Climber type quiz / The Vagabond

What a Vagabond is like

Climbing is the job, or close to it. Steady midweek days, crag after crag, with sends across the grades and no gaps. You climb more rock than nearly anyone and you've seen more of it. Your pyramid is broad, your rhythm is set, and you're rarely stuck on one problem; the next crag is always calling. The hardest lines come, but on your schedule, not theirs.

Take the quiz: are you a Vagabond?

The four traits behind the Vagabond

Every climber type is four letters, one from each pair. The Vagabond is EMPD: Explorer, Metronome, Pyramid and Weekday.

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.

Pyramid What you go for: Pyramid, not Ceiling

You climb across the grades. Plenty of problems well inside your limit, fewer near the top, and a wide base of sends underneath your hardest ones.

Weekday When you get out: Weekday, not Weekend

You get out midweek, when the crag or the gym is quiet. Empty landings, no queue for the classic, and conditions picked on your terms.

What the Vagabond'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.
• Pyramid: a chalk ball for the long circuitA lot of problems in a day means a lot of chalking up. A ball puts down a thin, even coat without emptying the bucket by lunch.

Types close to the Vagabond

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

• The Local (HMPD)Homebody instead of Explorer. Keeps the home crag in order, a few sends every weekday.
• The Drifter (EBPD)Burst instead of Metronome. A different crag every time, midweek, climbing whatever's there.
• The Veteran (EMCD)Ceiling instead of Pyramid. Steady midweek days on hard lines, wherever they are.
• The Globetrotter (EMPW)Weekend instead of Weekday. A steady run of weekends, a new crag each time, lots of sends.

The Vagabond's opposite

Flip all four letters and you get The Heavy Hitter (HBCW): saturday at the home crag, straight to the hard stuff.

All sixteen climber types

Find my climber type