it. So we turned it into a system: four traits, two sides each, sixteen types of climbers. There's a free quiz if you want to skip ahead and find yours. It takes about two minutes.
The four traits
Explorer or Homebody: where you climb. Explorers want a new crag or a new gym every time. Homebodies have one place and know which hold is polished and where the sun lands at three.
Burst or Metronome: how your days fall. Burst climbers have a few enormous days with gaps between them. Metronomes get out often, for less time, and never really stop.
Pyramid or Ceiling: what you go for. Pyramid climbers send across the grades and build a wide base. Ceiling climbers warm up briefly and walk straight to the hardest thing they can touch.
Weekend or Weekday: when you get out. Self-explanatory, and it changes more than you'd think. A Saturday crag and a Tuesday crag are barely the same place.
Take one letter from each pair and you get a type. EBPW, for example: Explorer, Burst, Pyramid, Weekend.
The weekend types
These are the climbers you actually meet, because they're out when everyone else is.
- The Joyrider (EBPW). Out for the fun of it, somewhere new every weekend. The drive home is half the point.
- The Hotshot (EBCW). Turns up, finds the hardest line, leaves with it. Does not mind an audience.
- The Weekend Warrior (HBPW). Same crag, every Saturday, climbing until the skin gives out. Nobody has more sends per day.
- The Heavy Hitter (HBCW). Arrives with one or two problems in mind and they're hard ones. The pads go straight under the project.
- The Globetrotter (EMPW). A steady run of weekends, a new crag each time, a haul of sends from each one.
- The Headhunter (EMCW). Keeps a list of hard lines in other places and works through it one weekend at a time.
- The Caretaker (HMPW). Knows which holds are loose and which landing needs a second pad. The crag is the project.
- The Specialist (HMCW). One crag, its hardest lines, every weekend. Knows the beta better than the first ascensionist.
The weekday types
You hear about these climbers more than you see them. They were there on Wednesday.
- The Drifter (EBPD). A different crag every time, midweek, climbing whatever is there. The logbook reads like a road atlas.
- The Crusher (EBCD). Travels midweek for the hard lines and gets them done. Happiest when the crag is empty and the project is steep.
- The Dirtbag (HBPD). At the home crag on a Tuesday, sending all day. Always one more lap of the circuit.
- The Crimp Reaper (HBCD). Comes for the home crag's cruxes while everyone else is at work. Often sends with nobody watching.
- The Vagabond (EMPD). Climbing is the job, or close to it. Steady midweek mileage, crag to crag.
- The Veteran (EMCD). Steady midweek days on hard lines, wherever they are. Brings tape, beta and a plan.
- The Local (HMPD). A few sends every weekday at the home crag, in every condition. Doesn't travel much. Why would they?
- The Sendsei (HMCD). Patient and precise on the hardest lines at home. One hard send a week is the plan, and it works.
Why bother sorting climbers at all
Mostly because it's fun, and because arguing about which one your climbing partner is makes a good rest between burns.
There's a useful bit underneath, though. Most climbing advice assumes everyone wants the same thing, which is usually a harder grade. A Caretaker and a Crusher want completely different days out, and neither is doing it wrong. Knowing which side of each trait you sit on explains a lot: why a trip felt flat, why a project never gets the weekends it needs, why your friend packs up just as you're warming up.
It also explains the gear. A Homebody's chalk bucket lives at one crag and gets carried fifty yards. An Explorer's rides in the car every weekend and needs a lid that stays shut. We make a chalk bucket, so call us biased, but the spilled-chalk-in-the-trunk problem is very much an Explorer problem.
How to find your type
The climber type quiz comes in three lengths. The quick one is 12 questions and about two minutes. The full one takes about five and adds your favorite holds and terrain. The deep one takes about ten and gives the sharpest read.
It starts by asking whether you climb mostly outside, mostly in the gym, or both, and rewords everything after that to match. Gym climbers get gym questions.
At the end you get your four letters, the reasoning behind each one, and a link to send to the people you climb with. That last part is where it gets good, because everyone has a strong opinion about what their partner should have got.
FAQ
How many types of climbers are there? In this system, sixteen. Four traits with two sides each: Explorer or Homebody, Burst or Metronome, Pyramid or Ceiling, Weekend or Weekday. Every combination is a type with its own name, from the Joyrider to the Sendsei.
Is this about bouldering, sport or trad? None of them in particular. The traits are about where, when and how you climb, so they apply whether you boulder, clip bolts or place gear. The wording leans towards bouldering because that's most of what we do.
Does the quiz work if I only climb in a gym? Yes. The first question asks where you do most of your climbing and the rest of the quiz changes to match. "Crag" becomes "gym" and the questions about travel become questions about trying new gyms.
Can my climber type change? Yes, and it usually does. A new job turns a Weekday climber into a Weekend one overnight. A project that gets under your skin can turn an Explorer into a Homebody for a season.
Is the climber type quiz free? Yes. There's no sign-up and no email needed to see your result.
Sixteen types, four letters, and one argument with your climbing partner waiting to happen. Take the quiz and find out which one you are.