Climber type quiz / The Headhunter

What a Headhunter is like

You keep a list, and it's a list of hard lines in other places. Weekend trips, one after another, each aimed at the top of your grade, and you tick them off at a steady pace. The easier circuit doesn't interest you; the named line is the point. Your season is consistent and ambitious, with a logbook that reads like a wanted list, though the home crag hardly sees you.

Take the quiz: are you a Headhunter?

The four traits behind the Headhunter

Every climber type is four letters, one from each pair. The Headhunter is EMCW: Explorer, Metronome, Ceiling and Weekend.

Explorer Where you climb: Explorer, not Homebody

You spread your days across a lot of different crags or gyms. New rock, unfamiliar styles and no beta are part of the appeal, and the same wall twice in a row feels like a waste.

Metronome How your days fall: Metronome, not Burst

Your climbing is steady. Shorter sessions, few gaps, and a season that adds up a little at a time instead of resting on a handful of huge days.

Ceiling What you go for: Ceiling, not Pyramid

You aim at the top of your grade. Warm-ups are short, the day is built around one or two hard lines, and the easy circuit barely shows up in your log.

Weekend When you get out: Weekend, not Weekday

You climb when most people do: Saturdays and Sundays, around a working week. That means busier crags, shared pads and making the most of the days you get.

What the Headhunter's kit has to handle

• Explorer: a chalk bucket that closes properlyA different crag every trip means the chalk lives in the car and the pack. A lid that seals keeps it in the bucket and off the back seat.
• Metronome: chalk bought by the bag, not the blockFrequent sessions get through chalk at a steady rate. Keeping a refill at home beats finding the bucket empty at the crag.
• Ceiling: a way to warm up fingers at the cragGoing straight to hard lines asks a lot of cold fingers. A portable block lets you load them properly before the first real attempt.

Types close to the Headhunter

Change one letter and you get a different climber. These four each share three traits with the Headhunter.

• The Specialist (HMCW)Homebody instead of Explorer. Knows the home crag's hard lines better than anyone, every weekend.
• The Hotshot (EBCW)Burst instead of Metronome. Turns up on the weekend, finds the hardest line, leaves with it.
• The Globetrotter (EMPW)Pyramid instead of Ceiling. A steady run of weekends, a new crag each time, lots of sends.
• The Veteran (EMCD)Weekday instead of Weekend. Steady midweek days on hard lines, wherever they are.

The Headhunter's opposite

Flip all four letters and you get The Dirtbag (HBPD): at the home crag on a Tuesday, sending all day.

All sixteen climber types

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